Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General General Oil FAQ

Originally posted by Auto-X Fil:

---

Okay, here's the cleaned-up version. Any revisions to this one?

[SEARCH TERMS] Oil weight viscosity rating [/SEARCH TERMS]

OIL FAQ:

What do the numbers on the label mean?

For example: 5W-30. It gets no thicker in the cold than a 5 weight (very thin) oil would get, and no thinner at high temps than a 30 weght (pretty thick) oil would get.

What oil should I use??

Well, you need to pick a type of oil, and a weight, then a brand.

Type:

Synthetic oils have several advantages:
-They reduce wear. SM rated oils are the current best. SL/SJ cause more wear. These ratings also appear on conventional oils. Most dino oil is SL.

---

Quote:

---

-They have superior low-temp viscosity.
-You can get 0-Wx oils in syn, but not dino.
-They have less (or no) viscocity improvement additives to wear out. This is one reason they can be run longer.

Dino oils have one big advantage:
-They are much cheaper.

In fact, they are very close to as good an oil as syntheics, but cost far less. So for most people, dino is fine, despite the technical superiority of synthetics.

So which to use? I choose Mobil 1, but that's because I run my engine hard and want it to last into very high mileage. Part of the reason is because I can get it in 0W-40, which you can't find in a conventional oil. Why is this important?

---

Quote:

---

Weight:

The Contour takes 5W-30, as listed in the manual, but you don't have to use that. Except in odd cases, you should never run something that doesn't cover that range, for example, 15W-50, or 0W-20. The low number should be 5 or less, and the high number should be 30 or more. Now why do I prefer 0W-40? Well, it's thinner when it's cold (a good thing) and doesn't get as thin when it's very, very hot (also a good thing). No downside there, except sometimes a tiny bit more cost. However, there is a downside with conventional oils. They use a lot of additives to get the wider ranges. That means less oil, and poorer lubrication (additives are less slippery than oil). So, I'd never get dino in anything but 5W-30.

Brand:

So what brand is best? What about all those fancy high-mileage, extended wear, clean-running, and other buzzword oils? I don�t see any benefit in any of that stuff. Most brands are fine, but I�d stay away from bargain-basement (Wal-Mart SuperTech, etc.) oils. For a tiny bit more you can get a brand-name oil with better quality control. Basic is fine here, and anything certified will work.

---

Quote:

---

How often should I change the oil in my Contour?

First of all: Iââ?¬â?¢d recommend you change it yourself. Quick-change places donââ?¬â?¢t pay attention to your car like itââ?¬â?¢s anything special (itââ?¬â?¢s not, to them), and may be sloppy. Also, the Duratec needs 6.5 qts of oil due to oil starvation problems. Many places will put in 5 (lazy cost-cutting jerks), or 5.5 (close, but still lazy), or 5.8 (book listing ââ?¬â?? not their fault).

So how often? That depends. if you drive on dirt roads/dusty conditions a lot, have a lot of cold starts or race days, or use cheap air filters or don't change your air filter, you might want to change the oil more often. An analysis will help you make that call. Blackstone labs will send you a free kit to test your oil, you ship it back with a check for $20 and they�ll let you know a lot of good information. I�d recommend getting one once a year. In general: if you don�t do anything abusive (like above), 5k should be fine with dino oil, and 7500 or even more with a good synthetic. But it is not a hard and fast rule, so get it checked with an analysis if you want to run more miles between changes.

---

Quote:

---

What oil filter should I use?

-Not Fram. They have some good ones, and some real crap ones. Orange is bad.
-Motorcraft is cheap and very good. ($3-4)
-K&N is very pricey. ($12) If you race, it's worth it. The K&N (HP2010 fits the V-6) filters more oil and gets more stuff out.

Myths Debunked:

-With modern oils you don't need to run two oils for varying temps.
-Synthetics will not harm gaskets, and won't cause leaks. If you switch on a damaged engine, the damage may be revealed sooner because the crud gets cleaned out. I'd rather know sooner than later that my gaskets are shot, but that's just me.
-Synthetic blends are not good. They do nothing for you.
-You don't need to follow the manual's ratings exactly.
-You can switch back and forth between synthetic and conventional oils to your heart's content. They are fully compatible.

More info:

Lots of info on oil in general.
More real-world info from Bob is the oil guy.
Blackstone labs Oil Analysis test kit


-Fil

---