Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General General It's time to discuss engine oil, again...

I'm no auto retard, but I really don't know that much about motor oil weight and grade.

Basically, what I need to know if this: what are the differences between 5W20 and 5W30.

Reason I ask is that my car's owner's manual specs 5W30, and the dealer put in 5W20 my last oil change.

What I do know is that 5W20 is thinner, so I would assume it flows better at very cold temps - common here in Canada.

Does it really matter what oil you run, as long as it's within reason of what Ford specifies?

Any help from oil experts, petroleum chemists, etc, out there would be greatly appreciated!

Man I did like three days of reading posts and outside links to decide what oil to put on my 98 Contour V6 with 100k miles.

I finnaly decided 10W30 dino oil but down here we never get below 15°C.

Check this link that will explain what the numbers are:

What Oil?

5W20 is Ok for Winter temps. It is thinner at higher temps than 5W30, but don't know if TOO MUCH thinner when summer comes. Maybe another CEG'er will answer that part. How many miles/km?

The Duratec was designed to use 5W-30. The post 2000 Duratec have a 5W-20 rating for emissions. Wouldn't run anything other than those.

Seeing that your in "Sens country" and I'm here in SE MI, our weather is pretty close I'd say. If at all possible, I'd run Mobil 1 0w30 up there in Canada. Keep in mind that theres a new Mobil 1 coming this spring and it too is 0w30, but a racing formula thats going to cost a bit more. The only reason Ford decided to go with this new 5w20 in all thier vehicles is simple, it increased MPG across the board and made them look more "green"

Umm, cold weather... Time to start planning my March 2004 trip to Spring Training in Florida.

Yeah, I'm going to take the car back for them to change the oil to 5W30 - they said they would at no charge.

So far as the 0W30 synthetic, or any synthetic for that matter - I'm too much of a cheap bastard.

I plan to keep the car 5-6 years, and sell before my 7 year/150,000km Premium Care warranty runs out. As I don't plan on keeping this car forever, for me at least, it's not really worth coughing up the extra cash for synthetic oil.

Figure if I just get the normal recommended service done regularly, they won't void my warranty, and if anything blows, they'll fix it.

Thanks everyone!
Ray

A little OT:

Does Ford make 5W-20 oil that is not a "synthetic blend"? I am curious because I used to use the regular FMC 5W-30 in the Contour, and when I went hunting for oil change supplies for the Escape I noticed that 5W-20 was only available in synthetic blend. Not that it matters much to me, just wondering. I thought maybe it was a Wal-Mart thing until I noticed Autozone had the same selection.

You stated your a "cheap bastard" and thats why you don't run synthetic, but check this out. Because its refined better than conventional oils you can leave it in longer, thus SAVING you time and more importantly, $$$$ Depending on how and where you drive, you could leave it in as long as 10K w/o any worries (as long as your running a quality oil filter, i.e. Mobil 1 or K&N Gold) Seeing that you plan on keeping it for a long time why not put in the best and let it work for you instead of changing the oil every 3K, thats so "old school"

He's keeping everything to warranty spec so any repairs will be at at Fords expense. Smart play IMHO.

What manufacturer will replace a blown engine if you only change your oil every 10k miles or so??? Even if it is Mobil 1.

What about 0W-30 fuel economy formula?? Wouldn't thinner oil at startup be a good thing??