Hey guys,
I was just wondering if anyone had any suggestions for what type of oil to run in the winter. I live in upstate NY so we get some reeeal cold nights and days. Should I run synthetic, or just a thinner mineral? Or a thinner synthetic? Also, does anyone have a brand preference?
Car is 1996 with 60,000 miles, CTA intake, usually running Castrol GTX 10W-30.
Thanks for all your help!
-Dylan
I always use 5W30 Mobil 1. Never switched it for winter.
I've always ran castrol syntec 10w-30. No problems ever. For the first time I'm going to change the oil and use 5w-30 and see what kind of difference there is.
5W30 all year for me too.
Originally posted by Dylan:
Hey guys,
I was just wondering if anyone had any suggestions for what type of oil to run in the winter. I live in upstate NY so we get some reeeal cold nights and days. Should I run synthetic, or just a thinner mineral? Or a thinner synthetic? Also, does anyone have a brand preference?
Car is 1996 with 60,000 miles, CTA intake, usually running Castrol GTX 10W-30.
Thanks for all your help!
-Dylan
I run 5W-20 Mobil 1 in both my Fords year in and year out. My V-10 6.8 liter Super Duty and my 2.0 Zetec get Mobil 1. Buy it at Wally World in the 5 quart jug for optimum savings, it's $18. And always, always, always use a Motorcraft or better oil filter. Never the 'orange filter', the by-pass valve may stick then you got no oil lubricating your motor.
Originally posted by Kremithefrog:
Mobil1 5w-30
Castrol Synthetic 5w-30 
Isn't running the 5W30 during the summer heat or on long trips hard on your engine or degrading to your engine's lifetime? Or at least worse than the 10W30 would be? Otherwise why would Ford reccomend using 10W30.. Thanks for all the help, by the way.
it is, except, i live in a hot climate...(its still 90 degrees here for a few days of the week) so i use the thin oil because when it heats up it gets thicker.
Ford recommends using 5w-30. On newer vehicles 10w-30 would only be needed in a desert. And if you run a true synthetic (mobil1, amsoil,etc. not castrol) 5w-30 you can run it all year in just about any climate. 10w-30 can mess up the VCT system for ya'll that are unfortunate enough to have it, for us pre98ers, I'm not sure what it can mess up, but when I started using mobil1 the engine ran a bit better.
Mobil 1 0W30 synthetic much better in cold weather.
Originally posted by Kremithefrog:
Ford recommends using 5w-30. On newer vehicles 10w-30 would only be needed in a desert. And if you run a true synthetic (mobil1, amsoil,etc. not castrol) 5w-30 you can run it all year in just about any climate. 10w-30 can mess up the VCT system for ya'll that are unfortunate enough to have it, for us pre98ers, I'm not sure what it can mess up, but when I started using mobil1 the engine ran a bit better.
i use castrol SYNTHETIC...says it right on the bottle! not SYNTECH...Synthetic.
from castrol web page Castrol Formula SLX is a world beating lubricant for drivers seeking the very best performance from their car. It's the first of its kind, providing a fully synthetic, ultra free flowing premium performance OW-30 engine oil that gives instant lubrication and superior, low-temperature protection.
so its not 5w-30...but they do have it at wal-mart.
Wow, I guess I missed the part about Ford recommending
5W30 , and have been using 10W30.
What did I even buy the service manual for if I'm just gonna make things up as I go along?
Originally posted by Kennard:
I run 5W-20 Mobil 1 in both my Fords year in and year out. My V-10 6.8 liter Super Duty and my 2.0 Zetec get Mobil 1. Buy it at Wally World in the 5 quart jug for optimum savings, it's $18. And always, always, always use a Motorcraft or better oil filter. Never the 'orange filter', the by-pass valve may stick then you got no oil lubricating your motor.
Are Purolator Oil Filters any good, thats what Im running now. Also my buddy (who is big on Off-Roading) said something about the Wal-Mart SuperTech oil filters actually being good. Has anyone else heard this?
yep, i have
Originally posted by Kremithefrog:
Ford recommends using 5w-30. On newer vehicles 10w-30 would only be needed in a desert. And if you run a true synthetic (mobil1, amsoil,etc. not castrol) 5w-30 you can run it all year in just about any climate. 10w-30 can mess up the VCT system for ya'll that are unfortunate enough to have it, for us pre98ers, I'm not sure what it can mess up, but when I started using mobil1 the engine ran a bit better.
Mess up the VCT....don't have it anymore.
Ooo yeah cuz Castrol calls it synthetic must mean it's a true synthetic.
And motorcraft is the best filter to use other than a mobil1 or k&n (which is probably the best). Ford recommends 10w-30 for some climates. Use a TRUE 5w-30 synthetic and you won't have to worry about it. And like I said 10w-30 can mess up VCT,,, but feel free not to listen to me, I don't really care what happens to your engine or what you waste your money on.
Originally posted by Kremithefrog:
Ooo yeah cuz Castrol calls it synthetic must mean it's a true synthetic. And motorcraft is the best filter to use other than a mobil1 or k&n (which is probably the best). Ford recommends 10w-30 for some climates. Use a TRUE 5w-30 synthetic and you won't have to worry about it. And like I said 10w-30 can mess up VCT,,, but feel free not to listen to me, I don't really care what happens to your engine or what you waste your money on.
oh i did not no that castrol was not fully synthetic, next oil change (this weekend would you reccomend Mobil 1 Synthetic then?
Originally posted by Kremithefrog:
And like I said 10w-30 can mess up VCT,,, but feel free not to listen to me, I don't really care what happens to your engine or what you waste your money on.
Use mobil1 or another true synthetic. I find mobil1 to be the easiest to obtain locally so that's what I use, though amsoil is supposed to be good, it cost a little more to get ahold of. Make sure the first time you use it to change it at 3k miles as it gets dirty quickly the first time you use it. Then you can start extending your drain intervals if you feel comfortable doing so.
no i always change at or before 3K
You'll be wasting money if after the first change you don't start extending your intervals (at least a little) with a synthetic oil and good filter (motorcraft, mobil1 or k&n)
Originally posted by Zippy_Zetec:
it is, except, i live in a hot climate...(its still 90 degrees here for a few days of the week) so i use the thin oil because when it heats up it gets thicker.
sorry guys i got that backwards lol, it actually gets thinner. my bad. the above should read:
Originally posted by zippy_zetec:
it is, except i live in a hot climate...(it is still 90 degrees here for a few days of the week) so i use thicker oil because when it heats up it gets Thinner.
grrr i can never remember those, i always get them mixed up. if i do it again in future posts, please feel free to correct me. 
god im such a moron 
why would i be wasting money? i take exceelent care of my engine...
Because changing oil every 5 miles would just be wasting money not taking great care of your engine, same basic principle cept more miles.
not every 5...every 3,000...
when you dont change it every 3000 miles...things start to break. who's the guy here who has 254K on his contour? ask him how often he changes his oil.
I said same concept. 3k miles was an interval that was long done away with on new vehicles, even ones using dino oil. I'm not on my home computer, but I believe the ford manual says up to 10k miles in certain conditions. I would never go that high of course but 3k miles is overkill with synthetic oil in a good engine. Think of it this way,, replacing clean oil with clean oil does nothing to help the engine. I don't go much over 3k myself, though under or even at 3k is pointless with synthetic oil, even on my only sorta good engine (95k miles and only started using synthetic at ~83k miles).
Originally posted by Zippy_Zetec:
not every 5...every 3,000... when you dont change it every 3000 miles...things start to break. who's the guy here who has 254K on his contour? ask him how often he changes his oil.
actually with synthetic oil you can wait till 5000 miles to change it wihtout any problems.
Sounds like this Saturday I have a date with Mobil 1 5W30 and a Motorcraft filter. I can't wait.
I change my oil (mobil 1) every 4,000-5,000 miles.
Originally posted by Dylan:
Sounds like this Saturday I have a date with Mobil 1 5W30 and a Motorcraft filter. I can't wait.
i use a fram X2 filter, best one i have had so far, mine is getting changed this weekend as well...i should have done it when i had the engine out for the clutch change...hmmm
Frams not a good filter, like I said, use motorcraft or better, or don't.....
why is that? for the price they charge (i believe it was 14.99 at AutoZone)...they should be one of the best...
yeah they SHOULD be.
Originally posted by Kremithefrog:
Frams not a good filter, like I said, use motorcraft or better, or don't.....
I have used Fram as long as I have had my car...over 70k. 
I'm not saying your car is gonna just blow up from using a fram filter, but they're not the best. I'm using motorcraft with 95k miles.
Motorcraft 108K and going..lol sorry had to post
No matter the brand 5W30 is best all year protection, however if you are going to change viscosity grades 10W30 for late spring, summer and early fall, 5W30 for in-between. Good rule of thumb is to use viscosity that is best suited for the end of your change cycle.
By the way Valvoline.
Originally posted by thefairwaymob:
By the way Valvoline.
i disagree, the only oil from valvoline that has impressed me was valvoline MaxLife. my cousin has 497,000 miles on his 1994 ford ranger (hes a courier and drives back and forth in the metroplex, sometimes 250 miles a day or more) and he uses mobil 1 synthetic. best oil hes ever used.
Maybe he just meant he using valvoline.
Though of course,,, SYNTHETIC ALL DA WAY!!
Bought this 98 GL at 85K and love it.
Uses no oil, runs great! (90K now) I can not find out what oil the previous owner used.
I have been using dino oil. Should I or should I not switch to a synthetic. What would the pros and cons be?
No cons, except higher mileage engines if not in decent shape could slowly leak when synthetic is used. Dino oil won't remove the sludge that can be holding your oil in currently and when you switch to synthetic, it'll remove this sludge and reveal your leak. It doesn't cause a leak, just shows you where your leak would have eventually occured. That said, I switched at ~83k miles and have had no problems.
I've always put Pennzoil 5W30 in the Contour. Since it's recently been booted from the garage to make room for the wife's new Explorer, I'm going to start using Mobil1 5W30. Winter's get pretty cold, so the extra protection should be worth it. Mobil1 is all I put in the Mustang. Probably do the same for the Explorer. I definitely wouldn't change the oil any sooner than 5,000 miles with the synthetic. BTW...I use a Bosch oil filter on the Contour since I (for some reason) trust that more than the Frams they have at AutoZone. Anyone know how they fare?
I just made the switch to 5W30 Mobil 1 from 10W30 Castrol GTX... Should I change the oil sooner than 5,000 miles considering I just made the change??
i would change it at 3K the first time...all that crap from the other oil will be in it. after that, smooth sailing to 5k..
Thanks man.. How about on the way back from school today a big old rusty muffler was just hanging out in the middle of the road and I couldnt get out of the way of it in time.. Sad to say that it took two gouges out of my lower right side the size of golf balls...
I always have used Motorcraft Semi-sythentic 5W20. I get it a Wal-Mart for about $1.77 a quart.Because I have a 2000 'tour SE and a 2001 Focus SE and it is recommended by Ford.
Originally posted by Dylan:
Thanks man.. How about on the way back from school today a big old rusty muffler was just hanging out in the middle of the road and I couldnt get out of the way of it in time.. Sad to say that it took two gouges out of my lower right side the size of golf balls...
poor tour u have ins? 
I know a body guy.. But I dont have any money.. But I really want to have it patched before it snows.. Cause they really let us have it with the salt up here.
they did that in alaska too, go to walmart and buy some bondo and slap it on for the winter. just to keep it from rusting. it will look like crap, but it wont rust.