OK I have ran Lucas in all of my previous vehicles. Now I have a 01' F150 with a 5.4L in it...I'm getting mixed replies from mechanic buddies of mine on whether or not I should run Lucas in this one. And from what I'm thinking the mechanics that are saying not to are confusing the 2v and the 3v. As the 2v doens't have cam phasers....running a slightly heavier oil or Lucas shouldn't affect it as it can't clog the cam phasers....is there any validity to what I'm thinking. Is it ok to run lucas in a 2v ?? I have a slight noise from the bottom and that's why I'm thinking about running it....this donor motor had 209K when I put it in...so some engine noise I expect...just don't want it to get bad

 

All the Lucas Oil additive does is thicken the oil. It's a lot like the STP and Motor Honey crap of years gone by. Back when I was a young man, in the 60's, motor oils used viscosity to keep the parts from tearing each other apart. Those days are long gone. The advances of motor oils in the last 15 years has been dramatic. Now we use film strength to keep the parts from wearing. We no longer need the thick oil to keep parts from wearing and it's not even part of any current gas engine design. Todays engines are relying more and more on the oil not only for a lube but also as a coolant. A Triton depends on the oils viscosity for cooling at about 20% of the cooling capacity. Thicken the oil with Lucas crap and you just cut that down a lot. There is no need in any environment for this snake oil any more. And if you think the 5w-20 oils are thin, wait until you get to see some of the newest 0w-0 oils that will be recommended for some of the new engine designs. Film strength is in, viscosity is antique at best.

 

yea, toyota has already started recommending 0-20 and so has honda now that i think of it

 

Musta been some good times. Wish I was around to see those drive in diners and car lots full of classics. A lot more than just oil has changed.

 

I enjoyed the heck out of my 56 Chevrolet Convertible, 265 V8, stick and later my 59 Chevy Impala Coupe with the 283 V8, 230hp, with stock 4.11 rear and electric overdrive with the 3 speed manual and my 1965 Chevelle 300hp 327V8, 4 speed, posi. Put 100k miles on that car much of it 1/4 mile at a time!!! It clocked 99mph in the 1/4 at 14.7 et. Couldn't get traction with the 7" wide slicks that were the widest allowed in stock classes.
Wish I had all of those cars back!

 

ok well since everyone thinks no to lucas....maybe somebody can explain my noise. Start up is quiet....for the first 10-20 sec. Than I get a noise from the passenger side wheelwell sounds like a rod rattle only a lot quieter...listen closer it's the loudest coming from the first cat. Put an extension up to the oil pan....nice and quiet. The faintest sound is coming from the manifold on cyl 1 and the loudest is coming from the first cat. I'm stumped...is it valve train??? Do I need to change the hla's ?? This motor was quiet when I went and heard it run in the donor truck...I'm guessing he was running 10w30...but inside the motor is nice and clean...made sure I didn't dry start it...unplugged the harness and let it crank 10 sec 5x before I plugged the harness in and let it start. When I first started it I couldn't get it to run right due to the fact I had the egr vac line crossed with the fp reg line....but after that first start up where I only had it running for maybe 2 min while I figured it out...it ran like a top the first 30 miles I put on it...than this....anybody got any idea's. Checked for exhaust leaks....plugs nice and tight. I'm at a loss other than one of the hla's is gummed up maybe ??

Just a note in my first post I thought It was coming from the bottom end but after further inspection I realized it's from the top...the noise is familiar...just not from the head LOL

 

could be the shield around the cat is loose or the cat is damaged inside and its rattling around. Listen to it specifically. Could be an exhaust leak. These engines are known for exhaust manifold bolts breaking.

 

Well I just put the motor in...new exhaust studs...even for the y pipe. I'm guessing you might be right...since it really is loudest at the first cat...if it's engine noise it would be loudest at the engine...or is the exhaust resonating the sound through the cat???

 

It was great growing up in the car culture. My first car was a 34 Ford coupe I paid a whopping $10.00 for. My dad had a friend that saw the hulk sitting in the back yard and offered me a Corvette engine for free. Seems his brother was rebuilding one when he got caught with some drugs. He spent a few years on sabbatical at Texas taxpayer expense but I got the engine for free. By the time I got thru with it the car was one of the quickest around town. At 40 mph rolling speed it would still pull a wheelie. But to live thru the pony cars and the muscle cars was a neat ride. For me, it helped that I had an older cousin that was a super kinda guy and he also owned a speed shop. Machine work was cost of materials only. Parts were at cost but then again back then, a starter cost $15.00, a generator was $15.00, a high performance cam with a lifter set was under $50.00, 202 SBC heads were $25.00. So it really was not expensive to build anything back then. And best of all, you didn't need to be a computer nerd to work on one.

BlackXLT, you probably have a loose catalyst rattling around inside the metal CAT housing. I would suspect that sometime in it's life it got to see some major heat either from a rich condition or possibly oil going thru the engine.

 

You can't really look at film strength and viscosity as independent variables as they are related. I run Castrol Syntec 5w30 in my '09 5.4 because it is the thinnest 5w30 I can get - just a little bit thicker than the 5w20 spec'ed for the motor. Using this oil brings the high-temp/high-shear up to 2.9 instead of 2.6 - 2.7 for 5w20 (The highest 5w20 HT/HS is Amsoil at 2.7 and the runner up is the Motorcraft 5w20 blend at 2.65 - an oil must be 2.9 or better to be called 5w30).