My 01 speced 05w20, both on the cap and in the owners manual. My 98 was the only 5.4 I have had that speced 05w30, and the only one of all of them that every used oil. All 4 other 5.4s speced 5w20 and never used oil.

 

Same here, except the 98 5four that's still on 5/30 hasn't used a drop of oil, but it's out of there every 3k. Yea, I didn't follow their TSB, I can't get it to use oil and my mileage is @16 when I'm not pulling, which is fair.

I had an 01 for awhile, that didn't get driven much before I sold it, but it didn't use it either.

I hear some use it, some don't and using isn't a bad thing.

 

I also change at 3k, and it was using a quart within the 3k, whereas with the 5w20, the level does not even move between changes. Definitely use 5w20 on the 3vs.

 

Back when I had my old 2000 f150 I used 5-30 in it as that was the recomended oil at the time. In 01 they changed it to 5-20 I believe I ran 5-30 mot f the time I had my 2000 the last year or so I went to 5-20. The reason why Ford went to 5-20 was to help with fuel economy numbers in its fleet.

 

uhg not this 5w20 debate again.... as I have said before 5w20 is to help meet CAFE regulations only! Yes i know Ford says VCT this clearance that but as a Ford tech I can tell you this is NOT TRUE. They need to say this to keep people using 5W20! If you guys do not belive me see what ford recomends in countries with no CAFE regulations on the same engines..FYI in Australia 5w40 is the recomended oil in most applications including engines that use 5w20 in US and Canada due to CAFE.

 

Not sure it's a debate, not yet anyway lol. The CAFE regulation requires each car manufacturer to meet a standard for the sales-weighted fuel economy right. That's all I've read or what's stuck anyway and really, what's wrong with that?

Overall, instead of looking up the TSB and going thru it and/or pasting it here. What I get out it is that it's the best of both worlds per-say. Summarized;~ Best over all, for performance and economy.

That's my take, why not use it. Right..?

 

their is absolutly nothing wrong with using 5w20. I just get a kick out of people that think if u dont u will wreck your engine

 

- Right, but if you don't know.... - Better go by the book lol.

 

I live in South Texas & it is always HOT over here. I think I might go with 5-30 due to the temps over here.

 

I run motorcraft 5w20 and filter in hot weather with no worries. You couldn't get me to buy another oil. Not b/c they don't work, but b/c there really isn't a need those expensive oils for normal day to day driving. As long as you change your oil at the correct intervals, your truck is going to break from something else before the engine breaks from wear and tear from using motorcraft instead of Mobil 1, or 5w20 instead of 30, etc.....

Thats why valvoline has that 300,000 mile guarentee. You're either not going to be owning the vehicle anymore, or it was long since broken from something else failing. But all they have to do is stamp that little 300,00o mile sticker on every bottle of synthetic, and people will shell out the cash for that insurance factor. I have only seen one car engine just flat out break b/c of the oil. That was my sisters saturn. It wasn't b/c she put the wrong oil, or lesser brand oil, it was bc she didn't change the oil in about 2 years of hard driving. Heck, everytime I visit my mom, I''ll check and see when her last oil change was on her jeep. Normal site to see 6+ months. She has done that for YEARS, that 4.0 is close to 200k and fires right up everyday. I don't recommend all that, but I wouldn't stress about mobil 1 over motorcraft, or 30 over 20.

 

Steer clear of FRAM filters though, b/c the are crap.

 

If it's an 01, the oil it left the factory with is 5w-30. It wasn't until 02 or mid year 02 that Ford put 5w-20 in it. Your choice, Ford recommends 5w-20 now for you to put in it but do whatever you want. People are using 10w-30 without issue so if you want to stay true to factory, use 5w-30.

 

Mine came from the factory with 5w20, had that on the oil filler cap, and had that in the owners manual.

If you look at www.motorcraftservice.com, printing 1 of the owners manual showed 5w30, printing 4 shows 5w20, so they switched somewhere during the model year. Mine came with everything stating 5w20.

 

I use 5w20 for our mild winters and 5w30 for the intense summers, dino oil,fresh every 2k miles. I believe the fan shroud for my model says 5w20.