I am doing my first oil change this weekend and I have a couple questions. What weight synthetic do you guys run? I have always ran Castrol Syntech 5w50 in my Dodge trucks with great results but when my dad tried to run it in his Expy it caused valve train noise. ALSO I know in my LS1 cars with Castrol Syntech I got lifter tap so I had to run Mobile 1...has anyone tryed Castrol Syntech in the 5.4 3vs?

I hope this doesn't start a which is better war....I know there is a ton of those posts and I will decide that for myself....I am just asking about your personal experiences and whats worked best for you.

 

150,000 miles, and Mobil 1 keeps it running like the day I bought it, no taps, no ticks, no knocks, nothing.

 

i would run red-line 5w-20, but free oil changes at the dealership calls for motocraft stuff, still good IMO

 

Been using Mobil One 0w-20 for about 14,000 miles now no problems. (0w-20 because the recomended weight for these trucks is 5w-20 The bottle of 0w-20 says its is a replacement for ford 5w-20)

 

used the same castrol syntec 5-50 in my 4.6 with no problems I will put it in my 5.4 3v in a few weeks.

 

I'm with pa_wolf I just went with mobile1 0w20 cuz thats what the bottle said! motorcraft filter, and make sure you get the right one, there are 2 for the 04's

 

2004 F150 Lariat - 37,800 Miles - Have used Royal Purple 5w20 since 15k miles. Used Mobil 1 0w20 before. Absolutely no problems and will continue using Royal Purple

1998 F150 Lariat - 230,000 Miles - Have used Mobil 1 5w30 for the majority of the miles, switched to Royal Purple for the last two oil changes.

Both trucks continue to run great with no signs of oil consumption.

 

I am thinking about using Amsoil 5w-30. I am about to do my first oil change (about 800 miles on her). Has anyone heard anything about his brand. I have been told great things, but I wanted to see what you boys(& girls) felt. Let me know and thanks for the help.
Jeff

 

Thanks for the replys...the Mobile one 0w-20 it is.

I didn't want to say this at first because I figured I would get some crap for it but what the hell. My dad has a 95 Eddie Bauer Bronco with a 351W in it. He bought it new and has not "changed" the oil in since it had around 50,000 miles on it. He runs Syntech 5w50 and changed the filter and adds 1 quart every 3,000 miles. Some heavy equipment mech that works for him told him to do it that way. The truck now has almost 180,000 on it (last I looked it was 178,000 plus) and burns no oil and runs just like it did new. I am not saying its the right thing to do but its worked for him!

 

Im switching to Mobil 1 0w-20 in my 04 when I hit 3000.........

 

Hey projects1 I hear you are wanting to change your oil already, I wanted to get mine changed too. but after reading on here and talking with some friends at work, Its probably best to give time for your engine to break in before you switch to synthetic, I did mine after 5,000. Main reason for that is so I can change it every 5,000 miles and be on an even schedule to remember each time, 10,15,20 and so on, that is just my opinion, and on to amsoil I have never heard anything bad about it, I have a friend that hasnt owned anything but SVT vehicles since 99' and he says his top 3 choices for synthetics are amsoil, mobil1, and royal purple, so if hes putting those 3 into his cobras then there must be something good to say about them, anyway just my opinion on both, but I would check out the proper weight to use for sure, mobil1 has 0w20(recommended for ford 5w20 apps) and I know royal purple has a 5w20, not sure about amsoil though. anyways I hope my rambling has helped.

 

Thanks 04~4X4~XL!

Yea Amsoil does have a 5w-20 but I will check to make sure that is the correct oil for the 04 Ford. You stated that you didn't change until 5k, that was for convenience? (5k-10k-15k etc...) I thought I read a post that said the first oil should be change by 2k, you know new motor and all. I suppose there isn't a right/wrong way. Thanks again for the post.

 

Same here.

 

What is the real advantage of using Mobil 1 if you continue to change every 5K, why not the Motorcraft? The way I always understood it, one advantage of going to a syn oil was to allow greater milage between changes. Getting ready to change too, and debating what to put in.

 

Syn, has better thermal properties and greater longevity, but is still subject to contaminants caused by the combustion process itself. No way around that. Otherwise (and providing you had a good enough filtration system), you could probably leave it in for 50 k miles.


I hear what you're saying . A lot of folks feel that if they change the oil often, they don't really need syn. I would use it if only for the increased cold start protection.