Lol... I do mine ever 5K miles. Saves money like crazy. Some people are against this, but 3K mile oil still seems to have some goldness left in it...

 

If you are going to change every 3k, might as well save some money and get the Motorcraft 5W20 and a Motorcraft filter from Wally World. Using anything more expensive than that should be reserved for extended change intervals.

Those of you saying there is no difference between filters are very wrong. There is a big difference in quality. Frams are garbage, very cheaply constructed, but their premium line may be better. Fram makes a lot of the "private label" filters out there such as STP and the ones that have an oil company label on them (Pennzoil, etc.). We think Motorcrafts are made by Purolator - good filters. Wix is good, they also make Napa Gold. Mobil 1 filters are premium filters, they have a double element and are designed for extended drain intervals. Amsoil filters used to be made by Wix but I believe they are presently made by Donaldson, very high quality. I have no data on K&N, but I have no reason to think they are no good.

 

3,000 miles.. No more... Now sometimes I forget. that's where synthetic makes me feel good. 30$ for oil vs. 10$.. It's worth it to me. Prolonging the life of my truck is more important than having extra spending money.

 

Sorry for the high jack. But does anyone else use 20w 50 like me? I be using this since the truck turned 70.000 miles. I use castor ctx high mile oil. I change the oil every 5,000 miles at wally world. It a 99 4.2 w/ 139,000 miles on it. Thanks Ben

 

Ben,

Why do you use 20W50?

 

The 4.2 will survive on 20W50, but try to use it in a modular V8 and you will have issues. You should be using 5W20 or 5W30 though. Save the 20W50 for old VW's and muscle cars.

 

I fugured that the truck has so many miles on it. That a thicker oil will help fill any gaps in the motor. I have been using 20w50 for almost 70,000 miles now. I have had this truck since it had 6 miles on it. The motor has not given me any problem. I did have a vacum leak a few month ago. I am sure it to late now but do you think 20w50 would hurt my engine? Ben

 

Ben,

I think that a lighter weight oil, something more along the lines of manufacturer's specifications like 5W20 or 5W30, would be better for your truck. My other truck, a Ford 5.0L V8, calls for 5 qts of 5W30. At my last oil change, the dealership put 6 qts of 5W20 in it. Why 6 qts of 5W20? I don't know. My 4.2L V6 calls for 6 qts of 5W20. Maybe that's just what Ford thinks it's engines should have now.

 

I have a oil change comming up in a 1000 miles. Ill try the oem specs next. I also plan to change the oil at 3000 miles from now on. I use to change at 5000 miles. Ill post up the results then. Ben

 

A lot of guys here will say that Ford recommends oil changes every 5,000 miles. It is true. 5,000 miles for normal driving conditions. However, Ford also recommends every 3,000 for severe driving conditions.

Some of us may qualify as severe drivers without even knowing it. I commute in my truck. That means stop & go driving, plus sitting there idling in traffic. Sometimes at work, I have to pull over to the side of the road as I review paperwork, check map books, make phone calls, et cetera - with the engine idling the entire time.

When I change my oil, at 3,000 miles, the oil comes out looking pretty good. Not perfectly clear, but still pretty good. I would rather have that, as opposed to draining my engine to find fouled oil. Then I would know that I have been driving around with fouled oil & sludge in my engine.

Ben, why wait? That's like saying that you'll quit smoking in a month because you want to use up that last carton that you bought. Just do an oil change now. Get rid of that stuff that is in your engine, and put something good in it. High grade synthetic oil (right weight), and a quality filter. At this point, it shouldn't even matter what brand. Mobil 1, K&N, Royal Purple, Lucas Oil, Eneos, Amsoil, Redline, et cetera. I don't endorse one over the other. I use Royal Purple oil and K&N Filter only because I can get it locally. I also use Lucas Oil additives, transmission fluid, and gear oil because I can get it locally. Do yourself the favor and treat your engine right.

 

3K miles on synthetic? thats barely warming it up!

id get synthetic if i could, but hey, wal-mart is the best place in town (our town is so small) next time i'll be getting 5W-20 instead of -30

 

WalMart sells Mobil 1 5W20. I get it there for my SUV.

 

I use motorcraft synthetic blend 5w-20 and motorcraft oil filters and never had a problem. I change my oil and filter every 4500 to 5000 miles. My 4.2L V-6 has just over 81k miles on it, and it still runs smooth like the day I brought it home.

 

Cool, so it sounds like I have my mind set:

synthetic oil, 5W-20, and a motorocraft filter

vs.

standard 5W-30 oil, fram filter. thanks for the knowledge, guys

 

I have a 2003 f150 single cab silver with a 4.2 with 150,258 miles on it, I used to use nothing but mobile 1 full synthetic but i quit using it due to a major change of oil that gave my truck a whole lot of more power and better acceleration, It is the quaker state horsepower 10-w30 and a puralator oil filter,I get great start ups in the mornings too..... I get the best prices at advanced auto parts.