I work at a lube station, and i have a 4.2 V6. so i know a few things about these motors, and what they need. proper oil is so important, bad oil can blow a motor pretty fast. always pay careful attention to your oil, and dont use ****ty oil like regular pennzoil. if you want to use regualar oil, use Castrol. if you are smart, you will use a fully sythetic oil. i like royal purple, $36 for a case of 6 qts. mobil 1 is also a good oil, not as good as royal purple, but still bad ***. on average as far as i know, a mobil 1 synthetic oil change is about $50-$60. i dont thing anyone carries royal purple. typically with mobil 1, you can go about 6,000 miles, but i changed it every 4,000. another thing, dont use any oil additive, excepy oil system cleaners, i like slick 50's. sythetic oil will decrease engine wear so much, it is stupid not to use it. thats what i had to say, thank you for your time.

 

hey grasshopper . . . most lube services do not yet have the 5W-20 that is called for. is your company putting 5W-20 or 5W-30 in the new Fords? if 5W-30, any issues?

 

I have been using Exxon superflo oil and have been in all my vehicles over the last 22 years and have never experienced any oil related problems with the engine. I am tempted to switch to Mobil-1 synthetic oil but I don't want to switch from a product which has always seemed to work. Grasshopper, What do you think of the Exxon superflo oil?

 

There is a lot of contraversy about the 5w20. First of all, Ford is using Castrol 5w20 starting in the 2002 models i believe. 5W20 is a very very thin motor oil. it is so thin that i will decrease engine drag releasing more horsepower, and better fuel economy. they also want you to come back in to the dealership every 5,000 miles for your oil change. you dont go 5,000 miles on any regular oil, especially on a new engine. a lot of my customers have their oil changed every 2,500 miles. so in other words, every 5,000 miles they make it back to the dealer, but halfway during that 5,000 mile period, they come and visit me. even pennzoil and castrol say to change your oil every 3,000 miles. before they started using 5W20, the used 5W30. i used 5W30 during break in, but i used synthetic. but with the racing, it was best for me to switch to 10W40.
About Exxon Superflow, my friend has a new mustang GT, and only uses this stuff. it is within his warranty, thats why he uses it, but he also thinks it is a fairly decent oil. but it is nothing really special or anything, although i personally rate it above pennzoil. but what really makes the difference is the type of driving you do. i am a 10W40 type of guy, my ex-girlfriend is a 10W30 type of girl, maybe thats why she dumped me, who knows???

 

oh yeah, we always tell the customer that it is best to use whatever weight of oil in the motor depending on what the oil cap says to use. this is to save the bitching we might get after the dealer voids there warranty(well...not that drastic). but we do give our personnal recommendations. but they have the final word.
my advice is to use Castrol 5W30, or Mobil 1 5W30 during break in, and then move on to 10W30 weight.

 

I use 10-30 here in the Houston area climate. I also change my oil every 2500 miles and it seems to be a wise thing to do seeing that the motorcraft filter and 7 quarts of oil is about $13.

 

I just bought a new one; 5w30 synthetic should be safe to use?
I should be able to get Mobil 1 at any oil chage station, and I'm at 1600 miles now.

 

So Grasshopper what's bad about Pennzoil?

 

Dont get me wrong, Pennzoil is a good oil, but not for me. My driving style calls for something better. Regular Pennzoil oil breaks down too fast for my liking. And when an oil starts breaking down, engine wear occurs. Thats why I run Royal Purple synthetic. This oil will last 10,000 miles for an everyday driver. I have 1,000 miles on this stuff so far, and the stuff is still purple. I plan on keeping my truck for a long time, hell I payed the whole truck off the day I got it, so why not spend the extra money and buy better fluids to make it last longer. The guy who started Royal Purple had a Suburban with 210,000 miles on the original motor, always ran with Royal Purple, never rebuilt the motor or anything. But at 210,000 miles, he disassembled, and measured every part in the engine, all parts were within manufacturers specs. Imagine that. That wouldnt be possible with regular oil. Now thats what I call peace of mind...

 

Penzoil is made from a waxy base, causing it to build-up "sludge" inside your motor.

 

My father has a 1988 Bronco II with 165,000 miles on it. He has always used Pennzoil, has not had to do any engine work on it and it does not use oil between changes. I have always used it in my vehicles as well without any problems although i have been tempted to switch to a synthetic

 

Dangit! This is getting confusing! So Castrol GTX or Pennzoil or what?? I bought a case of each just in case.. Exact same price too..

 

Personnaly I like the Castrol more. Its what a lot of dealerships in Houston Texas use.

 

Just had an oil change today switching to 5W30 Castrol GTX.

I live about 1.5 miles away from George Bush turnpike. I have never gotten on the turnpike with a completely warm engine before, (during the winter anyway) Yet I was just driving toward the tollroad like everyday when I suddenly noticed that the hand from the temp guage was up to the optimal temp well before Bush turnpike.

Checked weight of oil from dealer from last oil change, same weight, diff brand. "Motorcraft", whatever that means. Could it be that dealer is pumping diff weight oil or Castrol is just diff?

 

Used Pennzoil for years then switched to Castrol for years. Recently switched to Mobil 1. Like all of you guys, I change my oil regularly and never had a problem with any of them.

Grasshopper mentioned Slick 50... Should I be using that? and why? Thanks.

RB