Maybe they do not recommend synthetics because of cost. Maybe because they want you to buy more of their MC oil. And there's really no need to 'recommend' a synthetic when dino oil provides adequate protection. I don't believe they built the motor to run on dino. If that is the case, then why do they come with a synthetic blend from the factory? Mine did. My brothers did.

 

Well, I didn't do a lab analysis on the oil I drained from my truck, so I can't say what was in it first. But if the dino provides adequate lubrication, then why exceed it? You're just wasting your money. And again, we're talking about a F-150 here, not the space shuttle, so tolerances are no different than any other vehicle. If you change your oil regularly, you're doing more than most people. And it's rare to see an engine break before 200,000 miles. And almost nobody here keeps a truck that long. If you don't dog the truck all the time, I can't see why you wouldn't get 300,000 out of it. I'm over 60% there now,(180,000) with no engine or tranny problems. 1 oil change on the tranny, and engine oil changes at 5,000 miles. No other fluids have ever been touched, added to, changed, etc. (except windshield washer fluid) Add to the fact, that my engine idles a lot, and pulls wagons around a field slowly, so actual engine hours are VERY high for the mileage. The more miles I put on it, the less oil the engine burns. I'm down to about a quart between changes now.

 

Let's see...110K on my 99, oil changed every 3K on the dot, 5w3o Castrol GTX. Burns less than 1/2 qt.

170K on my dad's 98 Ranger. Oil changed every 5K +/-, whatever 10w3o is cheapest, swear to the big man above he gets it from the dollar store.

I don't have a high performance car (even though I drive it like that sometimes), and it doesn't require the expensive stuff. I'm sticking with dino.

 

I agree unless we're talking extended oil drains. There's no doubt, that dino provides adequate protection, but it isn't the best protection from what I've seen. I have seen the inside of Nissan motors, Ford, Suburu, GMC, and Dodge all ran on dino oil and did fine, right up until they had to be rebuilt and all had tons of varnish and buildup although the dino motor oil (castrol and valvoline) were changed no more than every 5K miles.

This guy up the road from my office owns a CAR KING automotive place. He has a torn down motor that he wanted to rebuild to add some new parts. It ran completely on RP synthetic with the occasional Redline. It appeared brand new even though it had over 200K miles on it. No varnish, not sludge build up.

Adequate to me is ok if you're willing to settle for mediocrity in some cases. Plus I do not mind spending the $6-7/quart of oil.

1979 Dodge Ram Charger 276K miles
1986 Grand Am 265K miles
1999 Grand Am 206K miles
1994 Lincoln Town Car 169K miles

The 2 Ford trucks we had in the early 80's (inherited from late uncles)needed so much work that we got rid of them. Both ran on dino oil and needed work on the motors all the time. My dad got tired of sinking $$ into them. Neither made it over 100K miles. Both were used on our farm.

All of the previous are running on synthetics and never a major repair, and motors still run like new.

I'll stick with synthetics.

 

Is this really a problem? .... (not meant to be sarcastic or offensive)... I'm just posing the question to the general forum viewers.
What "oil related" problems did you have, that required regular maintenence? Usually oil failure causes catastrophic damage. Not something to be "worked on" all the time. And from the tons of folks on this site that make it over the 200,000 mile mark, I'd say that is not the norm. In fact, how many people here complain of blown engines, or spun bearings etc?

I feel as if your problems were un-related to the oil that was being used (unless it ran without oil for a while)..... But you know... not me.

I just wouldn't get too comfortable with the idea that, If I spend more money, and buy a "better" product, my truck will last longer... Truth be told, I rarely see an engine quit because of "oil related" mechanical failure. You'd be surprised at how tough and tolerant your engine is to various lubricants. I've heard of people running out of oil and adding cooking oil, tranny fluid, hydraulic oil, etc. with no ill effects. Remember, "no oil" is what gets people. And that's probably what happened in the case of your uncle's trucks.

 

I really do not know. This is one of 'those things.' Bobby Varnon, a race car guy I've known since I was a kid, said that if this is building up, then the oil being used is not great for THAT motor-it isn't cleaning like it should and isn't tolerant of the heat. I doubt that it is really a problem, but you'd think that years of varnish might attribute something.

I personally have had none. Well, except for a motor using oil. We've encountered that quite a bit but strangely, it was only with dino oil---and now that I think about it, it was always when we had Kendall, which I always thought was supposed to be a good oil, I guess it is. To date, I've never had a motor use/burn up synthetic oil or the MC blend. I cannot explain that either.