Regarding oil consumption, I have a 98 F-150 with the 5.4 4x4 broke it in with conventional oil. At approximately 6k I switched to Amsoil 100% synthetic motor oil 0-30w. I have put on a by-pass oil filter and increased the size of my full flow filter too.

Currently, I have 38k on the truck and have changed oil twice (beyond the break-in period, which I changed every 3K). In either case, I have not used a quart of oil in 16k miles.

With Amsoil, they recommend using thier oil for 35k or 1 year. So far, I see no problem with oil consumption i.e. with the engine or using a good quality synthetic oil (less evaportation due to high engine temps). Regards, Rick Medina

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Rick Medina
Las Vegas, Nevada

 

Hey Rick,

I truly believe that you can run any oil 20-30,000 miles without changing it. I have had two Lincoln town cars and a Mazda RX7 and that's how often I changed the oil in them (after break-in). Each outlasted their body life. Over 180,000 miles on each.
I think the oil companies would go broke if people stopped changin' their oil as often as they do. Hence the requirements...

Mark

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'98 XLT, 4.6L, SC, 4x2, 3.08
Black, SB, Flareside,
ARE Tonneau ,
Lined, [img]//millennium.fortunecity.com/magic/388/Smil_lw1.gif[/img]
Tinted,
Deflected,
Mini-Disced ,
Amped 4x100,
Subbed 2x12,
K&Ned,
B-B-B-M-F
Goin' thru tires fast
not Superchipped yet
not Supertrucked yet




[This message has been edited by Mark G (edited 09-03-1999).]

 

My first thought about Mark G's statement was.."that guys crazy"; but then I remembered my old Chevy Blazer which I changed the dino oil basically whenever I felt like it (around every 25K). It was runnin great at 95K until someone with an obvious bad taste in trucks stole it

 

I was really commenting on the fact that the engines in our trucks seem to be extreemly tight and the quality of the motor oil does make a difference.

For instance, if you leave conventional oil in your vehicle too long and continue to expose it to the day to day rigors of driving i.e. start, stop, hard driving, heat ect. the additive packages in the oil break-down. In addition, oil evaporates when subjected to heat.

When you use a good quality synthetic oil, and leave it in the vehicle it does not leave behind the by-products of conventional oil such as the sludge, varnish (black crud).

Rather, it stays clean and resists thermal break down. Thats why an engine stays clean inside i.e. valve train, rings, pistons, and bearings.

I prefer Amsoil because they endorse extended drain entervals far beyond anything on the market today and guarantee replacement of an engine if failure is related to their product.

So far, I have put that to the test (I think) by running my truck in the hot desert climate without using a quart of oil yet logging 16k miles. Not to mention the truck I had before which currently has 300k miles and still going. Again, using Amsoil, and I changed the oil approximately every 20-25kmile intervals.

I don't really know if thats unusual or not, however, by what I hear from you folks from past history, you have done the same with your vehicles using conventional oil too. I guess the only difference would be how clean the engine stays inside and performs.

Thanks for the information and exchange of ideas---regards,

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Rick Medina
Las Vegas, Nevada