i have a 351 Windsor in my '96 F150. Just wondering if it would be good to add a can of ethanol treatment to the gas tank in hopes of protecting a few parts or to get better gas mileage. Also, i hear good things about this motor, any tips on protecting it, preventative maintence etc. i bought this nice truck last summer. Thanks.

 

Last year of the 351 at least in the f150. Less alcohal is better not more. Techron is the best fuel system treatment.. Good oil good filters. Stay away from fram products..

 

If your gasoline has 10% ethanol, why would you need to add extra ethanol? You don't.
Gumout with Regane on the label has the same active ingredient that Techron has. I buy it at wally world. It works great.

 

what I meant was an anti-ethanol treatment. boaters use it sometimes. is there such a thing for autos? thanks.


another question, the manual calls for 5w30. i'm in Oregon so it's not aggressively cold like some states during winter. Using royal purple and what weight? be ok on next oil change? I've been using Valvoline extended 75k miles. I have 127k on it. Runs and sounds great. I've never driven a truck this old. times have changed. I use to drive a gorgeous '04 super crew lariat with a moon roof, and a paid for 2004 F250 super crew lariat FX 4 with the terrible 6.0 diesel that I got rid of in less than 2 yrs because of 5 leaking injectors.

 

The products you are asking about are gas stabilizers. You only need those if you don't drive the truck very much. The newer gas formulations are a lot more stable than they were a few years ago. If you don't think you'll use a tank every 3 months, then you might consider using one of those products.
In regards to the oil. If you've been using Valvoline Syn Power oils they are eons over the Royal Purple. There never was anything remarkable about Royal Purple oils for gas engines except the color. The claims they made about power improvements, etc were proven to be false by SWRI in blind testing and they got their hand slapped over it. When it comes to industrial lubricants, they are top shelf but that's not what you put in any gas engine. I'd suggest either Motorcraft blend, Pennzoil yellow bottle, Trop Arctic, or Chevron Supreme for a blended oil. If you want a "synthetic", the Syn Power is among the top rated oils. Note, there are very few "synthetic" oils anymore. Most are a blended oil and some even are a Gp II+ and Gp II base oil which is yesterdays conventional oils. The claim is that the molecular structure of the crude oil has been altered enough that it does not appear in nature. Most any severely hydrocracked base oil meets that definition and some have taken advantage of it. Buy a quality well known name brand of your choice, avoid paying a lot as a premium price does not guarantee premium results, change when the manual says, make sure it wears the API label and a Ford certification, enjoy the ride.

 

Thanks a lot Labnerd. I haven't used a full syn motor oil yet and I don't plan to unless it's safe for that engine with 126k. 2 weeks ago I changed the oil and used a Valvoline syn blend before that I did use yellow bottle penzoil. gas treatement weeks ago was in fact chevron techron. Thank you very much sir. You guys are brilliant. wish I had the brains when I was a kid. was too busy playing baseball.

 

I would use the walmart high mileage oil or motorcraft in that engine. The weight recomended. I would get the fl1a motorcraft filter I'd change it every 5000 I'd maintain the rest of it and just drive..

 

Ok, will do. I had to change the fuel pump, and ended up getting a wix fuel filter and oil filter. I'll take your advice. Thanks.

 

Nothing wrong with the Wix filter. Just avoid Fram.

 

yes, I learned that from this website some 15 yrs ago