Does it matter, or is one better or worse than the rest?

 

This should be interesting.

IMHO it's personal preference or one of those "my dad used this, so I will too."

Anyway before switching to Mobil 1 I used Pennzoil. Why? Cause that's what I always saw my dad buy when I was a kid. LOL.

This should be fun I'd like to see what everybody thinks and why!



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'98 F150 4X4 4.6L Romeo Black ExtCab Flareside ORP. Current Mods: Billet Grille, Billet Bumper insert, K&N Filter W/Airbox Mod, Spray-in Bedliner, 285-75-16 BFG A/T's, Removed 4X4 Stickers, Dual 2 chamber flowmasters, Smoke bug shield, Kenwood CD player, Mobile 1.
Current Problems: Bad Rattle at start-up - Possible PS but it's a Romeo ? ? ?

 

Send me a copy Bob, rdbrown2@hotmail.com

I personally like Castrol GTX, but I also think Valvoline, Quaker State, Mobil, Exxon, Phillips 66 Trop Arctic, Mystic, and Kendall, to name a few, are good oils. I think my Dad's using Quaker State now.

 

I use Valvoline on the F150. Mobil 1 on the Ranger. On my next vehicle I don't know if I'll switch to synthetics or not. I like Valvoline...my dad used it also so thats why I started using it. I have 160k on the F150 with Valvoline, and 180k on my 3.0 Probe with Valvoline. So there's some evidence of Valvoline oil. Oh and they have sweet advertisments.

"Some guys have shrinks, some guys have there garages"

"You always know the guys who use Valvoline"

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1994 Ford Ranger 4x4 4.0L, K&N, Superchip, 63mm T-body

1993 F150 Ext. cab 4.9L 5spd 4x4

 

Bob's F150--thanks for the information.

In my opinion, all of the oil manufactured today is very good quality. It is difficult to say which is better.

The most important factor is changing the oil and filter regularly. No matter what oil is used..it will..in time become contaminated. Even Synthetic oil will, in time, become contaminted.

I have used Castrol GTX for 10 years..I had a 1986 Mazda 626 that was still running like new at 188,000 miles. The oil/filter were changed every 3000 miles. I have used Valvoline also in the past.

I have been using Mobil 1 Synthetic in my F-150 and so far it has been great. I switched due to the recommendations of other members and some internet research.

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2000 F-150 XLT, 4x2, 5.4L Supercab, Styleside, Black with silver two-tone, 3.55, class III towing package with heavy duty cooling package, 4 wheel disk ABS, overhead console, sliding rear window, keyless entry, dark graphite interior, in dash CD, Pendaliner bedliner, K&N air filter, rubberized undercoating, cabin filtration system, Bugflector II, 5W-30 Mobil 1, engine build 10/4/99

 

Up until I switched to Mobil 1 in the truck I used Penzoil or Valvoline 5W30. The truck is still new (12Kmi), but after all I've read, I feel better with the synthetic, maybe the truck does too!. As for our 94 Taurus with the new short block (gd thing) I still use the Penzoil and Valvoline and change at approx 2500mi.

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"99" F-150 4x2,ext, med red / silver, 4.2L, auto, 3.55's, 265x16's premium snd w/cd, 4 wheel antilocks, leer "too heavy" matching cap, Mobil 1.

 

Use the oil the 2000 Daytona 500 winner will use, Texaco Havoline. Go #28!

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99 F150 XLT Supercab Towing Package 5.4L Auto Two Tone Med Toreador Red/ Silver Power windows, locks, mirrors, driver's seat. Cruise, tilt wheel Alloys, Michelins, ARE topper Superchip / 2000 Chevy Silverado Ext cab 5.3, auto, Tow package, tilt, cruise, power windows,locks,side mirrors, alloy wheels.

 

Texaco Havoline3 has a sythetic additive called TLA- it's an EPDM (etheline, propylene, derivative monomer), which they have been adding for years. This substance (TLA) is the slickest substance in the world, by engineering standards to machinery wear. I guess if I were in there marketing department I would call it a sythetic (blend) because it is more so than all the ones that are advertising blends. I personally use it and believe it is by far the best (conventional) oil on the market.

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'97 Ford SC 4X4 XLT Off Road pkg., 4.6,A/OD, 3:55, premium sound w/CD chg, Black clct,towing pkg., hvy duty elec. pkg., Bridestone dueler AT's, line X, Flowmaster true duals, chip, K&N air filter, smittybilt stainless nerf bars

 

Nickster is that additive TLA in synthetic oils like Mobil 1 and Havoline synthetic? A friend of mine owns a delivery co. that has 12 vans and they all use 10W30 Havoline conventional. All have between 100,000 and 150,000 miles and all have compression to specs.

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99 F150 XLT Supercab Towing Package 5.4L Auto Two Tone Med Toreador Red/ Silver Power windows, locks, mirrors, driver's seat. Cruise, tilt wheel Alloys, Michelins, ARE topper Superchip / 2000 Chevy Silverado Ext cab 5.3, auto, Tow package, tilt, cruise, power windows,locks,side mirrors, alloy wheels.

 

I have used Valvoline motor oil in my 87 Ranger for 13 yrs (170,000 miles) and now use it in my F150. My big brother turned me on to it early. I'm sure this is a groundless theory, but I've always felt it in my interest to pick a oil and stick with it in a motor because of each blend having a different make-up (additives) that stay in the motor after a change that might effect a new blend you switch to. You know, a little EPDM here some PTFE there etc. I have been giving synthetic oil a lot of thought these day's but still have not warmed up to it yet. My 2-cents

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1999 F150 XLT S/C,5.4,Wht,ORP,Pwr seats,Infinity/Alpine, Factory Nerf Bars(the best looking step out there!)Glasstite Targa topper.K&N

 

valvoline 5w30 in the expy and syn. valvoline in the f150

 

Psycho,
I doubt if it's used in Mobil 1, simply because Mobil 1 basestock is a PAO (poly alpha olephin) from a shell plant. Mobil uses the shell pao because they hold a more consistent spec. on the quality of the pao that they produce. So it's actually cheaper for mobil to buy shell pao's and sell the ones they produce to another customer and they have less process adustment in their blending procedure than if they used their own pao's, plus they hold a tighter spec. on Mobil 1 shelf product. But TLA is a Texaco patent that they bought from DSM Copolymer many years ago as soon as they seen the potential of it being a motor oil additive. This is not saying it's not in any other oils, but it would have to be bought from Texaco or the patent rights would have to at least be purchased from them to use it in another oil.

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'97 Ford SC 4X4 XLT Off Road pkg., 4.6,A/OD, 3:55, premium sound w/CD chg, Black clct,towing pkg., hvy duty elec. pkg., Bridestone dueler AT's, line X, Flowmaster true duals, chip, K&N air filter, smittybilt stainless nerf bars

 

If you have seen the tread with the oil technical data, it is a 1997 data sheet. I have been updating this sheet to see what oils have done in 3 years. Most have changed in thier properties to meet new requirements. If anyone is interested in what I have so far I can e-mail it to them (its in excell format) unless cuting and pasting it on here will work from a spread sheet.

Personally I use Valvoline All Climate, it, to me, had the best specs. Also I've been using it for many years with no toubles. My father in law uses it in his 89 ranger 4 cyl. and he has 170,000 miles on his engine and still going strong. Changing every 3000 miles.

As for synthetic I have e-mailed a chassis engineer for Ford and he said that although Ford does not put a recomendation to use synthetic he did not know any issues with using them. And he mentiond that Ford dealerships were optioning synthetic to its customers in the Detroit area. But he stesses that you must keep to the scheduled oil change intervals. That could become expensive. His quote "Do not in any way use any additives or oil treatments because they can harm internal engine parts and void your warranty."

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1999 F150 S.Cab 4x4
Northland Edition,5.4
Off road pkg. Fleetside
Black w/grey int.

 

At one time, it was very true that oils differed greatly in quality (this was back in the days of the Model T), and it WAS good advice to only stick with one oil and change it OFTEN. Kendall came out with the "Two Thousand Mile" motor oil (hence the two fingers in their ads) and oils began to come up in quality across the board. Unfortunately, everyone to this day (including me) has it ingrained that some oils are much better than others and you ought to just stick with one, when in reality, there's really not a lot of difference in the level of protection one brand offers over the other. We're all suckers for the ad campaigns and we all take in the stories from friends and relatives. Consumer Reports did a test on oils, conventional and synthetic, and didn't find anything inherently good or bad in any of the brands. I'm slowly realizing, as long as you use the recommended weight and viscosity and follow your recommended maintenence schedule, your engine WILL last a LONG time.

 

You may all find this very interesting, I was suprised on the outcome of some brands.
http://www.performanceunlimited.com/oilchart.html

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99' F-150 XLT SC 4X4 ORP LS 4.6L - K&N Air Filter & Custom 3" Intake from fender to TB, Superchip, PowerAid, Rapidflow 3" single CatBack exhaust, Fluidyne Trany cooler, A.R.E. Cover, Duraliner bed liner.