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Originally posted by Bob Woods:
I think I will stick with changing oil and filter based on vehicle manufacturers scheduled time frame for the one thats still in warranty and that's 7 years 70K miles, even thou it has synthetic in it. The question is not about oil or filter or repair parts, its easy to find oil and filters and other parts that meet manufacturers spec in most cases. Its about preventive maintanance being done in a timely fashion.

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A very good choice. Being with a government fleet, Ford has told us that an engine warranty could be voided by not using the approved and the correct type of lubricants and not following the recommended maintenance schedules. We follow the manufacturers recommendations on service intervals(sometimes even more frequent) and have had minimal engine problems. Better safe than sorry!

High guy's,new to the forum,I would to know if the 5w-20 oils in synthetic will protect your engine's as well as 5w-30. I have two new (2004 F-150,2004 mercury mountaineer,that require these lighter vis. oils. If this mean's anything,the service person at my merc. dealer said they did not use 5w-20,they used 5w-30,and she said it would not void your warr. What do you all think.

The answer is...it depends. What oils are we talking about! What temps does it see? How long do you keep cars?

Motorcraft 5W20 is really good stuff, in fact probably better than any of the other dino 5W20's out there. It turns in great used oil anaylis reports in many applications.

If a mercury dealer isn't using 5W20, I would be VERY suspicious. First off, the EPA would be pretty irritated about that, as the letter posted earlier implies that dealers are required to supply the same oil as used for mileage calculations. Second, I would be suspicous that they have a bunch of ancient 5W30 they are trying to unload. I'd want to know exactly what 5W30 they were using, and also make certain that you get actual Motorcraft filters.

5W30 won't void your warantee, in my oppinion it is wise to stick to the reccomended OCI though. Dino 5W30 often shears down to about 20 in vicosity anyway, so I would probably run the motorcraft 5W20.

If you're changing at the manufacturer's reccomended OCI, and you plan on keeping the car for 10 years or less, I would run the motorcraft 5W20 and Motorcraft filers. If you see temp extremes, or simply want a better oil I'd run Mobil 1, probably in 5W30,(nothing wrong with 0W20, but Wal-Mart sells the 5W30 for $18-19/5 qts).

Motorcraft's filters are an excellent value in Ford applications...they cost less than $3, and are very, very well built with media similar to a Purolator PureONE, a Wix style bypass, and a silcone ADBV.