Recommended Oil Grade/Specification

Climate wise a 5-30 makes sense, Ford and Honda are really the only mass consumers of 5-20. BG Products offers a very good 5-30. In Florida, USA we plan to run it in our shop car. 5-20 recommendations are based on USA cold climates and EPA fuel mileage requirements. The engines do not need a heavy oil due to tight internal oil clearances, thicker is not always better but if Ford has adjusted the weight recommendation it should be followed. As far as meeting oil specs; a lot of that has to do with the zinc and ash content in the oil (the properties that protect against wear) and the levels Ford limits due to the possibility of contaminating the exhaust catalyst in which they need to warranty for an extended period in the USA. Any quality brand will suffice, some really good oils may not pass the requirements (or paid to be tested and therefore approved) but it depends on the end users decision. If you want no possible warranty denial or if you want the best protection out of warranty. It will be always filled with opinion masquerading as fact when it comes to oil recommendations. We send new and used oil samples to an outside lab so we have data to track conditions. We use our shop car on track and still currently run 5-20 Mobil 1 Extended Life but will be switching to BG 5-30 and tracking the results. Oil samples are an excellent compass to judge results for the particular use of the vehicle.

Yeah Nah said:

Bump.

Oils ain't oils

[MENTION=14293]G RUSH[/MENTION] are you going with another brand of oil or are you sticking to Motorcraft?

I'm also interested to read what engine oil people are using.

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Long story, summarised as per below

aussierob said:

I asked Ford Service Australia about the specs as the oil cap on the car states 5w-20, and the Service Guide shows SAE 5w-30 ACEA A5/B5-10 meeting Ford specification WSS-M2C913-D.
They informed me that the manual is correct.

So I did my first change a few weeks ago at 7500k's using Penrite full synthetic 5w-30. This meets Ford spec M2C913-B/C/D.
Interesting that the container states that it may also be used where 5W-20 is recommended!

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[MENTION=11431]aussierob[/MENTION] is this the Penrite Vantage full synthetic you're talking about?

Yup, that's the one i'll be using as well, because it meets the manual and appears to be the best fit

Dealers don't necessarily use Motorcraft, I know my dealer uses Castrol Edge.

If you have 28 minutes to spare, check this Amsoil 5W-30 Signature Series Oil, test and comparison with other oils, carried out by an independent testing facility.

G RUSH said:

Long story, summarised as per below



[MENTION=11431]aussierob[/MENTION] is this the Penrite Vantage full synthetic you're talking about?

Yup, that's the one i'll be using as well, because it meets the manual and appears to be the best fit

Dealers don't necessarily use Motorcraft, I know my dealer uses Castrol Edge.

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Hi [MENTION=14293]G RUSH[/MENTION],

My Penrite container just shows 'full synthetic', not sure about Vantage?

Not sure what my dealer uses. I know when I dropped my car in a few months ago for the 3k checkup, they couldn't tell me what oil they were planning to use!!!

aussierob said:

Hi [MENTION=14293]G RUSH[/MENTION],

My Penrite container just shows 'full synthetic', not sure about Vantage?

Not sure what my dealer uses. I know when I dropped my car in a few months ago for the 3k checkup, they couldn't tell me what oil they were planning to use!!!

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These appear to be the exact same oil if you look at the stats

http://www.penriteoil.com.au/products.php?id_categ=1&id_base_oil=2&id_products=671

http://www.penriteoil.com.au/products.php?id_categ=1&id_base_oil=2&id_products=750

Sounds good! The best thing is that you can usually buy these when the auto shops are having a 20 to 30% off sale so it works out a fair bit cheaper than anything from the USA

G RUSH said:

These appear to be the exact same oil if you look at the stats

http://www.penriteoil.com.au/products.php?id_categ=1&id_base_oil=2&id_products=671

http://www.penriteoil.com.au/products.php?id_categ=1&id_base_oil=2&id_products=750

Sounds good! The best thing is that you can usually buy these when the auto shops are having a 20 to 30% off sale so it works out a fair bit cheaper than anything from the USA

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Yep the top product link is the oil I purchased. I did exactly as you explained also. Supercheap were advertising a 25% off sale, only hiccup was that I had to buy 2x 6lt's of oil for the change, as the 4lt option wasn't available online. Leaves me some for my next change, and cost was less than $100.

Just on the oil change subject, does anyone know the oil filter number, Ryco or similar? Just want dump the oil after the first 1000k's or so....

Bunkie said:

Just on the oil change subject, does anyone know the oil filter number, Ryco or similar? Just want dump the oil after the first 1000k's or so....

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Just buy direct from ford, its $13 so cheap as!

aussierob said:

So I did my first change a few weeks ago at 7500k's using Penrite full synthetic 5w-30. This meets Ford spec M2C913-B/C/D.
Interesting that the container states that it may also be used where 5W-20 is recommended!

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This seems to be a new product.

I've periodically checked Penrite's catalog and has never had anything to suit M2C913-C/D. This shows similar specs to the Liqui-Moly Special F I've been ordering online previously, so I might give it a whirl, seems as Supercheap stock it.

G RUSH said:

http://www.penriteoil.com.au/products.php?id_categ=1&id_base_oil=2&id_products=671

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The 20L drum is actually on special at SCA until tomorrow...

http://www.supercheapauto.com.au/on...tic-Engine-Oil-5W-30-20-Litre.aspx?pid=396368

dave- said:

The 20L drum is actually on special at SCA until tomorrow...

http://www.supercheapauto.com.au/on...tic-Engine-Oil-5W-30-20-Litre.aspx?pid=396368

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Glad you posted this Dave , just picked up a drum.

Dumped the oil today, my mechanic mate laughed and said they will be using my dumped oil into someone else's engine. Only had done just over 500kms.

Anyway what a pain in the arse. Firstly, getting to it requires an awkward reach and bend of the elbow, once it is unscrewed you have to quickly get out of that tangle like a contortionist, and once you finally get it out the run off is so messy running down the bottom of the engine onto a piece of undercover the size of a folded napkin which is meant catch the run off and spill into the pan. A very painful experience and somewhat messy experience. Definitely need a torch. Not much room to get a rag in there to clean things up. Thumbs down in this department.

Yeah Nah said:

Dumped the oil today, my mechanic mate laughed and said they will be using my dumped oil into someone else's engine. Only had done just over 500kms.

Anyway what a pain in the arse. Firstly, getting to it requires an awkward reach and bend of the elbow, once it is unscrewed you have to quickly get out of that tangle like a contortionist, and once you finally get it out the run off is so messy running down the bottom of the engine onto a piece of undercover the size of a folded napkin which is meant catch the run off and spill into the pan. A very painful experience and somewhat messy experience. Definitely need a torch. Not much room to get a rag in there to clean things up. Thumbs down in this department.

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I wouldn't be using even 100km used oil from a new engine that was being broken in. This is oil that contains very small metallic pieces from the engine breaking in, i.e. oil ring particles as they start to wear into their bores. This oil should be changed within the first few hundred km's of any brand new engine otherwise these small metal particles then can embed themselves in other parts of the engine and could potentially caused increased wear elsewhere.
When I changed the oil filter I tried to get a rag in the area around the filter but that didn't leave me much room to get the filter out so I had to do a lot of cleaning after wards but definitely a tight fit to get your hand through the small gap that they leave for you.

hHaha changing my oil the first time at 5000km, the dealer told me they run the engine in the factory then put fresh oil in so there really shouldn't be too many metal particles floating around

phil545 said:

hHaha changing my oil the first time at 5000km, the dealer told me they run the engine in the factory then put fresh oil in so there really shouldn't be too many metal particles floating around

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I wouldn't trust what the dealer told me about what the factory does. A lot of them are full of sh*!. Most factories which build engines will test the odd engine and run it in to make sure that there are no production errors, etc but most engines are built, filled with oil and put into the cars with no special break in or running in of the engines. The actual running i is up to the new owner. However, modern engines have come a long way over the last 20-30 years with closer tolerances, etc and probably don't need to be run in for as long as they used b to be. But break in still occurs and the first few hundred kilometres is when it takes place mostly so ideally the oils should be changed (in my opinion). The fact that the factory doesn't recommend this is most likely due to cost vs benefit. Even with small metal particles floating around in the engines , they are not likely to fail and the increased wear they cause may not be evident for tens of thousands of kilometres therefore they are not going to be changing engines under waranty but to change the oil in all the cars after a few hundred kilometres would be too difficult and expensive for the dealers to do.