Interesting oil thread on the Ford GT forum

Why are you telling me to have fun running a 20 at the track and that I should read up on my rights? The spec'd oil for the GT350 is 5w-50. The manufacturer cannot specify that you have to use their oil or a specific brand of oil. But they can specify you have to use equivalent oil meeting a certain viscosity and/or specifications. Even the aftermarket oil companies like Amsoil specifically say the same thing when using their oils in a car without voiding the manufacturer warranty. UAmach it's nothing personal, and as I said I wouldn't be surprised if there are better oil choices. But I want to avoid people thinking that the Magnuson Moss Act allows them to run whatever oil viscosity they want without voiding their warranty. That is not how the act was written. Furthermore, a good modern example is the situation with the Viper owners who had casting defects in the blocks leading to failures. Dodge was denying warranty claims when an aftermarket tune had been used. This is a case where the consumer should have been protected by the Magnuson act, but at least one member realized that the cost of trying to lawyer up against Dodge in that regard was going to cost more than the engine replacement itself.

UAmach1 said:

What are you talking about? Mobile1 alone has like 4 oils that meet the WSS-M2C945-A requirement. Castrol and Valvoline also have multiple.

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Since he owns a GT350 that's probably what he's talking about. I've been looking around as I'm almost due for my first oil change. From mobil's website:

"Based on what you've told us, your vehicle manufacturer recommends a 5W-50 viscosity and oil that meets Ford WSS-M2C931-B. We currently do not offer any motor oils in the United States that meet these specifications."

And actually the 2017 supplement specifies WSS-M2C931-C

UAmach1 said:

What are you talking about? Mobile1 alone has like 4 oils that meet the WSS-M2C945-A requirement. Castrol and Valvoline also have multiple.

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Well you see that's part of the problem that's not the right spec. From the 2017 SHELBY GT350 MUSTANG SUPPLEMENT Third edition page 44 the correct spec is ....:amen: WSS-M2C931-B

But point still stands there are other brands than motorcraft if you believe they have some benefit from cost to endurance run it :hail: your warranty is safe.

Okay, so can anyone give me a good rule of thumb for GT350 oil?

Track days: ?
Daily driving: ? (I'll assume manufacturers recommendation here)
Freezing climate: ?

I had a track pack that has since been traded in. I did a 3 day track weekend at Daytona last year. Anyone who has driven the rolex course knows its a lot of wide open throttle on the outside course. 3 days of this and I sent the oil in for analysis. No shearing or any appreciable breakdown of the ford motorcraft 5w50 oil. That's a lot of miles of heavy track use. The engine was built for this kind of use, and there is a very good reason the manufacturer recommends (requires for warranty) that you use the correct oil. Don't use oil specified, then you very well may have a problem with a warranty should there be a problem. How much is a voodoo engine swap?

For example, I am currently looking to replace the tranny and differential fluid with BG, but unless I have something that says it meets or exceeds the OEM specification, I'd be a fool to use it (despite having a new in the box GT350R transmission in my garage).

Why would anyone use an aftermarket product when it could/would void the warranty?

MulhollandMonster said:

Okay, so can anyone give me a good rule of thumb for GT350 oil?

Track days: ?
Daily driving: ? (I'll assume manufacturers recommendation here)
Freezing climate: ?

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Why do you want different oils?
The 5w50 does it all pretty well, except trying to get 7K miles between changes.

cking said:

Why do you want different oils?
The 5w50 does it all pretty well, except trying to get 7K miles between changes.

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Exactly,

Why would anyone do That? Especially with a car like this?

1k or 2k for me. And always after a track event.

cking said:

Why do you want different oils?
The 5w50 does it all pretty well, except trying to get 7K miles between changes.

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Did you watch the video? It was posted, so it begs the question. If the answer is scientifically "this engine is like no other, and extreme conditions are nothing for it because it is perfect" is a semi-acceptable answer, but Ford has saw fit to triple the cost of their extended warranty over a matter of a couple months. Apparently they aren't as confident with their calculations as they were 2 months ago...THEREFORE, I am open to a better way...Ford also says we should change oil far less frequently than most of us do, and I won't follow that suggestion either.

When I regularly tracked my Evo IX, I most definitely used thicker oil. I flogged that car and whooped most everything on the track, and she purred like a kitten while doing it.

I'll be running Amsoil in the 350: https://www.amsoil.com/lit/databulletins/g2880.pdf

Tomster said:

The engine was built for this kind of use, and there is a very good reason the manufacturer recommends (requires for warranty) that you use the correct oil.

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Could someone point out the phrase in the owner's manual, supplement, or warranty guide where this requirement is stated?

MAV said:

Could someone point out the phrase in the owner's manual, supplement, or warranty guide where this requirement is stated?

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The 2017 "recommendation" in the GT350 supplement calls for a Motorcraft equivalent 5w-50 per Ford specification WSS-M2C931-C.

Fill it up with Mobil 1 5w30. Have a motor issue, and let's see what happens.

5-50 is already a thick oil. You won’t need anything thicker for tracking. Think of it this way: GM recommends a thinner oil for street driving. Ford does not (for the GT350).

I feel that many are overthinking this. There is nothing wrong with the stock oil that will be significantly changed by going with an alternate. The oil change intervals as goverened by the algorithms will take into account any degradation that might occur. I can totally understand using an alternate if it gives more peace of mind, but the difference in performance will be minimal IMO. The OEM oil is already high quality.

-T

So if I use 5W-50 in my 5.0 and have a problem, is the warranty voided?

Ford raised the extended warranty price on all of its cars, which comes more from the new CEO being a bean counter and trying raise profits.

Run whatever you like, but I bought ext warranty and will run what Ford says so that if comes to question of did you comply I can prove yes. Along with receipts for oil and filters.

I tried to find what FORD changed when they went to 931-C from 931-B. Everybody wanted $ for pdf files, did find that C was 2014 change which means the Ford GT350 supplement third edition was a typo.

Amsoil 5-50 meets the 931-c spec.

Anybody what they upgraded in the C version?