2015-2017 oil 5w20 vs 5w30

[Glico]

I’ve seen a lot of threads on people with mustangs deciding on what to use and I see most people agree on 5w30. That being said most of those posts are from people that own a 2018+. I’m just curious what people with the Gen2 motor are running and if I should stick with 5w30. I don’t redline my car every single day but it is my daily and I drive about 50 miles a day. I live in the valley area of Cali so it can be 100+ summer days and winter can be cold just no snow. Of course I go fully synthetic just wondering if 5w30 is just overkill on a daily that I do not track?

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[NightmareMoon]

No its not overkill, esp for a summer car seeing a lot of miles.

 

[robvas]

5W30. 5W20 is for fleet fuel economy reasons only. Notice they went back to 5W-30 for the factory recommendation...

If you're in that hot of weather you might as well go 10W40

 

[Glico]

5W30. 5W20 is for fleet fuel economy reasons only. Notice they went back to 5W-30 for the factory recommendation...

If you're in that hot of weather you might as well go 10W40

Is there a specific oil brand you use? I’ve been using royal purple but I recently watched a video on YT about Amsoil and pennzoil being the best after testing. Thanks for the info too

 

[robvas]

Is there a specific oil brand you use? I’ve been using royal purple but I recently watched a video on YT about Amsoil and pennzoil being the best after testing. Thanks for the info too

Whatever synthetic you like to run. Running Mobil 1 right now but I may change to Castrol GTX in the spring, depends on what they have in stock when I go to buy oil.

I think it's pointless to buy Amsoil or LiquiMoly but some people are scared to run Costco oil so it's up to you.

 

[NightmareMoon]

I ran motorcraft synthetic blend for a long time but after losing a bearing in that motor, I’m not messing around - its Amsoil now.

If you sign up for $20 online with Amsoil you save like 2x that and they ship extremely fast to your door. Makes it more affordable.

 

[Glico]

I ran motorcraft synthetic blend for a long time but after losing a bearing in that motor, I’m not messing around - its Amsoil now.

If you sign up for $20 online with Amsoil you save like 2x that and they ship extremely fast to your door. Makes it more affordable.

You think it was because of the oil specifically or just by chance? I know they recommend motorcraft but I’ve seen so many oils that are better lol and yeah amsoil is supposedly the best you can buy I’m thinking about it

 

[skinnyb]

I have always ran Pennzoil Ultra Platinum 5W30. Has worked great for me, that said I do run Liquimoly Ceratec as well in mine, it keeps the dreaded typewriter tick at bay... Not quite as applicable for a gen 2 car. I did however switch to Liquimoly oil the last time (Molygen 5w30) so far so good...

 

[TonyT930]

I ran motorcraft synthetic blend for a long time but after losing a bearing in that motor, I’m not messing around - its Amsoil now.

If you sign up for $20 online with Amsoil you save like 2x that and they ship extremely fast to your door. Makes it more affordable.

This ^^^^^^ I've been doing it for years

 

[Bikeman315]

Just use whatever Ford tells you too. No one on here knows more than the manufacturer (although some think they do). As far as brand use whatever floats your boat. As long as it meets Ford spec it really doesn’t matter (No one has ever lost an engine just because of a brand of oil).

I've read bad reviews about Royal Purple, Amsoil, and every other brand. There’s always someone who doesn’t like something. Personally I’ll stick with Motorcraft. Tens of thousands of miles and never had an issue. That said do whatever makes “you” happy.

 

[SCP440]

The best advice I was given by a local mechanic was put in what it says on the filler cap or sticker in the engine bay, it must cost Ford something to print 5w20 on the filler cap and they would not do it for fun as they will do anything to save a penny as we know.
I know on the 2004 vintage Ford V8's you could ruin the cam with heavier oils due to the higher load.
As far as engine damage using the manufacturers recommended oil was there any other contributing factor ? How old was the oil, had the engine warmed up ?
The same mechanic as above also recommended changing oil before it was due, oil is cheap compared with the cost of a new motor and he reckoned he could always tell when you looked inside if the oil changes had been done close to the ''recommended '' time.

 

[robvas]

(No one has ever lost an engine just because of a brand of oil).

True. At least not a street driven car.

Just use whatever Ford tells you too. No one on here knows more than the manufacturer (although some think they do).

The best advice I was given by a local mechanic was put in what it says on the filler cap or sticker in the engine bay, it must cost Ford something to print 5w20 on the filler cap and they would not do it for fun as they will do anything to save a penny as we know.

Why did they go back to 5W30 in 2021 without changing anything in the engine?

Why did they recommend 5W50 if you had a 'track pack' car in the past, with the exact same engine?

Why do they currently recommend 5W30 for 'track use'?

The problem with going by 'what Ford said' is that they don't have the same interests as you. They don't recommend an oil solely for 'best protection' or 'longest engine life'. They have a hundred different things factoring into that decision. Plus they are recommending it for every person in every situation. Whether you live in Alaska or Death Valley.

And remember all the quotes from Ford Racing and SVT engineers saying to never use 5W20...

I know on the 2004 vintage Ford V8's you could ruin the cam with heavier oils due to the higher load.

Source?

 

[RobZ71LM7]

You'll find when they switched to 0 or 5w20 that it wasn't the case everywhere. In many cars that were sold globally, the OEM would spec 30 and 40 weight oils in the same engine. It's purely for fuel economy in most cases.

 

[NightmareMoon]

You think it was because of the oil specifically or just by chance? I know they recommend motorcraft but I’ve seen so many oils that are better lol and yeah amsoil is supposedly the best you can buy I’m thinking about it

Nothing is by chance. My car was very hard use for 98k miles, literally hundreds of autocrosses and track days. it died running E85 bouncing off the rev limiter for 4 seconds in a sustained +1g sweeper with sticky tires and aero.

I got a lot of smiles out of that motor. The gen 2 oil pan design and even aspects of the bock aren't that great for that kind of use. It made it to nearly 100k, so I'm not mad at all and I knew that day was coming, but better oil changed more often may have helped it last a bit longer is my guess.

 

[K Myers]

Is there a specific oil brand you use? I’ve been using royal purple but I recently watched a video on YT about Amsoil and pennzoil being the best after testing. Thanks for the info too

Amsoil is expensive, and pennzoil new formula is the to dog for the money.

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