Do I need 50w oil?

[J17GT]

I run that Euro spec Mobile 1 FS X2 5w50 in my whipple car. Get it at Napa when they have a sale for like $6.99 a quart. I drag race quite a bit and beat on this thing like it owes me money! Engine doesn’t use a drop and seems healthy as can be.

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[Unas2k5]

I have the 9.5:1 Ford Alluminator and my oil cap says 5W50 so that suggests that’s what Ford recommends for a forced induction motor.

 

[EFI]

I have the 9.5:1 Ford Alluminator and my oil cap says 5W50 so that suggests that’s what Ford recommends for a forced induction motor.

That recommendation probably has more to do with the specced internal clearances of the motor rather than expected use.

 

[K4fxd]

That recommendation probably has more to do with the specced internal clearances of the motor rather than expected use.

While partly true, you wouldn't want a thin oil in an engine with .003 bearing clearance. If it will pump and lubricate cold with 0,5, or 10 weight, it will lube just fine hot with 50 weight.

Oil is thickest when cold. The first number in a multi weight is the cold weight, or viscosity number. The whole system is ass backwards in so far as the numbering.

In other words, a 50 weight hot is many times thinner than a 0 weight cold.

 

[WildHorse]

Cold start oil flow is very important.

Oil pressure is instant. Even with 5w40 in below freezing temps.

 

[Paul McWhiskey]

A common misconception, but 0w-40 is actually thicker than 5w-30 at both cold and hot temperatures, about 25% thicker overall if you compare the viscosities. So with your logic 5w-30 would be better in the cold. I would go 0w-40 personally.

Oil pressure is instant. Even with 5w40 in below freezing temps.

Pressure and flow are two separate things.

 

[Hifiguy]

Pressure and flow are two separate things.

They are inversely related.

If cold flow is more important to you, a thinner oil would help since thinner oil=lower pressure=more flow. 5w30 is thinner than 0w40 overall.

 

[SheepDog]

Good talk. Based on what I have learned here today, I'll be going with 0W-50 exclusively from now on. Did I do good?

https://www.streetunit.com/Eneos_0W50_p/en-0w50c.htm

https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/AIC3902300

 

[Snakebyte]

More on the "temporary blip" from 2011 to 2021.

2011 coyote mustang owner's manual.

Oh NO!!!!! I've not been checking the oil in my battery. It clearly says it does not require additional water....so it must be oil may be required...it's on the page with oil as the heading isn't it?

Of course this is where reading comprehension exercises in school come in handy for real life.

 

[shogun32]

I will cop to being wrong on the 'blip'. I could have sworn I remembered (wrongly apparently) that 15-17 the manual called for 5w30 and the caps likewise reflected that. There was a big kurfluffle about this when the 18's first released.

In any event 5w20 is "wrong" for any number of reasons and I will never use it unless I'm in the middle of AZ desert during the days of MadMax and it's the only fluid available so I can outrun the gangs intent on pillaging the last of the precious hydrocarbons left on the planet. But hot, sandy is the definition of extreme usage, so once I can make it to the Canadian border to change out, 5w30 or 10w is going back in.

PUP 5w20 only has 8.2 cSt@100C, while 5w30 has a far more correct 10.3
what's hilarious is that the CCS/MRV of 5w or 10w both full synth at -35C is practically identical. But euro-blend 5w40 is significantly "thicker".

 

[robvas]

Switched to the Euro 0W-40, will get a drive in this weekend and try it out.

 

[MAGS1]

Im sure you think you're funny, but my 19 also says 5w20. Now go outside like a good boy and look at a late year 21 or 22+. And then tell me Ford didn't change the cap and manual. K?

The only time 5w20 disgraced my engine was the first 500 miles from new. I threw that water out and been using 5w30/40 or mixing in 10w40 when I feel like it.

Next thing you'll tell me I imagined Ford changed the rotor venting in 21 for all the 4-pots. Because your car and those from the previous 15 years also had it the wrong way ..

Here’s my 2022 cap…

 

[WildHorse]

Pressure and flow are two separate things.

If your instantly getting pressure, you instantly getting good flow.

 

[Paul McWhiskey]

If your instantly getting pressure, you instantly getting good flow.

Maybe. There are a few other factors that can effect flow. Probably none that anyone here would subject their car to. But, there are conditions where pressure can be indicated without flow. Rare. True. But it can happen.

 

[engineermike]

I love how Ford carefully worded the manual. I could see how it could be interpretted two ways:

"SAE 5W-20 oil provides optimum fuel economy and durability performance meeting all requirements for your vehicle's engine"

In other words, you could break it up into parts and it would read like this:

"SAE 5W-20 oil provides optimum fuel economy"
"SAE 5W-20 oil provides durability performance meeting all requirements for your vehicle's engine"

The second clause might lead to you wonder, what were these "requirements"? "Optimum" means it's maximized, but for durability is just "meets requirements". Is the requirement that the engine lasts 150k miles while driving gently? I don't know.

Add one comma and it changes the meaning: "SAE 5W-20 oil provides optimum fuel economy and durability performance, meeting all requirements for your vehicle's engine". If this is what it said then there would be a stronger argument for the 20. So did Ford word it that way to intentionally fool the drive-by reader into thinking 20 gets optimum durability?

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