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Not letting engine sit all winter

RPDBlueMoon

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Clutch and accelerator all the way to the floor. Tap the start button like you'd normally do when you start the car. Engine will crank without starting.

At this point you can do 2 things. Tap the start button again, it will stop cranking. Or release the accelerator pedal and it will start.

This came in handy for a turbo swap on another car. I needed to prime the new turbo and that was the easiest way to do it.
Clutch and accelerator all the way to the floor and then you press the start button? Jesus, lol that is extremely unnerving. God bless the brave soul who discovered this. Im going to test this in an empty parking lol because I will probably mess it up a few times before I figure it out.
 

Spart

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With the RS being added to my garage, GT350 sits outside 24/7 and it will easily see 20F startups. I am worried 50W oil being thicker than play doh hurting the engine.

So to sum up, if I do this pre-start cranking, it would be every single time I start the car.
If I was going to drive my GT350 in the winter here (sounds like we get a bit colder than you even) I'd definitely swap to 0W-40.

No hard driving or track time before swapping to 5W-50 for the summer though.

As @JAJ explained earlier in the thread, you have to think of oil viscosity as a curve.

0W-40 at 100°C might have roughly the same viscosity as 5W-50 at 110°C.

That viscosity is MUCH thinner than either oil at 0°C. 0W-40 will be thinner around those temps (that's the 0W vs 5W part - the cold viscosity.) On the other hand, 5W-30 and 5W-50 will be more similar around 0°C and very different at 100°C - the -30 and -50 refer to the hot temp viscosity.

People put wayyyyyy too much stock into a manufacturer's recommendation on oil weight. The truth of the matter is, the EPA specifically prohibits them from labeling either the oil cap or the owner's manual with a heavier oil weight than that used for CAFE fuel economy certification.

This is why you see 5W-50 specified for the GT350/500 and 5W-20 specified for the 5.0L cars. Ford is already into gas guzzler territory with the Shelbies, so they recommend the oil that actually works the best for most people in most climates: 5W-50. In the 5.0L, 5W-20 is used to eek out a bit of fuel economy because Ford would have to pay even more money to companies like Tesla if they used 5W-50 there. (Automakers who don't hit the CAFE targets can buy credits from other automakers who exceed them.)

Back in the day before those shenanigans (talking like the 80's and 90's) you would see automakers specify multiple oil viscosities for your engine depending on your ambient temps. They'd have a chart that gave you acceptable use cases. That practice is virtually non-existent in USDM owner's manuals now. But if you look, you'll see it in use still in Australian owner's manuals.

TL;DR: There's nothing wrong with running 5W-50 in your 5.0L, and nothing wrong with running a 0W-whatever in your 5.2L. As long as you're aware of how hard you're running the engine and what your ambient temps are.
 
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Alain

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Silly question here. Does the above concerns of sitting all winter, apply to all mustangs, namely the 5.0 or just the GT350's? Thanks in advance.
 

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JAJ

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Silly question here. Does the above concerns of sitting all winter, apply to all mustangs, namely the 5.0 or just the GT350's? Thanks in advance.
It's a broad concern regarding any engine from any manufacturer sitting for a long period of time without being spun or started. Not specific to Ford.
 

Nate_V8

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2 cranks, get t oil pressure up to 100 psi and then start it normally.
Sorry but I've never done this with a push button. 2 cranks means that when holding down the clutch and throttle, when I push the start button it will crank for a specific amount of time and then stop on its own? Then I do that one more time?
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