First oil change on my V8 using Pennzoil Platinum 5W-30 full synthetic

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don-ohio

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Yeah,I've heard a lot of banter about only use 5W-20 or even lighter,yet I've been running 5W-30 in my 4.0 Mustang,and my v6 LS(put 56,000 miles on it since bought at 77,000 miles,so it's up to 133,000mi).
Being OLD school,I want the extra protection 5W-30 affords in case of overheating accidently.
BTW, it takes 6.5 qts. or a hair more,just like the owner's manual says.
I know some really good mechanics may say different,but I'll let you all know in many thousands of miles how it works out.
I'll run this oil change only about 7000 miles( I normally run 9-10,000 and change out oil filters at about 5000),since it is probably a different oil than previously used.
Sorry for rambling post,but I'm a Ramblin'Man. LOL! don-ohio :)^)

P.S.: I might've run 5W-20 for the first 30-40K miles if I'da bought it new.But it had 65,000 on it when I got it a coupla weeks ago.
 
Well, I'm sure you know better then the engineers that designed the VCT system with particular oil pressures in mind. In all seriousness, I doubt that it is enough of a change to do enough harm for you to ever know. However, your assumption that heavier oil equals better engine protection is not often correct. There's a lot more to it.
 
joegr said:
Well, I'm sure you know better then the engineers that designed the VCT system with particular oil pressures in mind.
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And I am certain he doesn't. I'm with you here Joegr, put in what it says ON THE DAMN CAP. If 5w30 offered better protection, FORD WOULD HAVE PUT IT IN AT THE FACTORY.
 
Nawwwwwww....Ford might want 5W-20 and that's okay.But remember,they don't have ANY interest in your car going 200K miles.
I'm not tryin to stir anything up,but if the `Greenies' thought you could get another MPg or 2,they'd have you runnin that 0 winter stuff.BAH,HUMBUG!YOU guys run it, but I won't. don-ohio :)^)
 
The AJ30 Gen I 3.9L V8 engine was originally designed to use 5w-30 oil and came filled that way from the factory in the Gen I cars. I highly doubt that all the bearing clearances were re-sized in the AJ35 Gen II 3.9L V8 specifically when and for the switch was made to 5w-20 oil. Ford made the switch from 5W-30 to 5w-20 oil across the board with nearly all gasoline engines in North America to help improve the fleet fuel economy per the CAFE requirements - plain and simple. Running a heavier weight 40 or 50 oil with the VVT setup will have some impact on timing, while running 30 weight will have little to no effect. I use a NAPA Gold / Wix oil filter in the larger Gen I size on my Gen II engine - the fitment is a bit tight with the Gen II V8 water-to-oil heat exchanger (oil cooler) and with the serpentine belt, but it works. The oil fill with the larger size filter is 6-3/4 quarts. I typically use approximately 3-4 quarts of 5w-30 with the remainder 5w-20. In a hotter climate I would only use 5w-30. I also only use Mobil 1 High Mileage full synthetic SL rated oil. The SL rated oil has a higher levels of ZDDP than the newer SM and SN rated oils. This is very important due to the AJ30/AJ35 3.9L V8 engines use of direct action bucket type followers on the camshaft lobes verses roller followers. I buy the oil at Walmart in 5 quart jugs for around $26-28, when it's not on sale. The oil life monitor with the Gen II V8 will tell you to change the oil every 5K miles like clock work.

As always YMMV :)
 
Yeah, I don't drink the Kool-Aid very often. Too much success with 5W-30 and heavier to change on account of CAFE standards.There....I said it! don-ohio :)^)
 
Some manufactures ran the 20 weight to help increased pressured oil jets from clogging long term. The jets holes were smaller to increase the oil spray pressure.

My 02 V8 Sport has gone 202k so far on the recommended Ford synthetic blend 20 weight oil.
 
What's wrong with Pennzoil Platinum? I've never had a problem with it OR Castrol Syntec.That's maybe near 500,000 miles using both brands. don-ohio :)^)
 
don-ohio said:
What's wrong with Pennzoil Platinum? I've never had a problem with it OR Castrol Syntec.That's maybe near 500,000 miles using both brands. don-ohio :)^)
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Pennzoil is known to have a higher tar content in the base oil.
 
You sure you're not talking conventional Pennzoil oil? The synthetic is made from natural gas,I'm told. don-ohio :)^)
 
don-ohio said:
You sure you're not talking conventional Pennzoil oil? The synthetic is made from natural gas,I'm told. don-ohio :)^)
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Conventional, yes. I don't know about their synthetic. I do know Castrol sued some years back to have "synthetic" redefined. "Synthetic" made from base stock can now be called synthetic. That's why I stick to Mobil1.
 
Reason I don'tuse Mobil I is about 15-20 yrs. ago I changed my Dad's Sable to it and it used a quart the first 500 miles.Left a bad taste in my mouth since the car's engine was pristine and I wanted to keep it that way. After switching to Castrol Synthetic,no more oil usage,so I just stayed with it and later on Pennzoil Platinum. don-ohio :)^)
 
LS4me said:
Conventional, yes. I don't know about their synthetic. I do know Castrol sued some years back to have "synthetic" redefined. "Synthetic" made from base stock can now be called synthetic. That's why I stick to Mobil1.
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I believe Mobil sued (or petitioned the FTC claiming Castrol was using false advertising) in 1999. Either way the result of the whole thing is Group III stocks can be classified as synthetic. Castrol had claimed that their oil, using Group III base stocks performed similarly to that Mobil One that used Group IV base.

In the last 5 or so years Mobil has changed the labeling and increased the variety of Mobil One Products to grab shelf space. I'm not sure if all the Mobil One products still use predominantly Group IV base stocks.

Personally I use Mobil One but believe any major brand synthetic will work as well. The fact that they are similar prices has kept me using Mobil One. If Shell (Pennzoil, Quaker State) or BP (Castrol) were consistently cheaper I would switch. I just don't like constantly changing brands.
, ,
 
There was a stringent test some years ago with NYC taxi cabs. They were all of equal mileage and starting condition. One group of cabs received only Full synthetic oil changes. The other set receive regular non synthetic oil changes. All were changed at the same interval.

At the end of many tough enviorment high miles the engines were torn down and inspected for wear, tear and damage internally. The results were that the non synthetic oil engines were in just as good a shape, and displayed no more wear than the Full synthetic engines.

The summary concluded that the most important thing in engine oils is using a high quality manufacture weight suggested oil. And doing the recommended, oil changes and regular suggested intervals. There was no conclusive difference.
 
Probably used Valvoline synthetic or other inferior......it's not much better than conventional oil. Plus, I run my engine oil 9-10K miles between changes,just changing the filter at about 5 K miles into the change.
You wanna try running conventional oil 10K miles? Be my guest. don-ohio :)^)
 
jgscott said:
There was a stringent test some years ago with NYC taxi cabs. They were all of equal mileage and starting condition. One group of cabs received only Full synthetic oil changes. The other set receive regular non synthetic oil changes. All were changed at the same interval.

At the end of many tough enviornment high miles the engines were torn down and inspected for wear, tear and damage internally. The results were that the non synthetic oil engines were in just as good a shape, and displayed no more wear than the Full synthetic engines.

The summary concluded that the most important thing in engine oils is using a high quality manufacture weight suggested oil. And doing the recommended, oil changes and regular suggested intervals. There was no conclusive difference.
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That's the problem with thee types of studies. Synthetics benefit is in extended oil drains. I changed the oil in my daughter's (my old) 2000 LS every 10K-15K miles w/Mobil1 (with a 50K mile stint w/Royal Purple) for the last 170K miles. The car still uses no oil...
 
LS4me said:
That's the problem with thee types of studies. Synthetics benefit is in extended oil drains. I changed the oil in my daughter's (my old) 2000 LS every 10K-15K miles w/Mobil1 (with a 50K mile stint w/Royal Purple) for the last 170K miles. The car still uses no oil...
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Actually I'm not sure that's true. Synthetics have shown to be still affected by contamination the same. The filters and materials have gotten a lot better though.

Good to know you have had such good luck with such long change intervals. I still don't trust those long of intervals myself.

And Royal Purple is a hit or miss. Been known to mess up many engines.

My 02 has 203k, Ford Motorcraft Synthetics Blend only. Uses no oil. $23 bucks for oil and filter from Auto Zone or Advanced.
 
One thing to keep in mind in thinking synthetic vs. mineral oil in your fill is the type of engine you have. A push rod V8 is much easier on oil than an overhead cam engine, due to shear on the oil molecules. Those tappets on an overhead cam are rough on oil. Ferrari and Porsche knew that years ago as they were among the first to go to Mobil 1. I believe this where don-ohio's thinking is flawed in going to a heavier weight oil. Cold start (0-20w, 0-30w) is a big contributor to engine wear. Thicker oil may increase the oil pressure but that pressure is because there is resistance to flow. Resistance to flow is oil not going through the engine oil galleys quickly enough.
I'm sure that is one primary reason why Ford spec'd synthetic for the AJ8. Gas mileage and extended drain intervals are really a nice side benefit.
Synthetics today are much better across the board than previous iterations in large part due to the above mentioned reclassification due to Mobil and Castrol. Pennzoil platinum is considered by many to be the gold standard now because it truly is a synthetic derived from natural gas liquids. What that really means is that their refining process is probably easier because those gas liquids are lighter in nature. Mobil 1 and most all others are derived from mineral oil base stock. The difference is in the refining process which is rather complex and in most cases proprietary.
Some one made a mention of the improvement in filter technology. This is the biggest determinant in extended drain intervals as the longer the oil stays free of large contaminants and isn't breaking down it's doing it's job. The old story about changing every 3000 miles came about largely because of that I believe. I remember guys adapting toilet paper canisters to filter oil because quite frankly a roll of Scott single ply was a much better oil filter.
If you have concerns on the life of your oil have a sample tested. Of course the cost is about the same as an oil change so you need to decide.
I have a Nissan Frontier with an overhead cam V6 that was Spec for mineral oil to be changed at 3750 miles. After the warranty period I had no problem changing to Quaker State synthetic that I change at 5000 miles.
There are tons of info on this and even more opinions on the interwebs. It gets confusing separating myth from fiction from fact but if you search for the oil companies white papers (testing analysis, dry reading i know) you can make a better informed decision just as the Ford engineers did.
 
One thing to keep in mind in thinking synthetic vs. mineral oil in your fill is the type of engine you have. A push rod V8 is much easier on oil than an overhead cam engine, due to shear on the oil molecules. Those tappets on an overhead cam are rough on oil. Ferrari and Porsche knew that years ago as they were among the first to go to Mobil 1.
I'm sure that is one primary reason why Ford spec'd synthetic for the AJ8. Gas mileage and extended drain intervals are really a nice side benefit.
Synthetics today are much better across the board than previous iterations in large part due to the above mentioned reclassification due to Mobil and Castrol. Pennzoil platinum is considered by many to be the gold standard now because it truly is a synthetic derived from natural gas liquids. What that really means is that their refining process is probably easier because those gas liquids are lighter in nature. Mobil 1 and most all others are derived from mineral oil base stock. The difference is in the refining process which is rather complex and in most cases proprietary.
Some one made a mention of the improvement in filter technology. This is the biggest determinant in extended drain intervals as the longer the oil stays free of large contaminants and isn't breaking down it's doing it's job. The old story about changing every 3000 miles came about largely because of that I believe. I remember guys adapting toilet paper canisters to filter oil because quite frankly a roll of Scott single ply was a much better oil filter.
If you have concerns on the life of your oil have a sample tested. Of course the cost is about the same as an oil change so you need to decide.
I have a Nissan Frontier with an overhead cam V6 that was Spec for mineral oil to be changed at 3750 miles. After the warranty period I had no problem changing to Quaker State synthetic that I change at 5000 miles.
 
Well,if my `thinking is flawed',Ace,I wonder why I always get 200K+miles out of my engines and no failures,Hmmmmmnm? Put that in yer pipe and smoke it! LOL! REMEMBER TOO that heavier oil clings better,so there it is ALREADY on start-up of the engine. Think about the `cling' factor? Bet it never entered your mind,flawed or not. don-ohio :)^)
 
don-ohio said:
Well,if my `thinking is flawed',Ace,I wonder why I always get 200K+miles out of my engines and no failures,Hmmmmmnm? Put that in yer pipe and smoke it! LOL! REMEMBER TOO that heavier oil clings better,so there it is ALREADY on start-up of the engine. Think about the `cling' factor? Bet it never entered your mind,flawed or not. don-ohio :)^)
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Nope. That's not true. Reg oil clings better than Synthetics. Synthetics don't cling to well at all.
 
Not talking about regular oil here,Bud. Talking about full synthetic, lighter weight versus heavier.Get your head in the game. don-ohio
 
Me? LOL?

Boat owners that store their boats for the winter have been know for years that synthetics, don't cling well to ferrous surfaces. Overall engine oil chemistry is more important than Syn vs Reg, or heavy vs light weight.

In fact some Synthetics have No clinging qualities at all. But you know yours does because.....???

BTW,
I'm not the one who started a "new oil brag thread", and is trying to reinvent the Ford/Lincoln Engineers wheel buying into marketing hype, with no research data on the LS of your own.
 
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