5W-30 instead of 5W-20

[TORNIT07]

Did a search, no results. Last oil change I used 5W-30 (Mobile1 FS) instead of the 5W-20 in my 2007 expy that I have used since day one per Ford's spec. Expy now has nearly 188,000 miles on it. I changed after researching the issue & figured with the higher mileage it wouldn't hurt & may offer slightly better film protection. I live in SC near the coast, summers are scorchers & never gets too cold.

I replaced the VCT solenoids a year or so ago, but cam phasers/timing components are all original. My question is, does anybody else run 5/30 instead of 5/20?

 

[JExpedition07]

Me

 

[Trainmaster]

Lots of folks do. It's all over the Internet. Some feel the 5W-20 is a ploy at better efficiency at the cost of protection. I just follow Ford's recommendations. Shouldn't really make much difference if any at all. I just believe in using a quality oil and changing it as advised.

 

[TORNIT07]

Lots of folks do. It's all over the Internet. Some feel the 5W-20 is a ploy at better efficiency at the cost of protection. I just follow Ford's recommendations. Shouldn't really make much difference if any at all. I just believe in using a quality oil and changing it as advised.

I meant I searched on this forum...I did do some research online, so many different opinions it can get a bit confusing. I changed the oil every 3,000 the first 50,000 miles. Let it go 15,000 ONCE & about 6,000 another time. Not intentionally but, except for those two times I NEVER let it go beyond 4,000. I know it's overkill. That's alright with me.

I did see some info online that in some countries (Canada?) where 5/30 is the recommended oil from the Ford that they have far less issues with the cam phasers & related components. Don't know how true that is.

 

[JExpedition07]

I could write you a book on this topic, use the 5W-30. The 5W-20 isn’t bad, but the 30 seems “better”.

5W-30 has been deemed more protective by many professionals. Ford changed the oil recommendations in the 2005 timeframe for increased efficiency and cafe regs. What you read is somewhat true, other markets like Australia call for 5W-30 in the same engine. Ford changed the oil recommendation on the 4.6/5.4 2V in the E-Series engines to a thinner viscosity as well with no design changes made.

Another point is the 6.2L V8 engine, when it was used in the half tons recommended oil was 5W-20, as soon as it was Super Duty only ford switched the recommendation and superseded it to 5W-30 instead for “increased wear protection”. Also note portions of cafe do not apply beyond 1/2 ton vehicles.

 

[Plati]

I agree with MrTrain. Use what is specified in the Owners Manual.
The Owners Manual's for BOTH my 2003 and 2014 5.4L specify 5W20.

I doubt it makes (much of) a difference either way, but I'm not inside the engine & don't know.

I've got 180K on the 2003 5.4L with 6K changes of Valvoline 5W20 … rock solid engine.

 

[JExpedition07]

Skip to 1:00

 

[chuck s]

I recall Blackstone Laboratories had a white paper a couple of years ago that showed no engine wear differences between 5W-20 and 10W-30 in Ford engines. I further recall the author (one of the principals of Blackstone) started using 5W-20 almost exclusively. 5W-20 was the Ford spec for my former 5.4V8. 10W-30 is spec for my 3.5 EcoBoost.

Blackstone now markets an oil sampling vacuum pump that will take a sample thru the oil dipstick hole and put it directly into their sample bottle. This allows sampling without dumping the oil and without any mess! With some of the concerns about gasoline dilution in the EcoBoost engines this may be of value. Too much hassle for me to change the oil on this truck so the dealer does it during annual service. I'm going to extract a sample just before the next service. Blackstone has a large data base on different engines as well as maintaining individual tests and printing them on the results sheet.

-- Chuck

 

[Viper10000]

For what it’s worth, I have a 2017 with the 3.5 eco engine. Manual says use 5w30. I send a sample to black stone every oil change. The results show that the engine is shearing the oil and it’s coming out as a 5w20. I change my oil every 4,000-4,500 miles so that my viscosity is still within normal specs ( although at the lower end). I started out using the motorcraft 5w30 blend and went to Mobil 1 full synthetic 5w30. Both oils have the same shearing issue.

 

[TobyU]

For what it’s worth, I have a 2017 with the 3.5 eco engine. Manual says use 5w30. I send a sample to black stone every oil change. The results show that the engine is shearing the oil and it’s coming out as a 5w20. I change my oil every 4,000-4,500 miles so that my viscosity is still within normal specs ( although at the lower end). I started out using the motorcraft 5w30 blend and went to Mobil 1 full synthetic 5w30. Both oils have the same shearing issue.

Another reason to use 5w-30. It ends up being 20 anyway.

 

[chuck s]

@Viper10000 Anything notable in the Blackstone comments section?

I'm also using Ford's full synthetic in my Expedition but no oil samples yet. Will see how the 3.5 EcoBoost looks now that I'll be able to sample if without dumping all the oil. I don't drive the Expedition enough to do more than the "or 12 months whichever is less" oil changes.

All engines "shear" oil. Four years of sampling the Royal Purple 5W-30 full synthetic in my 2006 Honda S2000 (2.2 liter, 8400rpm red line) shows the SUS Viscosity @ 210°F and the cSt Viscosity @ 100°C both at the low end of the "should be" range. Mileage doesn't seem to matter much with this engine and this oil. Last annual change was at 2004 miles and the numbers are in the same average range as changes as high as 6600 miles previously. All fine. I started tracking engine wear on this car because it's long out of production and the only source of engines is a few very expensive places in Japan.

Would be nice to know the SUS and cSt viscosity data for these oils right out of the can. Anyone?

-- Chuck

 

[Plati]

... "or 12 months whichever is greater" oil changes....

Do you mean whichever is less?

 

[chuck s]

Correct. Thanks for having my back!

-- Chuck

 

[TobyU]

@Viper10000 Anything notable in the Blackstone comments section?

I'm also using Ford's full synthetic in my Expedition but no oil samples yet. Will see how the 3.5 EcoBoost looks now that I'll be able to sample if without dumping all the oil. I don't drive the Expedition enough to do more than the "or 12 months whichever is less" oil changes.

All engines "shear" oil. Four years of sampling the Royal Purple 5W-30 full synthetic in my 2006 Honda S2000 (2.2 liter, 8400rpm red line) shows the SUS Viscosity @ 210°F and the cSt Viscosity @ 100°C both at the low end of the "should be" range. Mileage doesn't seem to matter much with this engine and this oil. Last annual change was at 2004 miles and the numbers are in the same average range as changes as high as 6600 miles previously. All fine. I started tracking engine wear on this car because it's long out of production and the only source of engines is a few very expensive places in Japan.

Would be nice to know the SUS and cSt viscosity data for these oils right out of the can. Anyone?

-- ChuckView attachment 30588

I have seen people run tests on brand new oil and then used to compare. A friend of mine just got rid of a brand new Honda with the turbo due to the oil dilution problems. He was at 3% dilution of fuel in his oil and they are having major problems and don't want to fix the issue so he just got rid of the car.

 

[Viper10000]

Chuck, I’ll dig around for my reports and try to get them up on here for all to see. Basically from what has turned up in the reports, nothing seems to be of concern. I just thought it was interesting how hard this engine is on oil. Then again I’ve never taken samples like this on any other car I’ve owned. I do run samples on my mustang but that’s the 5.0 V8. Different animal.

 

[JasonH]

I run 10W-30 Magnatec. Ecoboost (and other direct injection engines) are known for fuel excessive fuel dilution, which winds up making the oil a 20 weight eventually. I've only done one change so far, but I have another one coming due in the next 30 - 60 days and will get it tested.

 

[Viper10000]

 

[Neights Templar]

Does that mean that the 5w-20 may end up shearing to a 5w-10?

 

[Adieu]

I use 5w40 (Rotella T6 Diesel Synthetic)

 

[chuck s]

Kevin --

Thanks for sharing your oil reports. The narratives are the important section and there is nothing in them that's any concern. I won't have anything to compare them to for several months (my Honda samples don't count).

Blackstone Laboratories has a large data base on our engines. "Your EcoBoost looks great to us" is the bottom line.

Which Oil is Better (Blackstone Laboratories)

-- Chuck