What oil/filter do you use?

ExplorerTom said:

From what I've read, the brand of oil really doesn't matter much anymore as all oils are decent enough to handle the rigors of engines of the last 30 years or so. You just need to keep the oil clean.

When was the last time you heard of an engine fail due to improper lubrication when regular oil changes were kept up with? There's a guy on ford-trucks with a 5.4 in an F-150 with 550,000 miles and he uses conventional oil that he changes every 5000 miles.

OK, I'll admit to one. I know a guy with a 2007ish WRX STI that he autocrossed heavily. Sticky tires generated high lateral G loads and long sustained corners (most courses were set up on old airstrips: wiggle down, turn 180 and wiggle back) and he fried 2 motors. But the type of oil wasn't so much the problem in this case.

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From my own personal experience, Subaru engines (the EJ255/WRXand EJ257/STi to be more specific) are very sensitive to not only viscosity but pressure variances. This is why the Blue Subaru OEM filters are strongly recommended for use on these engines, even by high end motocross builders. Alot of Subie owners/builders experimented with various weights and manufacturers of oil and found a very narrow margin in which the engines ran properly and the product maintained spec and was not burned off prematurely.

This is the type of info I want to document and provide for 4.6/5.4 engine owners. I have read on the Exploder forum that people have had good results with the OEM FL-820/FL-820s and the Motorcraft 5w-20 synthetic blend. Personally, I am not overly enthused by the Motorcraft oil, but this is why I am asking everyone here to speak up.

Well you guys got me thinking about a quality oil filter. I like the grippy black stuff on the end of Fram filters, but wanted to upgrade to something better than their orange ph2. So I went online and found a 6 pack of synthetic Fram filters go $25.00. That's cheaper per unit than the basic filter. I should be set for the next 60k miles. Part number was xg2 for first gens, may be the same for later models.


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371000 on my 2000 f150 4.2. Always use motorcraft filter and chevron supreme 10w 30. Changed religiously at 5k miles.
Buy it from Costco.

Amsoil and Amsoil or Wix filters.
Amsoil because I can go longer between oil changes as well has better protection in the Arizona heat

Right now I'm running a Fram Ultra Guard and Mobil 1 5-20. I really wish someone around me sold Amsoil. I used that in my 6s....great stuff.

I'm a once a year oil change man

I have the 5.4 and i like the Fram Tough Guard oil filter because of the Check valve. I use a good semi synthetic. I run full synthetic in my other cars (usually Mobil1) but I have owned this one for many years and using conventional for many years, so I have resisted the urge to go to a full synthetic. I like the Castrol high mileage (around 300K miles on the engine)

eluther3 said:

I have the 5.4 and i like the Fram Tough Guard oil filter because of the Check valve. I use a good semi synthetic. I run full synthetic in my other cars (usually Mobil1) but I have owned this one for many years and using conventional for many years, so I have resisted the urge to go to a full synthetic. I like the Castrol high mileage (around 300K miles on the engine)

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Out of curiosity, why have you fought the urge to go full synthetic?

I use Mobil 1 on all my vehicles except diesel

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So about 15 years ago, Fram got hammered in several head-to-head filter competitions. They were basically considered "do not use" filters. Has Fram improved since then?