Is synthetic oil required??

[Be69chevy]

Was getting my oil changed yesterday and the guy swore up and down that synthetic oil was required for 2012 Expedition.

I couldn't find that in the owners manual. Have always used conventional oil in all my other cars. Just got the Expedition.

Is synthetic oil mandatory?

 

[coolzzy]

Nope, they were just trying to up sell you an expensive synthetic oil change. You can run longer oil change intervals on synthetic though. I run 5-6k mile changes on synthetic without issue. Use a 5w30, I prefer penzoil pure platinum plus.

 

[chuck s]

Ford specified engine oil is a blend of conventional and synthetic oils. Pure synthetic is neither required nor preferred. But it's cheap and better oil over the long run so why not? Ford has their own brand. 5W-30 pure synthetic now in all my three cars. Expedition maintenance interval is 10,000 miles with spec oil and there's no reason pure synthetic can't run at least that long.

My wife's Subaru 3.6 recommends but doesn't require pure synthetic but the oil change schedule is cut in half if not used.

-- Chuck

 

[coolzzy]

Don't go by the 10k mile oil change interval, especially if you have the 5.4 or 3.5 motor. Many suspect the timing chain issues with the 5.4 are due in part to the long oil change interval allowed by Ford. The cam phaser system is oil pressure dependent as well as prone to sludging. Stick to 5k mile change interval whether synthetic blend Motorcraft (5w30) or full synthetic and you'll be fine. The ecoboost motor has the same 10k mile change interval but many reccomend 3-5k interval there as well due to the motor being direct injected and the higher likelyhood of some oil dilution. Any modern engine or oil can tolerate 5k mile change intervals, and it's cheap insurance. Just my humble opinion though, and you know what those are like.

 

[chuck s]

My '07 5.4 schedule was 5000 miles. '08 models with the identical engines has a 7500 interval for unannounced reasons. I was surprised to see 10,000 miles for the '17 truck.

-- Chuck

 

[Be69chevy]

Was planning to do conventional oil changing every 5k, like all my other vehicles for last 15 years. Never had any issues.

 

[Trainmaster]

You guys who are dumping synthetic oil every 3,000 miles can sell it to me.

In a healthy engine that stuff would be as good as new. If you really feel inclined to dump your money, get an oil analysis of the old stuff and see if you really are doing any good by your bodacious, fastidious oil changes.

Unless you've got really crappy rings, nasty blowby or maybe idling 24/7 at toll booths to chase a speeder every two hours, you're only benefiting are the people selling the oil.

 

[1955moose]

The problem trainmaster as we've gone round and round on this is not the oil breaking down, but the debris causing the cam phaser problems. The orifices are small, why is beyond me. 2005-08 had the toughest time as you've seen by the posts the past year. One after another having to do tear downs. On any other engine that doesn't have oiling issues, 10-15 k is fine, as you know synthetic oil is tough, with a much higher burn rate. As a bonus it usually consumes less due to the higher heat burn rate.

Sent from my N9131 using Tapatalk

 

[JExpedition07]

The 5.4L 3 Valve engine is a great motor, as long as you do your maintenances and due diligence. Many issues can be avoided with regular oil and filter changes. We are now finding out down the road some of the issue is Ford used 5W-20 weight oil in the U.S market for CAFE reasons over VCT component reliability......now they are telling us to switch to heavier oil. The 5W-20 still did it’s job so long as you kept up on changes and kept the internals clean. So the answer to your question is no, synthetic is not required but you should use a blend also preferably 5W-30 and not 20 weight.

 

[Black]

Nope, they were just trying to up sell you an expensive synthetic oil change. You can run longer oil change intervals on synthetic though. I run 5-6k mile changes on synthetic without issue. Use a 5w30, I prefer penzoil pure platinum plus.

Then you are doing nothing but wasting money.
Conventional and Ford Motorcraft Synthitc Blend would not be close to broken down at 5k under normal driving conditions.
No reason for synthetic under normal driving conditions and a change interval of 5k or less.

Synthetic certainly has it’s place but not these circumstances.
Many Toyota motors call for Ow20 synthetic. Only time I have ever used synthetic but I also change at 5k, 3k, and 6 months dependent upon which of my vehicles.