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.

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[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.

 

[JExpedition07]

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.

No way are you wasting money doing 5k changes on 5.4L or 3.5, well unless you don’t keep the truck. Doing 10k changes shaves life off of the motor, the dirt in the oil increases wear oil breaking down or not. If you bought two trucks and changed one every 5k and one every 10k I gaurentee one will last a whole lot longer than the other. I do mine every 3,000 miles motorcraft synthetic blend.

 

[ManUpOrShutUp]

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

+1. I've been doing that for 23 years and never had an engine problem that could even potentially be blamed on oil. Heck, my last 2 vehicles had 235k and 350k on their respective clocks and were still running strong when I sold them. My wife's car has 201K atm w/ the same strategy.

 

[jeff kushner]

Gents, It is never bad to use clean, fresh oil, never......but as we see a thousand times in these threads.....mechanically, the issue isn't whether the oil has broken down even though syn's are much better at resisting this, but the small capacity of the mini-filter. Pull one with 6k run through it and compare it to one new but equally filled with oil. Its kind of like the old drug commercial with the egg in the frying pan.....once you hold both filters, it'll be pretty plain.

I'm a firm believer in everyone caring for their own as they choose....do what you are comfortable with.......

jeff

 

[1955moose]

It the words of Forest, stupid is as stupid does! If you hear year after year that clean oil is better than dirty, and its cheap too, why would you push it. Some people just make too much money I guess. Back in the 80's they blew it on cocaine, nowadays its motor's!

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[sjwelds]

Every oil thread always ends up the same way. Every one. LOL

 

[1955moose]

Yeah seems like everyone knows more than the engineers, and designers. I remember back in the 70's my older brother swore by Pennzoil, but I liked Castrol. Sort of like the Coke/Pepsi debate, you like what you like!

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[Plati]

I think the scheduled maintenance on Ford Expeditions should include changing the lug nuts every 6000 miles, unless you buy upgraded nuts

 

[bobmbx]

If an oil change every 5000 miles is better than every 10000 miles, wouldn't every 1500 miles be even better?

 

[1955moose]

What would probably make more sense is adding a second filter, but mount it the same angle as stock, 90 degrees. Problem there would be though, is the stock oil pump enough to overcome the extra hoses and filter. Another simple idea would be to change the oil filter at 2500 to 3,000miles with a fresh clean one, add back the 1/2 quart of oil. A clean new filter should help a little, and only costs $5.00 extra. Then do the regular interval oil/filter swap out. That extra filter change should safely extend oil change out to 7-71/2 k.
Does anybody do this.

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[chuck s]

Just this morning reading this I was shocked (shocked, I tell you) to find that an oil filter will weigh more filled with dirty engine oil and and some dirt than a new filter filled with new, clean oil! Not sure what that proves other than the filter is doing what filters do.

Since full synthetic oil wears even longer than the 10K miles in the Ford schedule a filter change at whatever-K miles makes sense. Would be nice it if was on top of the engine like my wife's 3.6R Legacy Subaru -- this is now the Big Engine car in our family.

But any oil comparison to the Coke vs Pepsi "debate" is spurious. Coke is superior of course. The argument is moot.

-- Chuck