Has anyone used Motorcraft oils? If so, your opinion. I've always used Castrol; my parts store tells me Motorcraft 20w50 is a blend (which Ford recommends) and Castrol 20w50 is not a blend. What flavor are you planning to use?

 

I'm partial to Castrol myself. I will probably stick with it.

 

Uhm, according to the page 196 of the Owner's Manual, located here:
http://bradbarnett.net/mustangs/timeline/0...wnersManual.pdf
You should be using 5w20, not 20w50.

 

Good point grantsdale.. those oils are a bit too heavy for the engine.

It is a pain that Ford uses a less common 5W20 for their engines. I assume that it is for fuel efficiency reasons.

 

I have been a big Mobil 1 fan. However, right now I think I'll stick with the Motorcraft Blend 5w20.

Do they have a full synthetic?

As time passes, I'm becoming a bigger and bigger believer in using factory parts/fluids. These engineers design cars for specific fluids/parts. In many cases, I don't think it is worth it to use anything but original equipment.

 

Ford offers a dino oil, synth. blend, and pure synth. in the 5w20 flavor. Make sure you pick up the right type

I use Royal Purple Synthetic 5w20.

 

It's mobil1 hands down.
0W-20.
This oil is far superior to any mineral based oil.
It's hard to believe that the argument still lives.
The only other oil that is even close is AMSOIL (I hate to admit)
The synthetics have a much better detergent package, much better anti wear package, fine particle suspension for filtration, 0 viscosity breakdown between oil changes, better heat transfer, less common oil contaminants and on and on not to mention increased interval change time. I have been running Mobil1 for 20 years.
The extra cost by far pays for itself in performance and durability.
I have had several vehicles go 150k, 160k to 180k miles with little oil usage and 0 burning. Mobil1 in the long run is very friendly to the seals.
You will see no leaking like you will with a mineral base over time.
Dan, with all due respect. You can use factory oils is you please, but you will still get much much better performance with a synthetic. Mobil1 is fully API certified and exceeds ALL manufacturer specs, by far.
I am seeking some data from some Mobil engineers that I know on the comparisons of the 0W-20 and 5W-20 arguement. Mobil1's websit lists the 0W-20 as an alternative to the 5W-20. My 2 cents. I have used oil base stocks and synthetics over my entire career from hydraulics, transmission, compressor, gear, grease, etc. It's just one guys life experience. It's Mobil1 0W-20 for me.

 

I've used Mobil 1 Full Syn. Oil for all my vehicles. I change oil every 5000 miles and had cars go into the 100k range with very little engine wear. Best bang for the buck.

 

I use Mobil 1 0W-20 in the Mach 1 and the Motorcraft 5W-20 in the wife's Escape.

I hope you are not thinking of putting the 20W-50 in the 05!

 

The recommendations I've seen here is 0W-30 or 5W-30 for a Mustang. How much does 30 differ from 20?

 

BTW, the light weight oil isn't for fuel milage..... it's because anything heavier won't adequately oil the bearings or make it up to the heads. The tollerances are so much tighter on the modular motors than Fords pushrod motors that used to just eat through 10w-30. It's a very bad idea to use anything heavier than the 5w-20 they've been recommending since '96

 

Do we know for sure that oiling issues are the reason for the switch from 5W-30 to 5W-20? Honda switched to 5W-20 as their recommended oil about the same time Ford did, and they were still using the same engines the year before they switched. I think this was around 2001 or 2002. A small fuel efficiency improvement spread over 100k + vehicles adds up under the CAFE system.

 

I would love to know what that data shows.

Like I said, I use Mobil1. I love the stuff. Car runs great and has lasted a long time.

However, factory spec doesn't correspond with a Mobil 1 grade and that has me a bit concerned. I have yet to see some fact that says "hey, its okay to use ___ instead of the factory oil because.........."

The "its probably the same" arguement doesn't fly. Oil is the most important part of your engine and its not something you should be guessing with. Engineers know what they are doing.

That being said, I'm all for some info that says there's a Mobil1 grade that'll work fine.

 

Ford has used 5w-20 for ... a long time. I don't know what you mean by "reason for switch".

 

My '99 GT had 5W-30 as the recommended oil, and it was reflected on the oil filler cap. I don't remember the year, but I remember owners commenting about the 5W-20 appearing on their oil caps on the corral's website. I think the caps were showing up before the end of the production year prior to the year they changed, resulting in the usual comments and quesitons. At that time, 5W-20 was hard to find at the parts stores.

 

thats the only two oils I would use

 

Have the 20 oils even been around for that long? I know they're still hard to come by over here, the lowest "stock" oils are still 30.

 

I would love to know what that data shows.

Like I said, I use Mobil1. I love the stuff. Car runs great and has lasted a long time.

However, factory spec doesn't correspond with a Mobil 1 grade and that has me a bit concerned. I have yet to see some fact that says "hey, its okay to use ___ instead of the factory oil because.........."

The "its probably the same" arguement doesn't fly. Oil is the most important part of your engine and its not something you should be guessing with. Engineers know what they are doing.

That being said, I'm all for some info that says there's a Mobil1 grade that'll work fine. [/b][/quote]
According to the Mobil 1 spec sheet:

Click Here

0W20 is the grade of M1 that is recommended as equivalent to 5W20.

 

Are there any guideline for use when switching between regular oil and synthetic? Years ago when Mobil1 first came out, people were saying that you had to change the oil twice to get out all of the old oil, and that was expensive. But when I went to Mobil1 in my Explorer, the oil changing facility said "nope, you just change the oil".

I don't know who to believe, the ubiquitous "they" or an oil changing shop that wants to sell you the Mobil1... they are both dubious experts!

 

Just did some quick research, it seems that early synthetics weren't compatible with petroleum oils, so a flush was necessary. No longer the case.

Good to know.