Gearhead

Absolutely right. I would recommend that you try 5W-30 for your next oil change to see if that solves the problem. If that doesn't work, you can safely move up to a 5W-40 or even a 5W-50. Remember that when 5W-20 oil is at operating temperature, it is phenomenally thin (about 50 Saybolt).

Keep in mind this definition of a 5W-20 oil:
It behaves like a 5 weight at 0F
The “W” means “safe for Winter applications”
It behaves like a 20 weight at 212F.

By the viscosity tables, I read the following Viscosities:
a 5 weight oil has a viscosity of about 3,000 Saybolt at 0F
a 20 weight oil has a viscosity of about 50 Saybolt at 212F
a 30 weight oil has a viscosity of about 65 Saybolt at 212F
a 40 weight oil has a viscosity of about 70 Saybolt at 212F
a 50 weight oil has a viscosity of about 95 Saybolt at 212F

So, if your top number is 20, 30, 40, or 50, they are all far thinner than 5 weight at 0F. You won't hurt your engine, and actually would protect it better. Be advised that you will have a very slight reduction in fuel economy with thicker “upper number” oils (-1% at most).

killo-11

I park mine in the garage every day so I would think I would notice and have only seen it 1 time. Also this car has the strangest exhaust smell when it is cold. It doesnt smell like the typical exhaust from an engine. Smells more like some kind of chemical.

don_w

Mine smells like fried rice.

70MACH1OWNER

killo-11

That's it or maybe smoked sour kraut.

don_w

Or bowtie pasta...

RadBOSS

Well obviously this discussion has completely gone into the toilet ...

killo-11

Nope, smelled nothing like that.

RadBOSS

mikem

Mine did it all summer.Everytime it would sit for awhile it would smoke bad when started.I wouldnt worry about it.

RadBOSS

Well my experiment today went okay. After car sitting all night, fired it up with video camera running and not even a hint of smoke. So following along with the other explaination / theory ... i.e. engine running for a minute or so and shut down before everything expands ... watehd several hours, restarted ... same result except I was getting some water vapor because it cooled of later today.

Will keep my eye on it.

What kind of oil consumption is everyone getting? This engine is a little higher than I expected ... about 1 qt in 3,000 miles.

max2000jp

I wouldn't worry about it. My engine consumes roughly less than 1/2 of a quart per 5000 miles. I use M1 5w30.

mrkabc

Mine doesn't use any oil - I have been checking every time I gas up...

The only time I get any sort of smell is if I have been banging off the rev limiter - then I do get a burning sort of odor, but nothing with normal, daily usage.

Also, no smoke to report either.

RadBOSS

I am using Mobil I as well ... 1/2 qt. in 3,000 would sound a lot better. At 5,000 you are buring a thrid what mine does in 3,000.

Got smoke cloud again tonight.

I think I'll be visiting the dealer soon.

ski

Tis nothing to worry about.

Like clockwork, my 05 Mustang GT puffs out a very noticeable bluish-white oil cloud every time I start the engine after, and only after, the following 2 events occur in this sequence:
(1) The engine is turned off after running for less than a minute(+/-) in hot weather, or for less than 2 minutes(+/-) in cold weather.
(2) The engine sits idle for at least 12 hours, and is restarted.

However, I've never noticed an oil cloud even if the engine sits idle for days before being started, just as long as it ran for at least 5 minutes(warm or cold weather) during the previous start.

And in spite of these occasional oily puffs, the oil level stays right at the full mark between the 3000 mile changes.

I also had a 94 Probe GT that did the same thing, and it's engine ran flawlessly for 70K miles before I sold it, and never needed any oil(10-30W) added between changes either.