2011 Kona Blue

Makes sense but what about all those owners who are not and never track racing their 5.0 track pac model? There like the Boss owners. Majority of them don't track race them. Most of them barley drive them let alone track race them.

So the sheering viscosity down to 20 weight is not happening because they don't race them. So in that case the 5W50 weight should not be used as recommended for those track pac owners that don't race. They should be getting 20 weight if they aren't track racing the car. If 5w 50 weight is good for the car then how can 30 weight be not good?

SpectreH

Technically, the trade off of the 5W-50 while being driven on the street is slightly less power and more fuel consumption at normal driving, but put it out on the track, run it hard, and you will have the protection and circulation designed.

2011 Kona Blue

So in that case, a 30 weight oil is best of both worlds for non track users. No need to use the 20 weight oil

SpectreH

While that might be true, keep in mind it is not what the factory specifies in the owner's manual. While under warranty, I would not deviate from the factory recommendation. Would 30 weight be the cause of an engine breakdown? No. Would they make that claim to avoid paying for costly warranty work? It's possible. No guarantees there.

2011 Kona Blue

Very true there. Certainly someone may run the risk of warranty issues should they use a different oil weight like 30 during the warranty period. If someone is that concerned about warranty coverage its best to have the Ford dealership change the oil and filter during the warranty period.

I would not have people change their own oil and filter during the warranty period regardless if they use a 20 weight oil. I would not have a third party business change the oil and filter during the warranty period as well if someone is that worried about warranty coverage.

Ford cannot guarantee the workmanship of an individual changing their own oil and filter nor guarantee the workmanship of a third party business. Just have the dealership change the oil and filter that way if there is an issue Ford can't wiggle there way out of warranty coverage because its there techs or mechanics changing the oil and filter. Ford has to guarantee their employees work but not your own work or another third party business. I personally have only had the dealership change the oil and filter twice which one was free and besides that I have been using 5W30 for the past 4 years.

I will not use 5W 20 weight for my engine! I don't track race her but I don't drive her like a grandpa driving his big ole Buick on a Sunday special. My pony gets driven extremely spirited but never abuised. I wasn't that concerned about the engine blowing up so warranty coverage wasn't a top priority to me but then again my pony was tuned at 5K miles so my warranty may of been thrown out the window. Lol

SpectreH

I have done all of my own oil changes, but I saved every receipt while I was under warranty. Of course that does not prove I did the change, just made the purchase. I also logged all maintenance on Ford's user site. As soon as I hit 36K miles, the supercharger went on

2011 Kona Blue

Saving the receipts is great but Ford can't guarantee your work. If there was an engine issue warranty claim, there may of been an issue. Even if a third party business did the oil and filter change, its not done by a Ford dealership and they cannot guarantee the work done by that third party was done correctly.

Just like using 5W 30 weight oil someone takes a risk in warranty coverage issues if the dealership doesn't do the work and there is an issue.

crjackson

If you are referring to me, I do. That was the point of post #36.

If you are just generally speaking regarding the oil change, I agree except that I don't change at ridiculously short intervals. I change at 5,000-8,000 or at least once a year, or if the OLM were to chime in early for some odd reason, I'd change then too.

frank s

Can you hear yourself when you go on like this?

Another aspect that might no longer be true, but was a consideration on the 4.6 engines: oil pressure had an influence on cam timing.

My oil-change kerfuffle was long ago at a dealer whose minions, according to the work order, put 5w-30 in my V6, when the book specified 5-20. Or was it the other way around? Any road, I showed them the paper (owner's guide) but they didn't want to do it again. I stood firm, and they actually called the factory to find out what to do. Then they changed the oil again.

No, you can't count on the dealer, either. I suspect it comes down to whether one or the other or both parties to the conflict come in as jerks and stay that way.

2011 Kona Blue

SMH!

crjackson

Took me a little bit to look up SMH. I know, I'm freaking old as dirt...

But I did find the smiley thingy for it.

2011 Kona Blue

Lol. I can hear myself when I go on like that. Lol

I'm confident my engine will be protected just fine with 30 weight oil. After all you can run 50 weight and 20 weight in the 5.0 so 30 weight will be just fine.

David Young

Please don't use the 'Fram' oil filter. Should be able to buy a Motorcraft from Walmart.

70monte

I'm not saying using a 5W-30 oil will cause issues but what I am saying is that my car specs using a 5W-20 and because my warranty is important to me, I'm not going to deviate from what the manufacturer recommends.

I have already had issues with getting things warrantied by Ford on some BS stuff and I'm not willing to fight Ford on what oil weight I was using that is not recommended if I have an engine issue while under warranty. My experience with Ford and warranty stuff is that they will use any excuse under the sun to deny a claim. Been there and done that.

I don't know how you can say that Ford cannot deny warranty coverage for using a 5W-30 in place of a recommended 5W-20. Show me in writing where Ford states this anywhere. I bet you can't. Just because the same engine in two different Mustang applications uses different oil weights, doesn't mean you can interchange them. The tuning could be different. The built in protection used when oil temps get to high could be totally different on the Track pack cars versus the regular cars.

I have been a member of the bobistheoilguy.com website since the late 90's, so I've read the article you referenced as well as many other discussions about the thin vs thick oil. No one has ever provided definitive proof that using a thicker oil will make your engine last longer. So many people claim that the thinner oils are strictly for CAFE purposes but also don't provide any definitive proof.

I would maybe believe that thinner oils are no good if I saw vehicles using these oils dropping like flies because their engines gave out but that is not the case. Like I've said before, your engine is probably going to be the last thing that gives out on your car even if you were using 5W-20.

Hey, if using 5W-30 in your car lets you sleep better at night, I'm all for it. I use 5W-20 in mine and sleep great.

2011 Kona Blue

If warranty issues are a primary concern for you, don't deviate from the 5W20 weight oil. Since you sleep great at night, I would not change a thing if I were in your shoes. I sleep fantastic using 5W 30 weight oil so no reason for me to change. The two 5.0 engines are the identical specs and Ford has never indicated the engine was tuned different when asked about this according to the SVT thread.

The reason was because when track racing the 50 weight is better for the engine. That's great with the exception of people who never track race there 5.0 performance pac a 50 weight oil is not needed. Only 20 weight would be needed because the engine is not getting tracked. So why would someone throw in a 50 weight oil for a car that doesn't get track raced? Just because Ford recommends the oil weight doesn't make it correct for everyones application on how they use the car.

A non trac pac 5.0 would be better getting 50 weight if the owner track races their car yet Ford doesn't recommend that weight. Why?

Granted there is no definitive proof that 30 weight will make a engine last longer, but no definitive proof that 20 weight is better for the engine life. So in the end, if people have concerns for warranty coverage then just use what the manufacturer recommends during said warranty.

70monte

I'm sure Ford knows that owners of non-track pack GT cars will also probably drive their cars hard but they still recommend a 5W-20 so that tells me that 5W-20 is probably fine for everything other than track type racing which most people do not do.

Wayne

2011 Kona Blue

Valid point, so let me ask you this. If I own a 5.0 non track pack and track race it for 30 plus minutes straight, should I be using 50 weight or 20 weight oil. Remember, I have a non trac pac now so Ford says it needs to be a 20 weight.

Let me ask you this. I own a 5.0 track pac and I don't track race it at all. In fact I drive my track pac 5.0 on sunny days only, car shows and car meets. I bought my track pac because having brembo brakes look fantastic, and all that upgraded suspension really hugs the road. Plus it gives me cool braging rights at shows to say I have the track pac.

Should I use the recommended 5W50 weight oil or use the 20 weight oil? I don't track race or even WOT it very often but Ford says use 5W 50 weight oil. So do I use 20 or 50 weight!

Joeywhat

Guys, it's oil. Put some fresh in periodically and swap filters and it don't really matter what you toss in.

Ya'll arguing like you waiting for the knitting class to start or something.

2011 Kona Blue

Ha ha ha. Not arguning. Friendly debate. Debating

70monte

I say that if you care about your warranty, you use what the manufacturer recommends. If you don't care about the warranty or the car is out of warranty, use whatever makes you feel good.

I don't know why everyone thinks they know more than the manufacturer on what oil to run

joeywhat,
I'm not arguing about what oil to run because I have said what I run and don't plan on changing. I just think that 2011 Kona blue shouldn't be telling people that using 5W-30 will not void their warranty because he doesn't know that to be the case 100% of the time.