Which Oil Do You Use?

[FamiliaGTRAe]

G'day

My dealer just put Castrol GTX Protec in my car,

3300km so far, No excessive usage of anything.......

Cameron

[faygun]

Ford-power> What modifications have u done to your engine?

[Ninka]

I use Casrol Formula R 10W-60 in my XR6T, and this oil was first put in at 4500 k's. I change every 10000 k's and my T doesn't use a drop of oil

[Adam]

Just wondering does anyone know whether using a different oil other than the recommended oil will void the warranty? I see alot of people posting that they are using Castrol Magnatec which is 10W-40 but Ford recommend 15W-40, can anyone explain what the 15W-40 or whatever it maybe actually means?

[len]

I have an XR6T that is just about due for it's 15K oil change!

I have questioned 2 Ford dealer worshops, Ford direct (the Customer Relations e-mail service on the WEB on 2 occasions), and Mobil (Melbourne tech support) on the issue of the Ford spec WSE-M2C905, recommended Ford oil R1-340, and use of SAE grade 0W-40 (as in Mobil 1, 0W-40) versus 15W-40 as recommended by Ford.

I am dissapointed with the total lack of technical support from Ford. The customer support area basically said that they weren't technically orientated and that I should follow the directions as per the owners manual or any dealers recommendation. They were not willing to relay my querries to someone within Ford who is experienced in this area. There was no real response to any of the questions I asked. The guy said that the Ford oil was a fully synthetic oil. I believe that it is not! Ford did not answer my questionon whether the warranty would be impacted if I used Mobil 1, 0W-40.... A totally hopeless response from Ford.

One Ford dealer said that they use Castrol magnatec, and that it complies with the Ford Spec. Note that Magatec is only a partially syntethic oil.

The other dealer said that they use Ford oil R1-340 and that is what you should use. No other advice was willingly given about any other oils.

The Mobil tech support branch in Melbourne, believed that the Ford oil was not fully synthetic. They recommended Mobil 1, 0W40. They indicated that this oil had very good viscosity when cold (the 0W bit), and the same viscosity when hot (the 40 bit). They could not understand why Ford recommended a 15W-40 oil, as you need oil which is very viscous when cold in order to lubricate the turbo when cold on initial motor start.

Anyway to sum up I am very dissapointed with Ford on their lack of tech support. (does anyone have a direct contact within Ford tech support for someone who actually is knowledgable in the area).

These questions remain unanswered!!

Is the Ford oil fully synthetic or not? I believe not!

Is it OK to use a 0W- 40 oil, like Mobil 1, 0W-40, without affecting the vehicle warranty.

Is Mobil 1, 0W-40 the better oil to use

At this stage I am leaning to go with Mobil 1, 0W-40

Does anyone have any other sound technical info on these matters??????

[DavoWA]

Firstly, the viscosity classifications are best described as follows:

SAE has established that twelve viscosity grades are suitable for engine lubricating oils. The physical requirements for these viscosity grades are described in SAE J300, which is intended for use by engine manufacturers in determining engine oil viscosity grades suitable for use in their engines.

This is a chart indicating the actual viscosities for each grade. The "XXw" number refers to the cold temperature pumpability of the oil and the second number refers to the viscosity range of the oil at 100 degrees Celcius. (cP=centipoise and cSt=centistokes - both measurements of viscosity)

SAE Viscosity Grade Low Temperature Viscosities High-Temperature Visc

Cranking (cP), Pumping(cP) Low Shear

max at temp max at temp Rate Kinematic

°C °C (cSt) min max

0W 3250 at -30 60,000 at -40 3.8 —

5W 3500 at -25 60,000 at -35 3.8 —

10W 3500 at -20 60,000 at -30 4.1 —

15W 3500 at -15 60,000 at -25 5.6 —

20W 4500 at -10 60,000 at -20 5.6 —

25W 6000 at -5 60,000 at -15 9.3 —

20 — — 5.6 <9.3

30 — — 9.3 <12.5

40 — — 12.5 <16.3

50 — — 16.3 <21.9

60 — — 21.9 <26.1

You can see the differences in the cold cranking temperatures for the various grades under the "Low Temperature Viscosities" heading, and also the different viscosity ranges under the "High Temperature Viscosities" heading.

Is the Ford oil fully synthetic or not? I believe not!

Is it OK to use a 0W- 40 oil, like Mobil 1, 0W-40, without affecting the vehicle warranty.

Is Mobil 1, 0W-40 the better oil to use

Ford factory fill product is not synthetic. It is a 15w/40 mineral product. Perfectly OK for the job, but not as good a performance as most synthetics.

Mobil 1 0w/40 is OK for the application also. It is less viscous at 40 degrees C than the 15w/40, but very close to the same viscosity at 100 degrees C due to the higher viscosity index, being a synthetic. This will not affect the warranty as the oil manufacturers (mostly) recommend products that they know will perform in the required application.

FPV are recommending a 0w/40 for some of their vehicles.

No comment on the 3rd point due to the fact that there are number of choices available that will perform very well. (I work for another manufacturer, as a technical manager)

The handbook recommends a 15w/40 API SJ/CF or better, with the recommendation for SAE 15w/40 being only for optimum fuel efficiency. It also states to NOT use just API SJ or CF, but the rating must have both. It also recommends against the superceded specifications of API SH, SG, SF and earlier. These products will not perform as well as API SJ or SL.

Provided you use a quality API SJ or SL, and preferably with an ACEA A3 and B3 rating as well, you will have no issues with warranty.

Synthetics will usually perform much better than mineral oils, but whether or not you will realise the additional benefits for the money you pay, only you can decide.

If anyone has any other questions, just post them and I will try to answer them.

I will not comment on any individual product being better or worse than another, but I will point out the various specifications if necessary and hopefully describe the benefits, or otherwise, of them.

[Guest ante]

Davowa, I have a question on oil. I thought ford recomend 15/40 because of engine build specification I.e engine tolerances or clearances used between moving internal engine parts, in other words 15w thicker oil when cold would offer more protection during the warm up period to allow for the expansion of engine parts to close clearances [ I guess most of us would warm the car up before thrashing it] I could be wrong but I have mates that have tried 0w/30 and there engines almost rattle, its because there just not built tight enough. My experiance with Synthetic, it gives ultimate protection to turbo bearings especially if you drive hard and also if you switch the engine off to soon it handles heat better plus less chance of carbon build- up in the turbo. Like I said my experiance, Where is Colin Bond?

[DavoWA]

Davowa, I have a question on oil. I thought ford recomend 15/40 because of engine build specification I.e engine tolerances or clearances used between moving internal engine parts, in other words 15w thicker oil when cold would offer more protection during the warm up period to allow for the expansion of engine parts to close clearances [ I guess most of us would warm the car up before thrashing it] I could be wrong but I have mates that have tried 0w/30 and there engines almost rattle, its because there just not built tight enough. My experiance with Synthetic, it gives ultimate protection to turbo bearings especially if you drive hard and also if you switch the engine off to soon it handles heat better plus less chance of carbon build- up in the turbo. Like I said my experiance, Where is Colin Bond?

Dead right Ante, the 15w/40 is partly to do with engine build, but also to get reasonable fuel figures as per AS 2977? (correct number?).

One of my colleagues who deals with factory guys at times, says that the engines will prefer slightly heavier products, but don't go 20w type products because they are generally only mineral products and also don't have the same performance ratings as the 10w's or synthetics. Most 15w/40 meeting the nominated Ford specs will perform well for most people.

The lower SAE "W" number generally means lighter viscosity oils, but not always. The chart above didn't come out right when I posted it, but the "W" number is ONLY to do with cold cranking viscosity (-5 to -30 degrees numbers), not viscosity at normal cold start temperatures.

The lower viscosity products generally don't allow the lifters to pump up quickly enough, hence the rattle, but they WILL circulate through the engine faster when it is cold. The higher viscosity products will take a miniscule amount more time to separate the moving bits, particularly cam lobes and cam bearings. This is where the bulk of the serious wear happens. Unless of course you stand on the loud pedal when the engine first fires up, then your big ends get a hammering as well.

[len]

DavoWA,

Thanks for the info.

I emailed the Ford Relationship Team again on this oil issue. They phoned me back, but were not willing to put anything in writing. They STILL claim that the FORD factory fill oil on the XR6T is a FULLY synthetic oil. They also claim that the warranty could be affected if I don't use oil which complies to both the SL/CF spec and the viscosity recommendation (15W-40). WRT the some Ford Performance Vehicles using Mobil 1-- 0W-40, they indicated that only the BOSS 290 engines use the Mobil 1 --0W-40 oil.

Has anyone noticed any engine rattle or other side effects in using Mobil 1--0W-40, or any other oil for that matter. Is there any risk of poor lubrication or rapid engine wear in using say Mobil 1--0W-40, if you do a lot of trips where the engine cools down significantly after each trip (given that the majority of the wear occurs in the first few minutes after starting a cold engine?

DavoWA... you picked a good package.... nearly the same as mine.

[ms700]

So, if I dont drive my T everyday (I only drive mine on the weekends), I should run a 0 - 40, because all the oil will drain to the bottom of the sump during the week, and circulate quicker on start up? Or have I got this all around the wrong way?