viggen Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Hello to all - Just traded in my '03 Explorer for the '12 Sport and I have not yet reached 100 miles, but thinking in the long term here. I want to go full synthetic when I change out at 5K and am looking at the types specifically used for the sport. Yes I did read the owners manual and saw that it uses a Motorcraft blend. I obviously want to get a brand name synthetic that does indeed meet or exceed the Motorcraft oils. My plan is to change it once a year/10,000 miles after the synthetic goes in. So the question is which 5w20 brand would be best for me? Opinions are more than welcomed. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Hello to all - Just traded in my '03 Explorer for the '12 Sport and I have not yet reached 100 miles, but thinking in the long term here. I want to go full synthetic when I change out at 5K and am looking at the types specifically used for the sport. Yes I did read the owners manual and saw that it uses a Motorcraft blend. I obviously want to get a brand name synthetic that does indeed meet or exceed the Motorcraft oils. My plan is to change it once a year/10,000 miles after the synthetic goes in. So the question is which 5w20 brand would be best for me? Opinions are more than welcomed. Why not use the Motorcraft 5W20 full synthetic? Then you don't have to guess whether it's acceptable or not. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FusionDiffusion Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 (edited) Well, I'm sure you're going to get all kinds of opinions. Technically speaking, for full warranty coverage you should use a oil that meets Ford's WSS-M2C945-A specification with an API certification mark as per your owner's manual. The Motorcraft oils meet this specification obviously (they make a full synthetic 5W20). I use Valvoline SynPower 5W20 in mine. It meets Ford's specification. I've been using it for years in other vehicles without any problems, and it generally scores well in most oil comparison tests. Another good oil is Pennzoil Platinum 5W20 (also meets Ford's specification). I haven't used it personally, but have also heard good things about it. If you don't change your own oil, I would go with the Motorcraft synthetic or blend so you can get your oil changed at your Ford dealer. The synthetic blend is very excellent oil for everyday use, so don't discount it because it's the stock oil (I use it in my other cars). If you change your own oil, you can consider the Valvoline and Pennzoil oils, as well as the MC synthetic blend, all of which are available in most oil aisles near you. Your 2012 has the intelligent oil change monitor, so remember reset it when you change your oil at 4-5k and then change it when it tells you the next time. You can get up to 10,000 miles, but if you're harder on it then it will tell you to change it sooner. Edited February 7, 2012 by FusionDiffusion 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbf2530 Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Hello to all - Just traded in my '03 Explorer for the '12 Sport and I have not yet reached 100 miles, but thinking in the long term here. I want to go full synthetic when I change out at 5K and am looking at the types specifically used for the sport. Yes I did read the owners manual and saw that it uses a Motorcraft blend. I obviously want to get a brand name synthetic that does indeed meet or exceed the Motorcraft oils. My plan is to change it once a year/10,000 miles after the synthetic goes in. So the question is which 5w20 brand would be best for me? Opinions are more than welcomed. Hi viggen. :D Never hurts to have more verification...so...I agree with what they said! Just some added information for your own protection - If you use an oil other than the recommended Motorcraft brand, always be sure the oil you use specifically states on the bottle that it "...meets and/or exceeds the WSS-M2C945-A..." Ford specification. An oil stating that it is "...recommended for vehicles using WSS-M2C945-A oils..." or other word play is not the same and can lead to Warranty issues in the rare case of an oil related problem. Personally, I have my oil changed at my local Ford-Lincoln Dealers so I never have an issue with quality of work or documentation. Additionally, you can find "$29.95 or less" coupons for package deals on oil changes and tire rotations (the service is called "The Works"). They also top off all fluids, check the battery, tires, brakes etc.. So all in all, it is a very good deal. Whatever you decide to do, good luck. :beerchug: 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goneracin Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 you said you were open to any opinions, so here is mine. based on engines i have rebuilt, discussions with professional engine builders, and ford techs, synthetic oil is pointless. yes the synthetic oil does have higher thresholds for heat and such, but the standard oils thresholds are still higher than any temperature the stock engine will ever see. so whats the point. besides, the part that everyone seems to forget is the oil filter. think of it this way, what oil is better for your car, clean conventional oil, or dirty synthetic oil? the reason i say this is, the oil filter will clog up with dirt just as fast no matter what type or brand of oil you use. so just because your oil is synthetic doesnt mean you get more miles out of the oil. if the filter is full at 5k miles, then the dirty oil is bypassing the filter and keeping dirt in your engine. with all that said, my OPINION is that the oil should be changed fairly frequently, using the specified oil and filter. you can go to synthetic if you wish, but it will not increase your oil change interval, so i think its just throwing money out the drain plug. best of luck, let us know what you decide. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 you said you were open to any opinions, so here is mine. based on engines i have rebuilt, discussions with professional engine builders, and ford techs, synthetic oil is pointless. yes the synthetic oil does have higher thresholds for heat and such, but the standard oils thresholds are still higher than any temperature the stock engine will ever see. so whats the point. besides, the part that everyone seems to forget is the oil filter. think of it this way, what oil is better for your car, clean conventional oil, or dirty synthetic oil? the reason i say this is, the oil filter will clog up with dirt just as fast no matter what type or brand of oil you use. so just because your oil is synthetic doesnt mean you get more miles out of the oil. if the filter is full at 5k miles, then the dirty oil is bypassing the filter and keeping dirt in your engine. with all that said, my OPINION is that the oil should be changed fairly frequently, using the specified oil and filter. you can go to synthetic if you wish, but it will not increase your oil change interval, so i think its just throwing money out the drain plug. best of luck, let us know what you decide. I agree but extreme cold weather would be the exception where a good full synthetic can flow a little better. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viggen Posted February 8, 2012 Author Share Posted February 8, 2012 Thanks to all. It does get fairly cold up here in Chicago during the winter (with the exception of this winter), so I would like the synthetic in to help with cold start ups. The MC blend does sound decent, but I understand the syn will also keep HP and the generated torque optimal. With that being said, unless you have a great oil filter, one should not leave the old one on approaching 10K? I guess that would be my only concern moving forward. Thanks. Please feel free to dump as much info on me considering this is my 1st new car in almost 9 years. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbf2530 Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 Thanks to all. It does get fairly cold up here in Chicago during the winter (with the exception of this winter), so I would like the synthetic in to help with cold start ups. The MC blend does sound decent, but I understand the syn will also keep HP and the generated torque optimal. With that being said, unless you have a great oil filter, one should not leave the old one on approaching 10K? I guess that would be my only concern moving forward. Thanks. Please feel free to dump as much info on me considering this is my 1st new car in almost 9 years. Hi viggen. :D You can safely follow the Ford Scheduled Maintenance Guide and Owners Manual instructions for your car. That means follow the lead of the oil life monitoring system and change the oil/filter at a maximum of 1 year/10,000 miles (or sooner if the oil life monitor says so). Use a Motorcraft oil filter and change it each time the oil is changed. Unless it will help you sleep easier at night, there is no need to do any different than what Ford states to do in your Owners Manual and Maintenance Schedule. It will only unnecessarily lighten your wallet. Good luck. :beerchug: 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FusionDiffusion Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 It does get fairly cold up here in Chicago during the winter (with the exception of this winter), so I would like the synthetic in to help with cold start ups. The MC blend does sound decent, but I understand the syn will also keep HP and the generated torque optimal. Synthetic oil will help with cold starting, but will not impact your overall torque or HP measurably (synthetic giving you more HP is mostly myth). Synthetic and non-synthetic oils have virtually same viscosity and friction levels once the engine is warmed up. I also agree you will hardly notice any differences in engine wear between synthetic and non-synthetic if the oil is changed on a regular basis on a stock engine. The benefits of synthetic come at milages over about 7500 because of higher stability and shear strength. But using a synthetic blend will ensure the oil is good for up to 10,000 miles. I also agree a good filter is important with extended intervals, so don't cheap out on filters. Avoid the orange FRAM filters. I would just stick to the Motorcraft filters as suggested. You don't have to change the filter in between oil changes, but always change it with the oil. Again, use a synthetic blend or better that meets Ford specs and change the oil and filter when the ILOM tells you too. That's really all there is to it. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monochrome11 Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 the oil filter will clog up with dirt just as fast no matter what type or brand of oil you use. so just because your oil is synthetic doesnt mean you get more miles out of the oil. if the filter is full at 5k miles, then the dirty oil is bypassing the filter and keeping dirt in your engine. This is not entirely correct. You can can get more miles out of the oil if it is a good synthetic oil. However, it takes more than just changing oil and filter at 20,000 miles. A bypass oil filter that filters micron sized particles is needed and the standard oil filter must be changed at the manufacturer's recommended interval. I have used this system on two Rangers with great success. My current 02 Ranger is at nearly 133K miles with a 20K mile synthetic oil change interval. My 89 Ranger had almost 200K miles on it when I sold it to a co-worker. It had a 25K synthetic oil change interval and now has about 250K miles on it and the engine still runs as good as new with no oil consumption problems. The only work that was done to that engine was replacing the valve cover gaskets, spark plug wires, spark plugs and other normal maintenance. You are correct about needing to replace the oil filter. They do get dirty and should be replaced at the normal interval. My Fusion will get the recommended oil change interval because there is no place to put the bypass oil filter. The 10K mile or 1 year oil change interval is very easy to keep up with anyway. It is really not worth the effort to install the bypass oil filter. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goneracin Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 I dont see where you are disagreeing with me monochrome11? you said the filter needs to be changed at normal intervals, thats exactly my point. and yes, if you add a second filter it will extend the life of your oil. but do you think ford will be willing to honor a warrenty claim for an engine issue if they find out you are going 20k between changes and you have altered their filtering system? i do agree that those systems do work very well, i also say that using conventional oil changed at the appropriate interval, maybe using a block heater for cold start up, is a better solution. the reason being, how much more money does it cost for the extra filter and the increased cost of the synthetic oil? (im honestly asking because i dont know). you dont save any money on the standard filter because you are still changing that one at the regular interval. i just dont see how it is beneficial, i would imagine the cost over the life of the vehicle isnt that much cheeper to use synthetic at even double the change interval. especially because ford will not honor a warrenty claim on an engine that is modified and has not been serviced in accordance with the owners manual. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grey Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 If you operate your vehicle for months at a time in sub zero temperatures, go to a 0W20 oil. Otherwise, stick with the Motorcraft 5W20 and Motorcraft filters. If you want to be extra considerate to your engine, change at 5-7,500 mile intervals instead of the 10,000 mile schedule. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monochrome11 Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 I dont see where you are disagreeing with me monochrome11? ...............................................i just dont see how it is beneficial, i would imagine the cost over the life of the vehicle isnt that much cheeper to use synthetic at even double the change interval. especially because ford will not honor a warrenty claim on an engine that is modified and has not been serviced in accordance with the owners manual. I am not disagreeing with you. I said that it is not entirely correct and that was referring to the statement that synthetic oil will not extend the life of the oil. I can and does extend the life of the oil. Why do I do it? Because I am lazy and prefer to do other things rather than change oil. My 02 Ranger has almost 133K miles on it and well beyond the warranty period. Although, I did install the bypass oil filter when it was new because I new it would work due to the previous experience with my 89 Ranger. Was I taking a risk? Yes, but I guess I don't mind taking a risk. I also race a sports car in SCCA which is considered by many a risk. I am not suggesting anyone else use the extended oil change interval method. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goneracin Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 I guess that makes sense, to each their own. i can agree that the method with the extra filter would work, after all, we are both making the same point, that the filtration is just as important as a good oil. hey, if it works for you, great. it obviously works for the car, i dont doubt that. if you dont mind me asking, what do you race in SCCA? its just an interesting topic 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcrdps Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 While we're intertaining opinions, here's mine: There have been many studies on conventional vs synthetic and the synthetic nearly always wins. Maybe your engine will last "long enough" on conventional oil, but the synthetic still provides more protection. I also buy into the statement that it's cleaner, and won't plug up your filter as fast. It has less impurities, so setting aside the thought that it's designed to not burn at higher temperatures, the impurities can burn easier, and produce sludge. I don't buy synthetic because it's cheaper or for longer oil changes, though I will increase my oil change a bit, but not as high as advertised by the company. Like, I would buy 15k mobil1, but change at 10k. I use synthetic because it's better and I run my cars hard. I feel the same about fuel. I go with the best I can get,,.....with-in reason anyways,.. Gene 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 (edited) I hope by "best fuel" you don't mean higher octane. I'm not sure I agree about it not plugging up your filter because synthetic oil still has additives that break down and the other stuff that comes from combustion, but that's not really the point. The point is that you can easily get 200K out of a modern engine using the factory fill synthetic blend motorcraft oil changed regularly per mfr recommendations. That's well beyond the lifespan of most vehicles. It's like during the cold war when Russia could kill us 7 times over but we could only kill them 8 times. After the first one the rest doesn't really matter. Edited March 27, 2012 by akirby 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcrdps Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 Right, I didn't mean octane. Best fuel in my mind is Chevron, followed by Texaco(same additive as Chevron), Shell,.... I have seen folks with far newer cars go in and need the injectors cleaned/replaced. So you're still saying to use a synthetic, just not fully synthetic. Goneracin says no synthetic. Who's right? I'll error in the direction of theory and run full synthetic. Gene 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 Right, I didn't mean octane. Best fuel in my mind is Chevron, followed by Texaco(same additive as Chevron), Shell,.... I have seen folks with far newer cars go in and need the injectors cleaned/replaced. So you're still saying to use a synthetic, just not fully synthetic. Goneracin says no synthetic. Who's right? I'll error in the direction of theory and run full synthetic. Ford uses a synthetic blend so that's what I would use in a Ford, but honestly I believe even non-synthetic oil will provide adequate protection through at least 200K if changed regularly per the mfr recommendations. Non-synthetics would require more frequent oil and filter changes. Engines today are so much better than 10 or 15 years ago. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viggen Posted April 17, 2012 Author Share Posted April 17, 2012 Well thanks for all the input. I guess I will stick with the Motorcraft blend since Ford does that and a tire rotation for 30 bucks up here. My only thought with the full synthetic is if it produced a noticeably quieter and quicker (read HP/TQ) engine with it, then I would go full. Since that seems not to be the case, I will blend it. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Rockford Posted May 15, 2012 Share Posted May 15, 2012 (edited) All oil is bleanded to meet the standard or todays cars unless it has a inch of dust on the bottle, Supertech oil from walmart is really good oil and I hate walmart, and either WIX, NAPA (made by wix) or motorcraft filters. http://www.aa1car.com/library/api_motor_oil_classifications.htm Edited May 15, 2012 by Jim Rockford 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fusion0389 Posted September 27, 2012 Share Posted September 27, 2012 (edited) My only disagreement with anything on this post is the reference to synthetic lubricants being a waste and not being able to protect any better than conventional lubricants. If one was to study the chemical makeup of conventional vs synthetic you would see that synthetic resists breakdown much better than the typical conventional oil and stays in grade much better an longer than its equivalent conventional counterpart. Bottom line is sythetics are better and at the price sythetic oil is going for nowadays with sales and rebates why not pay an extra dollar a quart to give your vehicle the best protection? If you are looking for something that you can find off the shelf I would recommend Pennzoil Ultra 5W20 or Mobil 1 Extended Performance 5W-20 in the Full Sythetic Category. Their prices are very competitive with sythetic blends and imo is worth the extra couple bucks. As far as filters, the oem motorcraft is rated pretty well. However if you are looking for something better or off the shelf I would look into filters that use fully sythetic media (Napa platinum, Purolator sythetic, or Royal Purple) as opposed to the cellulose media. If the extra cost of a synthetic media filter doesnt appeal to you, rest assured that the motorcraft, wix, pure one, or napa gold filter will do the trick. If you dont care about API certs or Ford specifications you can go with a higher priced "boutique oil" like amsoil or red line and stretch your oil change intervals out to about 15-20k if thats your thing. They are very high quality lubricants and oil analysis has shown them to be effective at long drain intervals. My last two oil changes I used Royal Purple 5W20 and according to my UOA it held up very well and had more life left in it than the factory fill did at the same interval. Currently I've got Amsoil Signature Series 5W20 & Synthetic EaO filter in my 2012 Sport and love it, curious to see what my next UOA shows. Bottom Line: Any on sale off the shelf brand name API synthetic and a quality filter will give you adequate protection! Edited September 27, 2012 by fusion0389 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Jim Posted September 27, 2012 Share Posted September 27, 2012 As long as you are collecting opinions, stay with Motorcraft 5/20 as long as the car is in warranty so there can be no excuse for denying a warranty claim in the rare instance of an oil related engine failure. It is excellent oil, and is specifically blended to keep Ford engineering happy. Once out of warranty when you are on your own anyway, use whatever you want. For normal street use, full synthetic so far exceeds the need that it is silly. Conventional oil exceeds the need too, just not by as big a margin. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 Because using synthetic at normal intervals is like wearing 3 belts when one works just fine. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viggen Posted December 4, 2012 Author Share Posted December 4, 2012 Pennzoil Platinum went in at 6K with a Purolator filter. After 1000 miles on it, I've really observed no differences using it. I'll try holding off on the next change until the monitor tells me I am at 0% 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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