Ford Motor Oil Specification

[Blue Marauder]

As I noted in the Royal Purple oil thread, the new Ford specification for motor oil is WSS-M2C153-H. The Marauder owner's guide clearly states:

Only use oils "Certified For Gasoline Engines" by the American Petroleum Institute (API). Use Motorcraft or an equivalent oil meeting Ford specification WSS-M2C153-H.

The guide also says that :

SAE 5w-20 engine oil is recommended.

A recommendation is just that. You SHOULD use 5w-20 oil, but you don't have to.

However, a specification is a requirement. The guide says that whatever oil you use is REQUIRED to meet WSS-M2C153-H.

Looking at the data sheets for Motorcraft, Mobil 1, Amsoil, and Royal Purple reveals the following facts:

1. Mobil 1 0w-20 synthetic, Amsoil 5w-20 synthetic, and Motorcraft 5w-20 synthetic blend all state that they meet WSS-M2C153-H. Therefore, the use of any of these oil would NOT invalidate the warranty.

2. Royal Purple 5w-20 does not state if it meets WSS-M2C153-H. Its use would invalidate the warranty if it does not indeed meet the Ford spec.

3. Mobil 1 5w-30 does NOT meet WSS-M2C153-H. It was developed well before the new Ford spec became available. Therefore, it is logical to assume that its use would invalidate the warranty.

Everyone has been fixating on the WEIGHT of the oil and whether or not it would invalidate the Ford warranty. The only thing that is required by Ford is that the oil meet the API spec AND WSS-M2C153-H. It just so happens that the only oils (that I looked at, there could be others) that meet BOTH requirements are the Mobil 1 0w-20, Motorcraft 5w-20, and Amsoil 5w-20. So, the use of any of these three oils would NOT invalidate the Ford warranty. Use of anything else could or definitely would.

Based on the above stated requirements, I would NOT use Mobil 1 5w-30 oil. I definitely WOULD use Mobile 1 0w-20 oil.

[LincMercLover]

I'm e-mailing Mobil and asking. I for one am NOT putting a 0W in my car!

[Blue Marauder]

Originally posted by LincMercLover
I'm e-mailing Mobil and asking. I for one am NOT putting a 0W in my car!

The data that I quoted is available directly on the Mobil 1 web site. Feel free to verify it.

Also, it is obvious that you and several others do not understand how multigrade oils work. Someone else posted some graphs that showed the temperature characteristics of a typical multigrade oil compared to single weight oils that were the same as each "end" of the multigrade. It could be seen that at low temps the multigrade behaved just like the thinner single grade while at high temps the multigrade behaved just like the thicker multigrade. It is only on startup and very cold temps that a multigrade behaves like the thinner single weight oil. Just because a multigrade oil is rated at 0 does not mean that there is no oil protection to the rotating parts. For that matter, a 0w oil is better at protecting the engine than a 5w oil at low temps because it will flow better and get to the critical parts sooner. Then, as soon as the oil starts to warm up, it will behave more like the thicker weight oil.

I would rather put in a 0w-20 oil that DOES meet Ford's requirement spec than a 5w-30 that does NOT.

[schuvwj]

Yes Blue Marauder I could not of agreed MORE!

The SM at my local Ford/Merc dealer says 0w-20w is coming for Motocraft.

[SergntMac]

I really do appreciate the time and effort it takes to conduct an Internet investigation into fact. And, I do highly respect the intent to learn and share truth. However, this pursuit of "which oil" is best, should come to a reasonable end and reasonably soon I hope.

Engine oil has two catagories we should understand and remember. Catagory one is clean, and catagory two is cost. Based on recommended oil changes we do not disagree upon here, only these two catagories remain important to us, as MM owners.

The best oil is clean oil, and in order to maintain that "best" status, frequent oil changes are key. Therefore, the objective of maintaining clean oil is directly related to the cost of that clean oil. It just so happens that the cheapest "clean oil" available to us, is the recommended oil, which is available, inexpensively to us, at our local LM dealer.

What's so hard to accept about this? Something wrong with following the manfacturer's recommendation? Is your dealer the automotive anti-Christ or something? Come on...Jeeze!

The rest of these oil related discussions and justifying arguments, is really a big waste of time. To continue them any further only attacks brain calories, and my brain is small enough as it is thank you.

Since this all started, I've changed my oil and filter twice, and replaced one air filter. How about you?

[TAF]

Originally posted by SergntMac

Since this all started, I've changed my oil and filter twice, and replaced one air filter. How about you?

And RF...he changed his underwear once :lol:

There...the "thread-killer" has struck...just for you Mac, my friend.

[SergntMac]

Thanks TAF, I'm outta here...

[schuvwj]

Sarg my MM with 10,000 miles goes in the LM shop Monday for:
1. Oil and Filter (5w-20w and motocraft fliter)
2. Fuel Filter change (motocraft)
3) Drain trany and change filter. (motocraft)
4) Drain rear end oil and inspect for bad rear bearings. (TSB)
5) Fix right windshield blade not parking.
6) New air cleaner. (Motocraft)
7) Rear driver side door window motor is very slow.
8) Rotate tires side to side.
9) Adjust trunk lid spring tension after adding rear spoiler.

[Blue Marauder]

Sarge,

Sorry you find this all so boring. I really don't care what oil you use or how often you change it. As long as that oil meets WSS-M2C153-H and you follow the maximum drain interval specified by Ford, you will not void your warranty. I change my oil every 5000 miles, but that's a discussion I won't get into. Guess that's all I have to say on the subject.

[Donald]

FWIW, Valvoline 5W-10W and 5W-30W full synthetic meet the Ford specs. Says so on the bottle.

[jgc61sr2002]

Blue Marauder - Thanks for doing the investigation. I concur with your findings. I am using Motorcraft 5 W 20 synthetic blend till mobil one produces a 5 W 20 that meets FMC requirements. John:up:

[tetsu]

Wow. If those statement bear out. That's great news. The Mobil1 0w20 should be alot cheaper than RoyalPurple.

The 0 part only comes into play in COLD weather and when it's COLD you want it to FLOW. I dunno about the rest of you, but in Milwaukee it gets COLD.

I'll wager that by July there'll be an actual Mobil1 5w20 meeting the same spec.

God, I love this board.

Johnny

[TripleTransAm]

Originally posted by tetsu
I'll wager that by July there'll be an actual Mobil1 5w20 meeting the same spec.


I'd just like to know what about Mobil One 5W30 does not meet Ford's specs.

It's kind of like the whole Microsoft XP driver digital signing scam... you probably have to pay Microsoft to "evaluate" your driver and give it the big A-OK. In real life, though, you can get a set of Microsoft-signed drivers from a manufacturer and they will be crap. Likewise, some manufacturers will outright tell us to ignore the big red warning signs that XP will produce, warning of impending doom and gloom should we use drivers that are not 'signed'... yet they work fabulously.

I went/am-going-through the same story with Creative drivers for my Soundblaster Live. Lots of Microsoft-authorized drivers meeting their specs, but they JUST DON'T WORK! Basic functions are broken, and I use them as an important aspect of my home recording studio!

How does this tie in to our oil discussion? If Ford's spec came out after the Mobil One 5W30 was on the market (and I believe it has), maybe Mobil One didn't think it was financially intelligent to fork over money to re-test their oil against a new spec. If the spec authorizes oil ranging from 0W20 to 5W30, maybe it isn't such a strict requirement after all??

Personally, I'm just forking over some food for thought, nothing more. I've already posted my mental train of thought behind my choice of oil weight and provider, so I won't rehash that.

And finally, I'm with Sarge on this one: stick to a good interval, use a good brand name oil in the general vicinity of the factory recommended fill (ie. I wouldn't want to be pumping 50 weight oil through a warm MM engine), and stick to good quality filters. Your engines will outlast you...

(raising a glass to my old dearly departed 1984 Franken-Civic, that faithfully ran 30000+ miles on the same oil and filter without any noticeable engine wear on teardown)

[Matt Johnson]

So 0W's fine for warm climate driving?

[tetsu]

The thing that makes me worried about 5w30 is that previously that was the viscosity specified. There have been problems in the past with the 32v motors in the Cobras which I think may have been partially attributable to insufficient flow of 5w30 when hot.

I'd be more interested in a 0w20 that officially meets Fords specs....esspecially in winter. If Mobil1 comes out with a spec'd 5w20 I'd use that in summer and the 0w20 in Winter.

I agree with Sarge and others that frequency of changes is critical. I like to change between 2-3k miles. I'll continue with that on full Synthetic also.

I'm a young guy with alot of mouths to feed, so i don't want to mess around with my Warranty. I think 5w30 probably would be OK but I think I like the idea of full synthetic 5w20 better.

Johnny

[Blue Marauder]

Originally posted by Matt Johnson
So 0W's fine for warm climate driving?

Remember, it behaves like 20w when warm.

[Matt Johnson]

"It behaves like 20W" means nothing to me. I'm am "oil-illiterate."

In other words...what does 20 W behave like in warm weather?

[Blue Marauder]

Originally posted by tetsu
I'd be more interested in a 0w20 that officially meets Fords specs....esspecially in winter. If Mobil1 comes out with a spec'd 5w20 I'd use that in summer and the 0w20 in Winter.

I doubt that you would see much difference on the cold end between 0w-20 and 5w-20 anywhere in the continental US (48 states). The days of using 10w-30 in the winter and 10w-40 in the summer are long gone.

[TripleTransAm]

Originally posted by tetsu
There have been problems in the past with the 32v motors in the Cobras which I think may have been partially attributable to insufficient flow of 5w30 when hot.


Well, see that's the kind of info I was after in the other oil thread. If previous 32V motors were failing with xxx-W30 oil, then there's a technical reason for the change and not just a fuel economy related one. Same goes for Honda, then?
(I have a hard time seeing Honda engines fail on ANYTHING short of chocolate milk mixed with Lake Erie sludge).

So what do the hi-po techies on this list think about all this? I'll search tomorrow for any post Dennis or others may have made on this issue, but if someone already knows the answer I'm interested. From what I understand Dennis has worked with 32V mod motors for a while, and should know the scoop on 5W30 -related failures.