Hi. I just bought a 2008 Ranger and will be changing to synthetic motor oil. The manufacturer recommends 5w20. The 5w20 oil is, from what I understand, an excellent winter oil (I live in eastern Canada). From some of my research I found that 5w20 may not be a great high temperature summer oil and 10w30 would perform better. Agruments I've read seem to be that 5w20 sacrifices engine wear for fuel economy over the long haul. Is there any problem in switching grades depending on the season? I've always switched to a thicker grade in the summer before but are synthetics any different? Thanx.

 

the first number is how the oil will act cold. a 5w the next is how the oil behaves under heat, a 20w. 5w20 is no better cold the 5w30. the motor will handle 30w oil fine and if you have nice summers theres nothing wrong with using a 10w30 but why complicate it with 2 diff oils, and just switch to 5w30 year round if i isnt cold enough to need a 0w

 

I think I'll stick with the 5W20. From what I've read the 5W20 should work. I rarely rev past 3000 rpm so unless I stress the 4 banger I shouldn't need a thicker oil like 5W30. I'm going to go with Mobil 1 Synthetic.

 

Just go 10W-30 year round; no need to switch.

 

Stick with the 5w-20.
Newer engines are built with tighter tolerances and run/last better with the lighter weight oils.
The manufacturer recommends them for a reason.
When you get over 100k on the odometer , then consider switching to a heavier oil.

 

Go with what the manufacturer recommends, 5w-20.

 

I seemed to switch to new weights, brands, full synthetic and blends at every oil change. Right now I'm using Havoline conventional 5w-30 every 3k, for the past two changes - going to go for 3 in a row with the exact same oil.

 

I run 5-20, Mobile 1, all year round.
I have heard that 5-30 will cause the lifters to get louder.

 

If you believed everything you heard or read over this, somethings would make sense all of the time. It depends on way to many factors with your choice of oil, mine is price????? If I change with 5W20 conventional oil 3 times a year (not quite 12,000 miles a year on my 07 XLT 2.3) I would still be under the cost of one full synthetic change for 3,000 miles once. I tried Royal Purple in my 89 Mustang GT after I bought it in 09, it started leaking near the front main bearing gasket. This year I went back to 5W30 conventional oil and the leak stopped. If your going to follow the 3 months/ 3,000 miles rule then stick with the owners manual guide lines for "severe driving" habits. Good Luck...

 

Just to ad a little to my last post…

$28.00 for 6 Quarts of Mobile 1 + $5 ~ Motorcraft Oil Filter, (x2) =’s $38.00

This is for two oil changes, one full oil and filter the second filter and one quart of oil.

Either the Oil/filter of the Filter and make up oil happens every 3500 to 4000 miles and only because I don’t drive as much now so I do the changes more often.
If I was on the road more I could go 5000 between changes.

Now what does that mean in Months, approximately three a tear so cost would be approx $50.00 a year.
Compare this to regular oil changes every 2-3 k miles and you get almost the same price per year.

Also, no matter what oil you use, the less miles traveled the more the oil should be changed.
(more diluted oil w/ gas/carbon in the oil - causes less protection and more sludge buildup).
AND always use the Manufacturer’s suggested weight and quality level of oil.

 

You can read more into oil then is there, first I question the interval of 3000 miles it isn't in your owners manual. It is what the oil companies recommend.
Why because they are in the business of selling oil, I wouldn't run conventional oil in anything, if you read up on what the differences are you will see where conventional oil fails and what that does to your engine and where synthetics far out perform in every way.
I have been running syn-oil for over 20 years and have gone almost 300,000 miles on a motor with proper maintenance and regular oil changes @ 10,000 miles with a filter change @ 5000.
The big difference between conv. and syn. is what temperatures they start to break down conv. oil will start @ or around 180-190 deg. F where syn is still stable @ 250 deg. F.
What happens with the conv. is it will start to "coke" and that is were you get the black sludge in your engine where the syn. will not do this.
Look it up and you will see the advantages of running a pure syn. oil over a conv. and your blends are a waste of money the conv. oil in a blend will do to your engine the same as regular conv. oil will do.
Here is 1 of many links that explain the differences. Motor Oil Myths and Facts
On my cardomain site for my otar I have a picture of two different heads one with conv. and one on syn. (Walmart house brand 5w30 @ 17.00 for 5 quarts.)
http://www.cardomain.com/id/Jakedog page three of the 94 Miata page. The motor the clean head is off of ran syn. as soon as the ring were seated at around 1000 miles motor was torn down @ 281,000 miles and rebuilt machine shop could find no wear on the crankshaft rods or bearings, crosshatching was still visible in all cylinders.
So before you go and give syn. oil a bad rap know what you are talking about, don't believe the oil companies bull@#$%

 

Something else to consider - don't ever let anyone tell you that conventional oils are garbage and unsafe to use and they don't even come close to offering proper wear protection for your engine.









Looks close enough to me for a typical daily driver, which may apply to nearly 98% of the driving population...that probably have absolutely no need for a synthetic oil at twice the price, or the boutique oils at quadruple the price.

May not even realize that some consumers can attest to the fact that they've somehow managed to rack up 250,000 - 350,000 miles running just conventional oil without a major overhaul, yet.

 

When I started changing my oil on my first car (73 Nova with a straight 6) the filter was large, not like the one on my wife's 06 Saturn Vue with a 3.5 V6. I believe its the size of the filter that keep the intervals of changes so low. The MotorCraft 400s on my 2.3 lost a bit in length since I bought it 2007. If it was as big as the 5.0's FLA 1 on my 89 GT could I go longer on oil changes? WOW !... thats a big filter...
As it is with the million miles people claim their engines have gone , what about the rest of the car? Trans, axles, body panels and to think ...the cost involved in keeping a car 200 k plus miles.

 

I just used Synthetic for the first time, wow its so nice!

 

I ran 5w-30 for 111k miles, supercharged, chipped, wheeled, towing, freezing cold, hot temps, you name it. All mobile one synthetic oil. I see no need to change the viscosity unless you are in extreme conditions.

 

Thank you Ford!

Went to change the oil for the first time today. Mobil 1 synthetic and Mobil 1 filter. Drove up on the ramps, looked underneath and WHAMO! There was the filter! Right there! Ready to be picked like a low hanging apple! Smoooooooooooooooooooooth. Done!

 

yes, it will be so easy for all if they left the engine in the right way. Now if they would just go back the the larger sized filter (400s) I used to use, they got a bit shorter this year. Its a hassle to getting the air filter box cover off.

 

mine is a piece of cake to do...the drain plug side of the pan and the filter are right next to each other