I checked my owner's manual, and it states to change the oil every 5,000 miles or six months, whichever comes first. 5W-20 for the 2.3 engine.

So I'll be putting in the Mobil 1 this week.

 

I'm not sure of the capacity of your motor, but Wal-Mart has 5 quart jugs of Mobil 1 on sale for $19. Also, did you decide on a filter (Motorcraft!)?

 

The 3.2L engine's capacity is 4 quarts, but that's a really good price on the Mobil 1- 5 quart jug. Because of my bad back, I'm going to have a shop do the oil change and lube job. So I need to call first to be sure I can supply oil and a filter, as some places insist on supplying the oil and filter....Motorcraft Filter sounds great to me.

Thanks for the suggestion and heads up about Wal-Mart's sale!!

I'm sold on the Mobil 1 oil though as from what I've read, it has detergents in it that will clean out any existing oil in 2 or 3 oil changes, less wear and tear on the engine, improved gas mileage, it's cleaner than regular oil, so I'm thinking less sludge deposits inside the engine.

 

I just got back from Wal-Mart with a 5 quart jug of Mobil 1...I'll get the filter and change tomorrow.

 

I bought a Motorcraft oil filter and got the oil and lube job done today. I found a shop that could do it right away, so I had them do it. So that's done.

 

Wayne, lol.... Its usually cheaper if you get the oil and filter and do it yourself.... LOL

 

I know it's cheaper if you do it yourself, but my back is bad which prohibits me from doing it myself, besides I don't have a grease gun, and I have no way to dispose of the old oil.......they only charged me $18 to do the oil change and lube, and they also topped off my other fluids and checked my battery.....so it's no big deal. So with the oil, filter and labor charge it came up to about $42.00.

 

Well so far the engine is running a little quieter with the Mobil 1. Gas mileage is supposed to get better, engine should last longer ect.......
Seeing how this is only a twice a year project for me, it's really no big deal.

 

You know Mark, it's a matter of taking care of your vehicle, whether it's a Pinto or Mercedes, take care of the vehicle and it'll take care of you. Now I look at your avatar and I see your truck, obviously you've been doing some off road driving, now that can be hard on a truck, all that dirt, pebbles and mud getting sprayed all over your truck, to me that would be a big deal, I'd never want to see my truck covered with such mud. I want my truck to look good and run good for years. Driving it off road just for kicks and giggles, now that's extravagant. I can't afford to beat up a truck like that.
You're sqwaking about a lousy $20 extra for "exotic oil" ?? I'm seeing guys on this forum spending $1,000 on tires, lift kits, headlights, and other modifications, that I would never do. I would never ever use fog lights. Stock lights have always done the job for me. I like the way my truck looks as is, and am very happy and blessed to have it, so I want to take care of it with the best maintenance I can.

Different strokes for different folks.

 

^^^^ Thats right man, different strokes for different folks! Everyone has there own likes and dislikes as well as whats important to them.... I run synthetic in my truck and it has performed flawlessly for for me. Good luck.

 

Thanks !! I think it'll work out okay. I got a close look at the oil, first time looking at any synthetic oil, and it's a very light & clean oil. It looks and feels like a very good quality lubricant to me.

I'd rather be accused of babying my truck, than abusing or neglecting it.

 

^^^^LOL... That wouldn't be an accusation, it would be a fact, wouldn't it? lol....

 

I have no use for a four wheel drive vehicle. I had plenty of them 30 years ago, and they were nothing but trouble, and expensive to fix. I had an old *****'s station wagon/jeep, I had a CJ7 jeep, so I've had my share of 4 wheel drive trucks, but just ain't into it anymore. people used to tell me how good they were in the snow, I believed that until one day I spun out on the freeway, yep, I did a 360 degree spin on an ice patch, luckily, I didn't hit anybody, as it was 6:00 in the morning, and not much traffic, so after that, I no longer put my faith in 4 wheel drive vehicles.

I just want a nice simple pick up truck, that looks nice, and can haul stuff around occasionally.

 

Well if it's good enough for a Corvette, it should be good enough for my 4 banger !!

 

You know it's funny.. every single car related thread I visit there is always an "oil thread". They usually are long and filled with peoples opinions based on what thier "friend said" or what there "3rd cousins, uncles, grandpa said" or what thier "gut feeling" is. And almost never do people post thier thoughts based on first hand evidence.



Well here is my opinion. And mind you.. it's based on first and foremost rebuilding engines **myself**. Secondly on doing what I do for a living. (OEM engineer)

I've found that BY FAR there are two factors that prevent oil related failures.

1) Change intervals.

2) Full synthetic oils.

It's my observation (over the last 25 year) that the single most important factor in preventing engine wear/failure is to simply change it regularly. This does two things. It helps to mimimize debris / sludge buildup. And filters going into by-pass mode from being plugged up.

The one thing you'll repeatedly see even in motors that had it's mineral based oil changed every 3k miles is coking of the oil in the high heat areas. Usually you'll see it in the lifters and if the oil returns get dumped onto the crank or rod. The ranger 2.9L comes to mind as a "ranger" example.

Fully synthetic oils are definately superior in this respect. And the only down side I observe is the cost. Which is quite high! Especially if you change it more than every 5k miles.

What I personally use:
Caddy (275hp + 100hp shot of nitrous) = 10w-30 mobil 1
Lightning (800hp @ crank) will be broke in on 30w mineral then will switch to something with high ZDDP
Ranger (30hp over stock and is my DD) 5w-30 Ford semi-synth

Oh and I choose pure-o-later "pure one" filters. They have fully synthetic media and a thicker wall on both the case and the end plate.


It's been my observations that the worst possible thing you could do is to not change the oil. Second would be to change it every 10k or so with what ever is cheapest. Thirdly is to mis-match mineral based oils.

btw (and a pet pieve of mine) is to think that the amount of raw crude in the ground could come from dead dinasours.

Rich

 

Thanks for the info !! Even though I just have the lowly 2.3L engine, it's a complicated engine with 16 valves, which means lots of moving parts. So getting the best lubricant I can, should ensure a long life and trouble free performance. Finding the Mobil 1 at WalMart for $19.99 solves the problem of costs, $19.99 ain't so bad.

And yes it was recommend to me by a close friend whose been working with cars and trucks for many, many years. This guy was changing oil on cars and trucks, before many of you were even born.

 

I'm sure he's very knowledgeable.. only thing I'll point out is overhead cam motors have smaller clearances in the lifter areas than the old typical push rod motors. It's usually the first place you'll see fail. (stuck lifters from debris or coking)

Rich

 

Exactly why I chose to go with Mobil 1, it's a cleaner oil which should mean less sludge build up inside the motor, than with regular oil. From what I've read about it, it also has detergents in it that help to clean out any existing oil or sludge.

 

Same reason for me also, I'd rather spend the money on syn. now then have to replace a engine in a couple of years. It balances out in my mind. I've been using Mobile 1 for 1 full change now and the engine is running better then before, my mileage is up. So far i have no had no complaints with it. I have to change it again this week, I just passed 5k yesterday.

 

so i kinda skipped a bunch but, what kind of mobil 1 are you guys using/recommending (synthetic or regular). When I did mine I just bought the normal mobil 1 in the weight ford recommended so im guessing its not synthetic or synthetic blend

i change every 3000