oil

[LTDMike]

ok guys i know theres been many threads about oil we run our panthers on, but lately ive been told the more miles you have on your the thicker oil you need.

my town car has 176,xxx miles on it but i really dont want to put in a oil thats too thick and make the engine sluggish also winter is coming up soon here in chicago!

any suggestions guys?? reg. oil, synthetic blend, or full syn??

[351m]

Does it have low oil pressure? Burn oil? Leak? If not put stock in, possibly even if it does. I always run a bit heavier in my vehicles during the summer but factory recommended for winter.

[Mercracer]

ok guys i know theres been many threads about oil we run our panthers on, but lately ive been told the more miles you have on your the thicker oil you need.

my town car has 176,xxx miles on it but i really dont want to put in a oil thats too thick and make the engine sluggish also winter is coming up soon here in chicago!

any suggestions guys?? reg. oil, synthetic blend, or full syn??

There is no reason to run heavy oil in a 4.6 and plenty of reasons not to. 5W-20 Motorcraft is a synthetic blend and is readily available from Wal Mart and other places. The factory does not like to pay out warranty claims so it is a safe bet that the oil they recommend is an excellent choice.

[LTDMike]

Yea the car does burn oil I've been told to add a bottle of the Lucas oil stabilizer.

[351m]

Yea the car does burn oil I've been told to add a bottle of the Lucas oil stabilizer.

It won't do much to help if anything for the oil burning.

[Merc3517]

I toyed with the idea as well. I have around 230k miles so I thought about maybe using 10w-30 but then I started thinking, the car made it 230k miles on 5w-30 and I couldn't justify changing now and risk being a stupid decision. Needless to say I just use Castrol GTX 5w-30 and a new filter (preferably not Fram) every 3k miles.

[91waggin]

Run stock unless it burns more than a quart or so between changes. If it's leaking, well fix the problem. You'll lose fuel economy if you run a thicker oil when the engine doesn't need it. Then step up a grade.

In a Chicago winter I would definitely run a 5W- oil rather than a 10W- oil. Will make for easier starts in really cold weather with less engine wear.

Remember, when you select an oil grade, the first number is dictated by how cold it's going to be outside. If it's going to be balls cold, select a lower number (probably 5). The second number is dictated by how thick you want the oil to be when the engine is hot. An engine in good condition should take whatever is recommended by the factory. If it burns what's recommended by the factory, you should step up a grade.


One caveat from personal experience:
My little brother has an 01 CV with only 70k miles on the clock and excellent maintenance since it was new. The factory recommends a 5W-20 oil. At the first oil change after he got it, I put in 5W-20. Over the next 3000 miles, it proceeded to burn almost 3 quarts. Stepped up to a 5W-30, and the burning stopped completely.

Remember, the factory doesn't care about how much oil the engine burns once it's out of warranty. They tell you to run a thin oil so that they can eke that extra mileage out of the engine so they can advertise it as such.

[Mercracer]

Remember, the factory doesn't care about how much oil the engine burns once it's out of warranty. They tell you to run a thin oil so that they can eke that extra mileage out of the engine so they can advertise it as such.

The factory cares less about how much fuel the engine burns out of warranty than it does oil. They do not advertise used car fuel efficiency and CAFE does not hold them accountable. Cold start ups is what kills an engine more than anything in cold climate areas.
I run 5w-20 in engines with over 240,000 miles with no excessive oil consumption.

[gadget73]

The 4.6 has small oil passages up to the head. Thick oil will starve the cams and do major internal damage. I've seen pictures of 4.6 heads that were run with thick oil, and it was not pretty. The bearing saddles in the heads were just destroyed, and the cams were also scrap metal. They were not repairable. Use the factory reccomended oil. If you have oil burning problems and its a 95 or older model, it probably needs valve seals. Thick oil will not help that problem.

[91waggin]

It's an 01. And 5W-30 is considered thick oil? I would consider 15-40 thick oil.

[sly]

my 93 vic will burn off the full batch of oil inside 3-4 weeks with 5w30 or synth-blend. the 10w30 high mileage just burns off at startup (valve drip into the exhaust most likely) and leak out the normal slow leak spots. typically have to dump 2-3 quarts in during an oil change's life (4-6 months going by mileage alone) using the high mileage. regular 10w30 in that car will also burn off faster (but not near as fast as 5w30). I've been told that with the 4.6L one should NOT use 10w40 or heavier since the oil passages are so small... I haven't tested that theory though. I know my 88 mgm like the 10w30 high milage too but likes 10w40 better in the summer. It hates 10w40 in the winter though, so I just use the 10w30 year round to keep it simple.

[Mercracer]

my 93 vic will burn off the full batch of oil inside 3-4 weeks with 5w30 or synth-blend. the 10w30 high mileage just burns off at startup (valve drip into the exhaust most likely) and leak out the normal slow leak spots. typically have to dump 2-3 quarts in during an oil change's life (4-6 months going by mileage alone) using the high mileage. regular 10w30 in that car will also burn off faster (but not near as fast as 5w30). I've been told that with the 4.6L one should NOT use 10w40 or heavier since the oil passages are so small... I haven't tested that theory though. I know my 88 mgm like the 10w30 high milage too but likes 10w40 better in the summer. It hates 10w40 in the winter though, so I just use the 10w30 year round to keep it simple.

The proper fix is to replace valve seals, not run heavier oil....

[Merc3517]

^^^^^ x's 2

[sly]

yes, I know this... but I can't find anyone willing to do that job and it would take me too long to do it myself since it's my wife's DD.

Unless there's something I'm missing, don't the heads have to come off of the car to replace those?

[Merc3517]

not necessarily but in my opinion your better off to just take them off because if you drop a valve your going to have to take it off anyway and it will be unexpected and you won't be prepared.