Oil change, wifes Escape, need opinions

[EddieS'04]

My wifes 3.0 V6 duretec Ford Escape has 50k miles on it. At 45k I switched from 5-20 MC blend to 5-30 MC blend. I changed the oil yesterday at 50k. For the first time since new there were no fine particles of aluminum in the drain pan. My question is does anyone think, Ford might have miss judged the lubrication need ? All in the choice for fuel mileage.

I always thought maybe the factory didnot clean up the castings. The block and heads a alluminum. Never had any trouble from the motor run great. Iam leaning towards 5-30 is the proper oil for this motor.:unsure:

 

[Tom Schindler]

I am not sold on 5W20 oil and I would never use it.



If you feel 5W30 is better than 5W20, use it.





Tom

 

[gary s]

if the vehicle calls for 5/20, i would stick with what the manufacturer suggests. the only thing is i might go with synth. or a synth blend

 

[Johnny O]

A used oil analysis is the only way to know for sure. Anything else is just speculation.

My wife's Taurus 3.0 shows just fine on 5w-20, in fact Motorcraft and Mobil 1 UOA's were nearly identical. That said, the best UOA's I've gotten on both vehicles came from Pennzoil Platinum 5w-30.

Blackstone Labs, $22.50.