zaffo oxnard
Active Member
I have always used a universal 15w40 engine oil in my cars because I buy in gallon jugs for my boat which has 15 liter Cummins diesels. Whether it was a 1.9L Escort that went 275,000 miles on Orange Fram filters without a problem before I sold it (30+ mpg. and clean as a whistle when I pulled the valve cover - not even the brown coffee staining) or my 2001 ST, I have simplified to one oil and run without a hitch.
I have seen many comments about blowing out seals with this thick oil, but luckily I live in coastal southern california where a night in the 40s visits us no more than 30 days out of the year at most. Never a hint of a problem. I go against Ford's recommondations and would have had a probelm if I had a lubrication related failure and they asked for receipts for the oil I bought to do the change at home. I know I'm going against the grain, but I'm willing to do that.
Now, I have to ask.... Is is at all harmfull to an engine to use an oil thicker than stated in the book? I can't find a shred of evidence that it is. Never seen or heard of a blown seal. The energy conservation lobby and CAFE are what have driven us to 0-w20, etc/; along with tighter tolerances in the engines. However, If you look at the latest engines from Cummins, Yanmar, Volvo, Detroit ($30 to 60K for an engine alone!) they still recommend 15w40 lube oil. The tolerances in these engines are closer than most automobile engines because of the hp they generate. Granted diesels need different additive packages, but these could be put into a lighter oil like 10w30 or 5w30 if the mfr. who warrants the engine thought the operators would enjoy and extra 1 - 3% fuel efficiency gain, but they don't. They still say 15w40 is best as long as it isn't below -20 or so. Even further along this same ramble, I was just in Australia and saw a couple of 2003-2004 Holden (GM - Australia) Monaros which have the latest Chevrolet 5.7L 350s in them, and they were running 20w40 or thicker oil. When I was in spain last year, Castrol and ELF all appeared to be very high viscocities - up to 60 weight that are being used in little tinly Euro cars. If US cars NEED very thin oils, and the engines are the same as the ones sold elsewhere on the planet (and we change the oil at 3 - 5K miles - what a joke - they go 10k or every year in Europe and Oz) and run just fine, why are we pouring these oils and even synthetics into our engines? Have we all bought into the RoyalPur, Ams(Zoooooomm)Oil, MobileUNO marketing hype? Has the Govt. bamboozled us into thinking that ECII oil is "better". I have to wonder. I bet Ford / GM/ DC almost never pay out for a lubrication related warranty failure. Sure, 1 in 100 lemons are out there, but is is not like 10% of all engines die and untimely death if the oil is changed and regular PM is followed.
Mercedes got famous for for engines that lasted a long time, but they had 2 gallon oil pans on 3 and 4 liter motors and huge oil flilters that came from their 8 - 10 liter truck engines and always recommended 20w50.
I have to think that Flavor Flav and Chuck D were right - don't believe the hype.
Yeah Boyeeee
Ahem,
and now back to our regularly scheduled program.
I have seen many comments about blowing out seals with this thick oil, but luckily I live in coastal southern california where a night in the 40s visits us no more than 30 days out of the year at most. Never a hint of a problem. I go against Ford's recommondations and would have had a probelm if I had a lubrication related failure and they asked for receipts for the oil I bought to do the change at home. I know I'm going against the grain, but I'm willing to do that.
Now, I have to ask.... Is is at all harmfull to an engine to use an oil thicker than stated in the book? I can't find a shred of evidence that it is. Never seen or heard of a blown seal. The energy conservation lobby and CAFE are what have driven us to 0-w20, etc/; along with tighter tolerances in the engines. However, If you look at the latest engines from Cummins, Yanmar, Volvo, Detroit ($30 to 60K for an engine alone!) they still recommend 15w40 lube oil. The tolerances in these engines are closer than most automobile engines because of the hp they generate. Granted diesels need different additive packages, but these could be put into a lighter oil like 10w30 or 5w30 if the mfr. who warrants the engine thought the operators would enjoy and extra 1 - 3% fuel efficiency gain, but they don't. They still say 15w40 is best as long as it isn't below -20 or so. Even further along this same ramble, I was just in Australia and saw a couple of 2003-2004 Holden (GM - Australia) Monaros which have the latest Chevrolet 5.7L 350s in them, and they were running 20w40 or thicker oil. When I was in spain last year, Castrol and ELF all appeared to be very high viscocities - up to 60 weight that are being used in little tinly Euro cars. If US cars NEED very thin oils, and the engines are the same as the ones sold elsewhere on the planet (and we change the oil at 3 - 5K miles - what a joke - they go 10k or every year in Europe and Oz) and run just fine, why are we pouring these oils and even synthetics into our engines? Have we all bought into the RoyalPur, Ams(Zoooooomm)Oil, MobileUNO marketing hype? Has the Govt. bamboozled us into thinking that ECII oil is "better". I have to wonder. I bet Ford / GM/ DC almost never pay out for a lubrication related warranty failure. Sure, 1 in 100 lemons are out there, but is is not like 10% of all engines die and untimely death if the oil is changed and regular PM is followed.
Mercedes got famous for for engines that lasted a long time, but they had 2 gallon oil pans on 3 and 4 liter motors and huge oil flilters that came from their 8 - 10 liter truck engines and always recommended 20w50.
I have to think that Flavor Flav and Chuck D were right - don't believe the hype.
Yeah Boyeeee
Ahem,
and now back to our regularly scheduled program.