oil for ford

[bigfooteriam]

my brother is wondering what kind of engine oil to put in his new to him motorhome. it is a 1993 ford 450 with the 460 motor gas. he has heard numerous suggestions but they all vary in the weights. does anyone know for sure?
thanking you in advance.

[va-parrothead]

mlts22 wrote:
As above, but who knows how many/few times the PO changed the oil, so I'd change the oil/filter, go 3000 miles, then change both again.

Excellent advice. Changing oil and filter ahead of schedule will avoid most problems. Consider also the high-mileage oils once your rig hits that plateau.

[Harvey51]

Our 2004 has 5W20 written on the oil fill cap. I keep a case of 5W30 on hand for our other vehicles but do buy 5 L of 5W20 for the Ford every spring.

[RambleOnNW]

I haven't heard that synthetic oil carries less dirt than conventional. What I found from personal experience on a car that had conventional oil changes at 3800 mile intervals for 127K miles is that synthetic oil dissolved crud left by the conventional oil for about 3 oil changes. When I poured the oil in a recycling container there was dirt left in the pan. Now I don't see that.
So it is conventional that leaves the crud in the engine, synthetic dissolves and removes it.

[ron_dittmer]

Speaking of conventional versus synthetic oil...I understand synthetic oil carries much less dirt than conventional oil.

A friend of mine is deeply involved in a Cessna Cardinal flyers club. He mentioned there are issues with synthetic oil in the Cardinal airplane engine, maybe just his particular engine, I don't really know for sure. If my memory serves me correctly, he said because synthetic oil carries much less dirt, dirt ends up settling and accumulating inside the airplane engine in concerning places. Therefore they are not allowed to use synthetic oil.

Can anyone here elaborate on dirt accumulation with synthetic oil? Does using synthetic oil in our automobile engines create a build-up of dirt that isn't getting flushed out during an oil change? Is any such build-up occurring in concerning places in the Ford-V10 engine?

[bigfooteriam]

heya and thanks for the advice
I will pass this along to him
I knew I could count on the rvnet crew for help

[ron_dittmer]

According to the Ford On-Line 1996 E350 owners manual, it states as follows.

American Petroleum Institute Certified oil or APIC synthetic oil can also be used. Viscosities as follows.

4.9L - 10W-30 to -5F (5W-30 to -15F)
5.0L - 10W-30 to -5F (5W-30 to -15F)
5.8L - 5W-30 to -15F
7.5L - 10W-30 to -5F (5W-30 to -15F)

I would have called up a 1993 owners manual but the Ford website goes back only as far as 1996.

[mlts22]

In my experience, the main issues with oil tend to be either the lack of, or the fact it wasn't changed and had so much sludge/metal particles that it essentially functioned as not being there.

I've not heard of anyone having to have a rebuild because they used 10W40 instead of 10W30 in their engine so far.

[j-d]

We don't want to go totally off the page, like "Forty Weight Non Detergent" or the like, but beyond that I think pretty much anything in the mainstream (and everything said so far is mainstream!) will be just fine. I used to be a fan on single-weight oils, ran 30HD in all our vehicles which at the time were all Detroit Iron. Because of being in FL, the single weight worked all year.
Nowadays, I'd say 10W30 for a 460/7.5L. We ran that in the 1983 460 we had and no issues. Had over 100,000 miles.
I actually started to repeat an observation I see often on the boating forum I also hang out on: "How many engine failures have you traced to Oil Failure, Wrong Oil?" The manufacturers love to intimidate owners into their products. If you think the auto/truck manufacturers are pushy, check the Outboard manufacturers and MerCruiser (which is a GM engine!). They make it think the earth has turned flat and you'll sail off the edge if their oil's not in your crankcase.
I've only heard of two oils going flaky.
1. The early 10w40. There was something about the viscosity additive that allowed at least some of that oil to fail and some car builders claimed they'd deny warranty if 10w40 continued to be used. Even though it had been listed in Owner's Manuals!
2. Quaker State awhile ago. A friend said he had a crankcase of it turn to a jelly. A neighbor said he tore an engine down and the inside looked like it was covered in cinders. I DID actually witness that in a V6 Buick engine. I had the intake manifold and oil pan off, and actually chipped/scraped crusty deposits (not sludge) out of it.
In those days (late 1980's/early 1990's) you could see a black trace in the bottom of a bottle of oil based on "Pennsylvania Crude." Still I believe both of those oil issues above are history.
GOOD Oil, GOOD Filter, Changed Frequently the first couple times...

[mlts22]

As above, but who knows how many/few times the PO changed the oil, so I'd change the oil/filter, go 3000 miles, then change both again.

If he has an oil evacuation pump usable for engines, I'd use that the first few times in changing oil, rather than opening the valve underneath. This will snag the sludge (with the metal filings) out of the crankcase.

[DaHose]

Shell Rotella diesel engine oil.

Jose

[Sloop_Smitten]

Per Ford:
Engine oils with an SAE 10W-30 viscosity are
PREFERRED for your vehicle which provide the
best engine protection for all climates down to
-5°F (-20°C). SAE 5W-30 enigne oils may also be
used down to -15°F (-25°C).
Synthetic engine oils which are CERTIFIED and
of the preferred viscosity may be used in your
engine. The engine oil and oil filter must still be
changed according to the maintenance schedule.
It takes 5 quarts. 6 if you change the filter.

[DUNEBUGGYDOUG]

If you don't know what has been used in it all these years, it really don't matter.I would use 10W/30 or 20W/40 myself of any brand probably Wal-Mart brand

[enblethen]

A good quality oil like Pennzoil, Quaker State, Casteroil, Chevron.
Main thing to keep it clean. Change the oil more often at first to make sure engine is clean.
Good quality oil filter is a must.
I run between 5000-6000 between changes less if we pull hard in the mountains.

[2oldman]

I don't suppose there's an owner's manual in there...?