Oil/Filter Recommendations

[Joe_SHO]

Time for an oil change and I'm wondering what you guys recommend for a filter. From what I could tell online the K&N HP-2009 seems like the best bet? Also, what kind of oil seems to work best? I'd rather stay away from synthetic just because it's so damn expensive! I realize this is probably a common question, but searching yielded many many results with irrelevant titles. Thanks for any and all input. -Joe

 

[jthod]

From one Joe to another, stay with the Motorcraft filter. It does it's job well, and it's cheap. Oil, that's a huge debate. Just stick with a quality 5w-30. I myself use Valvoline MaxLife and my '90, and the cheaper Castrol GTX in the Green Dragon.

every one has their own opinion on oil, and always will.

 

[Storm-Chaser]

Filters - Motorcraft FL400-S

Oil - Castrol Syntec 10W-30 (winter) / 10W-40 (summer)

I have a half-million-plus mile Taurus that has been run exclusively on Motorcraft oil and filters.

Synthetic oil will help prevent internal engine build-up, as a result of how the oil is "refined". I know many "racers" who swear by it.

You can catch Syntec on sale, for not much more than non-synthetic oil. Currently on sale at O'Reilly's for $5.49 per quart. Last month was $27.99 for 5-quarts with a Mobile One oil filter (normally $9.99 filter), which made the cost ~$3.60 per quart. If you use the AutoZone Rewards program and price-match, it makes the cost even less. Some of the larger Walmarts also sell the 5-quart jug of Syntec for ~$20.00, which works out to ~$4.00 per quart.

 

[rubydist]

I use Mobil 1 0W30 w/ either Mobil 1 or Motorcraft filters. I run the oil and filter 10,000 miles between changes and have uoa to show that I'm not sacrificing anything in terms of wear, oil performance, etc. with the long oil changes. When you look at that compared to conventional oil every 3k miles, synthetic isn't any more expensive, but it keeps the engine cleaner in my experience, and with 0W30, it never feels like the engine is 'cold' even at cold start in low temperatures.

Of course, this is one of those questions where you ask 10 people, you get 10 different answers....

 

[JRA2000TL]

I run 10W40 in mine. Where I live it gets extremely hot, and I'm leery to run the 5W30 only because these cars/engines are old; and I'm not 100% sure if my car has 69k or 169k. Until I change my bearings, I run a little thicker oil for more protection. I use Castrol or Valvoline and yes I take it to the oil change place (like many on here refuse to do). I am lazy though, and it's messy.

 

[K-Dawg]

I've always used Motorcraft filters in my SHOs.

I used to use Castrol 10w30. Then I switched to Shell Rotella Synthetic. Now it looks like I'm going to switch to some other SL-rated oil.

 

[shobote]

I run Royal Purple full syn. in all my vehicles. Mobil 1 is way overrated and overpriced; Castrol also has a new synth out called Edge that claims 8x better protection than Mobil 1.

 

[itwonder]

Motorcraft FL-400S filter. I ran Mobil 1 for the first 180K miles, but decided to change when I noted the SHO had more than what I consider normal oil seal leakage. I have switched back to an old standby, conventional Castrol GTX 10W-30. If using synthetic, I would choose Castrol Syntec which is highly refined dino oil instead of PAO based Mobil 1.

 

[mustangracer91]

+1 on synthetic...it got a bad rap back when it first came out, but that stuff is the shizit...mobil 1 is my personal fav, and working on audi 1.8turbo engines, that are very tight tolerances, just under the valve cover it was easy to see the difference between a car driven on synthetic or regular oil...even on the cars that had been driven over the recommended oil change interval. Also, my A4 1.8t quattro litterally ran quieter and smoother after a synthetic oil change! If it's a car you're gonna keep, and drive daily, a good oil filter w/synthetic is the way to go...especially if you're doing alot of around town driving. If you were commuting atleast 20-30 miles to work, regular oil wouldn't be as big a deal, as long as you changed it at 3k miles...at least run a semi synthetic...those are alot better.

 

[Joe_SHO]

With bikes, once you switch it over to synthetic oil, you can't go back. Is it the same with cars? Also, is there any steps you gotta take to switch a car to run with synthetic?

 

[Brett]

When synthetics first came out, up until just a couple years ago i always heard that if you've got some miles on your motor it isnt a good idea to run synthetic. I don't know the exact reason, one explanation was that synthetic being thinner will cause gaskets to leak that hadnt before with the thicker conventional.

Either way ive always been Leery of running synthetic having 100k+. I've also heard that it was a problem with early synthetics but isn't anymore. Any truth to this?

 

[K-Dawg]

Besides the extra zinc content of an SL rated oil, the main reason I run synthetic is for the extended change intervals.

 

[rubydist]

When synthetics first came out, up until just a couple years ago i always heard that if you've got some miles on your motor it isnt a good idea to run synthetic. I don't know the exact reason, one explanation was that synthetic being thinner will cause gaskets to leak that hadnt before with the thicker conventional.

Either way ive always been Leery of running synthetic having 100k+. I've also heard that it was a problem with early synthetics but isn't anymore. Any truth to this?

Several of the early synthetics did not have enough seal conditioner in them. (The synthetic oil chemistry naturally causes seals to shrink rather than swell, so they need more seal conditioner to overcome this.) So, many of the early synthetics would cause engines to begin to leak. This problem has long since been taken care of, and I have not heard of anyone having this problem in the past 10 years.

 

[kikkinasphalt]

I run Royal Purple full syn. in all my vehicles. Mobil 1 is way overrated and overpriced; Castrol also has a new synth out called Edge that claims 8x better protection than Mobil 1.

royal Purple is overpriced too..

Valvoline, Mobil1, Castrol, Q, Penzoil Havoline ect ect ect.

all these brands have race cars. all of them use their oil in their cars.. if they trust their own oil for their engines.. it will work fine in yours.

just use what you want. i know people who swear by synthetic oils. and others that run just as ******* conventional oils... both seem to be ok.

the real deal is in changing your oil. do it on time. and through.

i personally use Valvoline Maxlife Synthetic 5w30. and motorcraft filters.

 

[Joe_SHO]

royal Purple is overpriced too..

But it's purple! How do you put a price on PURPLE OIL!?

 

[sho_ted]

dont we have roller cams? if so no need for SL rated oil.

I've always used Motorcraft filters in my SHOs.

I used to use Castrol 10w30. Then I switched to Shell Rotella Synthetic. Now it looks like I'm going to switch to some other SL-rated oil.

 

[sho_ted]

With bikes, once you switch it over to synthetic oil, you can't go back. Is it the same with cars? Also, is there any steps you gotta take to switch a car to run with synthetic?

no and no

 

[SHOtime2511]

why so many recommendations for the tiny stock FL400-S filter???
i always use the much larger Motorcraft FL-1A,it will also allow about an extra half qt of oil aswell.

 

[Kens1992mtxSHO]

I've been running Mobil 1 5w-30 with a Motorcraft filter for quite some time now. I've been thinking of switching over to Castrol Edge since Mobil has changed the chemical make up of Mobil 1.

 

[shobote]

FWIW, I switched from Castrol full synth to Royal Purple in my Jeep 5.7 Hemi; (8 qts is costly, but oil change intervals are more than twice as long as conventional oil), and mpg improved by 1.5 The realtime mpg display now shows 21.5 mpg while setting the cruise at 65 mph, which has never been the case before, on the same stretch of Hwy I always drive.