5w-30 oil in a 3.5 NA Engine

[Explorer75]

Anyone using 5w-30 oil in the 2011-2019 3.5 NA (non turbo) Ford Explorers?

I've read 5w-20 will yield 1 to 2% better fuel economy if any but 30% worse engine longevity.

I know what the manual says and that it doesn't mention using anything else than 5w-20.
If you have any experience with 5w-30 please share.

Thanks

 

[CarpeNoctem]

I have heard stories (grain of salt there) that 30w will 'blow the seals'. I don't know if that is true or not just putting it out there. Seems like it was a dealer service dept that told me that... It was in reference to a 2006 F-150 though.

I would tend to run 5w-30 in Texas due to the heat. But, I don't want to risk any warranty issues that may come up by using 'non-approved' oil.

 

[94Eddie]

The only reason 5W-20 was used in Ford engines was for better CAFE numbers and that switching to 5W-30 is recommended for better engine longevity. This makes sense to me and I see no downside since the low temperature viscosity rating for both oils is the same and the high temperature rating is better with the 5W-30.

 

[Explorer75]

I have heard stories (grain of salt there) that 30w will 'blow the seals'. I don't know if that is true or not just putting it out there. Seems like it was a dealer service dept that told me that... It was in reference to a 2006 F-150 though.

I would tend to run 5w-30 in Texas due to the heat. But, I don't want to risk any warranty issues that may come up by using 'non-approved' oil.

If you meant SAE 30, that would be a very bad choice for a car engine. I really doubt a 5w-30 would blow up seals, something else needs to be way wrong.

Ambient temps is another reason for me to use 5w-30. I live in a tropical climate and the cooler we see in "winter" is probably around 75F in the day and 70F in the night.

The only reason 5W-20 was used in Ford engines was for better CAFE numbers and that switching to 5W-30 is recommended for better engine longevity. This makes sense to me and I see no downside since the low temperature viscosity rating for both oils is the same and the high temperature rating is better with the 5W-30.

Thanks, that´s the info was looking for. Took me a while to find Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE), google kept displaying espresso places

 

[imp]

I have heard stories (grain of salt there) that 30w will 'blow the seals'.
I don't know if that is true or not just putting it out there. Seems like it was a dealer service dept that told me that... It was in reference to a 2006 F-150 though.

I would tend to run 5w-30 in Texas due to the heat. But, I don't want to risk any warranty issues that may come up by using 'non-approved' oil.

@CarpeNoctem

"Blowing" oil seal is an old wives' tale from the '50s. I am in a position to refute the story for having worked as an oil seal Engineer, as well as head gasket Engineer most of my life. Seals that are exposed to higher than typical flowing pressures CAN leak, however, often prematurely. Such applications would be found in clutches and servos in auto transmissions, as an example. But engine crankshaft sealing is a much less difficult application. imp

 

[CarpeNoctem]

If you meant SAE 30, that would be a very bad choice for a car engine. I really doubt a 5w-30 would blow up seals, something else needs to be way wrong.

Ambient temps is another reason for me to use 5w-30. I live in a tropical climate and the cooler we see in "winter" is probably around 75F in the day and 70F in the night.

Thanks, that´s the info was looking for. Took me a while to find Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE), google kept displaying espresso places

Yeah, sorry. That was me getting lazy. I meant 5w-30.

@CarpeNoctem

"Blowing" oil seal is an old wives' tale from the '50s. I am in a position to refute the story for having worked as an oil seal Engineer, as well as head gasket Engineer most of my life. Seals that are exposed to higher than typical flowing pressures CAN leak, however, often prematurely. Such applications would be found in clutches and servos in auto transmissions, as an example. But engine crankshaft sealing is a much less difficult application. imp

When he said it I thought he might have been blowing smoke. Running 5w20 seems alien to me so I wasn't sure enough to try to refute him.

I ran 10w40 in every car up until about 2003. Everyone I knew ran 10w40 with some even doing 10w50. I never had issues. With the desert heat it very likely prolonged some engines - that was the thought anyway. But, I have no proof of that either...

So nevermind, I'm just jawing.

 

[imp]

I have heard stories (grain of salt there) that 30w will 'blow the seals'. I don't know if that is true or not just putting it out there. Seems like it was a dealer service dept that told me that... It was in reference to a 2006 F-150 though.

I would tend to run 5w-30 in Texas due to the heat. But, I don't want to risk any warranty issues that may come up by using 'non-approved' oil.

@CarpeNoctem @Explorer75

If interested, here are a few more tidbits about oil seals. A typical example of a "lip-type seal" (some are designed much differently) below:

These are coated with rubber overall. The inside channel, the "backbone" is usually steel, press-fitted into the "seal-bore" in the device containing a rotating shaft requiring sealing. Many seals have NO outer coating, or a heavy paint as sealant. Rubber is good and bad; it can tear upon being driven in place, creating a "leak-path". No tear, good results.

The seal's rotary element has a sharp "lip" which contacts the rotating member fairly firmly, preventing leakage of lubricant past the lip. Below, the cutaway shows the "L-shaped" metal channel within, surrounded by the rubber element bonded to it using heat and special coating techniques. A tiny extension spring surrounds the I.D. of the lip, squeezing it against the shaft when installed. The lip must ALWAYS face TOWARDS the lubricant to work effectively; installed BACKWARDS, oil will leak past the reversed lip beyond any doubt.

Here is a depiction of a few of the thousands of various lip configurations in general use:

"Rubber" is a generic term applied to mean "elastomers", materials having "stretchy" qualities, like rubber bands. Great numbers of synthetic elastomers have been developed, most during the 20th. Century. The qualities they possess involve hardness, chemical resistance (oils have many nasty ingredients, often), aging qualities, cost, ease of manufacture, flammability, ease of molding into shape (seal elements are formed within the channel while confined within a "mold" having the desired internal shape, under high heat and pressure. This causes the rubber to partially "liquify" and flow to fill the various crevasses within). Molding often represents the most difficult part of seal-making.

Automotive water pumps pose unique sealing requirements. Almost universally they employ "face-seals", which have no lip, but rather a flat, very smooth surface rotating at right angles to the shaft, squeezed by a corrosion-resistant spring against a similar surface which is stationary. Typically these surfaces are made of very hard ceramic material. Cooling systems generate a variety of chemical conditions including acidic, basic, particles flaking off containing metal, abrasive caustics, combustion products, oils due to gasket leakage, or in-radiator tank transmission coolers, flakes of rubber from hoses. These materials must "flush" off of the ceramic elements to avoid coolant leakage. imp