HELP ! Oil Question

[hunter54]

Just finished a rebuild. 2001 Ranger 4.0 ( 33000 miles ). My problem...I have no clue as to the brand or type of oil the previous owner used. I called the local dealer and was told this year of ranger required a 5W-20W Synthetic Blend oil. However.... on the oil fill lid it has ( use 5W-30 ) oil. Ok......the oil that was in it was pretty dirty. A friend said he thought it might be Valvoline...because of a oil change sticker on windsheild....but who knows.
I changed the oil today and put in regular Penzoil ( 5W-30 ). Can I harm engine by using this oil. I may have changed brands and weight and type. I have no way of knowing, and this is what concerns me. Ive used regular ole Penzoil in my (1994 Ranger, 4.0 L) for years and have been happy with it, but Im told the 94 and the 01 4.0 engines are totally different.
Any thoughts or suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated.
Thanks

 

[cincy4point0]

If you have a 2001 Ranger 4.0 then you need 5W-30 which is what ford requires. 2004+ models take 5W-20, maybe thats what he meant. And if you are interested in synthetic oil gimme a shout.

 

[hunter54]

Cincypoint, Hey thanks for the quick reply. I sure will look into Amsoil. Cant find it around here. I couldnt get to the oil site. Could you send me the web address. ( Got computer problems too ). Also...since I was a kid I was told never switch back and forth between brands and type's of oil. Is this advice out of date ? ( Like going from dino to synthetic etc.) Hope I get a few more replys. Maybe tomarrow. Its late !

 

[briwayjones]

You may have to order Amsoil. Mobil 1 is also a very good oil that is readily available in stores. It doesn't really hurt to switch oil brands when changing the oil, although you would probably want to find a brand and stick to it. What you don't want to do is mix oil brands together. As in if your oil is a quart low and you add some don't put a different brand/type of oil in than what is already in there.

 

[85Dave]

Pennzoil is an excellent oil, and 5w30 is the proper weight for your engine. Oils today are so much better than they were even 5 years ago that you can forget the "old wives tales". Switching brands is OK. Switching from synthetic to convential is OK too.

I would suggest that you stay with Pennzoil, and change it according to the manual recommendations. Motorcraft filters are great. If you can't find Motorcraft, then go with Purolator Pure One filters.

Synthetics are great oils, but the main advantage is extended oil drain intervals.

 

[cincy4point0]

You may have to order Amsoil. Mobil 1 is also a very good oil that is readily available in stores. It doesn't really hurt to switch oil brands when changing the oil, although you would probably want to find a brand and stick to it. What you don't want to do is mix oil brands together. As in if your oil is a quart low and you add some don't put a different brand/type of oil in than what is already in there.

Yeah its hard to find in stores normally, but just PM me and I can order any product for you. And with my specials its normally cheaper than getting it in the stores.
And actually AMSOIL is forumulated to work with other oils both conventional and synthetic, so if for some reason you had to mix then its more than fine. I would just recommend draining everything out and adding AMSOIL in though, much easier.

 

[tmh6202]

Yeah its hard to find in stores normally, but just PM me and I can order any product for you. And with my specials its normally cheaper than getting it in the stores.
And actually AMSOIL is forumulated to work with other oils both conventional and synthetic, so if for some reason you had to mix then its more than fine. I would just recommend draining everything out and adding AMSOIL in though, much easier.

LOL, spoken like a true rep. I used AMSOIL in my 92 Supercoupe and it worked pretty well. It ran a couple of degrees cooler than when Mobil 1 Syn was in it. However, I would not recoomend the 6000 mile (or whatever astronomical number it is) interval change on any engine. Too many other issues can cause a failure in that time period. If you have a bearing issue, it could become fatal to an engine within 6000 miles.

As far as the 4.0 from 94 being different that the 01 4.0, there are some minor casting differences but thats it, unless of course you are comparing the OHV 4.0 to the SOHC 4.0 and that should be self explanitory.

What gets me is, you just did a rebuild on the engine (at 33000 miles?), what on earth for? Was it 133,000 miles? If so, the rebuild should have re-newed everything, so what ever was run in the engine previous is of no concern. The engine will be broken in with what ever you decide to run, be it a 20 or 30 wieght.

 

[85Dave]

The newer 4.0 engines also have a larger oil pump to pump the thinner 20 weights. I wouldn't run 20 weight in an older 4.0. Testing by Ford showed 20 weight in an older 4.0 is a bad idea. Don't second guess them.