New guy with 03 EB

[Rebelord]

Sup all? Well, new guy to the forum. Have vast experience with cars/trucks and forums to boot.

Picked up a 2003 Eddie Baur 4x2 4.6l 79k, with all options except 4x4 and reverse sensers. Not bad of a deal, 10800otd after all said and done.

Did some routine maintence, because I have a hard time trusting dealerships for some things. So..this is what I did.

New Wix oil filter, German Castrol oil 0w-30(actually closer to a 40), new plugs, new Wix fuel filter. Plus ran some seafoam through the 1/8 tank for the injectors and about 1/2 can in oil for ~8miles to clean some stuff up.
Drained the oil after the seafoam, and was quite pleased to see it wasnt all gummy and chunky. Changed out what looked to be the original Motorcraft Plat. plugs..ugh. Put in trusty ole NGK tr-55s. Fuel filter was fun..first the finding where it was, then removing the heat sheild. For the 4.6l one of the bolts is behind the Y-pipe. So you have to do it with a wrench or ratcheting wrench. Then it has 2 inlets not one, which even I messed up cause all part numbers I found said that the single in was for it. Oh my, now I know 2 in for the 4.6l Xs.

Now, I figure some of you might be wondering about my choices of products. First, Wix filters are probally the best for your dollar. There are K&N and Mobil 1 filter that are good, which those two are exactly the same, so save yourself some money from buying the K&N and get the Mobil 1. Bosch oil filters are also pretty good. All this info is on/from bobistheoilguy site and other ppl that have done research on these products on other forums such as ls1tech.com.

Second, my oil choice. Stock oil called for is 5w-20. Another Meh.. Why? We can buy the German Castrol in the states. It is by far the best oil that you can buy here. Far, far better than Mobil 1. Which is synthec blend nowadays. They resorted back to a low quality base which is complete crap. Not worth the money. I'll run Wal-mart Supertech Syn before Mobil 1. Plus, the added fact that it is closer to a 40 holds up better in the extreme heat I drive in southern Arizona. German Castrol, well if you want to read up on it, go to bobistheoilguy site. Way more there than I can explain here. Simply put, its on par with Amsoil. RP? Eh..good too, but 7.99?? When GC is 6.49 sometimes cheaper if you can find the right sale.

Third, Sparkplugs. Stock, Motorcraft/Autolite..sure why not? But from my experience, no plug will last 100k miles. 50k miles? Maybe, if under perfect normal running conditions. Which is pretty much non existant. So I run NGK TR55s, tried and true working plugs. There a good standart plug, and for 1.99 sometimes .89 on sale. Proper planning can last you 20k miles. Plugs on these vehicals are easy enough to pull that pulling one or two every oil change to check em out isnt hard. Plus gives you a heads up on how your running. There a good plug, long standing track record and dont break the bank buying them.

Oh yea..almost forgot. Cleaned the MAF to with some CRC Maf sensor cleaner. Now all I have to do is change the foward O2 sensors. 79k miles..probally originals and getting near end of life.

Ski

PM for any questions.

 

[Rick]

Welcome to the site and thanks for the tech info.

I agree Wix is a very good filter. Napa Gold is actually a Wix filter. That's what I use on my vehicles.

 

[Rebelord]

Yes, Napa gold filters are Wix, pretty much most of Napa Gold filters are Wix. Thats what I run. Just call them Wix though.

 

[Sams01XplrSprt]

welcome and congrads on the purchase

 

[jrford]

Welcome sounds good.
IMHO, i'd stick with the 5w-20 in fact i just use the motorcraft semi-syn brand 6qts jugs $12 and change it ever 4k. It was my understanding that they tighten up the 4.6 tolerances, imho I wouldn’t mess with a weight change, it was designed and engineered with that oil in mind. You might check out the Mustang boards it’s the same engine. . see what they are doing. Also I have found the Motorcraft Filters seem to be well made to specs, it even has the pressure relief spring - which I have yet to find in another filter, might save them $1 of the filter cost, but who cares they don’t drive it.

Just a different thought.

 

[Rebelord]

jrford: I see what your sayin about the oil. But having a 0w compared to a 5w is small. The added startup flow, is a plus. The 20 viscocity, I dont like very much. Because it can break down faster in high temp. Down here its already 100+ by 9/10am. I really dont want to know my oil temps. But probally higher than most, so the added protection of a 40 to take the heat. Im cool with. As far as tolerance, tighter the better.(Of course still being able to operate) Dont know if you familar with some of the early 3gen LSx motors GM built. But they werent to quality control on some of them, and had high tolerances with the steel cylinder sleeves to the pistons. IE developed piston slap. Ticked off alot of customers. I even have a 01 Z28 that with Mobil will exibit piston slap. But with the GC(German Castrol), none audible. However, thats my take on this subject.

Ski

 

[E.B. Cornburner]

I'd run German Castrol in mine if I could still find it. AutoZone was about the only place that carried it, but the new Syntec 0w30 isn't German, and isn't worth bothering with.

I've been pleased with Schaeffer's Supreme 7000 5w30 syn-blend. I have a speed shop nearby that sells it, and we also use it in the stock car. That gets 20w50 though.
I go by the oil life monitor which has shown itself to be about a 5000-5500 mile interval. I run either Motorcraft, Wix or Baldwin oil filters. Lately I've been using Baldwin because the 4.0 SOHC has a notorious timing component rattle on startup, and these filters seem the best at keeping it to a minimum. Ironically, the owners manual states that if aftermarket filters are used that more startup noise is possible, but so far, Motorcraft filters have been the worst out of the three I mentioned as far as this goes.

I personally would have gone with Autolite plugs (namely the XP series) rather than NGK, but they're not a bad plug either.