Newbie oil question for V8 - 5.0L

[rickcrna]

As a new owner of a 2001 EB Explorer with V-8 I noticed in the owners manual it called for 5W-20 weight oil. Seems really thin to me for a truck engine and I realize Ford's attempt to optimize gas mileage. Was wondering if folks are using say 5W-30 or 5W-40 weight for their V8s. I live near Grand Forks, ND (very cold in Winter) and was considering using 5W-30 now and then switching to 5W-40 next Spring.

Any thoughts?

 

[RytM1]

Welcome to the site Rick. I use 5W-30, Mobil1 synthetic in my Ex year 'round (in Chicago), and haven't noticed any problems.

 

[CougarX]

I use 5w-30 Mobil 1 in my 98 V8 also. I'm not sure if i've even seen 5w-20 oil before. It may be a misprint. I was actually thinking about using the new Mobil 1 0W-30 next time to see if there's any difference. I read an article on it (don't remember where) and it supposedly frees up a little power and mileage.

 

[RTStork]

Ford makes a 5W20, but I'm not sure if anyone else makes it. I'd go with a synthetic 5W30 for your climate. I run 10W30, but the coldest it gets here is low 30's.