What is the best oil for high mileage 4.0 SOHC??

[udo4accept]

i have 289,000 miles on my original motor. i've always used the 5W30. i live in phoenix arizona and drive a lot during the heat of the day. i change my oil religiously at 5k miles, mostly because back in 2000 i bought a lifetime oil change from a local garage for $149. hahaha i think i've gotten my money's worth from that one! i just put in the 2nd replacement transmission on the truck and the 1st replacement transfer case. now i'm on my way to 500,00 miles hopefully!!!!

 

[1998Exp]

The warning light is supposed to turn on when the pressure drops below 5psi --which is the minimum acceptable at idle. If your light is on while driving (say above 1200 RPM), I would humbly suggest that either the sender is defective or your engine is on its last leg. Before 'curing' the problem with a bit more viscous oil your mechanic should have taken a gauge and checked the actual pressure, to figure out what's really going on. You can do that yourself if you spend $10-20 on a gauge and get your hands dirty. Let's hope it's just a defective sender!

I've been using the recommended 5w/30 which is now recommended 5w/20 and ran into some problems! (Oil pressure light) came on....
So I take it too a service, .....the mechanic said , the oil is too thin and need 15/40
I hope he's right ! I haven't seen any recommendations for This !!

 

[chefduane]

Mobil-1 5w30 Hi-Mileage Full Synthetic with a Mobil-1 Extended Performance Filter #M301 running at about 12k mile intervals. I do have some timing chain tensioner damage that I discovered about a year ago but it does not seem to be getting any worse. No loud rattles at all. 207k miles, I can't seem to get her to wear out.

 

[bobflood]

5W-30; whatever is on sale at Advance; every 5K miles without fail. 293K+ miles; only engine repair has been to replace the front timing cover gasket a couple of years ago.
EDIT: Sorry - just realized this thread was for a 4.0 SOHC - I have the 5.0.

 

[fordawd]

Ford now recommends 5W20 in all it's vehicles. I went from 5W30 to 5W20 and it got rid of the timing chain noise. I have over 500K on my Explorer and it runs like new still.

What oil did you use to get over 500,000?
Brand?

 

[Fix4Dirt]

m1 full syn 5-30 has gotten this one to 327k no timing noise original everything, but did replace the hydraulic tensioner and plastic tensioner once at 310

 

[joney]

m1 full syn 5-30 has gotten this one to 327k no timing noise original everything, but did replace the hydraulic tensioner and plastic tensioner once at 310

Huh? I've been using 10w30 full synthetic, and previous owners apparently 10w30 synthetic blend. Supposed to go to 5w30 or 5w20??? Did I miss something?
176K on it, if that's relevant.

 

[donalds]

5w30

 

[Fix4Dirt]

Huh? I've been using 10w30 full synthetic, and previous owners apparently 10w30 synthetic blend. Supposed to go to 5w30 or 5w20??? Did I miss something?
176K on it, if that's relevant.

530 on sohc

 

[C420sailor]

these things turn into oil wars real fast

The best oil is the one in your engine, proper weight, proper fill, changed at the proper time.

 

[Lee's Automotive]

M1 EP HM 5W-30 and M1 301-A OCI 3K miles
I do 3K OCI because I'd rather be safe than sorry especially at almost 277K miles on a SOHC

 

[Mbrooks420]

Huh? I've been using 10w30 full synthetic, and previous owners apparently 10w30 synthetic blend. Supposed to go to 5w30 or 5w20??? Did I miss something?
176K on it, if that's relevant.

Your oil should be 5w30, especially in colder weather. The 10w would flow less before warm up and accelerate top end wear.

It’s a myth “worn” engines benefit from a thicker oil.

 

[C420sailor]

The only time I’ve ever advocated thicker oil was in vehicles (in my case, motorcycles) where we could directly attribute low oil pressure to worn bearings…and the owner didn’t want to rebuild.

Throw in some thicker oil and the flickering oil press light at idle would go away.

Also in EXTREME climates…sometimes thicker, sometimes thinner.

But overall, run the proper weight for a happy engine.

 

[Fix4Dirt]

The only time I’ve ever advocated thicker oil was in vehicles (in my case, motorcycles) where we could directly attribute low oil pressure to worn bearings…and the owner didn’t want to rebuild.

Throw in some thicker oil and the flickering oil press light at idle would go away.

Also in EXTREME climates…sometimes thicker, sometimes thinner.

But overall, run the proper weight for a happy engine.

^^^yes this! in some case our older bikes some of them running at places somiliar to willow springs in the high desert, in situations similiar to yours in which pressure is too low at idle & they didnt want a rebuild, then we bump em up a weight and see how that goes!

eg usually they take 5-40 so we go to 15-50 if we stick w oe oil or do aftermarket at dofferent weight

 

[410Fortune]

Clean full synthetic 5-30 brand is up to you

 

[Mbrooks420]

The thicker weights are what’s recommended in the book for extreme temps. I’m talking about the guys who only run 10w40 for some odd reason, or because it has. x amount of miles, or leaks.

 

[Redimuss]

Hello everybody!! I am new here and to Explorers in general. About 2 months ago i picked up a 97 Explorer XLT 4X4 SOHC with 208K on it, and it was sitting for 2 years. I know its better to run thicker engine oil on high mileage engines, especially in hot weather. Im just wondering what the general consensus is on the best oil. I am currently using castrol 10W-40.

streight 30 weight look for the chart in the owners manual most have a chart telling you what toi use based on ambiant enviroment temps. im in northern calif and i rum str8 30. a multy viscosity oil has to break itself down and recombine to go from 10 weight to 30 weight thus causing it to wear out faster a single weight oil lets say 30 weight is 30 weight cold and 30 weight hot the only reason for 5w or 10w is that some cars dont like thick oil at start up

 

[C420sailor]

^^^this is false

I wouldn’t say I’m an expert, but I own a small business that specializes in a subset of chemical engineering—polymeric coating development.

Multiweight oils are created by taking a light base stock, and adding non-polar organic polymers (co-polymers, most often). These polymers modify the physical properties of the base stock. Where a single weight oil will have a fairly aggressive logarithmic decrease in viscosity with increasing temperature, the addition of these polymers merely “shallows out” the curve. In other words, the oil still thins with temperature, but not as quickly.

There is no breakdown and recombination. Those would be chemical changes. The oil acts in many ways like a plasticizer does. As the oil thins, the polymer molecules get closer together, increasing the effects of intermolecular forces. The net result is still a loss in viscosity, just at a lower rate than oil alone.

There is absolutely nothing to suggest that a multiweight oil will not last. In fact, most oil changes occur FAR before the oil and its viscosity modifiers degrade.

To anyone reading this, DO NOT run a single weight oil in your truck, unless you think you know better than the Ford engineers.

 

[ExplorerRider]

Ford now recommends 5W20 in all it's vehicles. I went from 5W30 to 5W20 and it got rid of the timing chain noise. I have over 500K on my Explorer and it runs like new still.

Over half-a-million miles?!! Wow!