Oil

[ediii]

I didn't get a manual with my car. Can anyone tell me what weight oil Ford recommends for the SVO.
Thanks,

ED

[Eyelawdoc]

Oil has improved considerably since our SVO's were new in 84-86. Presently, I run Mobil 1 10-30 in my 84 with 215,000+ on the original motor. I change it frequently, about every 3,000 miles, with a new Motorcraft FL-300 filter at the same time.

[KevinK]

I don't recall what oil is spec. but be sure to use a very good quality oil. Personally I like valvoline. I'm sure Mobil is good too. Stay away from those with a history of reputations of not being so good. The 2.3 is prone to plugging the cam oil holes thus wiping out the cam lobes. It only takes one. I have repaired 6 or more of these in my mechanic days. The main bearings hold up pretty well until major leaks at the rear main seal sucks the dirt thru them. Off the top of my head I was thinking 20w-50 was the correct oil but I could be wrong. My spec book says 10w-40, 10w-30, and 30 (Nothing turbo specific).

[dgallo]

Oil

I've been using synthetic oil in all of my mustangs for years. I am running AMS oil synthetic 10-30 in mine.

[ediii]

Thanks guys,
I only use Mobil 1 in cars that I care about but I didn't know what weight to use. I guess I'll go with 10w-30.

ED

[ediii]

Re: Oil

Originally posted by dgallo
I've been using synthetic oil in all of my mustangs for years. I am running AMS oil synthetic 10-30 in mine.

Just curious,
Have you noticed high oil usage with synthetic in your other Mustangs? I've used Mobil 1 since break-in in my 5.0 and always had high oil usage, even when new. I'm talking about 1 quart every 1000 to 1500 miles.

ED

[svobud]

every 5.0 I've owned would burn approx 1 quart every 3k miles.

[KevinK]

Synthetics are a whole different class. The viscosity can be varied due to it being a better quality as well and the availability of grades.

[Eyelawdoc]

I discussed Ford 5.0 oil consumption with a factory service rep a while back. 1 quart every 1000 to 3000 miles is typical with these engines. Apparently they used a low tension oil control ring setup to get more power and better mileage. Somewhat higher oil consumption was the engineering tradeoff.

[dgallo]

Oil Consumption

Every 5.0 I had burned 1 quart of oil every month, even one I had that only had 33,000 miles on it!! My SVO has 88,000 miles on it and doesn't burn a drop!! I'm pretty happy about that.

[vrinner]

I use Redline 20/50 in my race SVO. Good or bad?

[drewkeen]

speaking of 5.0's consumption our 52k mile 91 f-150 (yes very low miles) burns a small amout but you neevr see smoke comming otu the tailpipe and it does not leak it, i guess it burns fairly efficiently but it does use some of it.