Something to consider when the oil change topic happens here

[UnleashedBeast]

This was posted in the GT500 forums, but the same topic applies to all the 2012 Boss owners here too.

I research engine lubricant technology daily. We have discussed what is the proper engine lubricant to use in your Shelby GT500. I decided to use an online viscosity calculator to map out the viscosity range of 4 different lubricants that were discussed in previous posts by myself, and other members on this board.

The reason for this thread. Some have questioned my previous choice of Amsoil 20W-50 and current choice of Amsoil 10W-40. Some thought it was "too heavy" for a "20W" or "10W" winter weight, and that a 5W-50 was a much better choice to avoid cold start up wear (besides, Ford knows best, right?). Guess what, SAE grade ratings for engine lubricants are very misleading when different base stocks are being used (true synthetic versus refined petroleum).

Amsoil 20W-50, Amsoil 10W-40, and Red Line 5W-50 are true synthetic base stocks. No refined petroleum is present in the formulation. It's high in ZDDP (anti-wear additive)

Motorcraft and Castrol 5W-50 use a highly refined petroleum base stock. Lower in ZDDP (capped at 900 ppm - compare to the UOAs of Amsoil) *See Zinc and Phosphorous ppm content in UOAs below*

Here's a brief overview of the advantages of a true synthetic base stock.

1. Higher resistant to shearing (losing it's viscosity to a lighter grade)

2. Higher resistant to base stock oxidation (yes, liquids can rust too) - this is why they say, "This lubricant is good up to X,XXX miles and/or 6 months"

3. Boutique lubricants like Amsoil and Red Line will have more robust anti-wear, detergent, and dispersant additive package.

4. No impurities in the base stock means uniform molecular structure. Uniform molecules produce less friction, less heat, and more efficiency.

5. Far superior cold flow performance (thickens less during temperature drop versus comparable grade refined petroleum and dino/conventional)​

Let's take a look at the chart that was calculated for me at Widman.

Graph @ 0*C (32*F)

If you pay close attention to the chart, you will clearly see that Amsoil 20W-50 is slightly more viscous than Red Line 5W-50 at 0*C, but less viscous than Motorcraft 5W-50. You would also assume that 10W-40 "should" be thicker at 0*C (32*F) than the 5W fluids. Do you see one of the advantages of a true group IV synthetic base stock when cold flow properties are considered, and how SAE oil grade numbers on the outside of an oil container can be misleading?

cSt@100*C

Amsoil - Virgin (18.9) after 2,000 miles UOA and graph below (17.5)
Motorcraft - Virgin (21.0) 2,000 miles graph below (UOAs can be posted)(~12.89-13.5)

Now take a look at my current fill of Amsoil 10W-40. You would think that a "10W" oil would be thicker at 0*C (32*F) than a "5W". It's by far lighter, and much better for cold start up wear, than any of the other three lubricants. I say again, SAE oil grade numbers are very misleading. Amsoil 10W-40 will achieve it's at temperature rated viscosity much faster than any of the other three lubricants. Yes, this means less engine start up wear.

I made a new chart with results from UOAs after ~2,000 miles. One sample of Amsoil 20W-50 and three different samples of Motorcraft 5W-50.

You can see how Amsoil retained it's virgin viscosity far better than Motorcraft. This is a huge plus for a true group IV base stock and why they can be used for longer periods of time, while also providing better protection. True synthetic base stocks resist shearing better than refined petroleum can.

The next chart I created is to compare the three used Motorcraft samples (~2,000 miles) versus a virgin sample of Amsoil 10W-40 (after 4,124 miles....Amsoil 10W-40 retains the same viscosity specs).

Do you see how close in viscosity they all are? Since Amsoil shears far less than Motorcraft, does everyone now see why I have chosen to use Amsoil 10W-40? Why select a lubricant that will shear when I can protect my engine better with a lubricant than will retain its virgin specs, and have all the benefits of a true synthetic base stock as listed above?

UPDATE: 3/9/2011

The UOA for Amsoil 10W-40 has returned, and everything is working out perfectly.

Sample #1 was Amsoil 20W-50 from the previous sample run
Sample #2 was Amsoil 10W-40 from the current sample run (this oil is still in the sump, only a sample was taken with a pump from the dip stick tube)

Iron, Copper, Lead and Aluminum:

the wear numbers are consistent with the previous fill of 20W-50. In fact, my car was raced more (and harder) on the fill of 10W-40 than it was on 20W-50.

Silicon:

All Ford modular GT500 engines of factory 5W-50 oil fills that were tested after draining contained 200+ ppm of silicon. This number will decrease every time the oil is changed due to most of the silicon being trapped in the suspension of the oil, and the oil filter. Silicon levels in a modular engine will not decrease from abnormal until about the 4th-5th oil change. More information on this from the next UOA.

Boron:

Why are they flagging Boron? It's native in the virgin samples of Amsoil. This time less than before. Hurpa Durp!

ZDDP:

Good levels of anti-wear additive here, and plenty to go another UOA. In fact, even higher than the last sample.

Viscosity:

This is where I am most pleased. Amsoil 10W-40 did exactly what I expected it too.....it didn't shear at all (not even 1% from the virgin spec). Amsoil spec's this lubricant in virgin samples to be 14.6, this sample measured in at 14.9. This is great news, and backs up my theories of superiority over Motorcraft, Castrol, and Mobil 5W-50. Soon, I will have a virgin sample of Amsoil 10W-40 tested to see what the virgin viscosity actually is.

TBN:

Detergent additives, still strong, and even better than the first sample. This lubricant has many more miles to go before a change in required.

Oxidation:

They flagged this as green (normal). Amsoil lubricants will have an oxidation reading around 25-30 on fresh non-used oil. 50 is still in the usable range. I will of course be keeping an eye on this area for the next sample.

Final thoughts:

Overall, this sample of Amsoil 10W-40 performed just as well as the previous fill of 20W-50. In fact, in the viscosity (shearing), ZDDP, and TBN areas, it was superior. The prior UOA report was deemed "normal". I believe this report to be mis-marked "abnormal". The silicon content is why it was marked as a level 2, and not level 1 (due to the 5.4L having high silicon content from assembly). I'm leaving this sample in the 5.4L for another 2,000 miles. We will see how well it holds up to a 4,000 mile interval.

UPDATE 6/19/2011: AMSOIL STILL MAINTAINS IT'S VIRGIN VISCOSITY AFTER 4,124 MILES!!!

Let's begin with a mistake I made filling out the form. I forgot to add together the total miles of the first interval plus the second, I only added up the difference from the first interval to the second. My stupid mistake. Actual miles on the second interval is 4,124, not 2,091 as I wrote on the form.

Iron:

Only 10 ppm increase in 2,000 miles shows a decline in wear from previous UOAs. A 2,000 mile interval would yield twice as much iron ppm from previous samples. I can't attribute this entirely to Amsoil, as the engine is reaching its break in point. It should naturally yield lower wear metals as the engine nears 10,000 miles. Now, I can attribute lower wear metals in the pre-break in periods of my engines life using a true synthetic versus similar UOAs viewed using other engine lubricants.

I was worried that the 170* thermostat would increase wear due to a cooler combustion chamber (the chamber could potentially expand less due to lower heat causing decreased piston ring to cylinder wall clearance. After this report, I'm not worried about it anymore.​

Aluminum, Copper, Lead, Tin:

Levels of these wear metals barely increased, Lead not at all. No strange numbers to be worried about here. I'm very satisfied with this UOA, but still more to discuss.​

Silicon:

This is why the sample is flagged as "abnormal", but still satisfactory for extended use. If you read the message to "test another 3,500 miles", you will see there is still plenty of life left in this lubricant.​

There was a 4 ppm increase from the last sample sent in for testing. This is less than I could have ever imagined. Shelby GT500 engines have silicon ppm around 200+ from the first sample of oil that is drained from a brand new engine. It's dirt/dust that was trapped inside from the assembly process. This ppm decreases every oil change as the dirt/dust is cleaned/washed away by the lubricant and relocated to the oil filter, or drained with the used oil due to silicon being trapped in suspension of the base stock. Since I have not changed my oil, continued testing on the same fill, I was shocked to see the silicon content had only increased 4 ppm. What does this mean? It means the Amsoil nano fiber air filter is doing a kick butt job at filtering the air intake. Honestly, I don't recall ever seeing a silicon ppm of any car with a 2-3,000 mile interval less than 11 ppm. No way would an oiled cotton media filter perform this well (with the exception to Air Raid's new 2010-11 GT500 filters. Their oiled filter has an extra synthetic layer to catch what the oil may miss.)​

ZDDP (Zinc and Phosphorous):

API SN lubricants are capped at a maximum of 900 ppm phosphorous. This sample after 4,124 miles still has more than a virgin sample of an API SN formulation with 996 ppm. Since ZDDP is a primary anti-wear additive, this is a factor of minimizing wear. More anti-wear agents seems to equal less wear in this engine. You won't find these levels of ZDDP in any passenger car lubricant that is API SM or SN certified, and why I refuse to buy them.​

Viscosity:

This lubricant's virgin spec is 14.6 (not personally tested), was 14.9 in the previous sample, and 14.5 in this sample. The problem is I didn't ever send in a virgin sample of Amsoil 10W-40 to see what the actual virgin viscosity is. Despite knowing true virgin specs, this UOA still shows that Amsoil 10W-40 is holding its viscosity of a 40 grade. It doesn't shear to a lighter viscosity like Motorcraft or Castrol 5W-50.​

Total Base Number (detergent additives):

This determines how much active additive remains in the lubricant to "clean" the engine and combat contaminants from fuel, soot, sludge, etc. The TBN of this sample at 4,124 miles rivals some off the shelf lubricants that are still in the bottle (virgin). This is one reason why the lab want's to test the oil again in 3,500 miles, although....there is much more life left in this oil beyond 3,500 miles.​

Oxidation (base stock degradation):

This is a topic that Six Speed and myself were discussing on the previous UOA sample. It's marked "green" and considered in "beginning base stock oxidation stage", but was a bit higher than the sample of Amsoil 20W-50 previously tested. I was shocked to see the oxidation levels higher in similar formulated lubricants. The good news is, it isn't oxidizing at a rapid pace. Again, a virgin sample of Amsoil 10W-40 needs to be analyzed for comparison.​

In conclusion, I've extremely happy with the results despite the oxidation questions I have. I wish Blackstone lab would include oxidation testing in their reports so I could compare this specification to other used samples. I wanted to share this with the fellow oil followers to show how well Amsoil 10W-40 was performing in the 5.4L supercharged mill.

In the near future, I plan to send in a virgin sample of Amsoil 10W-40 to see what the virgin specs actually are. This would answer a few questions I and others have about this lubricant.

Let the questions and comments begin. I'm here to help you better protect your $50,000+ investment.

UPDATE: 9/30/2011

UOA chart updated yet again in post #1

I'm shocked at how fast the results are in. The sample was just sent off via UPS on Tuesday afternoon. WOW! Good job Polaris Labs. :thumbsup:

Lab technicians do not think sometimes, but I can't blame them....they don't know the vehicle as well as I do, and have to test so many samples, so I decided to clarify some things.

Abrasives (silicon/dirt) are at a MODERATE LEVEL;

Really? If you would look at the three previous samples taken from this engine, you would have seen that the silicon levels are declining after every oil change. This is due to the sealants used to assemble the engine, and not dust contamination from a faulty air filter.

Infrared results indicate OXIDATION is
MODERATELY HIGH;

How can you make that assumption without a virgin sample from the same batch? This is the normal range for PAO synthetics. :dw:

Flagged additive levels are different than what should be present for the lubricant that is identified for
this unit. (This does not imply that the lubricant does not meet proper API, SAE, or ISO classifications.);

That's because you have the virgin specs for the old Amsoil 10W-30. The new signature series 10W-30 had a big change in the additive package. ZDDP was reduced, Moly and Boron were added to compensate. If they had the new specs...Moly, Boron, and Magnesium would not be flagged, as it's native to the virgin sample. Finally I have more solid proof that Moly and Boron is a great substitute for lower levels of ZDDP.

Manganese is flagged for a good reason. This is what happens when you use Torco. The more you use, the higher ppm this will be.

Now that we have that out of the way....check out how beautiful the metal wear numbers are. I'm very happy with these results, and so far are the best from any sample in the list, my previous samples included. Amsoil 10W-30 is dominating the performance in my engine, and the oil pressure in my car is slightly improved over 10W-40. I can only imagine the improvement over un-sheared 5W-50.

Virgin Amsoil 10W-30 viscosity is 10.5 cSt...and it remained exactly that...10.5 (zero % shearing).

TBN is still over 8, so that means this lubricant could be used for many more miles.

Retesting when the car is slightly over 12,000 miles.

Here is a detailed UOA Excel spreadsheet I have created to compare the performance of different lubricants in the Shelby 5.4L engine.

Base green color samples are random UOAs waiting for a follow up.
Other "like" color groupings are samples taken from the same engine.

 

[UnleashedBeast]

Next update coming soon.

I will be oil pressure testing Amsoil 10W-40 and Amsoil 10W-30 to see if even their 10W-30 can get the job done sufficiently. If 10W-30 maintains enough oil pressure for aggressive street driving and drag racing, I may have a new "best" oil for the Ford supercharged modular. Best case scenario is to have a lubricant that it robust enough to minimize engine wear, transfer heat to cool the engine, and to be as efficient as possible to maximize horsepower and performance.

 

[NCETRY]

Gonna run the Amsoils 20W-50 in the BOSS when the time comes. Also a dealer for Amsoil.

 

[UnleashedBeast]

Gonna run the Amsoils 20W-50 in the BOSS when the time comes. Also a dealer for Amsoil.

I've been using 10W-40 AMO in the Shelby with great success.

You should consider it in your Boss, since Motorcraft 5W-50 shears to a 40 grade in the first 1,000 miles...and a heavy 30 grade within 2,000 miles. Amsoil 10W-40 hasn't sheared a bit, even after 4,124 miles on the last UOA.

I also gained efficiency, yet the wear patterns remained the same versus Amsoil 20W-50.

 

[TXPD]

the head of the cammer engine program at roush/yates engines told me use 5-30 mobil one or royal purple. your data seems to back him up.

 

[VegasMichael]

*pinches bridge of nose and sighs*
The more I read on these forums the more I realize I never really knew shit about cars.

 

[BOOSTD5.4]

the head of the cammer engine program at roush/yates engines told me use 5-30 mobil one or royal purple. your data seems to back him up.

I use Mobil 1 in everything, 5/30 in the Boss's and which in the Shelby/Terminators?

Great read/info!

Thanks!!!!

Mike

 

[Tob]

Mad props to anyone that can lay the tech smack like you just did, UB. Keep it up. That kind of information is what I scour the web for and it is nice to have someone put it together on a forum you happen to frequent.

Tob

 

[shadyninja]

My dad bought a 2012 boss, there will be no more 5w50 going in it, I am going to pull a sample at 1000 miles to see exactly what viscosity it is at, that will determine the oil weight of its next fill,
as of right now its looking like the Amsoil 10w40 or 10w30

What I find funny, the regular GT gets 5w20, and the boss has like 32 more HP, but it needs a 50 wt?
that is a big jump in viscosity....

 

[UnleashedBeast]

the head of the cammer engine program at roush/yates engines told me use 5-30 mobil one or royal purple. your data seems to back him up.

I agree with them, and I think that even the 10W-40 in the Shelby may even be overkill. A new oil pressure sensor was purchased that will work with my Aeroforce gauge setup. I can then datalog the results, oil pressure included, and make even better recommendation for different driving types.

Amsoil 10W-30 ATM is the next lubricant to test if the 10W-40 oil pressure is a little higher than I would like it to be.

*pinches bridge of nose and sighs*
The more I read on these forums the more I realize I never really knew shit about cars.

I felt the same way in 2004 when I began my journey into lubricant technology. Don't worry, the truth is out there, you just have to know where to find it.

I use Mobil 1 in everything, 5/30 in the Boss's and which in the Shelby/Terminators?

PM me about your specific driving habits, area of residence, and frequency of use, and I can make a specific recommendation for every car you own.

Mad props to anyone that can lay the tech smack like you just did, UB. Keep it up. That kind of information is what I scour the web for and it is nice to have someone put it together on a forum you happen to frequent.

Tob

Tob,

I've learned much from your threads /posts as well. I share your feelings, so this is a mutual thanks.

:beer:

My dad bought a 2012 boss, there will be no more 5w50 going in it, I am going to pull a sample at 1000 miles to see exactly what viscosity it is at, that will determine the oil weight of its next fill,
as of right now its looking like the Amsoil 10w40 or 10w30

What I find funny, the regular GT gets 5w20, and the boss has like 32 more HP, but it needs a 50 wt?
that is a big jump in viscosity....

Shady, this is why I posted this thread.....to solve the question of, Why 5W-50?

Oh, and I want to see that sample, but I already know you would forward it to me first. :thumbsup:

 

[Husker]

My Boss is coming up on 1K miles, probably tomorrow, should I change it or wait for more miles?

 

[NCETRY]

I agree with them, and I think that even the 10W-40 in the Shelby may even be overkill. A new oil pressure sensor was purchased that will work with my Aeroforce gauge setup. I can then datalog the results, oil pressure included, and make even better recommendation for different driving types.

I may be wrong on this but I had read some time ago that the 5.4 used in the 2000 Cobra R, Ford GT, and GT500's required the 5w-50 due to the design of the lifters/lash adjusters in the heads. They are smaller than the typical mod motor lifter and the heavier weight oil was used to keep them pumped up. I could be wrong on this but thats what I have read.

I bet ford is using the 5w-50 in the Boss because they figure most buyers will be using them at the track.

 

[Husker]

I bet ford is using the 5w-50 in the Boss because they figure most buyers will be using them at the track.

From 5.0 Mustang & Super Fords August 2011:

Quoting Mike Harrison, Boss of Bosses on the RoadRunner team.

We know that only FIVE PERCENT of Boss 302 customers are ever going to take them to the track day or whatever. A lot of them are only going to be driven on Sundays, gently,and preserved, and we wanted that driving experience to be pretty good, too.

 

[UnleashedBeast]

My Boss is coming up on 1K miles, probably tomorrow, should I change it or wait for more miles?

anything from 1,000 to 1,500 miles is fine. Your piston rings have already seated, and it's OK to change to a full synthetic.

I may be wrong on this but I had read some time ago that the 5.4 used in the 2000 Cobra R, Ford GT, and GT500's required the 5w-50 due to the design of the lifters/lash adjusters in the heads. They are smaller than the typical mod motor lifter and the heavier weight oil was used to keep them pumped up. I could be wrong on this but thats what I have read.

If this is a factor, using a thinner lubricant would yield excessive noise in the valve train. I noticed no such noise, even with Motorcraft 5W-50 in my engine for 2,000 miles (was a heavy 30 grade).

Motorcraft 5W-50 shears to a light 40 grade lubricant in 1,000 miles. By the time it achieves 2,000 miles...it's already a heavy 30 grade. This is why I have adopted the use of Amsoil 10W-40 AMO in my Shelby. It retains the viscosity unlike Motorcraft 5W-50. My UOAs with Amsoil are far superior to every UOA from GT500s using Motorcraft 5W-50 with similar miles, driving condition, and mods.

After oil pressure testing, I may find that Amsoil 10W-30 ATM is an even better choice for both the Boss and the Shelby. Testing coming soon.

 

[5 DOT 0]

From 5.0 Mustang & Super Fords August 2011:

Quoting Mike Harrison, Boss of Bosses on the RoadRunner team.

We know that only FIVE PERCENT of Boss 302 customers are ever going to take them to the track day or whatever. A lot of them are only going to be driven on Sundays, gently,and preserved, and we wanted that driving experience to be pretty good, too.

I don't think this matters. Ford built the car and hence the oil spec for the 5% that will track their Boss.

 

[UnleashedBeast]

I don't think this matters. Ford built the car and hence the oil spec for the 5% that will track their Boss.

If you are not using the car for racing, then it will not require a 50 grade lubricant.

There is a lengthy read from a Ferrari owner who's car recommends a 10W-60 for racing, but only a 5W-40 for daily driving.

He even discovered after oil pressure testing that a 5W-20 was all that he required for Sunday drives around town to get groceries. It's all about what the car is used for, not the extreme spec given to the car for racing.

Here is the cliff note from his article

It is time to introduce the concept of lubrication. Most believe that pressure = lubrication. This is false. Flow = lubrication. If pressure was the thing that somehow lubricated your engine then we would all be using 90 grade oil. Lubrication is used to separate moving parts, to keep them from touching. There is a one to one relationship between flow and separation. If you double the flow you will double the separation pressure in a bearing. The pressure at the bearing entrance is irrelevant.

In fact the relationship between pressure and flow is in opposition. If you change your oil to a thicker formula the pressure will go up. It goes up because the resistance to flow is greater and in fact the flow must go down in order for the pressure to go up. They are inversely related. Conversely if you choose a thinner oil then the pressure will go down. This can only occur if the flow has increased.

It seems then that we should all be using the thinnest oil money can buy. This is partly true. Let me use my old 575 Ferrari Maranello as an example. I drove this car around town. The manual of this car states the target pressure is 75 PSI at 6,000 RPM. The gold standard is that all engines should have a pressure of 10 PSI for every 1,000 RPM of operation, not more, not less. After all, you do need some pressure to move that oil along, but only enough pressure, not more. More pressure is not better, it can only result from the impedance of oil flow. Remember that oil flow is the only thing that does the lubricating.

Note that Ferrari is not saying what thickness of oil to use. That can only be determined by experimentation. My engine oil temperature was running around 185 F as I drove around town on a hot Florida summer day. I have found that the thinnest oil I can buy that is API / SAE certified is Mobil 1’s thinnest oil. Even with this oil I get 80 PSI at 2,000 RPM. It is too thick for my application yet it is the thinnest oil money can buy. If I was on a hot Florida track in mid-summer the oil temperature would probably get up to 302 F. I will guess that the pressure would only be 40 PSI at 6,000 RPM. The oil I am using would not meet the requirement of 75 PSI at 6,000 RPM from Ferrari. I would have to choose a thicker oil for this racing situation. The oil I use now would be too thin at that very high temperature. (This is only partly true. Higher RPM running engines use thinner and thinner oils to get more and more flow. I will discuss this later).

High flow does more than lubricate. It is one of the things used to cool the hottest parts of your engine, the pistons, valve areas and bearings. This cooling effect is as important as lubrication in your engine. If your engine is running hot you may need to use a thinner oil. The flow will increase and so will the cooling. This is even more important in the racing condition.

Let us go back to the Ferrari manual. My older 550 Maranello only specified 5W-40 Shell Helix Ultra as the oil to use in all conditions. This car was designed for racing. As it turns out Ferrari now recognizes that not every owner races their cars. The newer 575 manual now states to use 0W-40 for around town situations even though Shell does not make this oil in the Helix Ultra formulation at this writing. They also recommend the 5W-40 by Shell if you insist on the Shell product. It is also the recommended oil for most racing conditions.

Ferrari recommends Helix Ultra Racing 10W-60 “for hot climate conditions racing type driving on tracks”. Note that they now realize the difference between the daily urban driver like me and the very different racing situation. These are widely different circumstances. I want to emphasize that they only want you to use this oil while racing in “hot climate conditions”. If you are racing in Watkins Glen up north use the 5W-40. If you are racing in Sebring in the middle of the Florida summer use the 10W-60. Around town in any climate, use the 0W-40.

It is time to dispel the notion that 0W-30 oil is too thin when our manual calls for 10W-30. A 0W-30 is always the better choice, always. The 0W-30 is not thinner. It is the same thickness as the 10W-30 at operating temperatures. The difference is when you turn your engine off for the night. Both oils thicken over the evening and night. They both had a thickness, a viscosity of 10 when you got home and turned your engine off. That was the perfect thickness for engine operation.

As cooling occurs and you wake up ready to go back to work the next day the oils have gotten too thick for your engine to lubricate properly. It is 75 F outside this morning. One oil thickened to a viscosity of say 90. The other thickened to a viscosity of 40. Both are too thick in the morning at startup. But 40 is better than 90 on start up. Your engine wants the oil to have a thickness of 10 to work properly. You are better off starting with the viscosity of 40 than the honey - like oil with a viscosity of 90.

I repeat: More confusion occurs because people think in terms of the oil thinning when it gets hot. They think this thinning with heat is the problem with motor oil. It would be more correct to think that oil thickens when it cools to room temperature and THIS is the problem. In fact this is the problem. This is why multi-viscosity oils were developed.

 

[Dean95CobraR]

I hate to even post this but I'm in the process of figuring out what oil to use. What about warranty issues? If you would spin a bearing or whatever, wouldn't they check the oil? What is going to happen when it isn't up to their spec and their suggested weight?:shrug:

 

[UnleashedBeast]

I hate to even post this but I'm in the process of figuring out what oil to use. What about warranty issues? If you would spin a bearing or whatever, wouldn't they check the oil? What is going to happen when it isn't up to their spec and their suggested weight?:shrug:

Amsoil 10W-40 AMO exceeds the minimal specifications of Motorcraft 5W-50. I've discussed this with two area reps from Ford. They both agreed there is no way they would ever void an engine warranty claim when a UOA confirmed the oil was superior to Motorcraft.

Motorcraft has a virgin viscosity of ~20.0 @ 100*C.

Amsoil has a virgin viscosity of ~14.6 @ 100*C.

Motorcraft after ~2,000 miles has a viscosity of ~12.8 @ 100*C

Amsoil after 4,124 miles still retained a viscosity of ~14.5 @ 100*C

This means while Motorcraft 5W-50 is no longer giving you the protection of a 50 grade, Amsoil is giving you a solid protection of a 40 grade lubricant. Amsoil will also be easier on cold starts, and promotes less cold start wear.

There is simply no comparison.

 

[5 DOT 0]

If you are not using the car for racing, then it will not require a 50 grade lubricant.

There is a lengthy read from a Ferrari owner who's car recommends a 10W-60 for racing, but only a 5W-40 for daily driving.

He even discovered after oil pressure testing that a 5W-20 was all that he required for Sunday drives around town to get groceries. It's all about what the car is used for, not the extreme spec given to the car for racing.

Here is the cliff note from his article

Understood. I was only commenting on that quote. Ford is going to spec an oil for the most extreme conditions that the car was designed for. The engine is the same as used in the 302R&S, their turnkey race cars. That's not a commentary on what you, me, or anyone else thinks is the best oil to use.

 

[NastyGT500]

I would like to publicly thank Troy for posting this wealth of information on this forum for all of us to share and to benifit from.

I would also like to thank him for taking the time to give me a professional recomendation for fluids to use in my turbo'd car.

Thanks again Troy! Appreciate it!