M1 0w40 in Ford 5.4 3V - Fuel Economy Difference

Status
Not open for further replies.
Originally Posted By: maximus

If you drove at speeds closer to the speed limit, your MPG would improve substantially.


You're from Texas, you should know that 85mph is legal on some highways...

robert
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: Miller88
Woah. I don't think my Jeep could cruise at those speeds for too long!


Mine will do it happily, but you might want to wear some ear plugs and make sure you equip the tanker refueling option first (it's gonna need it after a few minutes, by 100mph the fuel economy is dipping into the single digits)
crazy2.gif
 
Mine is happier cruising at 75 than it is 60-70. Not sure why but there's some sort of front vibration at 60-70. Goes away completely when faster.

But I'm not sure how happy the U Joints would be after spinning that fast with the lift. The last time I got single digit mileage in mine was when I pulled my camper 60MPH on the highway ... in 2nd gear for 70 miles.

With posted speed limits like that, I'd be afraid of someone hopping on the highway with some old junker with dry cracked, under inflated tires. That could end very badly
 
Originally Posted By: Miller88
Mine is happier cruising at 75 than it is 60-70. Not sure why but there's some sort of front vibration at 60-70. Goes away completely when faster.

But I'm not sure how happy the U Joints would be after spinning that fast with the lift. The last time I got single digit mileage in mine was when I pulled my camper 60MPH on the highway ... in 2nd gear for 70 miles.

With posted speed limits like that, I'd be afraid of someone hopping on the highway with some old junker with dry cracked, under inflated tires. That could end very badly
Why were you in 2nd gear pulling your trailer?
 
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
Originally Posted By: Miller88
Mine is happier cruising at 75 than it is 60-70. Not sure why but there's some sort of front vibration at 60-70. Goes away completely when faster.

But I'm not sure how happy the U Joints would be after spinning that fast with the lift. The last time I got single digit mileage in mine was when I pulled my camper 60MPH on the highway ... in 2nd gear for 70 miles.

With posted speed limits like that, I'd be afraid of someone hopping on the highway with some old junker with dry cracked, under inflated tires. That could end very badly
Why were you in 2nd gear pulling your trailer?


That's all it had power for apparently. It would kick down into 2nd gear and lock the torque converter. Other than the single digit mileage, it didn't seem to mind it. It was 3700RPM or so. Not too bad.


This is 32'' tires, 850 pound trailer, spare parts and tools and camping gear. Nothing crazy. Factory gearing though. And that's what killed it.
 
my buddy has a 2006 F150 with the 5.4, lifted with 22 inch rims and 37 inch tires. Recently we did a 700 mile round trip to North Louisiana going 80 mph the whole trip and averaged 10.5 mpg, normal driving around home he gets 12-13 mpg. No matter what oil you run in it it seems to burn a quart every 2500-3000 miles. He usually runs 5W20, we have Mobil1 0W40 in it right now to try and quiet down the cam phaser tick, which it has helped, and as of today, it has 2,481 miles on the oil and it was a quart low. Do you think the added stress of the lift and tires/suspension is causing the engine to work harder and therefore consume oil? It is regeared, 4.10 gears.
 
Last edited:
Run a bunch of Fords and every one liked thicker oil as they age. 0W-40 is fine after 60K.

You have done right. Listen to the engine. It will tell you what it wants
smile.gif
 
Thank you for providing your feedback, op. I really want to see the report on this one as well.

I have an '08 Navi and have been contemplating using M1 0W40 in it. I have an '08 550i as well so the two could share oil. I wonder how this oil would do in my '12 Genesis R-spec with the 5.0?

It's unfortunate that Jeep 4.0s don't like M1 oils because I would love to use it in my '99 Wrangler as well.
 
Originally Posted By: TXCarGeek
Thank you for providing your feedback, op. I really want to see the report on this one as well.

I have an '08 Navi and have been contemplating using M1 0W40 in it. I have an '08 550i as well so the two could share oil. I wonder how this oil would do in my '12 Genesis R-spec with the 5.0?

It's unfortunate that Jeep 4.0s don't like M1 oils because I would love to use it in my '99 Wrangler as well.


I have a 00 GC, and I'm not going to let the M1 anywhere near it LOL. It's very happy on RT5, and it will stay that way.

Merkava_4: No, it's just Ford being Ford.

Turk: I'm very happy with it. Thicker is working here.

robertcope: It's a good option for your Expedition depending on where my UOA comes back at.

rslifkin: Perhaps. Only one way to find out.
wink.gif


Kuato: I see enough traffic situations driving through Miami that there could have been an impact, but there wasn't.
thumbsup2.gif


OVERKILL: Good to know. Makes me feel even more comfortable continuing to run the M1.

buster: I'm certainly not saying that my results will be the same for every vehicle out there. The 5.4 3V is an odd bird of an engine for sure. Surprisingly easy on oil for a V8 with chains, and using the oil for hydraulic operation.

maximus: Alligator Alley and 75 are long, boring drives through the middle of nowhere. Speed limit is 70, but everyone does at least 80-85. There's about a 1.5 mpg difference between 70 and 90.

Shannow: That's precisely why I have a nice big oil cooler in my Caprice. I've got 3.73's now, so I get up in rpms faster.

mobilaltima: High loads do seem to be an aggravator of oil consumption, especially if being lost through the PCV system.

BrocLuno: It was definitely talking to me. I just wanted it to shut up.
wink.gif
 
You mentioned cam phaser rattle...I'm assuming you haven't had them replaced?

About 10 months ago, I had cam phasers and vct solenoids replaced due to a check engine light. I never had much rattle though.

Is there a consensus on what can be done to prevent this issue that is prevalent with the 3v 5.4s?
 
Mot in a 3V mind you, but I ran RotellaT 5w40 in a 2V 4.6 that was originally psecified for 5w30, then back speced to 5w20 in an F150. Ran it for over a year and half.

In my case, I did note a decrease in fuel mileage of over 5% running 5w40 instead of 5w30 or 5w20 in that setup. It appeared that combination suffered with colder temps (-20F was not uncommon) that one may not see in Florida for example.

And before anyone accuses me of being biased somehow, in the same experiment in my Jeep Cherokee with the 4.0, there was no change in fuel mileage.

My conclusion was that in a cold climate, there may be some decrease in fuel mileage based on thicker oil in some engines. I know that the oil in my F150 can run nearly 35 degrees cooler in the winter than a hot summer day - coolant temps are all the same...
 
Originally Posted By: DoubleWasp
I have used M1 0/40 in my Navigator for the past 10k miles. The 60k miles before that were all run on the spec 5/20. Never had any problems with 5/20. UOA's showed that even my severe duty driving did nothing to cut down the 5/20 or increase wear metals.

Recently, I decided to drop in the 0/40 to quiet the 1250rpm light load cam phaser rattle and because I have plenty of it, being the owner of 2 German cars.

Over the past 10k miles, I have been able to find exactly no evidence that my fuel economy has been impacted in any way at all. Whether it be hand calculations, instant MPG monitor, or average MPG monitor, everything shows I am getting better fuel economy.

The real evidence came this past month on a trip to Tampa. Every single time I go there, I use 3/4 of a tank, driving at 80mph. The past two times I have gone, I have driven at 90mph and didn't even use 3/4 tank getting there. Filling up before I left both times verified that there is no inaccuracy in my gauge. In both instances, I had more than 8 gallons remaining in my tank, where usually there would be less than 7 gallons remaining. Hand calculations of my fuel usage per mile also show slightly better fuel economy now than my driving on 5/20.

Is the phaser rattle gone? Absolutely. Did my fuel economy suffer? No. Do I feel there is a deficiency in 5/20? Also no.

But my engine is definitely not suffering any horror from running a thicker oil.

My UOA will be in soon. Greatly anticipating those results.
smile.gif




My charger says use a 5w-20. So I did for a while. Now I use 0w-40. I saw absolutely no change in fuel consumption at all.
Not saying there isn't a minute one,only that with my driving style I didn't see one.
And all this carp about phasers and cam timing and cylinder de-activation not working with thicker oil is complete nonsense. Heck I've used a 15w-40 in my brothers hemi with both mds and variable valve timing and there was no change in fuel consumption and no difference in how it ran. My brother even commented on how smooth it was running. It was summertime though.

I now use 0w-40 in everything. My 130000 mile c3,my charger,my ram all get better then EPA rated fuel economy and they run smooth as silk.
 
Another 0w40 data point:

2004 Dodge Neon, 2.0, manual trans, 105000 miles

Last month I started daily driving this again. Approximately 115 miles per day, with 90+% highway. Put M1 0w40 in back in August to see if it would quiet the valvetrain down, anyone with a Neon understands. First 1000-1500 miles it was certainly quieter, but now it seems back to "normal." Also drank a full quarter in a little more than 2000 miles (specifics are in the notebook in the car), not sure if it's the drive, the oil or the "normalization" (if that even exists) with a new oil.

In terms of fuel economy, I have returned 33-35.5mpg on every tank, variances in economy were proportional the the traffic congestion. Considering the car was EPA rated at 36mpg back in 2004 and has been adjusted to 32mpg when they redid their calcs, I'll say that this oil has no impact on highway fuel economy.

Unfortunately, my last data on this was from 2008, when the car was last regularly used and that has long since left my memory. I am concerned about the oil usage though, I definitely don't remember it consuming that much, more like 1qt/5000 miles.
 
Originally Posted By: TXCarGeek
You mentioned cam phaser rattle...I'm assuming you haven't had them replaced?

About 10 months ago, I had cam phasers and vct solenoids replaced due to a check engine light. I never had much rattle though.

Is there a consensus on what can be done to prevent this issue that is prevalent with the 3v 5.4s?


No, I just can't have the down time right now. It will be done eventually. I just picked up a few heavy duty pickups to replace it for towing duties.
 
Originally Posted By: DoubleWasp
Originally Posted By: TXCarGeek
You mentioned cam phaser rattle...I'm assuming you haven't had them replaced?

About 10 months ago, I had cam phasers and vct solenoids replaced due to a check engine light. I never had much rattle though.

Is there a consensus on what can be done to prevent this issue that is prevalent with the 3v 5.4s?


No, I just can't have the down time right now. It will be done eventually. I just picked up a few heavy duty pickups to replace it for towing duties.


Do you have any idea what the consensus solution is for preventing this problem?
 
I've been apparently getting better fuel economy with M1 0W-40 SN than with xW-20, too.

Don't drive that fast though -- illegal and dangerous (for you and especially others).
 
I run M1 0W-40 across the board, and it remains a favorite. Never a concern with gas mileage going down.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

T
Instrumented Fuel Economy Test - 0W-20 vs 5W-30
Replies
10
Views
5K
wemay
A
Has Mobil1 stopped making regular 0w-20?
2
Replies
34
Views
4K
Fahrvergnügen
W
Is the recommended 0-20 bad for engine life?
2 3 4
Replies
76
Views
3K
bubbanik
3UR-FE
2022 Camry 2.5 fuel dilution/viscosity selection question
2
Replies
30
Views
1K
SammyChevelleTypeS3
F
5k or 6k in Ford Cyclones
2
Replies
21
Views
898
slo town
Back
Top