Castrol 0W-30 safe for 4.6 Lincoln Town Car?

[Art_Vandelay]

I have a 1996 Lincoln Town Car. The current recommended oil is 5W-20 for the 4.6 liter engine. I'm wondering if the GC 0W-30 is too heavy for this application since quite a few people have mentioned that it's close to a 40 weight oil?

I just got the car and it only has 60,500 miles on it. I put Motorcraft 5W-20 in it, 1000 miles ago, for its first run. Just wanted to know if this option is available to me or not?

 

[Bill in Utah]

Really no need.

The 4.6 is a very good motor and any 5w-20 is perfect for it.

I'd just stay with what works, esp that it is cheaper. ( I'm a cheapskate)

But to answer your question, you can run it with no worries. It will not help.

Take care, bill

PS:

 

[Jim 5]

You can rely on what Bill says. If you have any doubts, search for his used oil analysis on basic dino oils like pennzoil yb in the UOA section.

Those UOA's are what converted me from a sythetic oil user to a dino oil user on 2 out of my 3 cars.

 

[bdcardinal]

btw 5w20 wasnt recommended for that vehicle until 2001 when it was back spec'd.

 

[rg200amp]

It was spec'd for a 5w or 10w 30.


5w20 or 5w30 will work great. The GC 0w30 would work great.

You can use it with confidence.

 

[Fordiesel69]

Too thick. You fuel economy will take a .5 to 1.0 hit and you will feel a power reduction. I know GC is addicting, but this is not an engine to use it on. It will outlast the body using 1980's oils. My 91 lincoln is all varnished up from the old SH specd oil. And it still runs great and gets 25MPG. Yours will do better.

To answer your question, it will not hurt your engine at all to run it, but the gains are non existent. My UOA;s come out stellar with PP 5w30.

 

[Art_Vandelay]

That's what I thought. I don't want to reduce my fuel economy nor just use it for the sake of using it. I love the 4.6 and if dino or synthetic blend Motorcraft is all that it needs so much the better. However if PP 0W-20 or Mobil 1 0W-20 offer me an upside I'd consider giving them a try.

Maybe I'll just crack open a bottle of GC, extract a sample and send it off to Blackstone for a UOA, if nothing else it's a cheap way into the game for me.

 

[chevrofreak]

PP 5W-20 is all the oil you'll ever need.

 

[Fordiesel69]

I will say again, I am VERY VERY impressed with my pennzoil platinum sample I got from a 3k run. Wear was reduced over the motorcraft blend (which is also a very good oil). A member over at crownvic.net has a spreadsheet going and the 5w-30 does produce ever so slight better numbers in all brands of oil. The 5w-20 vs 5w-30 debate is too long and has been discussed to death. I would run the weight you feel comfortable with. Either is fine. You will not find PP 0w-20 or 0w-30 so don;t bother.

Use a motorcraft FL-820s or a WIX 51372 filter.

 

[Art_Vandelay]

Thanks for the info. I definitely will consider the PP for the next cycle. I went to Autozone to look for the 0W-20 and there was none on the shelf. I figured they'd sold out. Never thought it was unavailable to begin with. What does Penzoil do with it after it's produced? Send it off to the sales prevention department?

 

[PT1]

Originally Posted By: chevrofreak
PP 5W-20 is all the oil you'll ever need.


I would recommend PP 5w30 which should be thick enough and still cold start pump really well and not upset fuel economy.

 

[Steve S]

The question should be is ,what will I gain from spending 3X more $$$ for the oil that I will most likley be changing out at the same mileage that I am running with dino. Without realizing that the engine will out last you're ownership of the car using any proper spec dino oil. Bar any mechanical failure. Unless the engine requires syn oil or you are pushing your oil change intervals over 10,000 miles syn has no real benefits. Below 0 F is good reason. Almost forgot the mpg loss probably would be 1 or 2% max. I would bet The loss wouldn't be noticeable.

 

[Fordiesel69]

Originally Posted By: Steve S
The question should be is ,what will I gain from spending 3X more $$$ for the oil that I will most likley be changing out at the same mileage that I am running with dino. Without realizing that the engine will out last you're ownership of the car using any proper spec dino oil. Bar any mechanical failure. Unless the engine requires syn oil or you are pushing your oil change intervals over 10,000 miles syn has no real benefits. Below 0 F is good reason. Almost forgot the mpg loss probably would be 1 or 2% max. I would bet The loss wouldn't be noticeable.


One reason is that advance auto parts ran a buy one, get one. It worked out to be 2.84 per qt. I stashed a bunch. Like 15 cases of 5w-30 and 6 10w-30 for my dads old 94 Club Wagon. This was in the beginning of 07' and I have yet to see any more sales on PP. At that time it was a real bargain as the dino oil was priced at 2.19 ~ 2.89 per qt, and a little cheaper if youbought a gallon. A real bummer for me as I love this oil and am now running low.

 

[chevrofreak]

Originally Posted By: PT1
Originally Posted By: chevrofreak
PP 5W-20 is all the oil you'll ever need.


I would recommend PP 5w30 which should be thick enough and still cold start pump really well and not upset fuel economy.


I'm a 5W-20 believer for the 4.6 engines. The thought of running anything thicker just makes me feel ill

 

[rg200amp]

I would run a full synthetic 5w20.

Thats what I run now, and its what I used in my 6.8L(same modular design)

 

[Art_Vandelay]

Originally Posted By: rg200amp
I would run a full synthetic 5w20.

Thats what I run now, and its what I used in my 6.8L(same modular design)



Wouldn't a 0W-20 be better than a 5W-20 if I'm using a full synthetic on the 4.6?

 

[Titan]

These engines will run at least 1/4 million miles with nothing but Motorcraft Syn Blend 5-20 every 5000 miles. Why make it more complicated? I don't know how many cab/limo drivers (maybe 20?)I've talked to through the years with over 400,000 miles on their 4.6, with nothing but regular 5-20 the entire time, and the engine is still humming along.

 

[rg200amp]

Originally Posted By: Art_Vandelay
Originally Posted By: rg200amp
I would run a full synthetic 5w20.

Thats what I run now, and its what I used in my 6.8L(same modular design)



Wouldn't a 0W-20 be better than a 5W-20 if I'm using a full synthetic on the 4.6?


Better? No. Has diffrent qualities to it in cold start up? Yes.
Its your choice for weight. If you choose 0w20, you really narrow down your available oil choices.
If you do not mind that, go for it.

 

[Art_Vandelay]

Originally Posted By: Titan
Why make it more complicated?


Couldn't the same be asked of Ford when switching the spec from 5w-30 to 5w20? Why make it more complicated?

It's an evolutionary thing. There is obviously some advantage in the 5w-20 over the previously sped'd 5w-30 how ever slight. My question is in that vein. Isn't it reasonable to wonder if 0w-20 is > 5w-20 is > 5w-30, in the same sense, with respect to this engine?
I doubt Ford would spec the engine to 0w-20 yet because that would mandate synthetic oil, since there are currently no dino or synth-blends available in that rating. If there were, or the cost disparity were neglibible, it's possible Ford would recommend the use of 0w-20.

I'm sure all mainstream vehicles, excluding high performance, diesel, turbo etc, can probably live well on PB's Shell/Proline deal for $10 observing an OCI of 5000 miles. No real fascination in that level of simplicity nor the need for a $20 oil analysis either. As enthusiasts we like the technology, the experimental data and the future. That's the spirit of a site like this and that's the spirit of my question.

I mean all this respectfully by the way and I appreciate the response. I just wanted to clearly restate what I was asking since longevity wasn't my main purpose for the question.