Amsoil SS 0-20, 4,000 miles, 94’ Ford Ranger 4.0, 15 months

[ridgerunner]

Ok going to change out the oil tomorrow. I have on hand;
PYB in 5-30 SM/ SN, Maxlife blend in 10-30 SN/SM and Mobile 1 full synth. HM in 10-30 in SL (older version). Gonna run a cheap Super Tech oil filter since I got a bunch of them on sale a while back at Walmart for like a buck each.
Who wants what in this ole' girl? Not that it really matters but...Let me know.

 

[Triple_Se7en]

Save the Mobil-1 syn for next winter.
I would run both of your HMs back-to-back.

 

[stanlee]

I know a few things about the 4.0L OHV. First use 30 weight or thicker. The reason the 4.0L ohv wasn't re-spec'd to 5w20 like just about ever other ford engine was because of oil pump compatibility issues with 20 weight (maintaining proper oil pressure). That one qt of 10w30 isn't doing much to change viscosity. You have coolant in your oil. Could be lower intake manifold, small head gasket leak or cracked head. Are you losing any noticeable coolant? I'm at over 250k miles now since this UOA. After this oil change I did 3 PP HM 5w30 and currently have M1 EP 5w30 which I'll run for about 3 intervals (then I'll go back to the Shell products: have gas truck then QS ultimate durability 5w30s on deck followed by M1 advanced fuel economy for winter). I drive mine about 30k miles a year for work and bought with unknown maintenance history so anything short of pulling drivetrain parts I've done/changed. I do 5k intervals but sometimes 10k on the filter if its a high capacity filter. I too have coolant and more than you do (also have way more miles). I've fixed a few leaks since but haven't sent any UOAs in since (have several waiting to ship).

 

[ridgerunner]

I went with the Valv. Maxlife 10-30 and gonna run it until late fall. M1 will go in for winter and run until the following summer or fall.

 

[Gasbuggy]

Couple little tricks. Retorque the head bolts a touch over spec. Toss a little Blue Devil or GM coolant tabs in the antifreeze.


If you really like the truck, tearing into a good running engine is better than letting one get ruined. You might not be lucky enough to catch the head gasket failure before it reaches a critical level.

 

[ridgerunner]

Love the truck but if it blows I have a neighbor that will rebuild it bigger and better. No worries!

 

[pbm]

I agree on adding Barsleaks to the coolant (GM tabs)….2 tabs (under dose) to avoid issues with plugging the heater core....

 

[sm00thpapa]

I would investigate the TBN. It went from 12.5 to 3.5 in 4,000 miles so there is no way that oil could go 25,000 miles.