Ford Oil specs

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schirjo

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Looking for info re Ford oil specs:
Ford WSS-M2C946-B1 versus Ford WSS-M2C946-A

My 2018 Ford F150 calls for B1 spec

I cannot find any oil except for motorcraft that satisfies this recommendation.

My questions are:
What is the difference?
Do any other oils (eg, Mobil-1) satisfy this B1 specification?

Joe
 
on this page:
https://www.fcsdchemicalsandlubricants.c...c%20Motor%20Oil
(which was literally the second link on a google search for "wss-m2c946-b1")

"This oil also meets WSS-M2C946-B1, dexos®1 Gen 2 and SN PLUS, therefore it can reduce oil derived low speed pre-ignition
Approved to service General Motors vehicles where this viscosity is recommended. (dexos 1 Gen 2 oils also meet WSS-M2C946-B1. Oils labeled WSS-M2C946-A do not meet dexos 1 Gen 2)"

so basically it's Dexos 1 Gen 2...
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: schirjo
3.5L ecoboost V6


M1 would be a very good choice. M1 was the first oil to meet the Honda HTO-06 high heat, low deposit turbo spec.
 
The source of my confusion:
dexos 1 Gen 2 oils also meet WSS-M2C946-B1
Oils labeled WSS-M2C946-A do not meet dexos 1 Gen 2

Mobil-1 5w30 lists as Dexos 1 gen 2, but also as WSS-M2C946-A

I want WSS-M2C946-B1 (higher certification than A)

Joe
 
Originally Posted By: schirjo
3.5L ecoboost V6

I know for fact that Mobil 1 AFE 0w30 meets the B1 spec, not sure about the Ford spec though as I drive a Toyota, but 0w30 is fine to use in place of 5W and is covered under warranty according to Mobil. AFE is very stout oil with a healthy dose of PAO in the formula which I like, I prefer it over standard M1 5w30.
 
Originally Posted By: schirjo
The source of my confusion:
dexos 1 Gen 2 oils also meet WSS-M2C946-B1
Oils labeled WSS-M2C946-A do not meet dexos 1 Gen 2

Mobil-1 5w30 lists as Dexos 1 gen 2, but also as WSS-M2C946-A.


Maybe the B1 spec also meets A. But A can't meet B1. Does Mobil dexos1 Gen2 info show it meets both B1 and A specs?
 
Valvoline shows the Ford B1 spec on their dexos1 Gen2 5w30 - LINK

Maybe Mobil failed to update their website info. I'd contact Mobil and see what they have to say about it.
 
Both are 5w30 ILSAC GF-5 type oils. B1 adds a Ford LSPI test requirement to the A spec.
 
Follow up:

I contacted mobil-1 oil through their website. They confirmed that mobil-1 does NOT meet the Ford B1 spec.
He tried telling me that my truck does not call for the B1 spec but that is wrong, I got the info straight from the owner's manual.
I ended up going with the valvoline full synthetic "for newer engines", which does meet the B1 spec.

Much thanks to all for your responses.


Email from Mobil-1 begins below:


Joseph,

Odd. I'm seeing Ford calling for the 946-A spec rather than 946-B1 for 2018.

https://mobiloil.com/en/product-selector?Year=2018&Make=Rm9yZA%3D%3D&Model=Ri0xNTA%3D&Engine=S2luZyBSYW5jaCA2LUN5bCAzLjUgKEcpIChHQVMp

It's interesting, because the only 2019 Ford we've received so far is the Mustang, and I see that both the Ecoboost and the V8 Mustangs have gone to B1 specs for 2019, while both used A specs for 2018. It makes me wonder if this is a new generation of specs across the board, and we'll be busy applying for the new approvals. For the moment, though, if your manual specifically says 946-B1, I would err on the side of caution, rather than do anything which might put a warranty at risk.

Thank you for choosing Mobil,
Jim
Mobil Help Desk Team Lead
 
The regular Mobil1 5w30 with the "Advanced Full Synthetic" label now shows it meets Ford WSS-M2C946-B1.
The big question is did they change the formula or did the existing oil get the certification?
I have a stash of Mobil1 5w30 that doesn't show the B1 spec and some that does....all bought within the last 9 months or so.
 
Originally Posted by Vstrom

The big question is did they change the formula or did the existing oil get the certification?


Is it possible to e-mail Mobil and ask? I've never dealt with them directly so I do not know how responsive they are to customer questions.
 
Originally Posted by Vstrom
The regular Mobil1 5w30 with the "Advanced Full Synthetic" label now shows it meets Ford WSS-M2C946-B1.
The big question is did they change the formula or did the existing oil get the certification?
I have a stash of Mobil1 5w30 that doesn't show the B1 spec and some that does....all bought within the last 9 months or so.


I would guess that the Mobil 1 5w30 that meets the Dexos 1 Gen 2 specs but only lists Ford's WSS-M2C946-A and not the B-1 also meets the NEW Ford B-1 specs. It's like Mobil 1 5w30 already had the low Calcium higher Magnesium levels version of Dexos 1 Gen 2 long before GM came out with it. Their bottles could not say so because the GM Dexos 1 Gen 2 was not authorized until later 2017 I believe. The newer bottles will eventually show the B-1 on their label.
 
Curious what's the diff between b1/a specs.

Does Ford or any other manufacturer specify chemical structure or the tests that the oil must pass for example to get b1 or even d1g2? You would think they must work with some oil companies to obtain and test the oil before specifying it?
relatively speaking, oil companies should know much more about oil that Ford or GM or Honda .... I'm guessing the car companies have to rely heavily on oil company experts to formulate a new oil.

How does that process of coming up with new spec wotk?
 
by process I mean:
For example does a car company say
We have a design problem (marginal or not) like deposits (DI), excess heat (Turbo) or the combo di/turbo as an example ...
Let's see if a better oil can fix/help ...
Email our oil guy (if not in vacation) or ask an oil company and let's see what we can do?
 
I just bought a 2018 Ford Explorer Sport and was looking to see what the story was with WSS-M2C946-B1. I read this thread and also talked it through with my buddy who said I should ask Mobil myself. I also bought a case of Dexos1 Gen2 Napa Synthetic last time it was on sale so I started with Valvoline. This is my conversation with them:

Me:
I recently purchased a 2018 Ford Explorer Sport with the EcoBoost 3.5 liter twin turbo engine. The owners manual states to use an oil with the Ford WSS-M2C946-B1. I have purchased some Napa Synthetic that meets Dexos 1 Gen 2 spec on the label, but it doesn't show anything else. Does this oil meet WSS-M2C946-B1? I hope it might since your other synthetic offerings say that they do and you made this oil for Napa.

Valvoline:
All the Valvoline and private label oils exceed the Ford factory fill. The M2C946 tells us it is a 5w30 viscosity. Our Conventional, Maxlife and Synthetic oils all cover that spec as do our private label ones. Thank you very much for using our products.

That seemed a little vague, so I asked this
Me:
I understand that WSS-M2C946 means 5w30, but their spec changed from WSS-M2C946-A to WSS-M2C946-B1 recently. Does the Napa synthetic oil that is Dexos1 Gen2 licensed also meet Ford WSS-M2C946-B1?
I know that your modern and advanced Synthetics do, my question is if the Napa oil that is Dexos1 Gen2 also meet WSS-M2C946-B1? I have attached a picture of the back of the bottle showing the UPC and the date code.

Valvoline:
Sorry I did not make it clear the first time. All the Valvoline Oils and our private label products exceed the Ford factory fill. Yes, The NAPA synthetic oil exceed that spec as well.

From there I went to Mobil 1.
On their website I asked :
What Mobil1 product meets Ford WSS-M2C946-B1 spec? I have a 2018 Explorer Sport that requires it.

Mobil:
Thanks for writing to us. I'm not seeing anything with the Ford WSS-M2C946-B1 spec at the moment, just oils with the 946-A approval. I'm copying our Technical Support Center to see if they know of anything that may be "coming soon."

Mobil Americas Technical Help Desk:
Based on the information that you provided us on your vehicle, your 2018 Ford Explorer requires a SAE 5w30 oil in addition to the Ford spec. Could you please confirm that the correct SAE grade is 5w30?
Our Mobil 1 5w30, Mobil 1 Extended Performance 5w30 and Mobil 1 Annual Protection 5w30 all meet the Ford WSS-M2C946-B1 specification and the Ford WSS-M2C946-A.
I have attached US product data sheets for each product for your to review.
----------------------------------------
Attached to that email were 3 PDS documents with 11.16.2018 dates showing Ford's B1 spec on M1EP and M1AP. The regular M1 PDS was a bad file.

I replied back on Friday afternoon asking them if there was a formulation change recently and if M1 0w30 will meet WSS-M2C953-A1 or WSS-M2C946-B1 (as per the Explorer's owners manual for 0w-30) since I have quite a bit of M1 0w30 since I use it exclusively in our GTDI Ford Focus ST. I have not heard back from them yet today,
 
The other funny thing is on Ford's website there are 4 revisions to my owners manual. 1 and 2 show the A spec and 3 and 4 show the B1 spec. Before I got answers from Valvoline or Mobil, I bought 2 changes worth of Ford Semi Syn that listed the B1 spec.

The only owners manual that matters in the glove box is rev4.
smile.gif
 
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