Mobil 1 5W20 vs Delo400 15/40 in a 4.6 Ford

nickmckinney · Jul 5, 2005

Been using Delo in my 4.6 for last 1500 miles of an ARX clean stage.

Changed to Mobil 1 5W20, the new SM stuff thanks to the Pepboys coupons.

Immediately the engine became silent, it kinda freeked me out. There was a small ticking that sounded lifter related, gone with new oil immediately. About opposite what I read on the recent Mobil 1 topic with respect to noise.

Gas mileage appears to be going way up, put 200 miles on change so far and gas gauge is alot higher than before at this point. Butt dyno likes the change, the engine revs alot faster than before.

I hooked up my computer scanner and took some load readings while cruising. The 5W20 is about a 3% load drop when hot compared to the 15W40 hot at idle. Thats the only reading I can directly compare one to the other. I have found though that the AC gives about an 8% increase in load, and at 70 MPH opening the windows vs closed windows has zero effect on load with this car (97 Cougar)

Load wise the engine with the 5W20 at cold start is at the same load as cruising the highway at 70MPH with the windows down and the engine to temp.

I orginally went to Delo as car was an oil smoker when I first got it, after 200 miles with the 5W20 still no smoke out of the exhaust, that alone has me feeling good.

Will keep the update going. I plan to test what if anything adding a bottle of the Valvoline synpower changes to the load, mileage etc. From my guestimate it should change the 5W20 to a 10W30, but also add a ton of moly.

Steve S · Jul 5, 2005

Thick oil takes alot more horses to pump than thin oil.

TR3-2001SE · Jul 6, 2005

Would be interested to know if the moly does effect gas milage. My guess is it will but not enough to detect because it will be so minor. However loads of moly may give us an answer. Keep it up and let us know!

The Critic · Jul 6, 2005

I thought the new Delo 400 has moly?

Michael

nickmckinney · Jul 7, 2005

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Wan:
I thought the new Delo 400 has moly?

Michael

Yeah it does, but nothing compared to what that Valoline additive will do (its mega moly).

Pablo · Jul 7, 2005

VSOT and Delo 400 mix=viscosity through the roof!!

JohnBrowning · Jul 7, 2005

This is a bit extreme for a comparison! 5W20 V.S. 15W40??? One is designed just for fuel economy while the other is designed just for protecting Comercial diesels with no requard for milage at all! That is like compareing a 105MM tank round to a 9mm pistol cartridge! I am glad that both oils did their job and worked well for you though!

tenderloin · Jul 7, 2005

One is designed just for fuel economy

Yeah.. Protection, reputation and repeat business be ****ed.

nickmckinney · Jul 7, 2005

quote:

Originally posted by Pablo:
VSOT and Delo 400 mix=viscosity through the roof!!

Naw it will be VSOT and Mobile 1 5W20 mixed

Gonna throw it in at about the 2K mile mark when the level gets low.

Gary Allan · Jul 7, 2005

quote:

Gonna throw it in at about the 2K mile mark when the level gets low.

(imagine poor lip synch kung fu dialog)

So (with eyebrows raised with optional/auxillary head gesture) ...you have consumption with the 5w-20, I see (lips still moving briefly)

nickmckinney · Jul 7, 2005

quote:

Originally posted by Gary Allan:

quote:

Gonna throw it in at about the 2K mile mark when the level gets low.

Click to expand...

(imagine poor lip synch kung fu dialog)

So (with eyebrows raised with optional/auxillary head gesture) ...you have consumption with the 5w-20, I see (lips still moving briefly)

Its about 1/2~3/4 quart per 1000 miles regardless of the oil I use in this engine so far (10W30 and 15W40) I have only put the last 5K on it, this is the first time I have used 5W20 in this motor. Motor has 126K and is making a 2K highway trip at the end of the month.

nickmckinney · Jul 10, 2005

So far the update is 1/2 mile per gallon difference from 5W20 to 10W30, and 1 mile per gallon difference from 5W20 to 15W40. Car has been averaging 15.5MPG city with the Delo 15W40 and last 2 tanks with the 5W20 is around 16.7MPG with no other changes. All city driving by my sig other who doesn't know anything I did different.

And..........its not giving any blue smoke out the exhaust, which makes me SUPER happy!

edvanp · Jul 10, 2005

Nice test you are doing here Nick! I'm considering the same thing with my car, a 97 Buick Regal w/ the 3800 Series II SC engine and a 127k miles. It's not doing much more then 10-15 mile trips these days so I thought I'd try the 5w20 and see if there is a difference. Good luck on yours and keep us updated.

JHZR2 · Jul 10, 2005

If UOA comes out to be more or less a wash, than is there ANY benefit to 15w40 in his driving profile and condition set? Id say no.

Though many like to talk badly about the environmentalists, anti-pollution folks, CAFE, etc., and often rightly so, if this oil makes the engine feel and sound better, and use less $2.20/gal fuel, isnt this a benefit? If it can make the engine have the same level of wear, isnt it only smart to use the lighter oil?

Ill bet that many who complain about lighter oils decreasing longevity have never seen 150k, let alone 200k on a vehicle.

Thats some useful data you're providing, nick!

Thanks for keeping us updated.

JMH

nickmckinney · Jul 10, 2005

quote:

Originally posted by JHZR2:
If UOA comes out to be more or less a wash, than is there ANY benefit to 15w40 in his driving profile and condition set? Id say no.

Though many like to talk badly about the environmentalists, anti-pollution folks, CAFE, etc., and often rightly so, if this oil makes the engine feel and sound better, and use less $2.20/gal fuel, isnt this a benefit? If it can make the engine have the same level of wear, isnt it only smart to use the lighter oil?

Ill bet that many who complain about lighter oils decreasing longevity have never seen 150k, let alone 200k on a vehicle.

Thats some useful data you're providing, nick!

Thanks for keeping us updated.

JMH

My figures show ~19 less gallons of gas needed for every 10,000 miles with a 1/2 mile per gallon difference (using 16 - 16.5 as I did) I can see why alot of the manufacturers are getting on the 5W20 bandwagon, especially if the engine doesn't "need" the thicker oil.

JHZR2 · Jul 10, 2005

Exactly... multiply that 19 gallons times how many of those 4.6L engines are sold in a year, times how many years theyre sold and Im sure that the numbr of gallons saved per 10k miles is quite large.

Care to comment on the usual climate, ambiuent temps, etc where you live?

Id be interested to see UOA for a number of intervals using delo and a number of intervals using 5w-20, to see that it is indeed a wash. Though, as I have said before, Im sure that a few ppm is going to make no difference in the typical 120kish mile life of the typical car.

Thanks again for all the info!

JMH

nickmckinney · Jul 10, 2005

quote:

Originally posted by JHZR2:
Exactly... multiply that 19 gallons times how many of those 4.6L engines are sold in a year, times how many years theyre sold and Im sure that the numbr of gallons saved per 10k miles is quite large.

Care to comment on the usual climate, ambiuent temps, etc where you live?

Id be interested to see UOA for a number of intervals using delo and a number of intervals using 5w-20, to see that it is indeed a wash. Though, as I have said before, Im sure that a few ppm is going to make no difference in the typical 120kish mile life of the typical car.

Thanks again for all the info!

JMH

Climate is always "Africa hot", west Ft Lauderdale Florida.

I don't get into the UOA deal myself for 2 reasons:

A bad batch of gas causing some spark knock will skew the numbers bigtime

You don't know if you were using a defective oil filter until after you cut it apart

For both the above reasons I change at 5K anymore. I was looking at using reusable System 1 Filters in combination with a bypass unit, but in reality both oil and regular filters are still cheaper and 5K changes work for the most part.

1sttruck · Jul 11, 2005

We shall determine this with science.

5W20

5 is the weight in the days of dark, 20 is weight when warm, togther 25 is the number we seek. W is the 23rd letter, and the difference between them is 2. Three are the numbers that we use. O is the 1st letter of oil, the substance that we test, i is the 1st letter if indicate, which is what is does when we seek, and l is the 1st letter of Lucifer, who we fear in all that we see, so 111 is the number that is formed. From all we have found 2, 3 and 111, the product of which is 666, THE MARK OF THE BEAST ! EVIL IS THE OIL THAT ONE DOES USE !

:^)

nickmckinney · Jul 17, 2005

Well after 600 miles on the Mobil 1, she suddenly started smoking like a fog machine again. Something must be going on in the ring packs still. This time I will leave it in for a while and see if it starts smoking less, or dirtys the oil quickly again like last time.

pastmaster · Jul 17, 2005

Nick,
Try the Marvel Mystery Oil treatment, for the heck of it. See if it has an effect on the ring packs and the valve guides, smoking and all.

Mobil 1 5W20 vs Delo400 15/40 in a 4.6 Ford

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