Oil ideas for 2 v6 fords and more

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Amarillo, TX
I've got a v6 2015 explorer, and a 2011 v6 F-150. Both have 55k. Lots of short city driving with the occasional out of town trip. Live in north Texas panhandle.we get big temp swings and lots of dust.

I've been using Valvoline syn in the explorer but just got the f150. Wondering if I should switch to PP of something different. Should I use an additive like Lucas?

Any other tips for long term Maintance? Are y'all a big fan of the occasional fuel treatment for long trips to keep things clean or does that even work?

If you have legit experience and facts, I'm all ears.
 
Either of the oils will do good in your application. An alternative would be to buy the cheapest full syn with the dexos1 gen2 certification and you can be assured it is a quality oil, though not necessary. The big question is how long of ocis do you want to run? Skip the oil additives.

Gum out regane and red line SL1 are good fuel system cleaners that contain good doses of PEA.
 
No additives. Any quality oil will work TBH. If the engines are clean and well maintained then you are doing the best you can already.
 
Originally Posted by beast3300
No additives. Any quality oil will work TBH.

But what about the noisy Mobil-1
wink.gif
I'm about to use in my Kia? Won't an additive like Lubegard Bio/Tech help preserve my engine from self-grenading?
lol.gif
 
M1 oils have kept my engines very clean, never any sign of engine wear, all of my engines have always sounded quite, some with well over 200K and up to 354K in the 91 Ranger V6 I owned, and none have ever increased in oil consumption over the life of the engine.
 
What ever is on sale will do you just fine with a rebate it will even be better. Worry about your real problems in life this will take care of itself.
 
Iron is a nature lubricant
Originally Posted by Triple_Se7en
Originally Posted by beast3300
No additives. Any quality oil will work TBH.

But what about the noisy Mobil-1
wink.gif
I'm about to use in my Kia? Won't an additive like Lubegard Bio/Tech help preserve my engine from self-grenading?
lol.gif




Iron is a natural lubricant.
01.gif
 
With proper ratings and from major corporations oil is oil. Except for the M1 Tig runs.
 
I don't see anything in those circumstances or vehicles needing any special maintenance, except that the dust might require more frequent air filter changes than most us need to do.
 
What V6 in the F150? Big difference between the port injected, normally aspirated 3.7l and the DI twin turbo 3.5 eco as far as what oils I would use.
 
I would (& do) run an air filter with the foam pre-filter-that will help your oil & engine as much or more than whatever you use. I vote for Castrol Magnatec, either 5W20 or 5W30, with a decent synthetic media oil filter (Royal Purple, Fram Ultra, or similar), this combo has been unreal on the 4.6 2V in my sig.
 
Originally Posted by kessellrun
I've got a v6 2015 explorer, and a 2011 v6 F-150. Both have 55k. Lots of short city driving with the occasional out of town trip. Live in north Texas panhandle.we get big temp swings and lots of dust.

I've been using Valvoline syn in the explorer but just got the f150. Wondering if I should switch to PP of something different. Should I use an additive like Lucas?

Any other tips for long term Maintance? Are y'all a big fan of the occasional fuel treatment for long trips to keep things clean or does that even work?

If you have legit experience and facts, I'm all ears.

welcome2.gif


First of all, the better approach is to understand your engines and applications, and then pick a lube that will successfully protect the engines.

Both engines are based on the Cyclone "Duratec" design; 3.5L in your Explorer and 3.7L in your truck.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Cyclone_engine

These engines are very good wearing; they don't shed a ton of metals and can run for a very long time. They don't need any sort of special super-duper lubes and they certainly don't need any "Lucas" or other additives in the oil.

If you want to clean the intake tract, use a fuel system cleaner made to be mixed into the fuel; get a product with PEA in it such as certain Gumout products, Techron, etc. PEA is the only easily found, cost effective, reliable cleaner I'd use in my engines. It's going to do a good job of loosening carbon and other insolubles from the intake valves and top of combustion chamber.

The biggest issue, by far, facing your engine has absolutely nothing to do with the oil choices. You need to be concerned with is the water pump on the Cyclone/Duratec engines. That pump is internal to the timing chain cover, and has the potential to leak coolant internally into the sump; disaster awaits. Pumps have been known to fail as early at 75k miles, or last past 225k miles; there seems to be no rhyme or reason to their longevity. The best way to keep an eye on this is to always check the coolant reservoir closely for a drop in level, and get UOAs done to check for coolant. It is the Achilles heel of an otherwise stupendous engine. And, no manner of oil lube selection is going to stop or dissuade this issue; syns have no greater effect than do conventional oils because the failure mode is typical of any water pump; the internal seal bearings eventually fail and cause the pump shaft to shift, wearing on the seal. Once that happens, it's time for the leaks. Because the pump is internal to the timing cover, it's a very long and expensive job to do; often quoted around $1200-$1500 by a reputable shop. Whereas many folks will just drive an engine until the pump fails (external pump type), people whom have Cyclone engines often do a pre-emptive change at some determined point which makes them feel comfortable. I intend to start my UOAs at 75k miles, and do them at every OFCI thereafter, to look for traces of coolant. Along with visual observations on the coolant level, that's about all I can do.

Any API SM/SN 5w-20 or 5w-30 will easily protect these engines. You don't need a syn and you don't need oil additives. Rather than spend money on a more expensive lube, I'd save that money up for the water pump change.

As for the environment you're in, the above oils will do fine. Far more important is to make sure your air filter is working well. Again, UOAs will help you know; check the silica (Si) level. Once you get a good air filter, leave it in place and don't mess with it. And certainly don't change it too often. The trap most folks fall into is that they think more frequent air filter changes are "better"; nothing could be further from the truth. Air filters become more efficient as the load up; the most particulate they will ever pass is in the early stage of it's lifecycle. If you want to do a good job of maintaining the filter, get an air-intake vacuum gauge and change based on that; not some arbitrary value in the service manual. I have a 2018 Taurus and put one of these on mine:
https://www.amazon.com/WIX-Filters-24801-Filter-Service/dp/B0014BI1KA


Again - welcome!
 
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