Oil for 2008 Ford Fusion

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Hello! I just bought a 2008 Ford Fusion 4 cly. I am looking for some oil recommendations. I am in grad school and do very little driving. I drive my car on average about twice per week. That's usually to a grocery store or a restaurant that's not too far away. I am interested in synthetic oil because of its long life span. I've read that oil has a shelf life and a milage life. This made me think that synthetic oil may not be the right choice for me if I'm going to be changing it out because of age and not milage. I'd like to maximize the time between changes without compromising the health of my engine. I live in Houston so it's pretty warm down here year round. I’m easy on my car. The manufacturer recommends 5W-20 and to change the oil and filter every 7,500 miles. The Ford part number/ Ford specification in the back of the owner’s guide is XO-5W20-QSP (US) CXO-LSP12 (CANADA)/ WSS-MSC930-A with API certification mark. It doesn’t burn oil. If there is any other info that would better inform your recommendation, please let me know and I will do my best to get it to you.
 
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Warm is good - that means that the oil can get up to temperature eaiser.

You can't go wrong with Motorcrafty's synthetic blend 5w-20.
 
Pennzoil Ultra 5w-20. If you can't find that at Walmart, try Mobil 1 0w-20 or Pennzoil Platinum 0w-20.

If you care to order online, Amsoil Signature Series 0w-20 is an excellent choice.
 
I am using M1 0-20 in my Fusion with excellant results. In your case I would use this oil with a MC filter and change once a year.
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Any 5W-20 or 0W-20 synthetic will be fine. SuperTech works fine and is cheap. Just change it every 7500 miles or 3 years if you drive less. The most important thing is to keep it topped off whenever it gets half a quart low - check the level once a month.
 
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I would change the oil once per year with a quality synthetic. WM has Mobil 1 and Pennzoil Platinum in the 0w20 for a good price. I would use that if it is readily available to you. I would use a quality filter, NOT the orange can Fram filter. The Fram Tough Guard or Synthetic would be good choices that are at WM. That way, you can get all your items at one location.....
 
I see a lot of recommendations 0W-20. Is there a chance I could hurt my engine by starting it in a cold environment, since Ford recommends 5W-20? Is there an advantage in 0W-20 over 5W-20 assuming I will be in a cold weather environment?

Also, I see a lot of different suggestions for how long I should let the oil sit in the engine before changing it. Does the oil manufacturer usually put the maximum age for an oil on the bottle as well?

And thanks for all the suggestions and warm welcomes!
 
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Oil really doesn't have a shelf life. So cross that out of the equation.
If using a syn 10000 miles should be achieveable,conventional will go 5000 miles without question.
0w-20 is good where extreme cold winters are present. If your coldest winter temps are -25c or warmer a 5w-20 is fine. Colder than -25c then you would benefit from a 0w-20.
I'm in Saskatchewan. We get -40c in the winter and I had 5w-20 in my sump in the beginning of last winter and I couldn't tell the difference in cranking until February,then I went with a 0w-20.
 
Originally Posted By: hormel
I see a lot of recommendations 0W-20. Is there a chance I could hurt my engine by starting it in a cold environment, since Ford recommends 5W-20? Is there an advantage in 0W-20 over 5W-20 assuming I will be in a cold weather environment?


0w-20 will provide better startup protection over a 5w-20 at ANY temperature.
 
Depends on how often you want to change. You could over do it and just change it every year or longer if your mileage is low. Personally I prefer synthetics in case I don't have time to change but api sn conventional 5w20 would be fine in that engine.

Is the 7500 mile recommendation the same as severe service interval? Sometimes severe service intervals are lower or half of normal service intervals. That could be 3750 miles if that's what the manufacturer recommended.

If it has an oil life monitor just use an api sn conventional and change when it says to.
 
So if I get a good syn oil and good filter, can I go 10000 between oil changes no matter how long it takes me to get to 10000? Because I think that it will take me 1.5-2 years to clock 10000 miles.

7500 is the normal service interval.

I do have an oil life monitor. I just assumed it recorded the miles from my last oil change and alerts me after the oil has 7500 miles. But I don't know. Are oil life monitors intelligent enough to determine the health of the oil?
 
Originally Posted By: hormel
So if I get a good syn oil and good filter, can I go 10000 between oil changes no matter how long it takes me to get to 10000? Because I think that it will take me 1.5-2 years to clock 10000 miles.

7500 is the normal service interval.

I do have an oil life monitor. I just assumed it recorded the miles from my last oil change and alerts me after the oil has 7500 miles. But I don't know. Are oil life monitors intelligent enough to determine the health of the oil?


Some monitors measure mileage, most monitors measure cold temp start, rpm, throttle position, ect. to determine oil life.

Personally... i would change it once a year, in spring time. This way the fuel dilution from winter will be replaced with fresh oil.
 
Originally Posted By: hormel
So if I get a good syn oil and good filter, can I go 10000 between oil changes no matter how long it takes me to get to 10000? Because I think that it will take me 1.5-2 years to clock 10000 miles.

7500 is the normal service interval.

I do have an oil life monitor. I just assumed it recorded the miles from my last oil change and alerts me after the oil has 7500 miles. But I don't know. Are oil life monitors intelligent enough to determine the health of the oil?


Re-read my first post. Change it once a year.
 
I would say since you have an OLM, I would use a quality syn oil, good filter and follow that OLM. Don't worry about time, just follow what the car tells you to do. It won't let you go over the limit of the oil with a quality syn oil.
 
Originally Posted By: Cooper
I would say since you have an OLM, I would use a quality syn oil, good filter and follow that OLM. Don't worry about time, just follow what the car tells you to do. It won't let you go over the limit of the oil with a quality syn oil.


It won't let him go anything beyond safe on an API SN conventional either. Synthetic + OLM is overkill.
 
My concern with your short trips is fuel dilution. If you drive less than 7,500 miles per year, but many of those miles are highway trips home, then I'd say to simply change it once a year, at the same time every year for the sake of convenience (like during Christmas break for example). But if all of your trips are short trips to the local supermarket and back, your oil never really does get up to temperature. You'll build up moisture and possibly fuel in the oil from the engine's richer fuel mixture when cold, which might encourage you to change it more often.

In your situation, I'd personally use a less expensive oil changed at 5,000 miles. I would do it on 5,000 mile increments (like when the odometer has 50,000 miles, then 55,000 miles, etc) for ease of remembering.

Out of curiosity, will your car tell you the percentage remaining on the oil life monitor, or does it simply light up when it's time to change it? If it does show you the percentage remaining, I would be curious what it reads now, and how many miles have elapsed since your last oil change.
 
Originally Posted By: hormel
So if I get a good syn oil and good filter, can I go 10000 between oil changes no matter how long it takes me to get to 10000? Because I think that it will take me 1.5-2 years to clock 10000 miles.

7500 is the normal service interval.

I do have an oil life monitor. I just assumed it recorded the miles from my last oil change and alerts me after the oil has 7500 miles. But I don't know. Are oil life monitors intelligent enough to determine the health of the oil?

OLM's use an algorithm that takes into account a number of factors besides miles. 0w-20 synthetics like M1 will say they meet the warranty requirements of 5w-20. That said, my Explorer specs 5w-30 and both M1 and PP gave fine UOA's at 7500 miles but when I tried M1 0w-30 it was fine for 5000 miles but not so good at 7500. I agree with the above post, I would simply use a less expensive oil like Motorcraft Blend, which is perfectly fine stuff, and change it every 5000.
 
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