Hey guys I know you get asked the same questions over and over again but I thought I would see what your opinions were. I have a 1996 Ford F-150 4x4 5 speed with the 300 efi straight six in it. The truck has 101,000 miles on it. I just recently bought the truck and I have no idea whats been ran through it. So I thought I might experiment with something new. I have always ran Castral GTX, mainly just because thats what my dad always ran and he would have killed us if we ran anything different he always talks about when he was a mechanic how he ran other oils mainly Pennziol when he would have to pull heads they would be nasty and he experimented by not cleaning anything and running Castral for a few oil changes and took the head back off and it was really clean. So ever since he has been a die hard Castral fan. But that was years ago and times have changed so I thought I might try something else. I was wondering what you guys thought the best oil to run in it would be. I have never tried senthetic oil but I have been thinking really hard on it. The 300 will be ran fairly hard and I live in Missouri so we have cold and hot weather. Every brand says there oil is better but I know alot of you guys have put them to the test. My brothers opinion is run full synthectic Super Tech and change it every 3000 miles which would cost close to the same as running any other synthetic oils for 5000 miles. He ran some test on several different oils when he was in Linn State Tech school And believe it or not Supertech came out on top. You always here that walmart spends most of the money on making there oil instead of advertisment and thats why its alot cheaper. But I never could make my self buy it lol.
What oil to run in Ford 300 EFI engine
- Thread starter Ford1356
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The ford 300 was a well built engine - it's going to last a long time, regardless of how hard you run it, nomatter what oil you use in it ... as long as the oil is changed once in a while.
Any 5/10w-30 oil - dino or syn will work.
If you want a cheap Syn, ST 5w-30 synthetic would be a good choice as would Rotella T5 10w-30 / T6 5w-40.
Any 5/10w-30 oil - dino or syn will work.
If you want a cheap Syn, ST 5w-30 synthetic would be a good choice as would Rotella T5 10w-30 / T6 5w-40.
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Rotella t6 is a great option for the 300's..
Those engines are closest thing to bullet proof I've bout ever seen
Those engines are closest thing to bullet proof I've bout ever seen
The 300CID Ford I-6 was a workhorse. Just change the oil regularly and the engine will outlast the body.
Originally Posted By: Flareside302
Rotella t6 is a great option for the 300's..
Those engines are closest thing to bullet proof I've bout ever seen
What he said. my uncle had an '83 F100 with a carb'd 300, it had well over 300k miles when he sold it along with some land he had, still running great. id go with T6.
Rotella t6 is a great option for the 300's..
Those engines are closest thing to bullet proof I've bout ever seen
What he said. my uncle had an '83 F100 with a carb'd 300, it had well over 300k miles when he sold it along with some land he had, still running great. id go with T6.
Pennzoil conventional is one of the top choices these days for conventional. I would place it above GTX in my book. It's got a great additive pack and is a top cleaning oil with its detergent concentration. I would run PYB for 3k intervals before moving onto longer changes.
There should be no need torun a syn thetic unless you want to run extended drains.
PYB isn't the only choice though, I can just as strongly recommend Mobil conventional or Maxlife.
A 5w30 high mileage would be about perfect for the engine. If you want to use a synthetic Mobil 1 High Mileage 5w30 is a top choice.
How many miles are you planning on driving per year? Mostly short trips? I hope you're going to take advantage of Motorcraft filters price to performance for the engine.
There should be no need torun a syn thetic unless you want to run extended drains.
PYB isn't the only choice though, I can just as strongly recommend Mobil conventional or Maxlife.
A 5w30 high mileage would be about perfect for the engine. If you want to use a synthetic Mobil 1 High Mileage 5w30 is a top choice.
How many miles are you planning on driving per year? Mostly short trips? I hope you're going to take advantage of Motorcraft filters price to performance for the engine.
Yes as above said DEFINITELY run a motorcraft filter.. Can't beat it for price or function on a Ford if going less than 10k on a OCI..
The truck will be a daily driver. And will for the most part be taken on short trips. I have owned 3 300 six fords and loved them all but this is my first efi 300. I am sure I will be just as happy with it once I get some up grades done to it. I do wish they where as easy to hop up as the carb 300's are. But for what I will be doing with the truck it will suit me just fine. I have never even thought about Rotella oil I run it in all of my diesels and I seem to like it. I don't now why it wouldent be good for a gasser. My buddy runs full synthetic mobile 1 and really likes it also. And my girlfriends dad is a Valvoline man lol I no they are all good oils for the most part now days but I like to see what you guys say about it sense most of you guys have seen tests done or have tested them your self. I find it interesting how so many different people run different oils that they think is the best it neat to read and plus I learn something most of the time lol
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I ran dozens of these to the ground in the 70's for a franchise I managed. The 300 is a great six banger, may be the dullest powerplant in existence for the driver but GREAT for longevity.
And there is no "best" oil. In your case buy whatever is on sale and change it frequently as your 300 six is barely broken in good yet...
And there is no "best" oil. In your case buy whatever is on sale and change it frequently as your 300 six is barely broken in good yet...
Originally Posted By: Ford1356
The truck will be a daily driver. And will for the most part be taken on short trips. I have owned 3 300 six fords and loved them all but this is my first efi 300. I am sure I will be just as happy with it once I get some up grades done to it. I do wish they where as easy to hop up as the carb 300's are.
The efi ones are not as good as the carbed ones. The gas mileage stinks. The motor is still a good motor but emmisions and efi choked them.
I think that this motor is one that as long as it has oil it is happy.
One thing that will proably start leaking eventualy is the tapped cover and the valve cover. The tappet cover gasket is a pain to replace on the efi motors but still doable. Dad had a 94 abd the gasket on it was still cork so it will go bad eventually.
The truck will be a daily driver. And will for the most part be taken on short trips. I have owned 3 300 six fords and loved them all but this is my first efi 300. I am sure I will be just as happy with it once I get some up grades done to it. I do wish they where as easy to hop up as the carb 300's are.
The efi ones are not as good as the carbed ones. The gas mileage stinks. The motor is still a good motor but emmisions and efi choked them.
I think that this motor is one that as long as it has oil it is happy.
One thing that will proably start leaking eventualy is the tapped cover and the valve cover. The tappet cover gasket is a pain to replace on the efi motors but still doable. Dad had a 94 abd the gasket on it was still cork so it will go bad eventually.
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A very good choice for oil would be the Rotella T6 (diesel engine oil) and/or Mobil 1, 5W-40 TDT (turbo diesel truck) . Because your engine is an older, flat tappet engine, using an oil with a robust additive package is a good idea. Nearly all diesel engine oils fit this requirement very well.
Today's automotive oils contain fewer additives, mostly to keep catalytic converter "poisoning" to a minimum. Today's engines don't use flat tappets and therefore don't need robust additive packages.
Both oils that I suggested are full synthetic, have robust additive packages and will easily work in extended drain intervals. If your engine is reasonably clean internally, it's likely that UOA results will show that 8000 mile oil change intervals are quite practical with such oils.
For example, I'm using M1, 5W-40 TDT in my Jaguar X-Type, with 133,000 miles on it. I am not easy on this thing, run it to redline every day, and so on. Yet, I can easily run 10,000 mile oil changes. The used oil analysis show that I can even go considerably longer. When I drain the oil, it's still somewhat amber. The engine is spotless inside and the problems other Jaguar owners have experienced are not happening to me.
Here is a look under my oil fill cap in the Jaguar. The oil had 8000 miles on it at this point. Notice how clean the oil and the engine is. Even the cylinders look perfect inside. All the cross hatch is still there! I fully expect this engine to make 300,000 miles with ease. Even with the abuse.
Today's automotive oils contain fewer additives, mostly to keep catalytic converter "poisoning" to a minimum. Today's engines don't use flat tappets and therefore don't need robust additive packages.
Both oils that I suggested are full synthetic, have robust additive packages and will easily work in extended drain intervals. If your engine is reasonably clean internally, it's likely that UOA results will show that 8000 mile oil change intervals are quite practical with such oils.
For example, I'm using M1, 5W-40 TDT in my Jaguar X-Type, with 133,000 miles on it. I am not easy on this thing, run it to redline every day, and so on. Yet, I can easily run 10,000 mile oil changes. The used oil analysis show that I can even go considerably longer. When I drain the oil, it's still somewhat amber. The engine is spotless inside and the problems other Jaguar owners have experienced are not happening to me.
Here is a look under my oil fill cap in the Jaguar. The oil had 8000 miles on it at this point. Notice how clean the oil and the engine is. Even the cylinders look perfect inside. All the cross hatch is still there! I fully expect this engine to make 300,000 miles with ease. Even with the abuse.
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My father ran a 240 c.i. six in a '73 Ford short box and had an '89 short box with the 300 c.i. EFI. Both went over 200,000 miles on Quaker State Green Bottle. Neither used any oil when he got rid of them. The 240/300 sixes are as close to indestructible as you can get.
My recommendations:
QSGB or Shell white bottle on sale at Menards.
Trop Artic synthetic blend from Sam's Club. It's around $2.25/qt here.
ALWAYS use a Motorcraft filter.
My recommendations:
QSGB or Shell white bottle on sale at Menards.
Trop Artic synthetic blend from Sam's Club. It's around $2.25/qt here.
ALWAYS use a Motorcraft filter.
I've got one of these engines in one of our work vans. They've got a gear driven cam so no timing chain to beat up the oil and they are a very simple yet proven durable design.
I'm running pp at 10000-12000km intervals with ours. I've noticed that fuel dilution may be an issue however based on the fact that the van does mostly city miles and rarely gets any significant highway time I suspect that's the cause of the strong fuel smell of the oil.
Those engines aren't picky. Any 5w-30 will lead to long reliable service so a ugh priced syn just isn't required in it.
I'm running pp at 10000-12000km intervals with ours. I've noticed that fuel dilution may be an issue however based on the fact that the van does mostly city miles and rarely gets any significant highway time I suspect that's the cause of the strong fuel smell of the oil.
Those engines aren't picky. Any 5w-30 will lead to long reliable service so a ugh priced syn just isn't required in it.
Well it was a toss up with Rotella T5 and Castral edge 10w-30 and I went with the Castral Edge. I no I dident really need to get a synthetic oil but for a few bucks more I thought I would give it a try. I don't ever plan on selling the truck and have been wanting to try a synthetic oil so hope it was a decent choice lol
I'm thinking Maxlife 10W-40 would probably work real well in that Ford straight six.
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