Motorhome oil

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A friend of ours has just purchased a 2015 fleetwood bounder 33' class A motorhome. Ford 6.8L V-10 / 5spd auto transmission. With 15k miles on it. location: Central Florida : They want to tow a small SUV under 4000lbs and plan to travel to mountainous regions including the Rockies. Didn't ford just change the oil spec last year for this application? Anyhoo he's wondering about oil & Tranny fluid options that will protect the best & keep his warranty intact. Thanks.
 
What is the ford owners manual recommendation?

Id consider going a grade up.

Id speculate that Ford recommends 5w-20, and the use might be well served with a high HTHS 5w-30, perhaps one of the HDEOs out there...
 
My class C with the V10 has 2016 production date on the chassis and says 5w30 on the fill cap. Oddly enough I sent in the factory fill in for analysis and it was definitely a 20wt.

I sometimes tow a 17.5' boat with mine, so pretty similar towing weight.

I settled on Castrol Magnatec 5w30 because it seemed like the best bang for the buck oil I could find that meets Ford spec.
 
5w30 is probably fine. If he sees consumption, move up to a thick 30 like M1 HM 10w30 or a 10w30 HDEO


Remember the ilisac gf-5 30 are all on the thin side of 30. HTHS 3.0-3.1

M1 HM 10w-30 is HTHS 3.5
 
Looking at both the F53 chassis and the E450 cab configurations:
http://www.fordservicecontent.com/Ford_C...-US_07_2014.pdf
http://www.fordservicecontent.com/Ford_C...-US_12_2014.pdf

They both call for 5w-20 engine oil for the Triton 6.8L for 2015 vehicles. However, I want to note that folks often mistake what is recommended for what is required. They recommend grades; they require lubes that meet Ford spec (in this case WSS-M2C945-A). There are a whole host of lubes that meet that spec. And they don't have to be "syn" or "semi-syn" either. I will note this right from the manual on page 117:
"Use of synthetic or synthetic blend motor oil is not mandatory. Only use fluid that meets Ford specifications". They have had that in the manuals for years, but many still live by the flawed misinformation touted on the 'net.

I can assure you that if your friend wants to go up one grade, it won't likely harm the engine. But OTOH, there's no proof to show it's going to help, either. The severe service factor for these MH chassis, with towing, still makes for a 5k mile OFCI. I have a TON of UOA data on the mod-motor engines, and they generally don't alter the wear rates with oil vis differences. And to be pre-emptive before you ask, just use a decent brand name filter that is spec'd for the application. No - your not going to find a "better" filter by using something larger. UOA wear data shows the Ford mod-motors simply don't respond to filter or lube selections. They wear very well, overall. One's loyalty to brands or biased preferences might matter to your brain, but it does NOT reflect as such in the crankcase. I've got probably 750 UOAs on the 4.6L, 5.4L, 6.8L engines. I lay aside desires and stick to facts. Facts don't lie. My point boils down to this .... it won't help or hurt the engine to use a 5w-30. Some here are going to tell you that it will do "better" with a thicker oil. Well, I'd like to see the proof of their claim. Because I don't see it at all. I've seen everything from 5w-20 to 10w-40 used in these motors, and generally the wear rates never are affected. So why risk warranty if the performance does not change with the vis selection? AFTER warranty has expired, do what he wants to do. But again, it simply does not matter to the crankcase, despite how much it offends BITOG feelings.

The specs call for LV tranny fluid. I'd change it about every 30k miles, given the service factor.

You didn't ask, but the rear diff calls for a lifetime fill of either 75w-90 or 75w-140. I'm not a fan of "lifetime" fills, but there's no reason to change it uber-frequently either. It only has 15k miles on the vehicle. Change it now, or not; probably won't matter one way or another. I'd change it once before 30k miles at some point, and then not worry about it after that until 100k miles.



Please note ...
Anytime someone wants to know about how to service a Ford vehicle, visit this site:
www.motorcraftservice.com
put in the region, look up "owner's information" under the "free resources" menu, and put in the vehicle data.
Lost manuals are no excuse these days!


.
 
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My father has had two motor homes with the Ford V10 both were driven hard across the country several times also towing his Jeep. He used 5w30 Formula Shell full synthetic in both and both ran fantastic and used no make up oil.
 
I would tell them to check O'Reilly's for some closeout Havolive DS 5w30 and stock up for that big gasser.
 
If they have a motor home and not a travel trailer, I'd go synthetic and 5w30 if that's what Ford recommends. I'm sure it has some kind of oil cooler and transmission cooler given the application. If the engine and transmission aren't taken care of, it's not like you can just swap it out. If my truck breaks towing a trailer, I can just get another truck to pull it. Not so much on a motor home. Synthetic is also going to last longer in the sump if they don't use it often. Most are good for a year if they don't go through the miles first.
 
Originally Posted By: dnewton3
Looking at both the F53 chassis and the E450 cab configurations:
http://www.fordservicecontent.com/Ford_C...-US_07_2014.pdf
http://www.fordservicecontent.com/Ford_C...-US_12_2014.pdf

They both call for 5w-20 engine oil for the Triton 6.8L for 2015 vehicles. However, I want to note that folks often mistake what is recommended for what is required. They recommend grades; they require lubes that meet Ford spec (in this case WSS-M2C945-A). There are a whole host of lubes that meet that spec. And they don't have to be "syn" or "semi-syn" either. I will note this right from the manual on page 117:
"Use of synthetic or synthetic blend motor oil is not mandatory. Only use fluid that meets Ford specifications". They have had that in the manuals for years, but many still live by the flawed misinformation touted on the 'net.

I can assure you that if your friend wants to go up one grade, it won't likely harm the engine. But OTOH, there's no proof to show it's going to help, either. The severe service factor for these MH chassis, with towing, still makes for a 5k mile OFCI. I have a TON of UOA data on the mod-motor engines, and they generally don't alter the wear rates with oil vis differences. And to be pre-emptive before you ask, just use a decent brand name filter that is spec'd for the application. No - your not going to find a "better" filter by using something larger. UOA wear data shows the Ford mod-motors simply don't respond to filter or lube selections. They wear very well, overall. One's loyalty to brands or biased preferences might matter to your brain, but it does NOT reflect as such in the crankcase. I've got probably 750 UOAs on the 4.6L, 5.4L, 6.8L engines. I lay aside desires and stick to facts. Facts don't lie. My point boils down to this .... it won't help or hurt the engine to use a 5w-30. Some here are going to tell you that it will do "better" with a thicker oil. Well, I'd like to see the proof of their claim. Because I don't see it at all. I've seen everything from 5w-20 to 10w-40 used in these motors, and generally the wear rates never are affected. So why risk warranty if the performance does not change with the vis selection? AFTER warranty has expired, do what he wants to do. But again, it simply does not matter to the crankcase, despite how much it offends BITOG feelings.

The specs call for LV tranny fluid. I'd change it about every 30k miles, given the service factor.

You didn't ask, but the rear diff calls for a lifetime fill of either 75w-90 or 75w-140. I'm not a fan of "lifetime" fills, but there's no reason to change it uber-frequently either. It only has 15k miles on the vehicle. Change it now, or not; probably won't matter one way or another. I'd change it once before 30k miles at some point, and then not worry about it after that until 100k miles.



Please note ...
Anytime someone wants to know about how to service a Ford vehicle, visit this site:
www.motorcraftservice.com
put in the region, look up "owner's information" under the "free resources" menu, and put in the vehicle data.
Lost manuals are no excuse these days!


Thanks for taking the time to post all the info. I appreciate it. Thanks to all. One question I can't answer : Did ford "back spec" the oil viscosity change & if so to what year ? Put another way : If he runs 5w-30 will that void his warranty? Is it very difficult to install oil & Tranny fluid temp gauges on something like this? Would be nice to have.
.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
If you look at the links, you'll find that both chassis state 5w-20.

The E450 chassis states:
http://www.fordservicecontent.com/Ford_C...-US_12_2014.pdf
page 244 in the manual. These typically get the 2v engine.

The F53 chassis states:
only 5w-20
http://www.fordservicecontent.com/Ford_C...ingEnabled=True

There is this generic link for the 6.8L engine. BUT .... this if from a 2016 manual for the Superduty, not the chassis your friend has.
http://www.fordservicecontent.com/Ford_C...46490&div=f
Here it shows 5w-20 and 5w-30. These typically get the 3v engine.



I don't think 5w-30 is "wrong" to use. But it clearly shows 5w-20 being "right" in both MH chassis (E450 and F53, for the 2015 MY).


As I said, however, despite all the advice you're going to get about how a thicker lube is "better", no evidence supports such a claim. The better way to know, is for your friend to run a few UOAs with 5w-20. Then swap to 5w-30 and run a few more UOAs. It is HIGHLY expected that the wear rates are going to be similar, to a point where statistical differentiation is going to be impossible. It won't help or hurt to run one over the other.


Does he have a "regular" Ford service center he deals with? If so, I'd ask that Ford dealer for their input.


Bottom line is this: this is sort of a quest for a "best" lube, right?
The thing is that he's not likely willing to accept the correct, accurate answer, which is ...
- It does not matter to the engine.
- It may or may not matter to Ford for warranty, but given their mixed application statements, a fair argument can be made for either oil.
 
If it's under warranty, do what Ford says and use their spec oil. I'd do 5W-30 for the long pulls in the Rockies. There are a lot of Ford spac 5W-30's out there
smile.gif
 
"Conventionals vs. Synthetics isn't about which is "better"; it's about which lasts longer, while assuring safe operation, in relation to cost. Any product can be over or under utilized. The same applies to filters.
Make an informed decision; first consider your operating conditions, next determine your maintenance plan, and then pick your lube and filter. Don't do it the other way around ... "

This has been dnewton3's tag line for as long as I can remember and he is right on. Most of the folks who run full syn oils in MHs are making themselves feel better...and throwing away unused miles at every change. The engine truly doesn't care, which is backed up by UOA results.

Nothing bad will happen using a full synthetic but the benefit is longer life. Changing it on the 'normal' interval just drives up the cost per mile. If you want to benefit from synthetics you need to faithfully take used oil samples and stretch the interval based on information and not gut feelings.

I use Kendall GT-1 semi-synthetic 5W-30 in my 6.8. I'll slowly stretch the drain based on analysis results. My target is 7500 miles but that is probably conservative. Time (and mileage) will tell.

OTOH, it's your MH. If spending extra money makes you happy, go for it.
 
Unique situation. I wish the owners manuals offered more choices like they did in the past. The Current ford owners manuals state 5w-20 that's it. That's for both a 2016 fusion 2.5L I-4 and a 2015 6.8L v-10 motorhome. Ford exasperates the problem when they change the spec. Like : The recent bump up to 5w-30 on the turbos and the H.D. truck engines.
 
Originally Posted By: Ammofirst
Unique situation. I wish the owners manuals offered more choices like they did in the past. The Current ford owners manuals state 5w-20 that's it. That's for both a 2016 fusion 2.5L I-4 and a 2015 6.8L v-10 motorhome. Ford exasperates the problem when they change the spec. Like : The recent bump up to 5w-30 on the turbos and the H.D. truck engines.


My 08 Jeep Liberty OM states one size fits all, 5w20 no matter what. I ran it for a while and decided 5W30 was the way to go. I'm glad I made the change. My 2016 Rubicon states 5w20 as well, with the option to use 5W30. As soon as I dumped the FF [early] I went with 5W30, and will stay with it. I was told by several people a lot more knowledgeable than me it was a very wise choice. In light of the recent switch from 5W20 to 5W30 for FMC that I've read about here I'd be running 5W30 in both those Fords, w/o hesitation.
 
The difference between 5w20 and 5w30 is about .3 HTHS. This is for the 5w30s that are resource conserving with HTHS 3-3.1


You won't hurt anything by running 5w30 and in a hard pull it gives you a bit more bearing protection.
 
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