Motorcraft Syn Blend 5w20, 3500km, 03 F150 4.6L

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Hi guys, longtime reader of the forums, just thought I would join and share my first report on my truck I bought early last year. It has
the 5 speed manual (M5OD-R2 i think). Motorcraft oil filter.

About 200km of highway and the rest of the 3500km is city, in 8 months time. Just short 5-10 minute trips to work/uptown everyday. Fairly gentle on it with maybe half a dozen times I let her breathe deep through a gear or two

2 months of well below freezing temperatures (10-20 below).

If anyone wants to share any thoughts please do. Kinda interested in what your thoughts are. Im not loyal to any brand, Had a Canadian Tire gift card so its currently filled with Pennzoil Platinum, and with a Napa Gold oil filter



After I got it road ready (new windshield,fluids, brakes, had no running lights except for headlights, found a corroded spot in a wire under the fuse panel where a mouse had made a home and chewed on a few wires, haha, easy fix. Got some more modern headlight housings, really helps the look I think,)
 
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Originally Posted By: das_peikko
This report is a perfect example why Ford moved from 5W/20 to 5W/30.


Ford does recommend 5W30 in this engines successor. Nothing like spouting off about nothing factual.
 
Another item is all the cold starts. Might get better with a warming trend. Was it stored outside at your place and where you work? I’m just guessing here. Nice truck.
SF
 
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I would attribute the Fe and Cu ppm mainly to low temperature corrosion wear instead of low viscosity grade.
I may be wrong though.
 
Thank and Yep, always parked outside, I would use the block heater at home on the days it was at or below -20C. We'll see with warmer weather
how the 5w20 pennzoil plat report looks. May step up to 5w30 since I think you guys feel that would help. I almost did but thought I'll see how this report or two looks like.

Truck also sat for a few months before I bought it. I changed the oil shortly after I got it, wasnt sure if that will have any effect on these numbers or not.
 
Took a bit, but now its easy to do this format that I guess is preferred here. To immortalize the data I think. Anyway thought Id stab this is here, redundant but it felt good to figure out the rather simple way to do it

Code:


OIL Motorcraft

SynBlend 5w20

KM IN USE 3.5k

KM 155k

SAMPLE TAKEN 01/13/18



ALUMINUM 7

CHROMIUM 3

IRON 25

COPPER 5

LEAD 0

TIN 0

MOLYBDENUM 18

NICKEL 1

MANGANESE 1

SILVER 0

TITANIUM 0

POTASSIUM 0

BORON 96

SILICON 17

SODIUM 40

CALCIUM 1618

MAGNESIUM 11

PHOSPHORUS 650

ZINC 723

BARIUM 0



INSOLUBLES 0.3

WATER 0

FLASHPOINT ºF 370

SUS VIS 210ºF 50.2

cSt @ 212ºF 7.33
 
The pp may just doing some cleaning re the numbers. Vis has thinned. Like the headlights. Handsome truck.
 
Originally Posted By: heyleescomet
Thank and Yep, always parked outside, I would use the block heater at home on the days it was at or below -20C. We'll see with warmer weather
how the 5w20 pennzoil plat report looks. May step up to 5w30 since I think you guys feel that would help. I almost did but thought I'll see how this report or two looks like.

Truck also sat for a few months before I bought it. I changed the oil shortly after I got it, wasnt sure if that will have any effect on these numbers or not.


For what it’s worth -20 C is when I plug in as well.

SF
 
3500km is akin to 2200 miles. You have a definite concern for wear here. 25ppm in 2200 miles is more than 11ppm/1k miles; that is a VERY HIGH wear rate for the 4.6L engines.

I presume you don't know much of the history of the truck, or you'd already have mentioned it.

I would take another UOA again at 3500km. If the Fe is still that high, I'd say you have a distinct issue.

The 4.6L mod motors generally run quite well on about any vis out there (5w-20, 10w-30, 10w-40); it really does not matter. This is NOT vis related wear; that's ignorance coming from bench racers here. Your wear is not normal; something is amiss.

It's not time to panic; it's time to keep on looking for the cause. Run another 3500km and then do another UOA. Quit swapping oil brands; that only causes another input to deal with; pick a lube and stick with it during the diagnosis of this issue.

Report back upon next UOA.



For reference; check out my UOAs
https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/4389122/3
At or less than 1ppm/1k miles.
I ran alternating trials with both dino and syn lubes; both 5w-20.



Look at macro wear data here; note the 4.6L section:
https://bobistheoilguy.com/used-oil-analysis-how-to-decide-what-is-normal/


My UOAs are at or a slight bit better than "normal". Your wear rate is 10x (Ten Times) greater than mine, and well above "normal" averages.
Something is not right; your challenge is to find out what it is.



It is always possible it could be a lab error, or other input that skewed the data. That is why it's important to see another successive UOA.
 
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Real nice looking truck. I had a 2002 F-150 with the same engine and transmission. I really enjoyed it but sadly it rotted away courtesy of our road departments here in NJ and their use of liquid salt brine in the winter
mad.gif
. With iron that high in such few km's there is something going on. Is the engine generally quiet because the high iron could be coming from the timing chain slapping around due to worn plastic chain tensioners. It is quite a long chain on these engines.

Whimsey
 
Low (none) potassium, so its not anti-freeze radiator coolant contaminating and causing extra wear.
Normal silicon, so its not a bad air box and/or filter leaks.
I would certainly not use Motorcraft oil filters since they have a reputation for getting holes in their media. They are made by Purolator who also has that reputation. Your choice of NAPA Gold oil filter is good, although a Fram Ultra is slightly better than those. Might get your insolubles of 0.3 down to 0.1.

Some of the excess wear can certainly be caused by rough cold weather. Not all of it can be blamed on that.

Wow. Here is what I'd do. Put in Valvoline full-syn with MaxLife (high mileage oil) 0w20 for those cold starts and a very good additive package, as its a dexos1 high-rated oil. Fram Ultra oil filter for the best cleaning ability. 1 bottle of LiquiMoly Ceratec to get some hex-boron and moly in there filling surface asperities.

On older engines that begin wearing a lot at your kilometers, I suspect the original surface hardening of the steel internal parts might not have been deep enough, which means you could have worn through the original low-depth layer. This could have been a process control issue in the timing chain or cam lobes or other iron parts. Pure speculation on my part. Occasionally some new parts have their lives shortened by improper original surface hardening, and there are shades of gray in how bad it could be.
 
Interesting about the fram ultra filter, did know it was that good. Ive always stayed away from fram filters, just from the rumors I heard I guess.

Only reason I used the Motorcraft oil and filter was I got them the same time I was getting an emission test at a Ford dealer.

I know I should stick to one oil when doing these oil tests, I may try that Valvoline oil Oil_Film_Movies recommended.

Another thing I should mention is on the cold starts below say -15C where a block heater isnt able to be used, Theres a whining noise for a split second, the colder it is the longer is lasts. Sounds like a automatic car going quickly in reverse would be how I describe it. Think thats something in the engine? I first thought it was the power steering pump, but the noise doesnt happen when the block heater is plugged in. Not sure, thoughts?
 
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When I first saw your report, I thought oh well, its winter up in Canada and darn cold which is torture on an engine when first started so may explain the high metal.

But you listed the temperature as only ranging around -20 C, is that correct?

In the US that means -4 F .. which is cold but heck, coldest of winters here in South Carolina, we had 2 nights that it hit 9 F and way too many nights at 20 F and under, palm trees are taking a hit here..

Anyway I guess I was surpised, have a cousin who lives up past Watertown NY and they go below 0 F all the time.

But with everything said, when comparing wear rates in your UOA, do take into account where the other persons UOA came from and temperature conditions of the UOA because -20 c / -4 F is still darn cold whether and I am willing to bet the only reason for the less then stellar UOA. The only way to know for sure is to directly compare with another of the exact operating conditions and that would be rare to find on BITOG.

I would use the same exact Motorcraft oil in the summer and see what the results would be for the fun of it, then next winter try a different oil and see what the results come up with, I think you will find, almost the same results no matter what.

(funny noise in those temps are sort of normal at start up)
 
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Heres the results from this report from Blackstone, Id say as close as it gets for similar conditions as previous OCI. This oil was from one of those newer style 5L jugs, along with 1L silver bottle of 5w20. No makeup oil was added. Napa Gold oil filter

Code


OIL Motorcraft PennPlat

SynBlend 5w20 5w20

KM IN USE 3.5k 3420km

KM 155k

SAMPLE TAKEN 01/13/18 08/24/18



ALUMINUM 7 4

CHROMIUM 3 1

IRON 25 12

COPPER 5 5

LEAD 0 0

TIN 0 0

MOLYBDENUM 18 61

NICKEL 1 1

MANGANESE 1 1

SILVER 0 0

TITANIUM 0 1

POTASSIUM 0 2

BORON 96 107

SILICON 17 14

SODIUM 40 15

CALCIUM 1618 1078

MAGNESIUM 11 378

PHOSPHORUS 650 531

ZINC 723 610

BARIUM 0 0



INSOLUBLES 0.3 0.4

WATER 0 0

FLASHPOINT �F 370 425

SUS VIS 210�F 50.2 55.3

cSt @ 212�F 7.33 8.85

TBN ----- 3.6
 
It's looking better. Keep this combo up. Your previous fills may have did a bit of cleaning. It is something which I would continue UOA's on if this is a ride you want or need to keep.
 
Latest Oil Report, Shell T6 0W-40 with Fram Ultra filter. Yeah Im not consistent with what type of oil but I could't pass up the deal I got on it. On sale plus a shell rebate at the time, all said and done $90 CDN for a 5gal pail. Use it for my truck, lawn equipment, ATV.

[Linked Image]


No developing issues with this engine anyway looking at the trend, wearing more than seems normal but probably cant get away from that.

Lee
 
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