'08 Crown Victoria FBI car 180K miles, What oil ?

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Just picked a new toy/daily driver, So my'01 burban can "rest" as a backup/work vehicle.


It's a '08 Crown Vic EX-FBI car with 180K miles and 400 idle hours


So I followed the "BOIG gospel" and picked up 6 Fram Ultrasyn's XG2 for $25 on ebay and just did a flush and changed oil with Harvest king full syn 5W-20


Only goofy question is any recommendation on oil since it went from a warm dry climate in Riverside California to a "PMS/BI-POLOR" climate here in OKlahoma, One day its 35 next it 80
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Thanks in advance folks !!

Dave
 
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I run Maxlife high mileage 5w-20 synthetic and a Fram Ultra for at least 10k. No issue that I can tell.
 
In my moms 03 Crown Victoria 4.6L I have been using Mobil1 5W 20 with a Mobil1 filter for 1 year or 10k OCI, My brother always buys them on sale together and I change the oil for her, car runs great!
TOTO.
 
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She’s got a cop engine, cop suspension, and cop tranny. It’s like having a Lincoln without the payments.

An idle meter! Cool! It’s totally possible it has Kevlar ballistic panels in the doors.

The severe service owners manual says “ do not exceed 100 mph for the first 1000 miles”.

5-20 is perfect. If it burns a bit of oil, 5-30 can help. Also, change out the rear end fluid. Supposed to be full synthetic. The engine won’t notice the climate. Every day is a hot day for it.
 
IIRC the 4.6 was back spec'd for 5w20, so it would have no problem with 5w30 especially in a warm climate....agree that Maxlife and 10k intervals will go well with your Ultras used for 2 OCIs...you could try other oils but that's a good combo.
 
Originally Posted By: JLTD
IIRC the 4.6 was back spec'd for 5w20, so it would have no problem with 5w30 especially in a warm climate....agree that Maxlife and 10k intervals will go well with your Ultras used for 2 OCIs...you could try other oils but that's a good combo.


Actually, it’s interesting, it wasn’t a back spec. The 2008 owners manual called for 5W-20.
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Magnatec 5W20 & Fram Ultra does great in my 4.6, just ripped off a 450 mile trip up here to Rockford IL with it Monday, no consumption whatsoever. Ashamed to say I only cracked 100 once!
 
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Originally Posted By: Snagglefoot
Originally Posted By: JLTD
IIRC the 4.6 was back spec'd for 5w20, so it would have no problem with 5w30 especially in a warm climate....agree that Maxlife and 10k intervals will go well with your Ultras used for 2 OCIs...you could try other oils but that's a good combo.


Actually, it’s interesting, it wasn’t a back spec. The 2008 owners manual called for 5W-20.
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Yeah
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Nit picky. I used the term "back spec'd" to denote that the engine was unchanged but the oil recommendation changed due to CAFE stepping in...previous years the 4.6 used 5w30. I don't know which year they changed it for the first time to 5w20.
 
Yeah
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Nit picky. I used the term "back spec'd" to denote that the engine was unchanged but the oil recommendation changed due to CAFE stepping in...previous years the 4.6 used 5w30. I don't know which year they changed it for the first time to 5w20.[/quote]

That was a great question. I just checked the owners manuals for the Crown Vic and it was 2001 when Ford changed from 5W-30 to 5W-20 . Wow, that’s 17 years ago.
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Originally Posted By: mrsilv04
Why not keep using the Harvest King Syn 5w-20?


+1, hard to beat the price on that without having to deal with rebates. Plus it's a step up from the Harvest King syn-blend 5w20. Although I'd prob switch over to a 5w30. Same price.
 
Originally Posted By: Snagglefoot
Yeah
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Nit picky. I used the term "back spec'd" to denote that the engine was unchanged but the oil recommendation changed due to CAFE stepping in...previous years the 4.6 used 5w30. I don't know which year they changed it for the first time to 5w20.


That was a great question. I just checked the owners manuals for the Crown Vic and it was 2001 when Ford changed from 5W-30 to 5W-20 . Wow, that’s 17 years ago.
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"Wow that's 17 years ago". I haven't noticed Ford engines failing due to excess wear. At least I haven't with my own engines.
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The 4.6L was designed on 5w-30 oil and worked just fine on cars in the 1990's and up to 2001. With 180K hard miles on that Vic I'd certainly go with 5w-30 year round. If you have some concerns about that, then choose a weaker 5w-30 product like the PP/QS products which are around 9.9-10.1 cSt @100c. I'd stick with the designers of the engine, not CAFE, or bean-counters who had their inputs post-2001. If your goal is to maximize the life of your engine to lower the odds you might have to replace it...use the original design oil grade.

I did a lot of research on this topic when deciding what to do with my 2002 Lincoln 4.6L which calls for 5w-20. The bulk of what I read pointed to 5w-30. Some around here even use 0w-40 in warmer climates. Didn't find a single piece of information from Ford Engineers or other engine builders stating that a longer engine life would result from using 5w-20. I did however find some information for 5w-30. My 1997 Lincoln 4.6L went 230K miles on specced 5w-30. Would have gone a lot further had the car not sat for months at a time and rusted away. The same 4.6L engine in my 2002 is specced for 5w-20, and fed 5w-30.

The transmission is possibly the weaker link in this car. I'd ensure your transmission fluid is fairly fresh...then change it at 20K-25K intervals.
 
As a govt vehicle, was it lubed on re-refined oil? How does it ride? I don't play well with Fords, but when it became the last BOF sedan, I'd relax my rules a little.
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Make sure you pull up the back seat cushion and look under the dash and search every inch of the car for anything interesting.
Serious suggestion being an FBI car.
 
Since 5W-20 was first recommended for Crown Vics 17 years ago so there must be people around with cars old enough to have 200,000 miles. How about it, is there anyone out there with a 4.6 liter Ford engine with over 200,000 miles on 5-20 motor oil and whether is was Dino or synthetic? How does it run? Thanks.
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