What made Ford want to back specify oil weights?

Originally Posted by PimTac
5w30 is a CAFE oil.

Funny how people forget that. 5W-30 was the "water thin" CAFE driven oil before XW-20 became the "water thin" CAFE driven oil.
 
Originally Posted by coleyork250
A good example would be the change from 5w30 in most vehicles, to 5w20 in nearly all of the new fords, excluding most of the EcoBoost engines and etc. Is 5w30 better, and is it true that 5w20 is only to meet CAFE standards? Wouldn't 5w20 protect an engine better, since it was designed for it? Any thoughts?


Is this post from 2001 or something? What are you even talking about?
 
Originally Posted by slybunda
How good was a 0w20 oil 20 years ago compared to todays formulations?


I don't think there was a 0W-20 20 years ago....
 
Originally Posted by JohnnyJohnson
In one word CAFE!


If we're talking about "back spec'ing" as in Ford recommending 5W-20 for vehicles produced in the 1990's with "5W-30" on their cap how would CAFE even play a part? Does FMC get more more money of you use 5W-20 in a 1994 Mercury Topaz?
 
Originally Posted by Jackson_Slugger
Originally Posted by JohnnyJohnson
In one word CAFE!


If we're talking about "back spec'ing" as in Ford recommending 5W-20 for vehicles produced in the 1990's with "5W-30" on their cap how would CAFE even play a part? Does FMC get more more money of you use 5W-20 in a 1994 Mercury Topaz?


It was a demand issue. Ford had to get it out there and as readily available as possible. EPA would only allow Ford to use it in testing if most owner's used it. The original manuals had to have an allowance for 5W-30 as 5W-20 wasn't common. Ford needed to be able to do away with that as soon as possible to insure people didn't immediately get rid of the "water" since the manual allowed the use of 5W-30.



That's not to say it increased wear. The original MC 5W-20 was definitely a better built oil than the 5W-30 of the same generation and likely was actually the superior lubricant for most applications. The ones in which higher viscosity was critical didn't get the back spec.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted by Gene K
Originally Posted by Jackson_Slugger
Originally Posted by JohnnyJohnson
In one word CAFE!


If we're talking about "back spec'ing" as in Ford recommending 5W-20 for vehicles produced in the 1990's with "5W-30" on their cap how would CAFE even play a part? Does FMC get more more money of you use 5W-20 in a 1994 Mercury Topaz?


It was a demand issue. Ford had to get it out there and as readily available as possible. EPA would only allow Ford to use it in testing if most owner's used it. The original manuals had to have an allowance for 5W-30 as 5W-20 wasn't common. Ford needed to be able to do away with that as soon as possible to insure people didn't immediately get rid of the "water" since the manual allowed the use of 5W-30.



That's not to say it increased wear. The original MC 5W-20 was definitely a better built oil than the 5W-30 of the same generation and likely was actually the superior lubricant for most applications. The ones in which higher viscosity was critical didn't get the back spec.


Thank you for the answer...

Here's a Motorcraft chart covering 1991-2002...

https://ds.echhost.com/xmlui/bitstr...l%20chart.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
 
Originally Posted by PimTac
5w30 is a CAFE oil.


xW-20 is CAFE x 2.

Now we also have CAFE x 3 (xW-16) and CAFE x 4 (xW-8).
 
Originally Posted by Jackson_Slugger
Originally Posted by JohnnyJohnson
In one word CAFE!

If we're talking about "back spec'ing" as in Ford recommending 5W-20 for vehicles produced in the 1990's with "5W-30" on their cap how would CAFE even play a part? Does FMC get more more money of you use 5W-20 in a 1994 Mercury Topaz?


In the CAFE discussions in the past, there was a link to a letter to Ford from the EPA I believe explaining all the things they needed to do in order to get CAFE credits.

If Shannow reads this maybe he'll post up the info like he has before.
 
Originally Posted by coleyork250
A good example would be the change from 5w30 in most vehicles, to 5w20 in nearly all of the new fords, excluding most of the EcoBoost engines and etc. Is 5w30 better, and is it true that 5w20 is only to meet CAFE standards? Wouldn't 5w20 protect an engine better, since it was designed for it? Any thoughts?


It makes no difference. 5w20 for maximum MPG as an average for the manufacturer (the consumer would never notice a difference)

5w30 is CERTAINLY 100% fine in warmer areas of the USA
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted by ka9mnx
I think this is what you are referring to.


This should be a sticky
thumbsup2.gif
01.gif
 
Originally Posted by LEADED
In regards to Ford PCMO specs . 5w 20 for Belt driven Blocks . 5w 30 for chain driven blocks .


My only experience is the Vulcan 3.0 and Essex 4.2. Both were backspec'd to 5W20 and they are chain driven.

Will 5W30 really make the chains last longer by any noticeable amount?
 
Originally Posted by ka9mnx
I think this is what you are referring to.


Yep ... that's the letter, thanks for posting.
 
Originally Posted by Jackson_Slugger
Interesting but it has nothing to do with my point...


If you're referring to the EPA letter not covering back specifying xW-20 for vehicles produced in the 90's, it still doesn't mean there was some kind of agreement to give CAFE credits to Ford for doing so.
 
Originally Posted by nobb
[... Will 5W30 really make the chains last longer by any noticeable amount?
I don't see why chains would last longer than with 5W-20, IF it's true that chain wear depends on base-oil viscosity. 10W-30 might be a different story.
 
Originally Posted by ZeeOSix
Originally Posted by Jackson_Slugger
Interesting but it has nothing to do with my point...


If you're referring to the EPA letter not covering back specifying xW-20 for vehicles produced in the 90's, it still doesn't mean there was some kind of agreement to give CAFE credits to Ford for doing so.


Speculate much?
 
Originally Posted by coleyork250
A good example would be the change from 5w30 in most vehicles, to 5w20 in nearly all of the new fords, excluding most of the EcoBoost engines and etc. Is 5w30 better, and is it true that 5w20 is only to meet CAFE standards? Wouldn't 5w20 protect an engine better, since it was designed for it? Any thoughts?


What does CAFE stand for?
Corporate avg fuel economy

Since when does corporate America ever look out for our best interest?
 
I've ran 5W30 synthetic in my 4.6 forever. No issues to report. 198,000 kms on it now. Original timing chains. Uses no oil. The oil stays cleaner than my 4.8 which I've always found interesting. I've owned the 4.8 since new with 5000 km OCI.
 
Back
Top