Recommended Oil

[M3NTAL]

<Amsoil Guy if im buying synthetic

<Valvoline for conventional

[Zanzer]

Most people will still go buy supertech 10w-30 after all this pro-20 weight discussion. It's a good oil too, and 10w-30SN is at a much higher standard than oils that were around when b3's were in production almost 30 years ago. They will ALL work in other words but you can surely get away with lighter if desired. Just don't go thicker with noisy clogged HLA's.

Nice! As i was thinking already we aren't comparing apples to oranges using ford data on ford engines trying to apply to mazdas. Its apples to pears? As shown above the tolerances are similar. There are other makes that want a 30 wt and that is exactly what you do.

I don't like mobil1. I'll wait for rebates and sales for something else when i can. I actually pour diesel engine oil more often than I've used mobil1 in turbo cars, no ill effects.

The comparison is actually a lot closer than you think. Ford 4.6's have the cams in the head and use lash adjusters just like a Mazda B series. They just have the cams mounted over the valve train instead the other way around on the Mazda motor. And they use wicked long chains instead of a belt

Here's a pic to give you an idea. This is a 4 valve motor but the 2 valve 4.6 is pretty much the same minus 2 cams and the short chains.



Speaking of diesel oil. I've used Shell Rotella in many gas engines and I still use it in my Powerstroke. It's good stuff and I hear that it's a good break-in oil for flat tappet engines because it's one of the few that still has ZDDP in it.

[getnpsi]

In my climate i can probably use 15w-40 in everything year round. But since i bought a festiva for mileage to lay off the truck and the srt-4 im going to try everything i can. I'm very familiar with the modular fords, I used to take them out of 1996 mustangs and drop in 351w's LOL. I miss those shady smog buddies, i need one for the festiva now. I helped make 2 orange boss clones that are not in the state anymore. K member king over here

[Zanzer]

^^ Hehehehe, I'm dropping a 460 into a 95 LOL

We used to have the second fastest NPI in the US at one time. I was into modulars way before the Festies. I originally bought my first one for a gas sipping DD.... then I found this site LOL :mrgreen:

[getnpsi]

Modulars are so much better now that the tuning tech caught up. In 1999 it wasn't there yet. The how many cars have you had will show at least 6 fox bodies that i remember, and the cars that arent fox bodies were small block ford powered...or able to use a small block ford, such as 2.3 pinto powerplants. I never had a big block ford, and
I'm ok with that; I love turbos now.

end of detour, 5w-20 or 5w-30 gets my approval.

[blkfordsedan]

I don't like mobil1. I'll wait for rebates and sales for something else when i can. I actually pour diesel engine oil more often than I've used mobil1 in turbo cars, no ill effects.

I've heard that a lot, but I spent a lot of time on the net researching various oil comparisons (independent tests) of the "elite" synthetic oils. Although Mobil 1 was never the best in any particular catagory (even criticized during the tests for the low quality base stocks), it always seemed to finish close to the top from an over-all standpoint. I've always been a Motorcraft guy, but I've used Mobil1, Valvoline and Castrol GTX on occasion.

<Amsoil Guy if im buying synthetic

<Valvoline for conventional

Amsoil would be my first choice for a synthetic. The biggest problem is finding a local dealer to buy it. It's just not convenient...when I get the chance to change oil, I have to jump on it!

[M3NTAL]

You can become an independent dealer for Amsoil you know...

[Oren09]

I'd deal on here


(That sounds wrong)

[JohnGunn]

I too agree that the switch has some reasoning due to CAFE numbers (the original Ford memo actually states this as well) but I also noticed a change in oil clearance specifications around the same time as the original TSB/memo. If you look at the older specs for 302 main bearing oil clearance you get anywhere from .0025 to .005. But sometime in the early 90's (around the time of the introduction of the 4.6) I noticed that this number fell to .0008-.0015, which I find oddly coincidental since the 4.6 is spec'd .0011-.0027. The old 302 clearances are actually out of spec when compared to a newer engine even though the design is the same (only the oil clearances have changed). Now, if you look at the clearance specs for a B3 you'll see that it's .0009-.0017 which is extremely close to the 4.6 and "new" production 302 numbers.

Thanks, Zanzer. Great information. I tend to be one of those who see Ford, and all American manufacturers for that matter, as too willing to base design decisions on marketing advantage and the corporate bottom line, rather than on good engineering of solutions to the country's real transportation needs. As proof you have only to look at the TV ads they sponsor -- cars and trucks with hundreds of horse power, stressing speed and power, when any rational analysis of current transportation needs would recommend a completely different solution. Good to learn that, along with their ravenous greed, there are some honest engineering changes being made as well.

Thought you might be interested to know that by 1994 the B3 specs for my Aspire had dropped to 0.0007 - 0.0014. My 1992 Festiva manual still shows the B3 clearance you gave. It would be interesting to know if Mazda made similar changes and, in that case, who led the way.

I've decided to take my 4 quarts of Motorcraft 5W-30 back to Wal-Mart for what you're using.

[JohnGunn]

Others say that you should run the thinnest oil you can that still provides adequate oil pressure, usually defined as 10psi/1000rpm.

Here's a good place to investigate. There's a lot of info, especially if you go through the whole series of chapters.
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/motor-oil-101/

My 1994 Aspire Ford Service Manual lists the range of oil pressure at 1,000 rpm as 28-43 psi. So when you wrote that 10 psi is usually considered adequate, I became confused. I'm just about to install an oil pressure gauge on the engine of my Aspire and when I look at the pressure at 1,000 rpm I'm trying to decided how I will react to the pressure I see.

In the Haynes manual, page 2B-3, I found this statement:

"Check the oil pressure with the engine running (full operating temperature) at the specified engine speed, and compare it to this Chapter's Specifications. If it's extremely low, the bearings and/or oil pump are probably worn out."

This makes me wonder what the 28-43 psi numbers represent. I assume when designing the engine the engineers decided that the oil distribution system should provided 28 to 43 psi to ensure all points would be well supplied with oil at 1,000 rpm. In any such calculation there will be a margin of safety so that you avoid having an engine running fine at 28 psi and suddenly start knocking at 27.9 psi. Their use of the phrase "extremely low" to define the point at which parts are worn out, suggests that at that point work should be done to immediately bring the pressure up.

If I'm looking for at least 28 and see 10, I think I would consider that extremely low and begin to panic. But you say this is usually considered adequate. In your experience, are the values given for the B3 engine, unusually high? Or does all this mean that whether an oil pressure value is high or extremely low depends on how you drive your car. If all your travel is up steep grades at high speed in high temperatures, 10 psi at 1,000 may not be enough to get you over that first mountain. Whereas, for me in San Diego, relatively cool and flat, I could get around for years driving at or below the speed limit.

Well, right or wrong, that's what I'll be thinking as I look at that gauge for the first time.

[TominMO]

28 - 43 PSI seems a little high for 1,000 RPM; I remember that we considered 10-15 PSI at 1,000 RPM normal for our old Subarus, when the engine was warmed up. Of course pressure will be higher at startup, when the oil is colder, so I suggest we only discuss oil pressure when the engine is warmed up, so it's not an apples-and-oranges situation.

If you find that you do have lower oil pressure than you like, try a thicker oil like 15W40. Perhaps even a cooler thermostat, like a 180, would help.

[blkfordsedan]

My 1994 Aspire Ford Service Manual lists the range of oil pressure at 1,000 rpm as 28-43 psi. So when you wrote that 10 psi is usually considered adequate, I became confused. I'm just about to install an oil pressure gauge on the engine of my Aspire and when I look at the pressure at 1,000 rpm I'm trying to decided how I will react to the pressure I see.

In the Haynes manual, page 2B-3, I found this statement:

"Check the oil pressure with the engine running (full operating temperature) at the specified engine speed, and compare it to this Chapter's Specifications. If it's extremely low, the bearings and/or oil pump are probably worn out."

This makes me wonder what the 28-43 psi numbers represent. I assume when designing the engine the engineers decided that the oil distribution system should provided 28 to 43 psi to ensure all points would be well supplied with oil at 1,000 rpm. In any such calculation there will be a margin of safety so that you avoid having an engine running fine at 28 psi and suddenly start knocking at 27.9 psi. Their use of the phrase "extremely low" to define the point at which parts are worn out, suggests that at that point work should be done to immediately bring the pressure up.

If I'm looking for at least 28 and see 10, I think I would consider that extremely low and begin to panic. But you say this is usually considered adequate. In your experience, are the values given for the B3 engine, unusually high? Or does all this mean that whether an oil pressure value is high or extremely low depends on how you drive your car. If all your travel is up steep grades at high speed in high temperatures, 10 psi at 1,000 may not be enough to get you over that first mountain. Whereas, for me in San Diego, relatively cool and flat, I could get around for years driving at or below the speed limit.

Well, right or wrong, that's what I'll be thinking as I look at that gauge for the first time.

Just forget the part about 10psi/1000rpm. I don't condone that theory and would freak if I ever had an engine that only ran 10psi of oil pressure, even at idle! What that statement was referring to was a particular school of thought. The theory is 40psi @ 4000, 60psi @ 6000, etc.. Just go by the manual. You are correct in your thoughts about the engineers designing oiling systems for specific & minimum pressure.

[blkfordsedan]

Here is the excerpt from the article in the link that talks about it. I'm not saying the author is wrong, but I prefer to have oil pressures within factory spec. I do, however, agree with the advantages of a thinner oil.

"The best way to figure out what viscosity of oil you need is to drive the car in the conditions you will use. Then use the oil viscosity that gives you 10 PSI per 1,000 RPM under those circumstances. For some reason very few people are able to get this simple principal correct. I cannot explain further.
These same rules apply to engines of any age, loose or tight. Just because your engine is old does not mean it needs a thicker oil. It will need a thicker oil only if it is overly worn, whether new or old. Yet the same principals of 10 PSI per 1,000 RPM still apply. In all cases you need to try different grade oils and see what happens. Then choose the correct viscosity.
I used 0W-20 in my Ferrari 575 Maranello. It had over 5,000 miles on the clock. There will be a day (my estimate is 50,000 miles) when one will have to go to a 0W-30. In the future one will have to increase the viscosity to a 0W-40, then a 0W-50, maybe. You should use whatever it takes to get 75 PSI at 6,000 RPM during the lifetime of the engine. This formula works in all situations.
Some people have tried this and occasionally get a somewhat low oil pressure while at idle. This is fine. There is no stress on parts at idle, the smallest oil flow will do the trick. It is at higher RPM where more BHP is produced. This is where we need the flow. Remember that Ferrari uses 75 PSI at 6,000 RPM as the place to test your oil viscosity needs. If your oil gives this value under your driving conditions then your lubrication system has been maximized. Period."

[TominMO]

^^ Ha, a Ferrari guy who's into Festivas! Or is it the other way around? Interesting.

[blkfordsedan]

^^ Ha, a Ferrari guy who's into Festivas! Or is it the other way around? Interesting.

LOL, I don't think the author ever drove a Festiva in his life!
Oh well, his loss!