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Factory engine oil.


HarryTitus

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Hi Folks! I'm new to forum and this is my first post.

 

I am the proud owner of a brand new 2017 Super Duty King Ranch with a 6.2 V8. I made my first oil change today and noticed that the factory oil that came out was reddish in color. I put Mobile 1 full synthetic back in.

 

So, what kind of oil did they put in it from the factory? I have read elsewhere that others have noticed the red oil in their first changes too.

 

Second, I put in the 7 quarts but noticed the stick showed it half a quart low afterwards. Looks to me like it actually takes 7 1/2 quarts.

 

And finally, just how good it that Ford oil filter?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Harry

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To my understanding the factory oil has dye added to it to identify leaks if they happen. I've see several aftermarket oil filters come apart and block oil passages. Yet I have never heard of a motorcraft one doing that. The are supposed to be very good filters. The oil level changes with temperature. 7 quarts will probably be full at operating temp after all the oil drains back to the pan.

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Save yourself a lot of money. Next oil change use Motorcraft semi-synthetic and Motorcraft filter. I have been using them for years with no issues. You can buy them at Walmart at a very good price.

 

I don't understand why people think they have to change or go full synthetic. The factory stuff is great and as long as you change the oil and filter regularly you won't have any problems even at 200K miles.

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Note that what Ford installs on the assembly line isn't exactly what Ford Service parts (Motorcraft) distributes to dealers and the aftermarket.

 

Motorcraft bottled and bulk oil comes from ConocoPhillips. What is installed at the factory comes in tanker railcars and I have not heard that CP has that contract at the moment. The MC bottled semisynthetic is a decent oil that does well on used oil analysis, but lately the price has gone up to be similar to entry level synthetics that perform better so they are no longer the value that they used to be. Also note that at a dealer that you might not get this oil if you are not specifically requesting it. Dealers can get bulk oil from any supplier, but MC oil out of a bottle will be this CP product.

 

The 6.2L no longer specifies 5W20 exclusively. A few years ago they changed the recommendation on the 6.2L/6.8L to 5W30 (this seemed to be a reaction to an increase in the reports of 6.8L 3V valve train failures). According to the current manual they are now allowing 0W20, 5W20, 0W30 and 5W30 with 5W30 being recommended on the filler cap.

 

The factory oil filter on Ford gassers is a Champion labs filter with a base end bypass valve. The Motorcraft boxed part is made by Purolator and it is equipped with a silicone base end bypass valve. Most aftermarket filters have a dome end bypass valve. The dome end bypass valve seems to be fractionally cheaper to assemble but don't seem to seal as well. Ford prefers and specifies base end bypass valves on their filters to reduce bleed down and "dry" cold starts. The MC oil filter for both the 6.2 and 6.8 is FL820S. Most aftermarket filters have dome end bypass valves.

 

This particular champ labs filter seems to be a very good piece from the disassembly pictures I've seen, but finding a champ labs filter like this aftermarket with a base end bypass valve seems impossible and you can't order this exact factory filter from Ford (you will get the Purolator version if you try to order the PN printed on the filter).

 

Purolator has had an assembly quality issue over the last few years that has resulted in torn filter media near the seam where the media is joined. The filters most affected by this are the 14610 family and MC FL820S (unfortunately). The FL820S issue seemed to start when MC reduced the size of the filter to it's current "shorter" size (which is still advertised on the packaging). Luckily the tears that these have seemed to just allow a small amount of unfiltered oil by and they don't seem to be shedding filter material into the oil. The filter most associated with that issue that fordtech1 mentioned seems to be the orange can standard Fram filter and it seems that the GM HF V6 is the engine most affected by it.

 

So given the issues with the 820S, when I ran out of the old size filters, I bought some Fram Ultra filters in that same size for my 6.2L and 6.8L. It is a much higher quality filter with synthetic wire backed media but unfortunately it has a dome end bypass valve. My 6.2L hated that filter, about 1 in 3 starts were dry with a bunch of valve train noise. I never got around to installing it on my 6.8L before I returned the remaining ones. The bypass valve in that one may have been slightly out of spec but I'm feeling wary of dome end bypasses now so I've gone back to the 820S feeling that a little bit of unfiltered oil if I do get a tear (and the majority of them don't tear, it's just that far more of these show tears than filter models) is better than the dry starts.

 

So for many enthusiasts, oil i seems to be a topic very similar to politics and religion (i.e. very strong opinions). You can spend days reading about it here. So here's what I'm currently doing on my Ford products, and it seems to be working well. First, I replaced my 5W20 oil caps with the later production 5W30 one that you can find here (the OP's newer 6.2L has a smaller cap that already is marked 5W30). On our 3.5L Edge, it currently has Mobil 1 Synthetic 5W30 with a MC FL500S filter (note that this filter does't seem to have any reported tearing issues). On our 6.8L RV, currently Mobil 1 Extended Protection Synthetic 5W30 with a MC FL820S filter. On my 6.2L Raptor, Pennzoil Ultra 5W30 Synthetic and a MC FL820S filter. I tend to follow the OLM on the 3.5L and 6.2L. The 6.8 doesn't have one so I change the oil on that one annually which ends up being somewhere between 3000 to 5000 miles. I do change the oil on my new vehicles around 1000 miles on the first change and then go to my normal pattern after that.

Edited by RPF
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RPF - you have some AMAZING insights to Ford/Motorcraft's supply base (assuming you are accurate). I'll bet you work in Dearborn !

 

I have run Mobil Super 5000 10W-30 in my 1998 4.6L E150 with Motorcraft filters for it entire life. Never any issues. My 20017 Fusion got a diet of 5W20 Mobil 1 and Motorcraft filters. I traded that for a 2016 2.0L EcoBoost. First change was to Motorcraft 5W30 and Motorcraft filter.

 

I have NEVER heard of an issue with either a Motorcraft or Purolator filter.

 

I buy Motorcraft oil and filters because they are a know commodity and very reasonably priced at Walmart.

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No, but I spend too much time on the internet with those who do :)

 

Anyway, here is a dissected FL500S, looks pretty good...

6FL500S4.jpg

 

Here's a dissected FL820S that is intact:

20170805_103010%20Small_zpsn2emu6bm.jpg

 

But far too many have ended up looking like this, which seems to be due to overly wide pleat spacing:

2aeuxu.jpg

k9tnpz.jpg

 

Sorry about the size of some of the picts, I pulled them from several threads over at Bob is the Oil Guy Forums. I went through about a year of posts in the Oil Filter section before the Photobucket debacle nuked the picts in the posts. It appears that the frequency of the tearing issues has gone down significantly. If you go back about 2 years it seems like every 3rd post was about torn FL820S or 14610 filters. Given that the FL500S works in place of the FL820S (it has a narrower and taller can with the same gasket diameter and thread pitch) and I have vehicles that use both I think I'll start buying the 500S version only.

Edited by RPF
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Thanks a lot guys! So, I guess that the answer is, 1, they put synthetic blend in at the factory, 2, the factory oil filter is the best ever....but you can't buy one, 3, it was red...not weird dirty, and 4, use a base bypass filter...preferably MC brand. Cool. I already use Mobil 1 full synthetic but what about that Mobil 1 extended performance stuff?

 

Thanks

 

Harry

Edited by HarryTitus
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