Synthetic blend oil, Motorcraft batt'ry

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Puddin' Man - 03 Oct 2006 03:34 GMT

'owdy,

94 Tbird LX V8, 63k mi.

Ye trusty Ford dealer runs a "sale".

I've always used conventional oil. Currently has 3k mi. on it and
is a tad dirty looking.

"Motorcraft Oil/Filter change, premium synthetic blend - $22"

This is maybe $3 more than reg. oil. Recommend?

Battery is 6-7 years old. I figger it's 50/50 it'll fail a
load test and/or fail to make it thru the winter.

"Motorcraft Tough Plus Battery 84 month - $67"

Is a good buy? Anybody know who makes these things
nowadays??

Thanks,
Puddin'

Pease pudding hot,
Pease pudding cold,
Pease pudding in the pot
Nine days old.

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Doc - 03 Oct 2006 04:10 GMT

Premium synthetic blend oil upside reduces wear on engine parts. Downside
some engine parts wear unevenly causing premature failure. I have always had
a problem with hydraulic lifter prematurely failing after years of use with
premium synthetic blend oils. I guess a small price to pay for reduced wear
esle where in the engine.
Batteries are one thing people never think about until they go bad. The age
of a battery dose not matter as long as the acid in it is good it will keep
going. Buy a battery hydrometer. This is a device for measuring the specific
gravity, aka. the strength of the battery acid. The specific gravity of a
new battery should be 1.300+. Two years old battery, the specific gravity
may be around 1.150 - 1.200. One in poor condition that is about to fail may
be as low as 1.100. Measure the battery voltage. It should measure
approximately 12.7 volts. You should check your battery every 30 days.

I hope this is helpful

> 'owdy,
>
[quoted text clipped - 24 lines]
> Pease pudding in the pot
> Nine days old.

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Backyard Mechanic - 03 Oct 2006 04:34 GMT

> Premium synthetic blend oil upside reduces wear on engine parts.
> Downside some engine parts wear unevenly causing premature failure. I
> have always had a problem with hydraulic lifter prematurely failing
> after years of use with premium synthetic blend oils.

That's a new one.

I dont know about Motorcraft Oil.. but I've had many over 100KMile
beaters that I run Mobil 1 in, and NEVER have lifter/adjustor tick. Even
if it started out with one.

Son was taking his car into a 'Quick Lube' Featuring that famous oil,
for his oil changes and had severe tick, more like clacking... he changed
to Mobil 1 and 3000 miles later it's quiet.

As far as the battery goes, Ive had a few last less than 3 years, but
none lasted more than 6.

It's just common sense. If you have the money, now, might be better than
later when you might not. But I've always had great luck with batteries
from WalMart or KMart. NOT so, with the 'Famous Brand'

Signature

Yeh, I'm a Krusty old Geezer, putting up with my 'smartass' is the price
you pay..DEAL with it!

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Jeff - 04 Oct 2006 00:48 GMT

> Premium synthetic blend oil upside reduces wear on engine parts. Downside
> some engine parts wear unevenly causing premature failure. I have always
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
>
> I hope this is helpful

The plates can break and other things can go wrong than just the electrolyte
level.

Jeff

>> 'owdy,
>>
[quoted text clipped - 24 lines]
>> Pease pudding in the pot
>> Nine days old.

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John Horner - 03 Oct 2006 06:32 GMT

Motorcraft's current regular motor oil is marketed as a synthetic blend.
The latest SM/GF-4 oil standard are often met by using some synthetic
oil as a portion of the base oil package. The Conoco-Phillips
manufactured oils use this approach and they figured they might as well
market it as such. You can buy them with Motorcraft, 76, Phillips-66,
Conoco or Kendall on the label ... all pretty much the same oil. Here
is their news release from 2004 when the change was made:

http://www.conocophillips.com/newsroom/news_releases/2004releases/080304_synthet
ic.htm

They don't mention Motorcraft oils because Ford markets those itself and
keeps it semi-secret where they get the stuff from.

So your dealer is just advertising an oil change with the current Ford
supplied motor oil. It is good stuff, but nothing extraordinary.

John

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Puddin' Man - 03 Oct 2006 15:20 GMT

So they sling maybe .5% synthetic in with the reg. oil and
<Voila!> it becomes "Synthetic Blend". Hah!! I shoulda
figgered.

Thanks,
P

>Motorcraft's current regular motor oil is marketed as a synthetic blend.
> The latest SM/GF-4 oil standard are often met by using some synthetic
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
>
>John

Pease pudding hot,
Pease pudding cold,
Pease pudding in the pot
Nine days old.

Reply to this Message

John Horner - 03 Oct 2006 06:35 GMT

At least one website lists Johnson Controls as the supplier of
Motorcraft batteries:

http://www.uuhome.de/william.darden/batbrand.htm#M

Johnson Controls Inc. [Sears' DieHard, Auto Zone's Duralast, Wal-Mart's
EverStart, Motorcraft, Optima, etc.], (US)
http://www.autobatteries.com/selector/index.asp

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Puddin' Man - 03 Oct 2006 15:30 GMT

>At least one website lists Johnson Controls as the supplier of
>Motorcraft batteries:
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
>EverStart, Motorcraft, Optima, etc.], (US)
>http://www.autobatteries.com/selector/index.asp

Better'n Exide, from what I've heard.

Thanks,
P

Pease pudding hot,
Pease pudding cold,
Pease pudding in the pot
Nine days old.

Reply to this Message

Jeff - 04 Oct 2006 00:46 GMT

> 'owdy,
>
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
>
> This is maybe $3 more than reg. oil. Recommend?

A synthetic blend means that the oil is a blend of conventional oil and
synthetic oil (as opposed to pure synthetic oil, like Mobil 1).

I would recommend Mobil 1 over this, but this should be fine.

> Battery is 6-7 years old. I figger it's 50/50 it'll fail a
> load test and/or fail to make it thru the winter.
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> Is a good buy? Anybody know who makes these things
> nowadays??

Sounds like a reasonable price.

The prices are reasonable. I would do them (except, the part about going all
synthetic, but the blend should be fine).

Jeff

> Thanks,
> Puddin'
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> Pease pudding in the pot
> Nine days old.

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BradandBrooks - 09 Oct 2006 08:27 GMT

Oil... I run WalMart's Tech 2000 full synthetic. Cheap as potatos and on the
label it's got the API stamp and says that it meets all the requirements for
the new Vette. Seems to work very well in my 5.0 GT. Did I mention it was
cheap? :)

Brad

> 'owdy,
>
[quoted text clipped - 24 lines]
> Pease pudding in the pot
> Nine days old.

Reply to this Message

Jeff - 09 Oct 2006 13:02 GMT

> Oil... I run WalMart's Tech 2000 full synthetic. Cheap as potatos and on
> the label it's got the API stamp and says that it meets all the
> requirements for the new Vette. Seems to work very well in my 5.0 GT. Did
> I mention it was cheap? :)
>
> Brad

Walmart is not known for selling quality Walmart-brand products. Their oil
filters were great for my dad: He rebuilt engines.

In the future, please don't top-post. It makes it hard to follow the
thread.

Jeff

>> 'owdy,
>>
[quoted text clipped - 24 lines]
>> Pease pudding in the pot
>> Nine days old.

Reply to this Message

GMach3 - 11 Oct 2006 01:15 GMT

>> Oil... I run WalMart's Tech 2000 full synthetic. Cheap as potatos and on
>> the label it's got the API stamp and says that it meets all the
[quoted text clipped - 39 lines]
>>> Pease pudding in the pot
>>> Nine days old.

I've been using the WalMart synthetic with Motorcraft filters. Been doing
great for me.

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BradandBrooks - 12 Oct 2006 08:37 GMT

You managed to follow it, so thanks, but no thanks.

Walmart syn is API approved for the new Vette. Period. Do you know something
the engineers missed?

Brad

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