Best oil weight to use

Kermit

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So, just to weigh in, Mobil came out with synthetic oil in 1974. I have a ‘97 Cobra with 28,500 pampered miles, ie, no rain and all original except tires and battery. I run Mobil 1 5W-20 or 0W-20. It is always stored for the winter, summer driven. No issues at all, no burning of oil, engine still tight. Always use a Ford oil filter.
 

NEURON

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So, just to weigh in, Mobil came out with synthetic oil in 1974. I have a ‘97 Cobra with 28,500 pampered miles, ie, no rain and all original except tires and battery. I run Mobil 1 5W-20 or 0W-20. It is always stored for the winter, summer driven. No issues at all, no burning of oil, engine still tight. Always use a Ford oil filter.
I first ran across it in the mid 70's, thought it was "snake oil" at first. I also remember the ARCO Graphite, talk about leaks and stains. Yes I am that old.
 

Rocky1996

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unless you need to start a car at 20F temp or less.
0W or 5W is not needed.

10W-xx grade oil will have better base oil in it.

what Ford recommends is best for Ford, not necessarily you.
before my 96 went into storage, I used
Delo 15w-40
 

96blak54

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If my cars engine oil pump produced 15psi oil pressure like the old engines did. Them with their .003" bearing clearances..., id up the oil weight. But these modulars at any rpm other than idle produce over 60psi. Bearing clearances are tighter, meaning the mechanics of the pressure in terms of hydraulics also plays a roll with the use of lighter weight oils.
 

J_lope82

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Always use oem recommended weight. The critical part is at start up for an engine.
Don’t worry about mileage, brand, racing, weather, location, all that other stuff. Synthetic is good. If your engine is a factory engine go with oem recommendation.
 

cobrajeff96

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Always use OEM weight oil as printed on the oil cap or in the owner's manual, unless you have totally rebuilt the engine which could change the bearing clearances. That's really what it boils down to, folks. The viscosity rating may need to change if an engine builder says so. But if none of that has changed in the motor, changing viscosity runs the risk of oil not flowing properly throughout the motor.

Remember this if nothing else: the oil pump has a volume or capacity it flows throughout its rpm range, and those values don't really change over the life of the engine. Once oil leaves the pump and encounters restriction (a main bearing, rod bearing, etc), oil pressure is realized. Sort of like sticking your thumb into the end of a garden hose. Do you really want to mess with this equation by changing the thickness (and therefore the flow rate) of the oil? The answer should be no. Oil is the lifeblood of the motor.

Me, personally, I always use synthetic but that's because of how I drive currently in Germany (vroooom) and because of how well they keep things clean inside the motor. Yes, synthetics were around in the 90s.
 

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