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Can anybody shed any light on the manufacturer/quality of Ford own brand oil. I have been using mainly the 10w/40 'XR plus' oil in cars that I look after and never had any problems with it. But I was always under the impression that it was semi-synthetic and since actually reading the can it doesn't actually state this. Am I right or wrong on this assumption and does anyone have any other opinions on Ford own brand oil?
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If it's really Texaco Havoline Extra 10W-40, the specs are ACEA: A3-98; B3-98 and API SJ/CF (whatever that means). Approved by VAG ro 500.00/505.00; Mercedes Benz to 229.1; and BMW Special Oils.
HJ
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HJ
If it meets ACEA A3/B3 I'd have thought it's going to be at least semi-synthetic. I don't believe a straight mineral will meet this spec. SJ/CF? Probably the highest American Petroleum Institute rating for Oil. The API grades seem to lag behind the ACEA grades, and even A2/B2 oils can meet API SJ. I believe though, that API have a new SL spec out - Petronas were advertising an oil to this spec in malaysia recently.
Regards
John S
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I have now found out that the Ford 10w40 'XR plus' is not semi-synthetic as I thought, just ordinary mineral. As I said I have never had any problems with it but I believe in using the best stuff available (within reason) and I will switch to a 10w40 semi-synthetic for the future. Does anyone have any recommendations of the which brands to aim for and which to steer clear of? One that does catch my eye is Morris Multivis 10w40, mainly because I can get it at trade price. Has anyone got any experience of using this particular product or other Morris products before?
Any advice is appeciated.
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Remember, Ford Zetec E and Zetec S engines had to use 5w-30 oil, which texaco brands as Havoline Energy 5w-30; ACEA: A1-98; B1-98; API SJ/Energy Conderving and ILSAC GF-2; Ford WSS-M2C913-A and WS-M2C912-A1. Mobil does a special Mobil 1 5w-30 which conforms to the Ford spec, but it is only available in bulk.
HJ
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Ford oils whether you buy Formula E,XR+ or just 10w-30 or 20w-50 are all top grade oils as good or better than you will get from an accessory shop.Dealers have a list of what is suitable for what.
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I have been using Morris oil for several years and can confirm it to be excellent. Have used the Multivis since it came out and this is a semi-synthetic to ACEA A3/B3 spec and have never had the slightest engine problems.
They are also excellent in customer service and a phone call to Morris at Shrewsbury puts you through to a technical person who will advise and discuss on individual cars.
They follow this up by sending you a literature and service spec sheets for any car. In this literature which they go into great detail on oil rating specifications, and explain the reason ACEA sequences came into force to replace the outdated CCMC ones.
alvin.
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Can anybody enlighten me as to exactly what it is about the Zetec engine design that demands such a specific lubricant specification?
I have a 4 litre tub of Mobil 1 0W-40 in front of me (they make good bookends) the packaging of which tells us that the product is "For whatever car you drive, petrol or diesel, with or without catalytic convertor or turbo", though I have since received some Mobil literature that confirms what HJ says above. Should they not modify this wording to exclude the Zetec? Sounds to me as if there could be warantee issues at stake here.
BTW - The Mobil 1 I'm looking at was purchased about 9 months ago (I buy in bulk from a wholesaler) - maybe the latest packaging has modified wording?
Rich
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This whole thing gets more interesting. I've just checked the Chris Longhurst site and that gives the ACEA A1 spec of the 5W-30 Ford/Havoline oil as being for 'fuel economy', hence the low viscosity rating. No comment on its service capability. Confirms HJ's data on this oil. However, there are plenty of low viscosity synthetics about, and they have the A3 rating which is for heavy duty and extended drain. Given current servicing intervals this therefore seems a bit strange. I'd have thought that Ford would have wanted a better service rating than A1 for their engines. Then I noticed that Halfords list a 5W-30 'enhanced mineral' (not even a semi-synth) 'recomended for Ford engines'. Don't know what its service rating is as I got the info from the back of a can of Halfords fully synth., so it's not the full picture. Might be worth checking out.
Now, I believe with Fords the 'cold' viscosity is an issue with the hydraulic tappets, but for normally the hot viscosity isn't a great problem, as all oils are much less viscous when hot than when cold. However, Ford do seem insistent on the 30 'hot' rating. It's unclear if this is for strong enginering reasons, or only for the economy aspects. Certainly they've gone to some efforts to lower engine friction. Personally, I'd not worry about using a 5W-40, as there is some tolerance in the specs and the performance of individual brands anyway, and I'd be happier with a semi-synth. However, if you really want to stick to the 'pukka' 5W-30, given it's a mineral oil, don't neglect to change it frequently, unless someone can identify a semi-synth that meets the viscosity spec.
Regards
John S
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You are certainly correct in the 'cold' viscosity issue with the hydraulic tappets on some zetec engines. I own a Fiesta RS1800 which has one of the first Ford zetec engines under the bonnet and suffered problems for a long time in that when you stsrted on a journey from cold, if you dipped the clutch within the first mile or so, the engine would cut and subsequently not restart without a lot of hard cranking. It wasn't until someone told me that the zetec engine was very dependant on the grade of oil that the solution to the problem became clear.
But back to the 10w/40 semi-synthetic oils that I am personally interested in. I was looking yesterday at all of the different brands available in this grade that were semi-synthetic and these ranged from products like Millers and A1 Motor Stores selling at about £12.99 right through to the top brands like Duckhams and Castrol Magnatec that are around the £24 mark. I also noted that the Castrol Magnatec is now being sold in 4.5L containers rather than the conventional 5L cans. The 'cheaper' brands seem to have similar quality specifications on them so why is there such a huge price difference for what seems to be very similar products at the end of the day?
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Perhaps the wide differences in the prices are accounted for by the amount of synthetic in the product. Trouble is you tend to think you are getting a 50/50 mix when in fact this is certainly not necessarily the case.
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I use Texaco Havoline Energy 5W/30 in my wife's 1.4 Zetec S Fiesta because it is the only non-Ford oil to meet their M2C913 spec. At £19 for 5 ltr, it's probably not much cheaper, but why compromise engine life to save a fiver every 6 months ? I would use Ford oil, but the dealers parts dept. opening hours are the same as my working hours.
On the subject of cold starting problems linked to oil grade, there was a previous string on this topic referring to Zetec engines by (I think) Adam (going for tune up fame).
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