Full Synthetic or Synthetic Blend?

[rcl4668]

Hello. My Fiesta ST will be arriving in a few weeks and I'm getting the crib, er, garage ready by stocking up on motor oil. For the US market, the ST supplement recommends using either Motorcraft SAE 5w-20 Premium Synthetic Blend or Motorcraft SAE 5w-20 Full Synthetic Motor Oil. Taking any cost differential out of the picture, my initial sense would be to go with the full synthetic motor oil. Am I right or am I wrong or does it just not matter? Thanks for your feedback.

/Rich

 

[Harvick]

I went full synthetic since my first oil change.

 

[Colin1337]

Full synthetic here too.

 

[CivicAssassin]

The dealership has done all my oil changes, so far. Just to maintain the "free tires for life" deal. Going to give it about a year, before I start doing my own. Want to make sure the tires don't wear prematurely, like my MS3 did.

 

[scottiemac]

There's a thread in here somewhere that addresses the issue of full vs blend.

In a nutshell the recommendation was that you use the blend for the first 4000 to 5000 miles then switch to the full synthetic.

The theory is that the blend allows the engine parts to break in and "mate" better during the initial running. After the engine has been fully broken in you can switch to the full synthetic for longer term protection.
If I find the link I'll put it in.

 

[rcl4668]

There's a thread in here somewhere that addresses the issue of full vs blend. In a nutshell the recommendation was that you use the blend for the first 4000 to 5000 miles then switch to the full synthetic.
The theory is that the blend allows the engine parts to break in and "mate" better during the initial running. After the engine has been fully broken in you can switch to the full synthetic for longer term protection.
If I find the link I'll put it in.

Ah, the dark art of motor oil. Thanks so much. I'd be very interested in reading the post.

/Rich

 

[rcl4668]

Just curious, is this the thread you referenced:

www.fiestastforum.com/forum/threads/569-Drivetrain-Break-in-101?highlight=full+synthetic

/Rich

 

[scottiemac]

That's it Rich. I had to chuckle at your comment about the dark art of motor oil. I have a Porsche and if you want to see a long discussion on oils, just go to one of the Porsche forums.
One of the icons that they allow you to post is a little smiley face guy eating popcorn. It gets used a lot as these folks delve into the subject. Very entertaining.

 

[rcl4668]

That's it Rich. I had to chuckle at your comment about the dark art of motor oil. I have a Porsche and if you want to see a long discussion on oils, just go to one of the Porsche forums.
One of the icons that they allow you to post is a little smiley face guy eating popcorn. It gets used a lot as these folks delve into the subject. Very entertaining.

I'm selling my E39 M5 for the Fiesta and that car has it's own ongoing, popcorn-worthy debate about "which is the best motor oil."

Thanks again.

/Rich

 

[Picoschu]

I'm selling my E39 M5 for the Fiesta and that car has it's own ongoing, popcorn-worthy debate about "which is the best motor oil."

Thanks again.

/Rich

I too own an E39 M5 and chuckled at his post about Porsche discussion oil haha.

 

[jmrtsus]

Just did my first oil change at 1200 miles. I put the Motorcraft blend and a FL-400 filter in for another 2000 miles then I will switch to the Motorcraft full synthetic. I too feel that break in should be done with some dino oil. I do know that the oil that came out of my new car WAS NOT either the blend of full synthetic Motorcraft oil. This stuff was almost olive drab green! I think this was a special break in oil from the factory.

The Motorcraft blend is the same as Phillips 66 TropArtic? Synthetic Blend Motor Oil as far as I can understand. I remember when the "TropArtic" brand was advertised on B&W TV in the early 60's. The Full Synthetic is Kendall GT-1? Full Synthetic Motor Oil with Liquid Titanium?. Another old name that was seen on many race track fences and walls with the two fingers logo. If you read the Ford ad copy for their Motorcraft oils some of it is verbatim using the same exact terminology as these two. Ford may have a different additive package but probably not. Both are made with "food grade" mineral oil, same as "baby oil". It is said to have better properties than other types of synthetics.

Not being an oil guru I choose to leave that to Ford. As long as the parts stores matches wally worlds $18.00 5 qt jug and $4.00 FL-400 filters I am a very happy man. I doubt there is any real discernable difference in the top brands.....we all tend to trust what we know. Until now I have always used Castrol (45 years) and have never had an engine failure even with my BMW doing over 300k without any problems. For this car with its' high HP per Cubic inch I will trust Fords recommended oils. If you believe the ad claims of Phillips/Ford my FiFi's engine should last at least 4 bizillion miles!

 

[stormcrow]

Just did my first oil change at 1200 miles. I put the Motorcraft blend and a FL-400 filter in for another 2000 miles then I will switch to the Motorcraft full synthetic. I too feel that break in should be done with some dino oil. I do know that the oil that came out of my new car WAS NOT either the blend of full synthetic Motorcraft oil. This stuff was almost olive drab green! I think this was a special break in oil from the factory.

The Motorcraft blend is the same as Phillips 66 TropArtic? Synthetic Blend Motor Oil as far as I can understand. I remember when the "TropArtic" brand was advertised on B&W TV in the early 60's. The Full Synthetic is Kendall GT-1? Full Synthetic Motor Oil with Liquid Titanium?. Another old name that was seen on many race track fences and walls with the two fingers logo. If you read the Ford ad copy for their Motorcraft oils some of it is verbatim using the same exact terminology as these two. Ford may have a different additive package but probably not. Both are made with "food grade" mineral oil, same as "baby oil". It is said to have better properties than other types of synthetics.

Not being an oil guru I choose to leave that to Ford. As long as the parts stores matches wally worlds $18.00 5 qt jug and $4.00 FL-400 filters I am a very happy man. I doubt there is any real discernable difference in the top brands.....we all tend to trust what we know. Until now I have always used Castrol (45 years) and have never had an engine failure even with my BMW doing over 300k without any problems. For this car with its' high HP per Cubic inch I will trust Fords recommended oils. If you believe the ad claims of Phillips/Ford my FiFi's engine should last at least 4 bizillion miles!

It was the Motorcraft blend. It simply has an added dye that is easily seen in natural light or by blacklight. Ford checks for any leaks prior to shipping the cars out.

 

[jmrtsus]

Thanks, that makes sense.....was UGLY, that much I know. Now I see wally world does not have the Motorcraft full synthetic in stock anywhere, should have bought some last month!

 

[Spaceman_Spiff]

Thanks, that makes sense.....was UGLY, that much I know...

Yeah, it freaked me out, also, when I did my first oil change. I was raised that green in the oil is NEVER good, lol

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk