What oil brand do you use on your Fiesta ST?

[jmrtsus]

It worries me that they will not disclose who makes their oil......until I know more I will stay away and follow Ford's recommendations. When I last looked their site said the synthetic base was a group 4 OR 5......strange answer is it 4 or 5? The Motorcraft uses neither, it is a food grade mineral base and is much cleaner than the 4 and 5. One of the very few that do use the mineral oil. All other oils I have researched gives in depth data to compare. All Driven seems to do is basically add additional additive packs to oil they buy somewhere but apparently do not want you to know where. Why? It seems to me when a company hides the origin of a product it is usually because it would not help to market the product if it were known. Ford is very proud of their long standing relationship with Phillips 66/ Kendall and provides tons of data on their oils. Again that worries me about the Driven oil. Since Ford says in the manual additional additives are not needed I will pass. But I will stay tuned for those willing to experiment to see how it goes.

As to Drivens promise of additional HP they need to show us how they came up with that......you can do that by simply changing to a synthetic from dino. Their site is full of claims and commercial endorsements but very, very short on provable data. Some oil sites claim these engines need a high zinc percentage of .08%....well guess what........the Motorcraft Synthetic oil has .085%. This could be why Ford say no additional additives are required. Again the Ford Motorcraft Synthetic oil at under $20 for a 5 QT jug just makes much more sense to me. Ford designed our engines and could have specified any oil the wanted.....they spoke and I will listen. I have been driving for 50 years and never had an oil related failure in my 20 something cars. And no I have not used Motorcraft for 50 years....I was a Quaker State fan until my ST sickness came along. But I did spend considerable time researching oils for the ST and this is my 2 cents worth. Which is probably only worth half a cent. Wrench On!

 

[Quisp]

Quaker state and Penzoil were horrible oils in the 60's- 80's . My dad's 390 Merc had paraffin buildup under the valve covers from QS. Now there some of the best.

 

[M-Sport fan]

IF I am worried about the factory warranty, I will use either; Castrol's or Mobil 1's EP oils, or the Motorcraft FULL synthetic (has to be at least a little better than the blend).

IF I decide to do major mods which will void the warranty anyway, it's Red Line, Motul 300V, or Millers NT.

 

[Intuit]

Owner's manual merely specifies that the oil has to meet API-SN standard. It doesn't have to be full or even part synthetic to meet the standard. It will be on the bottle. Don't worry about voiding the warranty unless what you're using doesn't meet the manual's stated specification(s).

 

[TyphoonFiST]

Owner's manual merely specifies that the oil has to meet API-SN standard. It doesn't have to be full or even part synthetic to meet the standard. It will be on the bottle. Don't worry about voiding the warranty unless what you're using doesn't meet the manual's stated specification(s).

Synthetic oil is a far better oil for turbo engines than normal conventional and ford uses a semi-synthetic in all of their engines from the factory. Food for thought....

 

[Intuit]

Synthetic oil is a far better oil for turbo engines than normal conventional and ford uses a semi-synthetic in all of their engines from the factory. Food for thought....

Actually that's the assumption for most engines, not just turbo. In any event if I read the manual to know what was just stated, then you can logically assume what you just stated was also known.

 

[M-Sport fan]

Owner's manual merely specifies that the oil has to meet API-SN standard. It doesn't have to be full or even part synthetic to meet the standard. It will be on the bottle. Don't worry about voiding the warranty unless what you're using doesn't meet the manual's stated specification(s).

The problem is that NONE of the top tier, 'boutique', group 4/5 based oils are certified for, OR marked on the bottles as meeting either those Ford standards, or the other API/ACEA/etc. standards.

They DO FAR exceed those said standards, except for being TOO stout on some of the detergent and anti-wear/anti-friction additive packs contained in their formulas, but the smaller, 'boutique' companies just will not pay the EXORBITANT fees/costs for said testing and certification.

The exception to the above is Motul, but ONLY in their street oil lines, BELOW the 300V race oil line.

Royal Purple has a, lower add pack content, certified oil oil line, but it is probably no better than the top Mobil or Castrol EP synthetics, or the GTL based SOPUS (Pennzoil) products.

 

[Intuit]

Interesting that an oil company can't or doesn't want to afford something.
Yeah if the oil you're using doesn't state that it meets specification, then that's grounds for Ford to deny warranty on an internal mechanical failure for the engine.
I have my doubts that they would void the warranty based solely on one's choice in oil brand, (so long as it's the specified weight,) but it's at least possible.

I do know that Castrol's GTX (non-synth) line of oil does have API-SN on the bottle, and works very well in all of my vehicles. http://www.feoa.net/threads/what-oil-weight-viscosity-do-you-use.85367/#post-758910

A lot of people fail to realize the primary purpose for an oil change isn't due to oil breakdown or failure, but quite simply, grit. Think of it as lubricating your engine with Palmolive (clean oil) vs Fast Orange (dirty oil).

 

[M-Sport fan]

According to most warranties, they would have to PROVE that the oil itself is what destroyed the engine, but using a non-certified oil will make it that much easier for a manufacturer to do that very thing.

 

[jmrtsus]

I find oil discussions amusing. Oil is like cars, we all have stories told that strongly influence our buying along with direct bad/good experiences. Ford people hate Chevys and GM nuts hate Fords, same with oils. I saw one opinion that the Pennsylvania oils were not good in their heydays but now that the are made with non Pennsylvania oils they are good. Quite the opposite opinion of many others including me. At one time Penn oils were considered the best in the world due to their long chemical strands I believe the difference was supposed to be. In the early 70's I belonged to the SCCA and was an "outlier" as I drove an (OMG heresy) Japanese Mazda R-100, the first rotary in the US and ran rings around the British self destructing MB's and Triumphs. We were also split on the discussion of oils....they swore that Quaker State was the elixir of the gods and I was sold on Phillips 66 Tropartic as just what a rotary required. I have had a BMW 320 IS still running fine with over 300k miles and the engine never opened using Penn dino oils. My son and I debate this all the time about what is/was the "best"oil. He believes his GM LS engines he builds do not run unless they have Shell Rotella juice in them. I believe if you use what the manufacturers specify and change the oil as required you will be good. In my Fiesta St I will use the Motorcraft blend for break in and at 4000 miles will switch to Castrol GTX MAGNATEC Full Synthetic (Wallyworld had it for $18 a 5 qt. jug) simply because I cannot find the Motorcraft full synthetic even online and the Kendall GT equivalent is too expensive. I believe that the use of food grade mineral oil as a synthetic make a more pure oil and Kendall/Motorcraft are one of only two oils doing this. Could this be why Ford probably uses millions of gallons of the stuff? When I can get it I will stock up on the Motorcraft full synthetic and try to stick with it. I do not think for the average user the brand of oil you use will matter one iota in the life of your ST. We use what we feel comfortable with.

Wrench on!

 

[M-Sport fan]

There is a full synthetic (U.S. definition), NOT a blend, Castrol Magnetec??

I did not realize that the Motorcraft full synthetic was THAT hard to find, even online.

Does Conoco-Phillips still make all of the Motorcraft labelled oils?

 

[Capri to ST]

There is a full synthetic (U.S. definition), NOT a blend, Castrol Magnetec??

IIRC, some viscosities of Magnatec are full synthetic, and some are blends, just to make it confusing.

 

[2Cool]

Rotella T6 for the past 3k miles, seems to work fine.

 

[jmrtsus]

The 5w20 Castrol Magnatec is full synthetic. And yes the full syn Motorcraft is no longer available at Walmart even online nor any of the car parts stores. I wonder if Ford is changing suppliers and have stopped shipping the full Syn, the wallyworld site says "unavailable" not out of stock. O'Reilly's says the same, can't get it. I found the Kendall GT online for about $7.50 qt plus shipping. So Castrol Magnatec for now.......BTW the Motorcraft blend is said to be the Phillips 66 TropArtic.

 

[M-Sport fan]

Does Castrol consider the Magnatec below, or equal to all of their Edge level/labelled 'full synthetic' (U.S definition) products??

It's hard to keep up with Castrol's marketing, given how many (hundreds it seems at times) differently labelled, but similar products they offer.

I was thinking about using their (or Mobil 1's) EP type synthetic once past break-in (whatever I determine that to be), and after at least one early Motorcraft Blend and MC filter change.

 

[TyphoonFiST]

There is a full synthetic (U.S. definition), NOT a blend, Castrol Magnetec??

I did not realize that the Motorcraft full synthetic was THAT hard to find, even online.

Does Conoco-Phillips still make all of the Motorcraft labelled oils?

Here it is.....full sythetic....but only in 0w20 and 5w20....5w30 and 10w30 are synthetic blends......

 

[ron@whoosh]

just changed out the factory fill w/ Redline 5W-30

 

[M-Sport fan]

just changed out the factory fill w/ Redline 5W-30

IF it was out of warranty, mine would definitely be getting one of the Red Lines as well (either; 0W/5W-20 in the winter, or their 0W/5W-30 the rest of the year)!

 

[redox87]

Car currently has 4100 miles on it.
Changed out the factory fill with Pennzoil conventional 5w20 at 200 miles
Changed that out with Napa synthetic 5w20 at 1000 miles

Have multiple brands and weights of synthetic oil stashed right now, but at 5000 miles it might be Castrol Magnatec 5w20

 

[redox87]

Rotella T6 for the past 3k miles, seems to work fine.

How has it affected fuel economy for you?

I have Mobil 1 0w40 and Castrol Edge 0w40 that will eventually be used in the Fiesta, and I'm curious to see if moving up to a 40 weight oil will affect fuel economy.