What oil weight and brand does everyone use for their 3.8/3.0 windstars?
Ford WindstarIntroduced in the mid-1990s, the front-wheel-drive Ford Windstar minivan campaigned with an emphasis on, and reputation for, safety. And in the hotly contested family minivan market of the time, that was an especially solid piece of ground to be on. As long as buyers didn't need to haul adults in back on a regular basis, the Windstar served a family's needs just fine.
Mark V I completely agree with you. My Mitsubishi Lancer called for 5W20 (mainly for gas mileage) but Mits. said that it was OK to run 5W30 in it but nothing thicker than that. If it's a hot summer, I'll run 10W30 instead of 5W30, but only on older engines like my 97 corolla and my 88 cougar and 94 sunsparrow, and then only b/c the manual says to use it. I tried using 15W50 in my 87 Mustang 5.0 and it ran like crap, esp. since I was only getting about 14 MPG, when I'd usually get 18-20 for the same in-town driving. Anything more, hope you like doing piston rings and main bearings!
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Present:
2001 Windstar Sport
2007 Mustang GT ragtop
1997 Toyota Corolla
1994 Sunbird (For sale! Only 95,000km - $2200 CDN safetied and e-tested!)
Last night after reading Mark's response I went out and found a decal under the hood that recommends 5 w 30. That was a surprise. Actually on second thought, I have not personally changed the oil in the van until last year. I always had it done for me in a gas station. So I do not know what weight oil they put in it.
The few times I changed it, it was already over 100K and I used 10 w 40, and the last time 20-50 on the recommendation from other guys who are more knowledgeable than me. Does Ford have a recommendation for oil viscosity on somewhat worn engines?
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BroncoJoe19
2006 Alt Fuel Jeep (electric)
'98 windstar 3.8L
'99 Crown Vic 4.6L
'90 Full Size Bronco 5.0L
I'm not a professional mechanic, take my suggestions with a grain of salt, or a cup of coffee
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Why is it that manufacturers don't put revolution counters on car engines like they do airplane engines? The number of miles a car travels is a poor judge of how much wear and tear it has been through.
An engine that has spent much of its life in stop and go traffic may have five times the wear of an engine that spent its life as a highway cruiser, when they register the same number of miles on the odometer.
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BroncoJoe19
2006 Alt Fuel Jeep (electric)
'98 windstar 3.8L
'99 Crown Vic 4.6L
'90 Full Size Bronco 5.0L
I'm not a professional mechanic, take my suggestions with a grain of salt, or a cup of coffee
At the bottom of each post there is a little icon
Clicking it gives feedback to the moderators, and poster regarding which posts are most helpful.
I used mobil 1 5w30 or sometimes 0w30 Full Synthetic, and a Fram ToughGuard Filter....
my motor went 249,000 miles until it blew a headgasket, but the engine still ran fine un into, and even during and after the blowout.
Because of the people that complained to me *ahem* Mark V *ahem* I started using Ford Motorcraft filters on my new engine for the Windstar.
The Toyotas both run Mobil 1 Full Synth. The filters are usually car quest filters, sometimes Fram. The Sienna runs 5w30 and the Prius runs 0w20 "advanced fuel economy". (Note: The Advanced fuel economy oil smells wierd.)
Two of my cars are high mileage the Prius has ~163,000 original miles and the windstar had about 249,000miles on engine #1 ~15,000 miles on engine#2 and engine #3 is still in the mail.... I will explain this in another thread :-)
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1994 Ford Taurus LX 3.0L 156,000 miles
1998 Ford Windstar GL 3.8L 264,000 miles
2005 Toyota Prius Package 6 1.5L 158,000 miles
2006 Toyota Sienna LE 3.3L 45,000 miles
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