First oil change constructive comments appreciated.

[Abilor]

@AZ_Ryan ...... you are correct - Ford does not recommend lubricating the oil filter gasket. When I asked my Mustang tech why, he said Ford explained that they were worried the oil filters would loosen under vibration if the gaskets were lubricated. All the techs apply oil as they said they had never seen one loosen and leak and getting one off without lubing the gasket was often a huge task.

Peculiar. I've always lubed the filter gasket, and put the Turkish Headlock on it with my strap wrench. Always assumed the oil gums up a bit, and the seal is essentially permanent. Have never heard of one coming loose due to NVH in 20 years of collective forum lore.

"Kids today, don't even oil their filter gaskets anymore..."

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[dusman59]

Not lubing started with the flat plane crank GT350's. Vibrations happen with that engine. I been lubing filters since 1962 and never had one come loose and leak.

 

[AZ_Ryan]

 

[robvas]

Never left one on long enough for it to get stuck. Is that why you're supposed to oil it?

 

[JohnWimsey]

My GT is coming up on 1000 miles. I will do my own oil change around that time. I plan on using either Pennzoil Ultra Platinum full synthetic or some kind of Mobil 1 synthetic. Probably the Pennzoil since that's I've used for years with no problems in both my personal vehicles and several of the vehicles my company owns.

Of course my dealer wants to use Motorcraft Semi-Synthetic I think because it's cheap.

Any constructive comments on the Pennzoil Ultra Platinum, which is my preference, and going straight to full synthetic from the factory fill of semi-synthetic would be appreciated. Yes, I know, I know, I did a search. This is 2025 though.

Thanks, FD1

Just asking, do you know what the words full synthetic means on motor oil containers?

My GT is coming up on 1000 miles. I will do my own oil change around that time. I plan on using either Pennzoil Ultra Platinum full synthetic or some kind of Mobil 1 synthetic. Probably the Pennzoil since that's I've used for years with no problems in both my personal vehicles and several of the vehicles my company owns.

Of course my dealer wants to use Motorcraft Semi-Synthetic I think because it's cheap.

Any constructive comments on the Pennzoil Ultra Platinum, which is my preference, and going straight to full synthetic from the factory fill of semi-synthetic would be appreciated. Yes, I know, I know, I did a search. This is 2025 though.

Thanks, FD1

I would read the link before you change oil ever again
Royal Purple and Amsoil are engineered the same. I am a Royal Purple fan. Cost less and easy to get


https://blog.amsoil.com/100-synthetic-oil-vs-full-synthetic-oil-whats-the-difference/

 

[Frogdog1]

Changing the oil on a GT doesn't sound like Rocket Science. Removing the underbelly cover does sound like a PIA. I'll get 'er done soon.

 

[Frogdog1]

Just asking, do you know what the words full synthetic means on motor oil containers?


I would read the link before you change oil ever again
Royal Purple and Amsoil are engineered the same. I am a Royal Purple fan. Cost less and easy to get


https://blog.amsoil.com/100-synthetic-oil-vs-full-synthetic-oil-whats-the-difference/

I know the difference between regular oil, which is hard to even find, semi-syn, and full syn. I've been changing my own oil for a LONG time.

 

[JohnWimsey]

I know the difference between regular oil, which is hard to even find, semi-syn, and full syn. I've been changing my own oil for a LONG time.

On an oil can, "full synthetic" indicates that the oil is made entirely from synthetic base oils, rather than conventional mineral oils, and has been chemically engineered to provide better engine protection and performance. This type of oil typically offers benefits like improved lubrication, better resistance to heat and cold, and a longer lifespan between oil changes.


On an oil can, "synthetic" indicates that the oil is a lubricant made from chemically modified or synthesized compounds, rather than being directly derived from crude oil. This process results in a base oil that is designed for superior performance and protection compared to conventional oils.

 

[Abilor]

Just asking, do you know what the words full synthetic means on motor oil containers?


I would read the link before you change oil ever again
Royal Purple and Amsoil are engineered the same. I am a Royal Purple fan. Cost less and easy to get


https://blog.amsoil.com/100-synthetic-oil-vs-full-synthetic-oil-whats-the-difference/

I heard this article is a hoax perpetrated by marketing shills. Royal Purple ain't shit.

;)

 

[Germansheperd]

On an oil can, "full synthetic" indicates that the oil is made entirely from synthetic base oils, rather than conventional mineral oils, and has been chemically engineered to provide better engine protection and performance. This type of oil typically offers benefits like improved lubrication, better resistance to heat and cold, and a longer lifespan between oil changes.


On an oil can, "synthetic" indicates that the oil is a lubricant made from chemically modified or synthesized compounds, rather than being directly derived from crude oil. This process results in a base oil that is designed for superior performance and protection compared to conventional oils.

I’ve never seen full synthetic on an “oil can”.

 

[Cz_Ziemniak]

I heard this article is a hoax perpetrated by marketing shills. Royal Purple ain't shit.

;)

Royal Purple does genuinely have a much higher detergent content than many other oils. Sort of a double edged sword though.

What a lot of people discovered years ago (largely honda guys who wanted le epic purple fluid) was that this oil would clean their motors real squeaky. It does genuinely work in that regard.

The downside is that their 150K+ motors were being held together with sludge and shit, and the moment it was gone, their engines leaked themselves to death. all over, gaskets and seals were now pissing oil. All those dry-ass seals were now exposed to thin, non sludgy, cleanish oil, rather than a thick layer of sludge.

So while RP wasn't exactly *bad*, in that regard, it exposed the need to essentially replace every gasket.

I actually saw this exact thing happen myself, though not because of royal purple. Whole separate story, still dealing with it to this day.

Otherwise, RP is insignificant in its film strength, and the purple color is just dye. Overrated af, you don't need a detergent package that strong if you just do an oil change every 3-5K with any other brand.

 

[Abilor]

Royal Purple does genuinely have a much higher detergent content than many other oils. Sort of a double edged sword though.

What a lot of people discovered years ago (largely honda guys who wanted le epic purple fluid) was that this oil would clean their motors real squeaky. It does genuinely work in that regard.

The downside is that their 150K+ motors were being held together with sludge and shit, and the moment it was gone, their engines leaked themselves to death. all over, gaskets and seals were now pissing oil. All those dry-ass seals were now exposed to thin, non sludgy, cleanish oil, rather than a thick layer of sludge.

So while RP wasn't exactly *bad*, in that regard, it exposed the need to essentially replace every gasket.

I actually saw this exact thing happen myself, though not because of royal purple. Whole separate story, still dealing with it to this day.

Otherwise, RP is insignificant in its film strength, and the purple color is just dye. Overrated af, you don't need a detergent package that strong if you just do an oil change every 3-5K with any other brand.

This is what happened to the 2021 Camaro 2SS Convertible I bought back in March, though with only 10,000 miles. Something was wrong with the PCV system, which we discovered only after tech mind-numbingly replaced all the seals and gaskets when oil was seeping out of any convenient escape without discovering root cause. But I digress...

Interesting that success could be so caustic for our poor Honda friends...

 

[Cz_Ziemniak]

This is what happened to the 2021 Camaro 2SS Convertible I bought back in March, though with only 10,000 miles. Something was wrong with the PCV system, which we discovered only after tech mind-numbingly replaced all the seals and gaskets when oil was seeping out of any convenient escape without discovering root cause. But I digress...

Interesting that success could be so caustic for our poor Honda friends...

It carries over to pretty much every car/engine, granted those with more porous casting will experience it worse (looking at you, 60's Ford).

I only learned about it from Honda boys, but after digging saw the same thing with older GM's, Toyota, so on and so forth.

 

[Mastermind46]

On an oil can, "full synthetic" indicates that the oil is made entirely from synthetic base oils, rather than conventional mineral oils, and has been chemically engineered to provide better engine protection and performance. This type of oil typically offers benefits like improved lubrication, better resistance to heat and cold, and a longer lifespan between oil changes.


On an oil can, "synthetic" indicates that the oil is a lubricant made from chemically modified or synthesized compounds, rather than being directly derived from crude oil. This process results in a base oil that is designed for superior performance and protection compared to conventional oils.

The concern is that some synthetic oils in the US are not primarily synthetic. They are group 3 base which is derived from mineral oils but are highly refined. Mobil filed suet against Castrol for this in the 90s because Castrol labeled their Syntec oil as being 'synthetic' but was derived 100% from mineral oils. Somehow Castrol won and many companies changed their synthetic oil bases to be derived from mineral oils (or natural gas like Mobil) to save cost/increase profit. Group 4 base oils are polyalphaolefin (PAO) synthetic base oils. Additives can be other group oils. I do not know if there are any full group 4 oils out there but Euro spec oils are the highest % group 4.

Now all of this said, without testing, you do not really know how the oil is performing for your use. Group 4 base oils will out perform Group 3 base oils but you may never wear out a Group 3 base oil depending on how you drive or how often you change the oil.

Ford recommends their semi syn oil for this engine and oil change interval (10k miles or 1 year) so any synthetic oil that meets or exceeds the same standards is going to be good. I use the full syn motorcraft in the mustang. All of my other vehicles get Castrol, Pennzoil, or Valvoline (VW Euro spec).

Also, the number of fasteners to remove in order to do an oil change is painful on the mustang. My 2012 Xterra had an access panel on the skid plate to get the filter. Granted that was in metal vs plastic. Maybe that would be a worthwhile product to bring to market to reduce the labor for oil changes. As the plastics age, they will lose shape and be more of a pain to realign.

 

[Abilor]

The concern is that some synthetic oils in the US are not primarily synthetic. They are group 3 base which is derived from mineral oils but are highly refined. Mobil filed suet against Castrol for this in the 90s because Castrol labeled their Syntec oil as being 'synthetic' but was derived 100% from mineral oils. Somehow Castrol won and many companies changed their synthetic oil bases to be derived from mineral oils (or natural gas like Mobil) to save cost/increase profit. Group 4 base oils are polyalphaolefin (PAO) synthetic base oils. Additives can be other group oils. I do not know if there are any full group 4 oils out there but Euro spec oils are the highest % group 4.

Now all of this said, without testing, you do not really know how the oil is performing for your use. Group 4 base oils will out perform Group 3 base oils but you may never wear out a Group 3 base oil depending on how you drive or how often you change the oil.

Ford recommends their semi syn oil for this engine and oil change interval (10k miles or 1 year) so any synthetic oil that meets or exceeds the same standards is going to be good. I use the full syn motorcraft in the mustang. All of my other vehicles get Castrol, Pennzoil, or Valvoline (VW Euro spec).

Also, the number of fasteners to remove in order to do an oil change is painful on the mustang. My 2012 Xterra had an access panel on the skid plate to get the filter. Granted that was in metal vs plastic. Maybe that would be a worthwhile product to bring to market to reduce the labor for oil changes. As the plastics age, they will lose shape and be more of a pain to realign.

How hard is it to get to the filter alone? The reason I ask is that I use a vacuum extractor for my oil changes. I dip a long tube through the dipstick or oil port itself, and it can handle nice high temps as well, so you get the advantage of heat-happy viscosity.

Once extracted (two loads, with 10 quarts), all that remains is the filter... Any easier? Anyone else doing their changes this way? I effin' love my vacuum extractor, had it since my VW Golf R days...

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