Just wondering if anyone has ever tried it in the 5.4 to quiet down the cam phasers

I have used it in my old cavalier with good results. Also my dad used it in his old exploder with a 4.0 and that thing ran mint when the body finally rotted off it

After reading eveyones stories i am now paranoid im gonna have a issue i noticed a slight diesel sound in my truck but it almost sound like its comeing from the injectors

 

Ford does not recommend any additives in the oil and I don't think it will help your phasers at all, in my 04 had them changed at 50K, it is simply a design flaw and for will not help at all the plugs r the same thing..

 

If your noise is slight it probably is just the injectors. I know a million people will probably come out of the woods swearing that Lucas Oil stabilizer is the greatest thing since sliced bread but I believe it is a huge waste of money. As far as I know it is just thick base oil, no additives. If you are in a situation where you need thicker oil buy thicker oil, it will be cheaper and have the proper additives.

 

It's more of a stabilizer. I ran 6l of mobile 1 5w20 and about 500ml of the Lucas

I had good luck like I was saying with it in my supercharged 2.4 in my cavalier almost stopped it from burning oil. Which if you know anything about this he 2.4 it just eats oil if you drive it hard and well that's how it is when your blown

See how it goes I guess I had a half of a bottle kicking around so I gave it a shot anyways

 

Thicker oil helps reduce consumption and noise. The sacrifice is mileage and cold start up protection. You basically spend extra to turn your 5w20 into a 20w50 when you could just buy 20w50 in the first place. What and how does an 80 weight group 1 oil stabilize?

 

You absolutely do not want to run anything thicker than 5W20 in the modular motors...ever.

 

Then why is 5w50 recommended for the modular 5.4 supercharged in the gt 500?

 

I would not recommend 20w50 in any healthy engine. For one with severe consumption issues or a rod knock it has it's advantages though. My cousin buys his oil at the local farm supply and puts 10w30 valvoline in everything. He has had no issues with his truck. If he is still around this site I believe Jim Allen was doing something very similar so he only had to buy one grade of oil. 5w20 may be recommended maybe even optimal but if you think that putting in 5w30 is going to do any damage you're drinking the kool-aid!

 

Thats a 32 valve non-VCT engine, not comparing apples with apples. The OHC 5.4s, particularly the 3v's were built super tight and with very narrow oil passages to the cams. Additionally, the piston rings actually rely on 20 weight oil to help keep things sealed up.

Viewing a thread - 5w-20 engine oil in Ford 5.4 Triton?

I can post more if you'd like. I'm certain you wont kill your 5.4 feeding it a diet of 40 or greater weight oil but the possibility of starvation is increased, with the likely result of a shortened service life. Most of these motors are capable of 300,000+ miles with routine maintenance, I would opt to put up with a little phaser noise myself.
Just sayin'.

 

No I actually agree with you just questioning your reasoning. I run the 5w20 myself although the 3 valve 5.4 is spec'd for 5w30 in Australia so I don't see how it could be an issue. I do cringe when people tell me they got rid of the phaser noise by using 15w40.

 

Agreed. The Australian spec is noteworthy as is Fords' supposed recommendation to techs with "noisy customers" complaining about cam phaser noise, Ford suggests 5W-40 to shut them up. I doubt Ford is much concerned whether the motor lasts 100k or 500k, with the 100k probably preferable to assure a steady stream of repeat customers.

I drive the crap out of my vehicles. The 97 Ranger I gifted to an employee is nearing 300k on a 2.3 4banger. My F450 boom truck was running as new (7.3IDI) when I sold it recently at almost 200k. My 4runner is at 165k and, again, like new. My 5.4 (2nd of that motor) has 92k and is super quiet (lucky here) and consumes 0 oil between changes. The 1st one was in a CrownVic and went 375k and I bet its still running.

I guess what I'm saying is that i never put anything other than factory recommended and I have been lucky enough to have great results.

 

There are many, many modulars on the road without vct. Like all of the 2 valves. So are all the new Ti-Vct stuff. I know the old stuff is being treated like the ugly step children no one wants to admit to but those old 4.6 2 valve taxi's are chugging along somewhere! lol

 

I should add that I always use Mobil1 full synthetic and change at 5k intervals. Might be wasting a little dime but, again, the results are more than satisfactory to me.

 

I know. I assumed we were referring to 3valves or I should have made that clear. The 2v 5.4s were Ford recommended 10W30 or 5W30 initially IIRC.

 

Right here in Chicago until recently. City council enacted an ordinance basically aimed at the Crown Vics limiting the overall allowable mileage for them to be fleetworthy. Seems too many had over a half mil on them and were still running like beasts. Problem was wheels and front end components were literally falling off the cars causing some unfortunate accidents.