School me on the thought behind running one or the other in our 5.0.

Thanks

 

This is a short and sweet explanation from my work in the oil industry for 2.5 years. I am NOT an expert, but this is what I learned and feel is correct.

It's all about protection. Full Syn, like Redline, Royal Purple, Mobil 1, Pennz Ultra, as examples, are the MAX protection motor oils you can get. The Oil is actually man CONTROLLED (not man-made) using Hydrogen molecules as the base molecule. TRUE full syn oils have a very tight molecular structure. Molecules are nearly identical in size and shape. SYN does ALL functions of oil better due to this. Heat Transfer, Lubrication, Cleaning, and (there is a fourth major job of motor oil in the engine and for the life of me my brain isn't working this late in the evening) are all better w/ full syn oils due to this common molecular size.

Syn Blend is an industry term for a middle of the road oil between Dino-Oils and Full Syn oils. In all actuality, this is where Valvoline "syn" should be. Blends are actually dino oils that are controlled similar to full syn oils during refining. The best way to think of it from a customer (layman) view point is, "it's 40% syn and 60% dino". Is it really? NO....but that's a good way to think about it for those that don't comprehend and/or you (me actually) don't have time or energy to go through a 4-5 lecture on the actual chemistry of blended oils. It's a middle of the road option, both in levels of protection and price.
Conventional Oil, dino oil, is the lower grade. It's the cheapest and offers the least (if you will) amount of protection for your engine. The molecules are not uniform, some big, some small and all sizes in between.

In the end, it's all about what YOU want to use. Ford recommends (read uses) 5W20 (or 5W30 in warmer climates) Syn Blend in the Coyote. (I know b/c I asked the Service Manager when we were talking about my free oil changes for life deal). If you choose to run Fully Syn oil, good on you. Brand is all about personal preference. Truthfully, there is no "BEST" motor oil. It's all about what YOU like and what is recommended for YOUR car by the Manufacturer. (I am a firm believer in "manufacturer recommendations". That is how you keep your warranty.

This, again, is a VERY layman explaination as best as I could word it. If you'd like, I could write a book on this crap, w/ the chemistry for you to look though, slide shows etc. It'd probably take me 4-5 weeks to compile and write it all up, for anyone to read in a few hours.

MY $0.02. If you don't agree, fine. Don't flame. Motor Oil is akin to Politics for some people.

 

Just wanted to bump this thread because its great information, be nice if it was stickied. I'm also curious how often mods check this section, I never see mods post in any of the threads.

 

Thanks Maraman for reminding me:

I remembered the 4th major job of motor oil inside the engine.....SEALING!!! It helps seal the combustion chambers. This is why a lot of people w/ VERY high mileage engines use extremely thick oils, like 30w50's etc. (Well that and oil pressure/control issues).

Motor oil also prevents corrosion inside the engine. Ever left bare metal just laying out in the garage w/ out a layer of oil to protect it? (Heck, my truck has such bad oil leaks that there is NO chance of corrosion for the front half of the frame! LOL)

 

Not all synthetic oils are created equal either. This has to do with what base stock (group III, IV or V) was used, which is a topic that I don't fully understand but have been reading about (wikipedia has a decent entry and there is a good discussion going on at S197 that stemmed off a transmission fluid thread).

To the best of my (limited knowledge) the manufacturers that do not use Class III base stocks (not as good as class IV or V and not really a true synthetic) are Amsoil, Redline and Royal Purple.

 

Yes...NOT ALL Synthetic oils are equal. The base-stock quality is key here....in protection and in price!

In MY Opinion....Protection for $ spent....I LOVE the Pennzoil Ultra. Now if they would just make it in 15w40 for my truck!!! Speaking of my Diesel....I prefer the Rotella Diesel Engine oils above ALL others, save for Shafers! Shafers Syn Diesel 15w40 is the ONLY FULLY SYN Diesel oil that I have found that is offered in 15w40....but it is VERY expensive and only available in 5 gallon buckets. ALL others are 5w40....including Penz Ultra. Currently, I'm running Pennzoil Syn Blend 15w40 in the truck.

 

So is Penzoil Ultra group 3 or group 4?

On their website, they did a myth FAQ section, in which they put the following myth up on the chopping block:
Is group 3 inferior to group 4?
Penzoil's answer is: Sometimes group 3 outperforms group 4

My questions to this are:

1) Just how often does group3 outperform group4?
If group4 outperforms group3 more often than group 3 outperforms group4, group4 wins my choice.

2) Just what conditions would have to be present for group3 to outperform group4?
If my vehicle sees those conditions more often than not, then group3 wins my choice.

Sure, these sound like simple if-then logic of black-and-white, but I too am not educated on these so I cannot yet as of this time fathom the grey areas and make decisions under those factors.

 

Truthfully, I have NO idea what group, 3 or 4, Ultra is in.

 

Penzoil is made using group III base stocks from what I have heard. I'm not an oil expert, but what I have read indicates that group IV and V base stock based lubricants are better than all group III base stock based lubricants.

 

I would think that the base stock quality would only come in to play under hard load. Ex: Exceeding the duration of your normal oil changes by quite alot, or extremely spirited driving/towing.