So What Engine Oil Are Y'all Running/Planning on Running?

[Arsenall11]

Royal Purple here

Sponsored

 

[They Call Me Bruce]

Can anyone confirm which one of these UPR oil drain plugs fit the 2.7l engine in our Rangers.
Or is the answer, Both, ones a new version maybe?
2.7l Bronco or 2.7l Mustang/ f150
Thanks for any clarification.

 

[josephp732]

Can anyone confirm which one of these UPR oil drain plugs fit the 2.7l engine in our Rangers.
Or is the answer, Both, ones a new version maybe?
2.7l Bronco or 2.7l Mustang/ f150
Thanks for any clarification.

Both. I have the second one, the one with the red cap and ball valve. Works great as you can easily control the flow of the oil.

 

[They Call Me Bruce]

Thanks for the quick reply, I'll be doing the same.

 

[Lion77]

I will say this, remember with the 2.7L and 3.0L, the oil pump is BELT driven, not chain driven. So make sure whatever oil your using meets Ford's spec because that includes belt compatibility! You don't want to risk and additive that will degrade your oil pump belt life.

There's a ton of 2.7L's in F-150's with 200k to 300k on them for sale in my area, so I'm not suggesting the belts are an issue for oil pump applications overall, but don't be "that guy" that used an oil that wasn't compatible and ends up with a Found On Road Dead Ranger at 150k because your belt failed prematurely due to oil compatibility issues....

The last oil change I did with Motorcraft Full Synthetic now lists their FS as GF-7A, so they updated the oil formulation (or it was good enough before to meet the GF-7A spec and they just recertified, which is what Valvoline did) for the new standard.

GF-6 was really the first Forced Induction spec oil in the US (became standard around 2018-2020). GF-5 was still a legacy spec optimized around NA engines and was a big culprit in Ecoboost timing chain wear issues, LSPI and oil coking of the turbo bearings.

GF-6 addressed those issues quite a bit and GF-7A is an improvement further, but the biggest thing I'm seeing with GF-7A is

1. LSPI testing on dirty oil, not just fresh oil. So, they now have to pass LSPI resistance testing over the entire change interval.

2. Cold cranking viscosity upper limit went down by 33% from 60,000 cst to 40,000 cst. For those of us that live in 4-seson states, that's a big advantage for cold start wear and will improve wear over the life of the engine. Also makes startup on those super cold -10F days a bit easier.

GF-7A enhances timing chain wear and a few other things, but not much over GF-6, I think the LSPI and CCV is really the big ones with the new spec.

 

[josephp732]

I will say this, remember with the 2.7L and 3.0L, the oil pump is BELT driven, not chain driven. So make sure whatever oil your using meets Ford's spec because that includes belt compatibility! You don't want to risk and additive that will degrade your oil pump belt life.

There's a ton of 2.7L's in F-150's with 200k to 300k on them for sale in my area, so I'm not suggesting the belts are an issue for oil pump applications overall, but don't be "that guy" that used an oil that wasn't compatible and ends up with a Found On Road Dead Ranger at 150k because your belt failed prematurely due to oil compatibility issues....

The last oil change I did with Motorcraft Full Synthetic now lists their FS as GF-7A, so they updated the oil formulation (or it was good enough before to meet the GF-7A spec and they just recertified, which is what Valvoline did) for the new standard.

GF-6 was really the first Forced Induction spec oil in the US (became standard around 2018-2020). GF-5 was still a legacy spec optimized around NA engines and was a big culprit in Ecoboost timing chain wear issues, LSPI and oil coking of the turbo bearings.

GF-6 addressed those issues quite a bit and GF-7A is an improvement further, but the biggest thing I'm seeing with GF-7A is

1. LSPI testing on dirty oil, not just fresh oil. So, they now have to pass LSPI resistance testing over the entire change interval.

2. Cold cranking viscosity upper limit went down by 33% from 60,000 cst to 40,000 cst. For those of us that live in 4-seson states, that's a big advantage for cold start wear and will improve wear over the life of the engine. Also makes startup on those super cold -10F days a bit easier.

GF-7A enhances timing chain wear and a few other things, but not much over GF-6, I think the LSPI and CCV is really the big ones with the new spec.

I’m with you on this—I went pretty deep down the rabbit hole on oil selection for these engines.

I actually spent a good amount of time looking at Red Line Oil, and while I like their formulations - I use it in my 4Runner with a 1GR-FE, I started to get concerned about how an ester-heavy oil might interact with the oil-wet belt over the long term. That was really the tipping point for me. I ended up going with a PAO-based oil, which (at least on paper) seems like a safer bet from a seal and belt compatibility standpoint.

Like you said, the belt-in-oil design changes the equation—you’re not just thinking about bearings and wear anymore, you’ve got to consider material compatibility as part of the oil decision. It’s one of those areas where “better” oil chemistry isn’t always better for this specific application.

Also worth noting: Ford does call for the oil pump belt replacement at around 150k miles, so even under ideal conditions it’s a maintenance item—not truly “lifetime.”

Agree with your point on specs too. Between GF-6 and now GF-7A, a lot of the turbo-specific issues (LSPI, timing chain wear, deposits) have been addressed, but the belt compatibility piece is kind of the quiet variable in the background that doesn’t get talked about enough.

Bottom line for me: stick with an oil that clearly meets Ford spec and doesn’t introduce unknowns with the wet belt system. Not worth being the test case.

 

[Bill W]

PAO is very non-polar for a base oil and is usually mixed with another base oil more polar (ester, or whatever) that allows the additive package to blend.
I like the motor oil geek for info. His business is UOA. There is not one oil that is perfect at everything, so many good choices. Here are some good oils that are different from each other in formula.


Oh, my oil is PUP 5w30

 

[Buellsox]

AMSOIL now but have good luck in the past with Pennzoil Platinum. The Pennzoil I used to have to run out and get. The AMSOIL directs ships to me from AMSOIL. That alone is worth the extra couple bucks. And I’ve always got a case of filters on the shelf.

 

[purdyd]

AMSOIL now but have good luck in the past with Pennzoil Platinum. The Pennzoil I used to have to run out and get. The AMSOIL directs ships to me from AMSOIL. That alone is worth the extra couple bucks. And I’ve always got a case of filters on the shelf.

You can order pennzoil online and it gets delivered. Just saying. …

 

[Bill W]

You can order pennzoil online and it gets delivered. Just saying. …

WalMart 5 qt PUP is $26.50 and Amazon has it three 5 qt. slightly cheaper per jug. Personally am a dollar miser.

 

[minn19]

I’ve used Redline oil for years and just recently in my 24 Bronco Raptor. The Euro-Series 5W-30 meets Ford’s M2C961-A1 requirements. I may look at Mobil1 for the updated requirements mentioned in another post. Will do 5k for changes after break-in oil change.

Not too concerned about it as all of these oils are excellent nowadays as long as you use the correct oil per Ford’s requirements and change it regularly of course based on usage. I think people go down this rabbit hole way too much. Aside from having many different personal cars over the years and doing fleet management for two decades…….I’ve only seen a couple break downs that were possibly oil related. There are plenty of things that go wrong that has nothing to do wit’s the type of oil used.

 

[josephp732]

I’ve used Redline oil for years and just recently in my 24 Bronco Raptor. The Euro-Series 5W-30 meets Ford’s M2C961-A1 requirements. I may look at Mobil1 for the updated requirements mentioned in another post. Will do 5k for changes after break-in oil change.

Not too concerned about it as all of these oils are excellent nowadays as long as you use the correct oil per Ford’s requirements and change it regularly of course based on usage. I think people go down this rabbit hole way too much. Aside from having many different personal cars over the years and doing fleet management for two decades…….I’ve only seen a couple break downs that were possibly oil related. There are plenty of things that go wrong that has nothing to do wit’s the type of oil used.

As an FYI - the Red Line Professional Series 5W30TD EURO Motor Oil meet the spec. This oil series is a Group III/Group IV PAO base stock oil. The Red Line Performance Euro-Series 5W30 Motor Oil is an Ester/PAO based oil that does not meet Ford's spec.

 

[minn19]

As an FYI - the Red Line Professional Series 5W30TD EURO Motor Oil meet the spec. This oil series is a Group III/Group IV PAO base stock oil. The Red Line Performance Euro-Series 5W30 Motor Oil is an Ester/PAO based oil that does not meet Ford's spec.

I’ll look at that as well. Under the OEM compatibility tab it says the Performance Euro Series 5W-30 meets Ford’s WSS-M2C961-A1.

https://www.redlineoil.com/euro-series-5w30-motor-oil

 

[Bill W]

its funny you mention that but supertech actually scored very high in the oil tests on one of the youtube web sites. its actually a very decent oil.

Made by Warren oil, also like Kirkland. Was looking at if it had the WSS Ford approval, I could not find it.

 

[Sparky62]

Made by Warren oil, also like Kirkland. Was looking at if it had the WSS Ford approval, I could not find it.

Kirkland meets the WSS-M2C961-A1 , but I haven't seen the newer WSS-M2C971-A1 spec listed yet.

Sponsored