Ford 7.3 Powerstroke is 5W-40 Oil Worth it? 

oops haha You are correct thank you.

That's it

*hydraulic

Same,, love the 6 speed

It doesn't get all that cold in NC, so if it made a difference for you then I'm wondering if there was another issue going on. I would suspect a stiction problem. When you did your oil change, did you also change the HPOP reservoir?

I have a 2003 7.3 255,000 miles on it. I live in ND where it gets down to -37 sometimes. I switched to Rotella's full synthetic oil. Well, I'm here to tell you it made a HUGE difference in the way it starts and runs I also put a quart of 2-stroke oil in my fuel at every fill up just because any diesel made before 06 I believe is not designed for the ultra low sulfur fuel. Anyway, the synthetic oil definitely helps fire up the 7.3 easier in our extreme temps.

maingun07 yes I did the HPOP reservoir also. Don’t think it was a Stiction issue but anytime the truck sat for several days and it was below say 35* it would run my batteries down just trying to start it. Now I heat the glow plugs about three turns of the key and then she fires right up and purrs like a lion. Lol

1snabean, check to make sure your GPR is functioning properly. I would suspect that is bad or you have some bad plugs in the mix.

Living On Wheels GPR?

No doubt about that take care of your engine Nd it’ll take care of you idk how many people’s asses I’ve dragged in a pull off in the mud while rolling coal just dragging them all over the place through it Nd those fucking dodge guys talk all that shit about how they could pull a house down when they couldn’t even pull me through some mud they didn’t take care of their motors soo they got dragged it was like I was pulling a Chihuahua back ona leash dragging them backwards while their giving it everything that truck had but in the end they blew the bitch upnd that’s when I let upon their dodge cuz they were screaming Nd looked like they threw it in neutral lmfao man

chyeabrah I’ve been thinking of switching over to T-6... 99 F250 170,000 miles. I probably do it before the end of the year.

Can I run T6 5/40 all year including hot summer months ?

That seems to be what i've been hearing!

260? It's just broken in now!

Do you run T6 all summer too?

Glad to hear it 👍🏻

Much appreciated man!

I have heard of some people doing that. Maybe I'll have to give it a try sometime.

I think you will be happy with there products

Jarrod Hudson do you notice a difference using Amsoil? Rotella has a 10w30 you cannot do extended oil change intervals in these trucks due to high shearing of the oil, and from what I can tell T6 and signature series are about the same quality. I do recommend using Amsoil coolant boost in your coolant ( quicker warm up, runs cooler in higher temps). I use Amsoil for my gassers, Rotella in my 6.0 Diesel

@@bikerdog2b I've noticed a difference in start ups and better fuel mileage with amsoil I still change my oil every 5k. I also run there oil Bypass system. This Bypass system I recommend for your 6.0 extra insurance.

I cant say the T6 will fix it but it should definitively help with the cold starts! Also, check to make sure your GPR is functioning properly. It's very easy to check.

​ Living On Wheels Yeah, that's the first thing I checked. Then I pulled the harness at each bank and did a resistance test on each glow plug. All were in spec except for #8 which was open. Haven't pulled the valve cover so I don't know if it's in fact the glow plug or if it's the wiring harness. It's possible the GPR isn't kicking out enough juice, but it clicks just fine and it's not getting hot as if the points are burnt so I doubt it. What worries me more is the blow by. Like I said, it's not horrible or I wouldn't have bought her, but it ain't helping. I know the T6 will help with the HEUI injectors, but I'm hoping that it will also help the piston rings seal enough to build enough compression to start in cold weather. I live rural on the High Plains so I need a truck to get around in the snow and both my C20 and the Tacoma (both gassers) are deadlined. Guess I'll just have to cross my fingers and see.

maingun07 I drive a 1999 six speed F250. She was a farm truck for her first 11 years, then I bought her because it was a good deal (don’t really need this big of a truck). The mileage is only 170,000 but she works hard to start below 50*. When temps get below 30* like they did last night, she has got to be plugged in. I’ve been thinking about switching over too. . . My main concern would be with mixing oil type and grade. Given the fact that during a simple oil drain and filter change, there is about 3 quarts that are held thru out the High Pressure Oiling system... it can be pressurized and pushed out, but seldom does anyone do this. So my question I need to answer before trying it is: Can we run synthetic 5w-40 all seasons and not just as a winter blend?

Living On Wheels ... what are your thoughts on running synthetic 5w-40 year round?

@@HarrisonCountyStudio When I change the oil, I also change the top oil as well. It's true that the HPOP oil mixes with the rest of the oil system, but it's a very slow process. On top of the HPOP reservoir is a plug. Remove that and suck or siphon about a quart out. Fill it with fresh oil. Put the plug back in and run it for a min. Repeat it twice more and the oil in there should be fairly clean. I wouldn't worry about mixing the oil with different grades and types. It shouldn't hurt anything. Coolant is where you need to worry. There are chemicals suspended in the different types of coolant that don't work well together and can cause things to come out of suspension and clog stuff up or worse. But although the different motor oil manufacturers put different additives and detergents in their oils, they're generally inert detergents that won't hurt anything. I've got a '99 as well, an F350 crew cab dually. My towing needs have gone up through the years and my poor old '74 C20 just can't keep up. The '99 is a different animal than the rest, something that I wish that I knew about before I bought her. There's the early '99 (E99) and the late '99 (L99). It took Ford a year to retool their factories from the old body style (OBS) to the Super Duty (SD). That's why there's no '98s. The first trucks to roll off the line did not have all of the modifications done to it that the trucks later in the year had, most notably engine and front suspension. The E99, of which mine is, has a smaller turbo, a 120V injector controller instead of 240V, slightly different injectors, and a few other minor differences. The biggest issue with general maintenance is the coolant. If you have an E99, stay far away from the extended life coolants (ELC). The gaskets and seals in the E99 are not built to handle the additives and will get eaten up. If you have an E99, you can bring it up to L99 standard. It's pricey, but not hard. The coolant seals are really the only thing that I can think of off hand that will call for extensive engine work.

Synthetic?

Same here. Central Maine. T6 5w40 in the winter. T5 15w40 in the other 4 months

Yes it does, it doesn't get real cold where I live but I have used it on my 7.3 and it definitely helped and would run smoother with a little warmth in her.

What happens when you have to park the truck in a spot with no plug in for 8 hrs. Yeah you run synthetic in the winter and save your self the headache

Block heaters only work when I leave my electrified home and drive to the job site. However, block heaters do nothing when it is time to go home as the sites I work on have no angry pixies to harness to run the 800w block heater. I might try this 5w40 trick because I hate spraying starter fluid (which I normally do) OR going through 10-15 starting / glow plug cycles before it finally starts.

Obviously not running a diesel.

@@stevedresen8497 right

@@stevedresen8497 hi mate I'm a diesel mechanic in Australia and know for a fact that you can have clean oil in a diesel and if it's dirty it needs changing more often I have a 7.3 f250 and a pa5t ranger and both never have dirty oil it's changed every 5-7000 kms depending on how it looks probably a bit of overkill but oils cheap compared to engine work 👍

It may not completely solve all the cold start issues but I would put money on that you’ll notice a difference going to 5w40.

Dang. She’s getting spoiled haha

Living On Wheels hell yea haha she turns over with a breath on the key 119,xxx miles, love your videos and your truck 🤙🏻🤙🏻

And it’s the same year as yours, ‘00 got the forged rods oh yea!

You are correct. The reason I chose to compare these two is because these are to two most common oils you see people running and I wanted to show the reason as to why people in colder climates run the 5w40

DANG thats some long intervals! I'll be getting Blackstone labs done on this T6 at around 7,000 and see what they say.

TBN?

@@Pack044 Total Base Number basically when the TBN hits zero, it’s time to change your oil.

@@LivingOnWheels Yea it’s the recommended interval by Ram/Cummins I didn’t like that so I installed an oil bypass system

yeah I think you take the cake for cold. What temps do you start plugging in at?

Living On Wheels my 2000 excursion as well as my 95 F350 didn’t like the cold much so anything much below 0 they had to be plugged in. Usually around 32*F I’ll keep them plugged in. My 99F450 will still fire up at -25 not plugged in, it doesn’t like it and I’ve only done it when someone has unplugged it but good batteries and it’s always fired up for me🤞

@@RCRCustoms Just goes to show what a well maintained 7.3 can do!

Living On Wheels my 01 F450 parts truck is the same way. Ex wrecker we’ll maintained drive train a a new (427xxx) power plant for my excursion, whenever time allows that is LOL

personally I wouldn't go below 5w40 even in that cold may be too thin for longevity of turbo etc once at operating temp those of us with Jeep CRDs have found that out the hard way

5w40 is full synthetic. So I would say it is better in all conditions

That is one of the videos I plan on getting done for these next couple weeks!

@@LivingOnWheels Great, I've been waiting on it!

Haha I plan on switching back to T4 after winter on the next oil change. We will see...

I am not sure if they are mixable or not or how well all that would work out. I change my oil every 3-4 months so it works out perfect for me but I totally get what you are saying. If you are only doing one oil change a year I would just run the T6 personally.

They can be mixed it wont hurt anything... I normally change mine once or twice a yr depending on mileage. And normally use the rotilla t6 or r4 depends on what's on sale... but this last time I did all the fluids in the whole truck with amsoil, was expensive but I like to treat the old truck once in a while

I think you’d be totally fine with 15w40 year round bug that doesn’t mean your truck won’t like synthetic

I honestly don’t know enough about it to give a good opinion.

They wouldn’t love it haha. Im sure it’d start with the block heater. A strait cold start would be tougher. Most guys I’ve heard that live in conditions like that with these trucks just don’t shut them off. I’ve heard many many stories of guys up north that run their trucks for weeks or months on end. Just let them idle overnight. Side note if you get one please send me a video of it starting up at those temps! I would love to put that on the channel haha.

hahaha I dig the analogy.

Im not sure why it would be

Stay tuned! It should be revealed VERY soon!

I think in colder environments the synthetic definitely helps. I will be switching back to regular 15w40 on my next change now that the weather is warming up.

If you have the original injectors they could be getting worn out.

Change the oil in the HPOP, you can pull one qt out, fill with one qt T6 15-40. They will quiet down. Do that every oil change, there's 3 qts top end separate from engine to run injectors, not many people know this.

The oil fill is the allen screw on top of hpop.

@@johnoehrlein8379 oh the almighty controversial HPOP oil change haha.

@@LivingOnWheels Yes sir original injectors.

You have the luxury of skipping to whatever part of the video you want.

@@LivingOnWheels I would like to see you get more viewers. It's meant to be constructive criticism.

I appreciate it. It is a constant battle between too much talking in the videos or trying to answer a bunch of questions in the comments.

Scott Rivett that’s what I run in my Ram too!

hahaha dont you put that evil on me! Those just see to keep appearing over the years.

Tried and true

What happens if you have to park it for a few hours without a plug in

Jeff Ewing T6 and Amsoil are about equal in Diesel oil I use whichever one is cheaper at the time you cannot run extended oil change intervals in these trucks due to shear anyway.

Interesting. This is the first time ive heard this.

Ask any cat mechanic they'll tell you

Living On Wheels when Amsoil did a blind test T4 is even better then Mobil delvac, T6 is superior

Maybe they did but for every blind test done that says rotella is the best there is another that says it ain't. Cat uses delvac for a reason. Paccar factory fills with delo which is what I recommend as a professional diesel tech. But the proof is in the pudding with 25 years of experience the only cam failures I see in Caterpillar overhead cam engines are when the engine has used rotella. I'm not going to recommend it for starting a campfire

I’ve had great luck with Rotella.