3 oil change questions

Sep 17, 2003 3 Replies
M

Changed the oil myself for the first time last night on my '97 XLT with V8. Three comments/questions:


  1. Am I insane and/or stupid (distinct possibilities), or does my owner's manual NOT say how much oil the engine takes? If it does state the engine oil capacity anywhere, please point me to the page -- I'm beggin! (FWIW, I also looked for this info under the hood and didn't find it.) I wound up using about 5 quarts.


  1. The owner's manual DOES say what viscosity I should use: 5W-30. However, the sticker on the radiator crossmember says 10W-30. Sigh. I went with



5W-30, did I guess correctly?


  1. In the oil filter reference book, two possible Fram filters are recommended: standard and metric. I bought both, and the metric filter (a Fram PH2, I believe) was the one that fit. Out of curiosity, does anyone know why the venerable 5.0 would have two different oil-filter necks?



Gracias.


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J
  1. 5 is is about right for the 302. All of your vehicle capacities are listed on one page - check the index at the back of the owners manual for a page called "Capacities".

  1. There should be a chart in the owners manual indicating the best oil for different temperature ranges - been a long, long time since Ford had 10W30 as a first choice. The 5W30 was a good selection.

  2. The 302 without an oil cooler takes the venerable FL1-A. With oil cooler takes the FL820S. While they are likely adequate if you are religious about changing oil, I'm not a big fan of orange filters.

-- Jim Warman snipped-for-privacy@telusplanet.net

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C

Translation, in case you didn't get it .. Throw the FRAM in the garbage, and buy Motorcraft from now on :)

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