All Small Six Maintenance Recomendations?

[R_Calris]

As I have posted earlier: I am restoring a 1982 Ford Fairmont Futura that came with the 200 I6.

I recently found an owner's manual for the car, and it contained a maintenance schedule. most things listed are similar to what one would expect for a 1982 model ford. changing out brake fluid/transmission fluid/rear-end oil every two years regardless of mileage; changing out spark plugs/air filter/ignition cap/rotor every 20K miles.
however something caught my attention, and in today's marketing market would scream 'that's wrong'. I guess I just want verification.

in the owner's manual, the recommended oil was 40. not 5W-40 like you would see for a modern diesel engine, just 40. the other weird thing was the oil change interval was 6 months or 6K miles, whichever comes last (not first).

it struck me weird, and decided to come ask you guys. we believe the engine has less than 100K miles on it (hard to verify with a 5 digit OD, but wear patterns show around 75K miles on the engine). any assistance would be appreciated.

 

[bubba22349]

First your right about changes and marketing. I forget when Ford started the 6 months or 6000 miles oil change schedule but think it was during the mid to late 1960's. But like many things you should take it with a grain of salt though it certainly won't hurt to use those recomedations it just will increase your Maintance costs some. I don't think there were any 5W 40W oils made in 1982 and a 200 Ford Six certainly isn't a tight tolerance engine like the more modern engines of today so we never would want to do a direct comparison to them either in the type of oil to use, I personally wouldn't ever want to use a 5W 40W in one. Your local weather conditions and air temps have some effect on oils that you would use, to to me an engine that is in very good condistion still even that straight 40 weight recomendation is a bit to high. During most of my lifetime we only had single weight oils I used a srraight 30 weight Valveolene in most all my engines in the SoCal area were its mostly warm year around, but the Muti weight oils are a great improvement. A 20 W 50W might be very good but again i dont know enough of all your details to say for sure So to set up a maintenance scheduel if you want first look at how you use that Fairmont if you don't drive many miles than an oil change of once or twice a year might work for you or else many change oils at 2500 to 3000 miles. I change my ATF by its color and smell as one example, heat can deteriorate the ATF quickly. Best of luck

 

[B RON CO]

Hi, for a very long time I have used Castrol GTX 10W-40 oil in all of my classic cars. I would change the oil and filter every 3000 miles. Now I change the oil and filter every spring, running between 1000 and 2000 miles each car. Now I get the Castrol synthetic blend in the green jug. This has worked out great for me.
As Bubba mentioned, straight weight motor oil is made for a specific temperature, and is not an all season oil.
I know guys like 10W-30 and that is recommended for many engines, I just have my preference.
As far as Castrol oil is concerned, it is a premium brand name company. Many other top notch companies make high quality oil.
Good luck

 

[78_200_C4]

Last summer I ran some thin multiweight oil in my 200. The oil pressure would drop about 20 lbs when the brakes were applied. I was running a 205 thermostat due to making mostly short trips and wanted to get the oil hot. I changed the oil to 40 weight and never had another pressure drop when applying the brakes.

 

[R_Calris]

the three local auto parts stores all recommended 5W-30 oil, and an interval of 6-months or 3000 mi, whichever is first. (Napa, O'riley's, Autozone), and like B RON CO stated, they also recommended synthetic blended oils. each of them noting that the 200 series SB-6's were originally intended for generator engines, and then minor changes were made to put them into passenger cars. AZ was the only one that didn't stress to not bypass the EGR valve during the convo, with the other two citing that the EGR assists in preventing cyl 1 & 6 from running too lean at speed.

I figured you guys would like to know what was currently being passed around, and possibly get an idea of how closely I should follow the advice of a retail location.

 

[78_200_C4]

I would not run light multi weight oil without building an oil pan baffle too prevent the oil pickup from sucking air when braking. The Fairmont pan may not have this problem. An oil pressure drop may not be noticed if running an idiot light or an electric oil gauge.
I believe that many Fairmont 200 oil pick tube mounts break where it mounts to a main bolt-stud. The pickup screen may be resting on the bottom of the pan.
The pickup tube mount was broken on the Fairmont 200 engine that I put in my Falcon (before I changed the pan + pickup to a 1965).
All Fleet 15W-40 diesel (+ gas) engine oil will work in an older vehicle. Tractor Supply Traveller, Shell Rotella or ?.

 

[powerband]

"1982 Ford Fairmont Futura that came with the 200 I6. .. found an owner's manual for the car,,, owner's manual, the recommended oil was 40"

"local auto parts stores all recommended 5W-30 -also recommended synthetic -... 200...originally intended for generator engines, - ... citing that the EGR assists in preventing cyl 1 & 6 from running too lean at speed. - .... how closely I should follow the advice of a retail location." ... ( really ? ! )

Most older cars not used as 'daily drivers' should survive any 'modern' oil. As mentioned, a favorite is a 15-40 "Diesel" or "Fleet" multigrade like Rotella or Delron, Shell etc.. - available in box stores and still has some of the good stuff for old "generator engines".

(please check your 'owners manual' schedule again , can u post a pic ?)

have fun

'generator engines..'. , cool!'

.

 

[78_200_C4]

"1982 Ford Fairmont Futura that came with the 200 I6. .. found an owner's manual for the car,,, owner's manual, the recommended oil was 40"

"local auto parts stores all recommended 5W-30 -also recommended synthetic -... 200...originally intended for generator engines, - ... citing that the EGR assists in preventing cyl 1 & 6 from running too lean at speed. - .... how closely I should follow the advice of a retail location." ... ( really ? ! )

Most older cars not used as 'daily drivers' should survive any 'modern' oil. As mentioned, a favorite is a 15-40 "Diesel" or "Fleet" multigrade like Rotella or Delron, Shell etc.. - available in box stores and still has some of the good stuff for old "generator engines".

(please check your 'owners manual' schedule again , can u post a pic ?)

have fun

'generator engines..'. , cool!'

.

I don't believe the 200 ford engine evolved from a generator engine. The 144 and 170 automobile engine came first. Many modern light oils are designed for gas mileage not antiwear properties on older or new new engines. If the new car engine achieves the required gas mileage standards and makes if off the warranty period the oil good enough for the automobile manufacturers to recommend it.

 

[78_200_C4]

Haynes F150 1980 1995 manual

 

[R_Calris]

seeing that chart made me go look for one. I think this is a decent article as well as a chart that explains whats going on, especially to those, like me, who have had difficulty understanding oil-weights.

Oil

most important property of a lubricant. Understanding viscosity can help reduce wear, improve fuel economy, and make more horsepower.

www.motorstate.com

 

[78_200_C4]

The "W" after the first number is for 'Winter'.
According to the Haynes manual 15W is good down to + 10F.
Tractor Supply Traveller SAE 15W-40 Premium All Fleet Diesel Engine Oil
The results of the Cold Cranking Viscosity test conducted on this sample meet the requirements of SAE J300.
Zinc, ppb 1,181

PETROLEUM QUALITY INSTITUTE OF AMERICA TEST PROGRAM

The Petroleum Quality Institute of America (PQIA) is an independent resource for information and insights on the quality of lubricants in the marketplace. Our mission is to serve the consumer of lubricants by randomly sampling and independently testing lubricants taken from the field. Test...

www.pqiadata.org

Traveller 15W-40 can be purchased for $29.99 in 2.5 gallon jugs good for 2 oil-filter changes.
Shell Rotella T4 Triple Protection 15W-40 Conventional Heavy Duty Diesel Motor Oil, 2.5 gallons is $36.99 at Tractor Supply.

 

[65coupei6]

I love these conversations. Everyone has their own preference.

I now always use Mobil 1 15W50. It has zinc and you can buy it anywhere.

 

[78_200_C4]

Mobil 1 15W50 sounds like good oil to use. 5 quarts is more expensive than a 2.5 gallon jug of Shell or Traveller 15W40.

​

 

[chad]

I'm w/the rotella guys (ZDDP). Standard for our thriftpower motors was 30 I think. 10W 30 may have come in after when the industry advanced. I use the T4 10W 30 (@ 19$ for the big jug). B4 they wanted a stretched oil change schedule (10K oils for the enviornment) & close tolerances there was no full syn, or part and 3K or 6 mo whichever 1st. If that's not in an owner's manual from the day my memory has shifted thru 50 yrs of practice (w/o problems - a slanty-6 got 300K) it is so w/my age (7th decade soon).

https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/oil-for-my-69-mustang-302.245066/ (guy's da bomb on oils.)

Wasn't the fairmont a double sump (w/bigun in frnt)?

Dorman 264-022 Dorman Oil Pans | Summit Racing

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[78_200_C4]

The Fairmont oil pan was double sump (with broken pickup tube mount). The Fairmont pan might be could for a Mustang II front end conversion on an early Mustang-Falcon with a small six. The small front sump was for oil pump clearance. It can't be drained.

 

[bubba22349]

As a side note: Site member "FTF" posted several years back that in testing it was found that you can get most all of the benefits of the Synthetic oils by just adding 1 quart synthetic oil along with your conventional oil.