i got a 79 pinto saturday and it needs an oil change pretty bad. i dont have the manual or anything, so can anyone tell me SAE viscosity, API performance and how many quarts im gonna need? thanks :iloveu: :ih8u:
I would assume it would take 5w30, 4-5 quarts of it. Thats a guess though. A solid guess, but still. Oh, and use castrol GTX. It's my favorite oil. Other dino oils pale in comparison, and synthetic oil is overrated.
Yes 5W30 is the best choice, 5 qt with a new filter FL1A.
I like Castrol also.
I must, I'm still using it after 25+ years with the brand, although I run their Syntec Blend and Full Synthetic as a basic starting point in all our cars (and the Syntec Blend 15W 40 Truck) these days. Then add a quart or more of their High Mileage formula as my wife's latest car just hit 207,000 and mine is nudging 200,000.
Anyone who doesn't recongize the benefits of using a synthetic or semisynthetic motor oil of whatever brand, is either really behind the curve these days and needs to do some reading on the subject, or simply doesn't care about fuel mileage and engine longevity and only shops price for oil.
5W-30 wt. oil may be popular now, and is a good, fuel saving choice for more modern cars, with their much closer toleranced engines, but I have my doubts that it was recommended by Ford for the '79 cars, except maybe for extremely cold areas. But I've been wrong before, and the day is still young. (Someone out there MUST have an owner's manual.)
I don't have an owner's manual here, and the cars are all gone, but I seem to remember using 10W 30 in Chicago Winters and 10W 40 in warmer temps. for the 3 Pintos that I owned. ('71, '77, '79). Sometimes it used to be stamped on the engine oil dipstick.
The looser OEM design specifications for an older passenger car production engine usually dictated use of a higher bottom number viscosity oil to maintain a decent oil pressure, especially on a higher mileage engine, although you didn't mention the mileage on yours.
Trust me, I'm not arguing that synthetic is bad, I just think that it isn't half as good as a lot of people say. If you change your oil every 3k like I do, regular dino oil is proven to be just as good as synthetic as far as protection goes. And its been dyno proven to show that synthetics on average have about 0.5% gain in hp. So on a 75hp pinto, you get + .375hp! w00t!
Quote from: joecool85 on July 25, 2006, 07:50:18 PM
Trust me, I'm not arguing that synthetic is bad, I just think that it isn't half as good as a lot of people say. If you change your oil every 3k like I do, regular dino oil is proven to be just as good as synthetic as far as protection goes. And its been dyno proven to show that synthetics on average have about 0.5% gain in hp. So on a 75hp pinto, you get + .375hp! w00t!
It is better when extreme operating conditions warrant it. I work with engines that barely get over 1000 hours before the rings are stuck from cooked oil using conventional oils while the guys I've changed over are still going. To this day the record is over 4000 hours while running the synthetic. Why do I run synthetic? Because I have a tiny little 4.6 pooring it's heart out trying to get my new F-150 extra cab rolling along. since I plan on keeping this thing for several years, I'll stick with the synthetic also. But you have a point with the change oil thing, lack of maintenance is the killer regardless of which oil you choose.
Yeah, you have a good point too. If you have extreme conditions (heat above 100 degrees F or cold below -10 F) frequently, then its good. Or if you are doing really hard work with the motor, IE pulling horse trailers all day, or 1/4 drag strips frequently. But for a regular daily driver, so long as you change the oil often, regular oil is fine. It's funny how people are like, "Well, I run synthetic, so I'll just let it go 10,000 miles." I mean, on regular oil I'll go 3k, if I had synth in my car, I'd probably go 5k but no more than that.
Has anyone found the OEM listed viscosity spec for this guy yet?
By the way, in case anyone is interested, there seems to be some misunderstanding as to what constitutes "extreme or severe operating onditions" as far as engine oil in a passenger vehicle is concerned. At least according to the automakers, who are the ones making the rules about what is and what is not covered under their engine warranties. It actually covers a lot more territory than many people suspect.
Taken directly from one of Ford Motor Company's Scheduled Maintenance Interval sheets.
"Frequent Operation Manintenance (Severe Service)
"If the vehicle is operated under any of the following conditions, it is considered severe service.
-Extremely dusty areas (i.e. dirt/gravel roads)
-50% or more of the vehicle operation is in 32C/90F or higher temperatures, or constant operation below 0C/32F.
-Prolonged idling (vehicle operation in stop and go traffic).
-Frequent short running periods (engine does not warm to normal operating temperatures).
-Police, taxi, delivery usage or trailer towing usage.
Oil and filter-change every 3000 miles.
They go on to list several other Severe Service maintenance items, which have shorter than "normal" intervals due to the Severe Service operation, which I've left off of this.
The short story is, even if all you do is drive in heavy traffic regularly with your car or use it often to run 5-10 minute errands from a cold start, it's considered Severe Service. Not just the obvious trailer towing, racing, and extreme temperature operation stuff. So that probably covers at least 80% of USA's private/passenger vehicles if we're being honest about it.
My 76 Owners manual says to us 5w30 oil if the ambient air temperature is constantly below 32 degrees farenheit. Says to us 10w30 is the temp is constantly negative 10 to positive 90 farenheit. For negative 10 to positive 90 or above, it says 10 wt 40. Consistantly above +10 it says 20w40. Seems kinda messed up to me but ok. I run 10w40 summer and 5w30 winter. Hottest ive knowingly ever seen it here is 104 and the coldest is negative 3. I am in southwest missouri.