My 2010 Fusion SE has 44,500 miles on it. It is the 4cyl. model with a 6 speed manual transmission. I have had the oil changed every 4-5,000 miles, never had any issues. Today when I went in to get the oil changed the guy told me a synthetic blend is required, and he wanted to charge me an extra 20 bucks for the oil change. I looked up in owners man. and it says SAE 5W20 and some Ford nomenclature for the minimum requirements for quality, etc. My question is this, why haven’t any of my other oil changes required an up charge to a more expensive oil? I would have noticed. Does this car really need synthetic blend, and if so, is it really better than conventional oil? Have my previous oil changed damaged the car?
Motorcraft SAE 5W-20 Premium Synthetic Blend Motor Oil (US)
Motorcraft SAE 5W-20 Full Synthetic Motor Oil (US)
Note: Use of synthetic or synthetic blend motor oil is not mandatory. Engine oil need only meet the requirements of Ford specification WSS-M2C930-A and the API Certification mark.
This is what the owners manual shows;
To protect your engine and engine’s warranty, use Motorcraft SAE
5W-20 or an equivalent SAE 5W-20 oil meeting Ford specification
WSS-M2C930-A. SA
You can check if the oil you have been using meets Ford specification WSS-M2C930-A if you know what brand and type was used.
The owners manual will specify the correct oil that’s to be used in the engine.
You have to remember that a synthetic blend oil doesn’t reflect the ratio of regular oil to the synthetic oil. So the synthetic blend oil can only be as good as its lesser component. Which is the regular oil.
Sounds like a high quality conventional 5W-20 will work. The blend only costs $3 more than regular for a 5-qt jug at Walmart, $20 seems real high. Was this a quicky lube kind of place?
Okay, so pretend I’m completely ignorant, but what does “WSS-M2C930-A” actually mean? I figure a conventional motor oil could easily fit that requirement correct?
The Motorcraft is good quality oil. I used it in my Mazda CX-9 (Ford engine) and made my startup valve clatter go away. As mentioned, it is $17 in Walmart for a 5qt jug; the Supertech (Walmart brand) regular oil is $12 per 5 qt. So the price should not be much different in the store.
One slightly confusing thing is that it appears the WSS-M2C930-A spec has been replaced by the WSS-M2C945-A spec, which a regular 5W-20 like Castrol GTX meets (it doesn’t list the older spec). Clear as mud?
Okay guys, I got it! I just need to check the spec number before getting it changed from now on. I still find it odd no one ever tried to charge me more before or brought this up. Adding to my “problems”, this car takes more than 5 quarts! Oh the humanity! Turns out my local Tires Plus store has synthetic blend Kendall motor oil change for 19.99, plus 1.50 for the over 5 quarts. Looks like a decent bargain to me.
I think you just met up with a hard working oil changer who wants to increase your bill so the company can make more money. Ford knows best. Do what they tell you.
My Ford dealer daily 29.95 oil change …IS…synthetic blend oil. That’s all Motorcraft sells for our day-to-day. We have full sythetic ( in bottles ) too but no straight dino oil for the last 10 years (Where are you getting plain dino oil these days ? THAT’S actually the harder to find.). The synth blend is in 550 bulk tanks that the quick lube pumps right into the car from the guns that hang from the ceiling.
so …
He’s right that it takes that oil.
He’s WRONG that it costs extra ! ! !
Sounds to me that…others have been doing it right all along and THIS dude is out to get you.
The Tires Plus deal sounds great to me ,or…Check your dealer for their every-day prices, you may be surprised.
( an odd factoid of the business…all the coupon specials are written around the old 5 quart norm…but these days so few take merly five quarts )
I don’t know if this is true but what I have been told before. Many conventional oils, especially thinner ones such as 5W20, are actually a slight synthetic blend. They don’t advertise them as such but this is how they get them to meet the specifications required by modern engines? Is this true or just a load of …? GM has the DEXOS spec, Ford has the ones listed here. From what I understand it is harder and harder for a pure conventional oil to meet all these specs so a small amount of synthetic makes it work.
The conventional oil sold at Costco . . . Texaco, I believe . . . does not state that it meets the Ford spec or GM’s spec for conventional oil
I’m not talking Dexos, by the way
A lot of the pre-Dexos GM owner’s manuals listed a spec that was supposed to be met
Many, but not all of the conventional oils list that GM spec, on the label
Store brands typically do not, for what it’s worth. I think if they met that spec, they would be proud to state that fact . . .
But I also don’t think anything bad is going to happen if you use conventional 5w20 that does not list that Ford spec on the label
it’s better to do regular oil changes with conventional 5w20 not meeting that ford spec, versus not changing your oil regularly, and accumulating sludge . . . in my opinion
I have noticed that the store brands often don’t meet DEXOS and similar specs. I also understand it costs quite a bit of money to obtain the licensing for those specs. These oils may or may not be the same as something else with the licensing. One thing I have read about people doing is sending in samples of virgin oil for analysis to see what is really in them. The common reason for doing this is to see if it is a Group 3 or 4 synthetic oil.