My car has 216000 miles and going up fast since I drive Uber in it. I have 3 questions.
Engine oil that I use is 0W-20 Synthetic,
1. Should I use the Lucas synthetic oil at every oil change (tho it does not burn oil/leak oil)
2. At 5000 miles the engine oil is still clean (synthetic 0w-20) and looks brand new. although you highly recommend to change oil at 5000 I want to push it to 10000 miles. Should I with the (lucas) additive or without it?
3. Or should I just do 5000 mile oil change with 5w-30 regular oil which is heavier? (since the miles are high now)
2016 Ford Fusion S Hybrid
1. Use the oil that meets the spec recommended in the owners manual. Usually, the big name brands will meet the spec.
2. 5000 miles is an interval I hear most mechanics recommend. 10000 I hear from manufacturers, dealers, and spokespersons.
3. Use the weight recommended in the owners manual.
1. Should I use the Lucas synthetic oil at every oil change (tho it does not burn oil/leak oil)
If there are no problems, then don't use additives. There are really no mechanics in a bottle. My 1999 Ranger has 285,000 miles, it weeps oil from the rear main. Not enough to drip to the ground. The only thing I put in the engine is Pennzoil Platinum 5W-30. Additives aren't necessary if you pick a quality motor oil. If a seal is broken, it's going to leak. Additives do nothing. AT-205 can swell intact, hardened seals, but that's it.
2. At 5000 miles the engine oil is still clean (synthetic 0w-20) and looks brand new. although you highly recommend to change oil at 5000 I want to push it to 10000 miles.
This is a bad idea on a high mileage car. Engine oil and filters are cheap, engine work (especially on hybrids) is extremely expensive. You should be changing the engine oil more frequently as the mileage increases. I religiously change my truck's oil every 5k miles, and I drive mainly highway and country (roughly 300 miles a week). I doubt it "looks brand new", oil in every engine turns black from the contaminants the detergents pick up. Even more so in high mileage engines.
3. Or should I just do 5000 mile oil change with 5w-30 regular oil which is heavier? (since the miles are high now)
Also a terrible, terrible idea. The engine was designed for 0W-20, which is very thin and watery oil. 5W-30 is a relatively heavy oil that most lawn equipment and older cars from the 80s and 90s use. Putting that in your engine will wear it out and cause it to start using oil, the engineers designed it for 0W-20, use a high mileage formulation if you want, that car isn't an old GM or Ford V8 that will run on anything from 10W-30 to 20W-50. Old cars had much more liberal tolerances and used much stiffer piston rings, requiring heavy oil to keep lubricated. You can squeeze the piston rings in your engine with your bare hands, the piston rings in a 1965 Mustang would need special tools to put pistons back in the engine. Stick to what is in your owner's manual, and only use that. Engineers know what they're doing.
