Cold starts

slickster

slickster

Get down or lay down
In the morning at about 50deg the motor sounds like it has no oil in it for a sec until the oil travels. Does anyone get this on a cold start. I'm using 5-20 motorcraft it's a light body oil and should not gunk up under cold conditions. I'm starting to think about zmax , would that help. Or is this one reason to store the car for the winter
 
I have an older truck that this happens to , after it warms up it's good to go but that's at like 30-4O outside temps never 50 :(
 
So you're running a semi-synthetic. I'm running full syn just due to that possible engine.

Of course on cold starts all I can hear is that darth vader sound.
 
oh yea more like 30 40 deg.and yes motorcraft filter. the only other thing i can think of is when the car sets for about a week i get a small amount of blue smoke
 
if i cant figure this out im thinking about adding some lucas or parking it for the winter.i dont mind the winter as long as theres no salt down
 
slickster said:
if i cant figure this out im thinking about adding some lucas or parking it for the winter.i dont mind the winter as long as theres no salt down
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Don't use any additives!

A good quality motor oil like Motorcraft or Mobile 1 will have all the needed additives.

My engine does the same thing for a few seconds also.... doesn't matter if it sits for 1 day or 2 weeks.

The noise and puff of smoke if "normal" for our motors.
 
Couple things:

1) Do NOT use ZMAX...it's been proven to be nothing more than coloured mineral oil.

2) Phoebe has been making that sound on cold starts...and I mean from summer temps all the way down to sub-zero in the winter...for every one of the 70,000 miles we've owned her (155,000 now).

You could try a 0W-20 or 0W-30 and see if that changes anything, but quite honestly I wouldn't be overly concerned about it. As far as the occasional puff of blue smoke, that's very common with these engines and means nothing unless it suddenly becomes much more frequent or severe.
 
Mine was always doing this, I felt like it was tearing my heart out till it stopped, last oil change I installed Motorcraft FL820S not a peep since on start up. Supposed to have a check valve to keep oil upstairs to prevent this. Worked for me. Worth a try.
 
Is there a FL820 oil filter too? Need to do and oil change on the SB when it comes back from the body shop. Want to make sure to get the right filter.
 
Wouldn't worry about that noise, at it's pretty much normal for all 4.6L engines based on my experience. I've had two Marquis and a Marauder in my roster, and my dad has a 2003 GT. They all do that on colder starts.

I run 5W20 synblend or full-syn and a FL820S all the time. The one time I used a Fram filter, the startup noise got WAYYYY worse.
 
I have the same noise. Started useing a k&n oil filter with the check valve built into it and I have noticed less noisy cold starts. But any ford over head cam motors make this noise. From taurus to f150 they all make valve noises on cold starts.
 
There was a Dept of Commerce (I believe?) investigation into Zmax and it was actually found to cause more harm than damage to an engine. IIRC it made the oil mix a tad bit more acidic leading to faster bearing wear, I believe that actual investigation link is in a thread here about Zmax somewhere if you care to search for it.
 
Mr. Man said:
Is there a FL820 oil filter too? Need to do and oil change on the SB when it comes back from the body shop. Want to make sure to get the right filter.
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Not unless it's old stock... The FL820S is slightly shorter than original and eases installation slightly, still mostly a PITA...
 
I noticed that I didn't have the startup noise with a 820S filer. My last oil change I went with a Royal Purple filter and I have the noise. I'm ready to switch the filter today.
 
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