I regret it has taken me a while to get to 3 of 3 of this series. Also, I’m quite surprised; my Save Your Hands post has proven quite popular with some comments still coming. I’m glad it has been a benefit to some readers.
I have been on a few forums over the years and there’s usually some difference of opinion regarding oil and particularly pros and cons of synthetic oil compared with regular oil or “Dino Juice.”
I am firmly in the synthetic oil corner. Usually these discussions are around various opinions but as W Edwards Deming famously said, “In God we trust, all others bring data.” So here is some data to back up my opinion:
I posted my comments here regarding changing out the camshaft position sensor on March 12th 2008. My ’04 Taurus (Vulcan) had approximately 85K at that time.
I purchased the car in ’05 with about 30K. It had been a fleet vehicle driven by a pharmaceutical rep. I have no idea where or how it was driven but it was in nice condition and appeared to have been well cared for. I drove it for my personal business and put interstate miles on it. I don’t beat my cars but I don’t drive them easy either. I don’t know what type of oil the fleet maintenance people used but I had the car serviced with regular oil changes at the local Ford dealer. I think they used Motorcraft semi synthetic.
At about 100K I started to service the car myself at 5K intervals using 5W-20 grade Mobil 1. At about 120K I switched to 5W-30 grade.
So, to get to my point. The original camshaft position sensor lasted 4 – 5 years and about 85K before it started to “chirp.” I replaced it with the new Motorcraft part and after 12 years and 125K miles (t just turned over 210K) I have not had a problem with the camshaft position sensor.
I realize that I’m only using one part as an indicator and there may be many other variables. However, my opinion is that the reason I have had much better results with the second camshaft position sensor is due to using good quality, full synthetic oil.
Cheers! John Kenneth
I have been on a few forums over the years and there’s usually some difference of opinion regarding oil and particularly pros and cons of synthetic oil compared with regular oil or “Dino Juice.”
I am firmly in the synthetic oil corner. Usually these discussions are around various opinions but as W Edwards Deming famously said, “In God we trust, all others bring data.” So here is some data to back up my opinion:
I posted my comments here regarding changing out the camshaft position sensor on March 12th 2008. My ’04 Taurus (Vulcan) had approximately 85K at that time.
I purchased the car in ’05 with about 30K. It had been a fleet vehicle driven by a pharmaceutical rep. I have no idea where or how it was driven but it was in nice condition and appeared to have been well cared for. I drove it for my personal business and put interstate miles on it. I don’t beat my cars but I don’t drive them easy either. I don’t know what type of oil the fleet maintenance people used but I had the car serviced with regular oil changes at the local Ford dealer. I think they used Motorcraft semi synthetic.
At about 100K I started to service the car myself at 5K intervals using 5W-20 grade Mobil 1. At about 120K I switched to 5W-30 grade.
So, to get to my point. The original camshaft position sensor lasted 4 – 5 years and about 85K before it started to “chirp.” I replaced it with the new Motorcraft part and after 12 years and 125K miles (t just turned over 210K) I have not had a problem with the camshaft position sensor.
I realize that I’m only using one part as an indicator and there may be many other variables. However, my opinion is that the reason I have had much better results with the second camshaft position sensor is due to using good quality, full synthetic oil.
Cheers! John Kenneth