O. T. Engine oil for 3.6 Ford V-6

First thing, the only reason Ford went to 5W20 was to improve fuel mileage for federal fleet fuel mileage requirements. While it might have gained Ford .5 or .75 miles per gallon for their entire car line up, you won't gain anything that you'll notice. The engine was designed (if its a 4.6) 17 years ago to use 5W30 or 10W30 and that hasn't changed.

In Georgia in the summer I'd definately use 10W30 in convential oil (switch back to 5W30 in the winter) or stick with 5W30 synthetic. If you are going to change the oil every 3000 miles I'd stick with conventional. If you want to change the oil at 6000 to 7000 miles switch to Mobile 1 and buy a decent filter.

I run 5W-20 in my F-150 with a 5.4, runs great. When they actually measure it 5w-20 is only a couple points different than 5W-30, not enough to really worry about. Motorcraft stuff is of pretty high quality and is pretty cheap. A Motorcraft FL-820S filter for my 5.4 is less than $3.50 and Motorcraft Synthetic Blend oil is $.20 more per quart than the rebottled Valvoline dino oil I had been getting at Napa. All of this is available at about any Wally World, so you don't have to pay whatever the dealer will try to stick you for it either.

The Escape comes with only the 3.0 Duratech engine. Same story though with the oil weights. The engine first hit the streets in 1995 (in the Taurus) with 5W30 the recommended oil. The engine has remained nearly unchanged since (great engine when introduced - so so 12 years later by todays competition).

I would never put anything thicker then 30 weight in it. While designed for 30W these engines have been remarkably stable and have rarely become oil burners except under extreme neglect or abuse. Usually the car around them will fall apart before the engine wears out.

Gerald J.