Ok thanks for some clarification. I am not an expert and not a professional mechanic but have worked on a lot of cars over the years. On my Lincoln its not a whole lot different, and their phasers(same as a variator) can and do eventually fail. On mine it was not even though the Ford STEALERSHIP wanted me to believe that i needed to spend $3000k on parts and labor for all new timing service - chains, phasers, VVT solinoids, tensioners and guides-i replaced the VVT solenoid and problem was solved- a $68 part and 1 hour of my time. Btw i found out that there was a service bulletin out there on this very thing and it acutally recommended the testing of the VVT solenoid first before assuming all new service was required. Also it has been found that oil flow is a factor and a higher pressure pump installation along with heavier weighted oil has made huge difference in the amount of early wear that is seen. Will i need to do that other stuff at some point since i have 200k miles? heck yes, but since i pulled the valve covers and replaced the VVT solenoid valves it has run like new, no codes or timing issues no rattle on start up.
I changed to 5/40 synthetic oil on that car from 5/20 100k miles ago and is probably a big reason why i have made it past 200k miles where as the average is more like 125-150k on those trucks before major service is required. SO how about the move by Ferarri and Maserati to the 20/60 weight oil on the new cars? could our cars benefit from the same?
Would have been nice if it had been that simple with the QP. i wonder what ford and Jaguar(i have a '04 VDP with 4.2L V8 as well) have done differently in their systems to not have or rarely and only on high mile vehicles, have this loss of pressure or leak down? The question i am asking that has not been answered is, on the particular car with a wet sump system, low pressure etc is, what was keeping the pressure up normally and no rattle for the first 13 years and 30kmiles of its life and now all of a sudden it doesn't? and now we supposedly need to install and check valve to do that? why? it wasn't there before and it was just fine- and still is on one side- does the VVT solenoid valve have anything to do with maintaining that pressure? because it does on the Ford from what i understand, - maybe on start up the pressure from the oil pump was coming up faster and maybe its not now? I can tell you i'm not spending $10k or even$5k on it i will take it over and trade it in before i do that. I bought low enough if i do that now i might not even loose $1k,
oh well live and learn.
These are good questions and thus far, it has been found that is is far easier and more reliable to swap out the parts (and make the improvements) than to find the actual cause of the wear. The wet sump cars that suffer from the problem the most are the earlier variations, and it is believe the bugs weren't quite worked out yet in its design. This is why the later models come with the cam cap update and don't seem to have the issue.
As far as the oil, I cannot speak for or recommend anything for the wet sumps, however the dry sumps run well on a heavier weight oil. I use Mobil 1 15w50. Having the problem for so long, I was able to test the different weight oils on the effect/loudness/length of the startup rattle and this weight helped the most. Coincidentally, the Ferrari dealer recommends 10w60 racing oil for the hot climates.
The wet and dry sump engines are VERY SIMILAR in appearance and function, but according to the Maserati Academy, they are "80%" different in parts. We all know the difference in the VVT system, oil system, trans., etc., but the dry sump oil system in the F430 is far more similar to the dry sump QP. Not saying that one is better than the other, but they did make small design changes to many parts, so I'm more comfortable using recommendations originally intended for Ferrari on the dry sump cars.
Finally, about oil choice, manufacturers recommendations on oil weight/viscosity are based on a universal choice, taking into account all locations around the world, in every possible climate. But in the real world, that's not always the best. I live in Florida, where heat indices are in the triple digits and there's lots a stop & go. The oil I use can hardly match the requirements of the same car in rural British Columbia. With that said, the winter rating on a 15w50 is necessary, in my opinion, when I'm starting in the dead heat. In an area where it's 10 degrees below, probably not.
