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Hi all, Just got an 05 4x4 escape.Need to change oil and I have been reading online and seen different opinions on the type of Oil to use. Also not sure when trans. Fluid was changed so I plan on doing the panther plan I saw here. I guess if I do that plan I can use Merc. V. It is an 05 and seen around that was the year they changed to MercV
Also need to change rotors. I looked at Ebay and there were very few that specified if the fronts were for 4x4 or not.
Thanks for your ideas.
Jim
 

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Motorcraft Semi Syn 5W-20 is a good oil that is reasonably priced. As far as the trans, I've heard different reports that the Mercon V isn't compatible with regular Mercon. I have a 06 and my owners manual specifies Mercon so that what I use. Every 3rd oil change(15K total) I drain and refill trans fluid.
 

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Doesnt have to be specified for 4x4, Rotors are rotors for our specified vehicles
 

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1/Use Mercon V only if you are going for the full monty!!! If you are not sure of the process yell.
2/As far as the rotors, if you are not going with Motorcraft, many manufacturers make them for all years Escapes. Stay away from the cheap ones with drilled holes.They look fancy but are deadly.Mogul and EBC among others make good rotors for the Escape.
 

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If you plan on keeping it around for awhile and have no factory warranty, forget the 5w20 oil. Move up to 5w30. There is a lot of arguement and debate about this on random parts of the net between the factory knows best type people and factory doesnt know best people. What it pretty much comes down to is 5w20 is sufficient (or else factory wouldnt be calling for it), but sufficient doesnt always equal ideal. 5w20 doesnt perform as well but does get those few extra points for CARB emmisions/mpg type stuff for the makers which is why it came about. My 2 cents is use 5w20 like it calls for during warranty in case of some freak catastrophic failure, so they cant come back and deny warranty claim simply cause you used a different weight oil then they call for. Once warranty is up though, def move to at least 5w30 as it protects better, will not have a noticeable effect on mpg, engine running characteristics, anything (it isnt THAT much thicker like dumping some 20w50 in it or something), and is much more common (you can find 5w20 about anywhere now, but usually a much smaller variety anywhere you go).

Intervals depend on personal taste. If you are an every 3 or 5k kind of person, just get the cheapest rated stuff you can find since your not using near the potential. Use any type of synthetic and do 10k or 1x a year, with a good synthetic, you could comfortably do 12-15k+. Oil change intervals have been pretty wastefull in the US for a good while, and unfortunately it is drilled into peoples heads. Look at other parts of the world like europe, many cars have right in the book to change oil upwards of 30k. Of course dont call for using off the shelf conventional oil though. Point is intervals are dependant on how you operate the vehicle, the oil you are using, and what you are comfortable with.

ATF....as mentioned...you want to use the exact type that is currently in it for top offs. You dont want to mix types. If it came with one type and now recomends another type, do a complete change before going to the new type. About changing the fluid...most should be changed more regularly then what the book calls for, and if you have a lot of miles on it without it never having been changed, it is often better just to NEVER change it at that point as you will likely cause problems you didnt have before.

Rotors....these are not high performance vehicles by any stretch of the imagination. Just use the cheapest out of the quality rotors you can find. You can use the cheapest of the cheap with no difference in performance, but it gets pretty hit or miss with premature warping and such with bottom of the barrel ones. A solid disc rotor is a solid disc rotor as far as brake performance goes. All you brake differences come from the pads you use barring mods like drilled rotors, bigger rotors, 2 or 4 piston calipers, etc. Just talking normal off the shelf replacement stuff here.
 

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What C17chief said + a million!!!
As for the proponents of "manufacturer knows best" I have this to say.
The end product we end up buying is not an engineers' product.
It is product of compromise between the company's engineers, the marketing people and the EPA.And more important the company does not drive the car.
 
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