What oil should I use in a 1987 Ford escort?

I was doing some research and found that engines with flat tappets need oil with zinc, and I can't tell if this engine needs that or not. It's a 1.9 4 cylinder with sohc. On Wikipedia it does say that it has problems with cam wear.

2020-05-20T09:24:07Z

It has 143k miles, original engine. It does make some ugly top end noise for a second or two, on a cold start.

2020-05-21T07:53:08Z

Owners manual says 5w30 or 10w30. I was just wondering if i should use oil with zinc, like valvoline vr1, or maybe some kind of additive. The previous owner used mobil super 10w30 with Lucas synthetic oil stabilizer.

Anonymous2020-05-20T07:44:09Z

Favorite Answer

Mr. Gasket Zinc Engine Oil Additive

I use Lucas Zinc additive in my 1964 220 Sb Mercedes Benz it will not harm your engine if you dont need it But tappets will wear out if you do need it

I use Castrol GTX3

The Devil2020-05-21T01:35:51Z

Read your owner's manual. It will be spelled out clearly what oil your engine requires.

Richard2020-05-20T03:26:04Z

whatever the driver's manual recommends...

F2020-05-19T22:27:25Z

I don’t think the Escort ever had a 1.9 engine.
1987 is a mark 4, had 1.1,1.3, 1.4 and 1.6 petrol engines or 1.6 or 1.8 diesels. 

Anonymous2020-05-19T15:42:08Z

1988 Motor Oil.

Show more answers (6)