2005 Yukon first oil change

[HaroldCallahan]

Have 470 miles on new 2005 Yukon XL, 1500 with 5300 engine. Plan on changing oil this weekend. A few questions.

What kind of oil was put in the engine to begin with by GM ?

Here is what I am thinking of doing.

First change at 500 miles with valvoline 5w30 conventional.

Second change at 1000 miles with valvoline 5w30 conventional

Third change at 1750 miles with valvoline 5w30 conventional

Next change at 2500 miles with valvoline 5w30 durablend.

Then at 2500 interval thereafter with durablend.

Will probably put less than 1000 miles/month on this vehicle, so the 2500 interval seems reasonable to me.

I have noticed, now that I am researching oil on these forums that valvoline is considered by many to be an inferior oil. But, I have had real good results with valvoline in the past with other vehicles. 1987 toyota truck, 1966 mustang with 289, 1971 bronco with 302, 99 ranger which I currently own with 130,000 miles that runs like new, 1987 oldsmobile cutlass, 1988 GMC Suburban with 350, etc. All of these vehicles had high mileage motors with no problems or oil consumption using conventional valvoline with 3000 mile changes. The success with valvoline might be the 3000 intervals.

I am hesitant to switch off of valvoline, but I realize that motor oils have been vastly improved over the years and will keep an open mind.

The durablend seems like it would be even better than the conventional valvoline.

Honestly, is there a better choice than what I am planning ???

 

[goldwing]

quote:

---

Originally posted by HaroldCallahan:
Have 470 miles on new 2005 Yukon XL, 1500 with 5300 engine. Plan on changing oil this weekend. A few questions.

What kind of oil was put in the engine to begin with by GM ?

Here is what I am thinking of doing.

First change at 500 miles with valvoline 5w30 conventional.

Second change at 1000 miles with valvoline 5w30 conventional

Third change at 1750 miles with valvoline 5w30 conventional

Next change at 2500 miles with valvoline 5w30 durablend.

Then at 2500 interval thereafter with durablend.

Will probably put less than 1000 miles/month on this vehicle, so the 2500 interval seems reasonable to me.

I have noticed, now that I am researching oil on these forums that valvoline is considered by many to be an inferior oil. But, I have had real good results with valvoline in the past with other vehicles. 1987 toyota truck, 1966 mustang with 289, 1971 bronco with 302, 99 ranger which I currently own with 130,000 miles that runs like new, 1987 oldsmobile cutlass, 1988 GMC Suburban with 350, etc. All of these vehicles had high mileage motors with no problems or oil consumption using conventional valvoline with 3000 mile changes. The success with valvoline might be the 3000 intervals.

I am hesitant to switch off of valvoline, but I realize that motor oils have been vastly improved over the years and will keep an open mind.

The durablend seems like it would be even better than the conventional valvoline.

Honestly, is there a better choice than what I am planning ???

---

The Havoline and Motorcraft Dino oils are really good for the price. They are almost a synthetic oil at the price of Dino. They are G4 and SM rated. Do a search on them. I think you'll like what you read on their UOA's.

 

[cos]

+1 for Motorcraft semi syn or Havoline = less $ for a superior product. I'd also say go at least 3K between changes. Your plan for 2,500 mile OCI is a total waste of time and $.

 

[Bryanccfshr]

Add another Recomendation for the
Motorcraft 5w30. From One Former Valvoline user to another. If you are going to use Dino Get the good stuff. MC/Conoco Phillips oils, Chevron/Havoline, and Penzoil all putValvoline to shame in the old GF-3 classes. No one has a high level of trust for Valvoline to go beyond the bare minimum to meets specs.

The Motorcraft oil Meets the Ford Specs which are much more stringent than the others.
If you have the tolerance for it you could probably get away with a good synthetic for a year at a time if you run the truck to full operating temperature (30 minutes of city driving or 15 on the freeway) each time you start it.
If you decide on Motorcraft you can go 6 months or 5k miles easy.

 

[Ugly3]

If you are changing the oil at 2500 miles it makes no difference what brand oil you put in. Wal*Mart Supertech for $.88 a quart would do fine.

 

[Cutehumor]

if you use valvoline with appropriate oci intervals, your engine will last longer than you would want to. but..do what I do..run free valvoline maxlife, free synpower, or free durablend.

 

[Blue99]

quote:

---

What kind of oil was put in the engine to begin with by GM ?

---

Johnny from Pennzoil has commented numerous times that GM uses Mobil for factory fills.

quote:

---

The Motorcraft oil Meets the Ford Specs which are much more stringent than the others

---

Note: Both All Climate & DuraBlend list Ford WSS-M2C930-A for 5W-30.

Harold - Your short OCI plan should generate no problems, go ahead & baby that new 2005 Yukon!

All Climate, or your current favorite API rated oil is certainly capable of 500-750 mile OCI flushes for a new engine.

The GF-4 DuraBlend 5W-30 should provide good results in this 5.3L engine , as all indications are that it is a GRP II/III blend with the appropriate GF-4 add pack.

Also, consider using Fuel Power in your gas, as these engines have a history of combustion chamber deposit problems & FP will help with a low use situation.

 

[Blue99]

Sorry to go off topic, but..

quote:

---

+1 for Motorcraft semi syn or Havoline = less $ for a superior product.

---

Sure, Valvoline marketing costs jack up the sell price of a quart of oil. Same for Pennzoil.

But the Durablend line is all new for the GF-4 viscosities & we are still waiting for the first UOA/VOA to be posted. I'll repeat, based on the drop in cold crank rating & other changes, Durablend 5W-30 is a GRP II/III syn blend for GF-4.

Motorcraft GF-4 5W-30 is a similar situation. No info has been posted on the add pack.

In all fairness, what is the "superior product" statement based on?

 

[farrarfan1]

Blue99 how did you get the updated info on Valvoline? I've dug around the website and got some msds's but they where dated 2002. Sorry if I took this off topic.

 

[farrarfan1]

Oh and doesn't 4 oil changes in the first 2500 miles seem a little excessive? I understand getting rid of manufacturing debris and early wear metals but 4 in 2500

 

[haley10]

Durablend looks pretty good on NOACK volatility and has a high TBN. I see it aimed more like Castrol's Syntec Blend or Mobil's Syn Blend, but at 2500 interval, I'm not sure you gain anything over their cheaper dino's.

Like Ugly said, I'm not sure you gain by paying more for a blend in terms of wear. Your paying more for the tbn retention and durability, but unless you run it longer....

Unless you do some heavy towing and hauling I would think Durablend could easily do 5K.

 

[[email protected]]

I just want to say to the critics "dont hate - participate!" .. I think the guy's OCI are actually kinda neat. Excessive ? who cares. He wants the best for his Yukon and I dont blame him. I baby my 2002 Envoy SLT like it was my firstborn child.

 

[farrarfan1]

I don't think anybody that responded to his post "hates" anything about it. I think everyone was "participating" and nobody was "critizing" him in any way. If he wants to change the oil and filter every day when he gets home from work so be it. I just think he was getting some suggestions. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

[farrarfan1]

"criticizing"

 

[ToyotaNSaturn]

quote:

---

Originally posted by farrarfan1:
Oh and doesn't 4 oil changes in the first 2500 miles seem a little excessive? I understand getting rid of manufacturing debris and early wear metals but 4 in 2500

---

It he feels better about that large purchase by changing the oil that often, so be it. "Wear metals. What wear metals!??"

 

[haley10]

quote:

---

Originally posted by [email protected]:
I just want to say to the critics "dont hate - participate!" .. I think the guy's OCI are actually kinda neat. Excessive ? who cares. He wants the best for his Yukon and I dont blame him. I baby my 2002 Envoy SLT like it was my firstborn child.

---

Just a theory, but engine oils actually require wearing in, so you may not actually be doing your engine any favors by changing prematurely. Kinda like doping with a lot of additives, if you use too much wear goes up, not down.

I don't think anyone was being negative at all. More is not better. SAE has a white paper on this, but I'm not a member and too cheap to buy it anyway if I was.

 

[HaroldCallahan]

Interesting advice so far, thanks.

Maybe this will help, there are times when the truck might get well less than 1000 miles a month. Like we have owned it a month now and it only has 475 miles. So, I would not be changing the oil nightly - even if I adopted a 500 mile oil change interval.

Other times, we might put a lot more than a 1000 miles in one month. Like if we take a trip to Nebraska and then go on a couple camping trips. This would be camping in the Rocky Mountains, going over a few passes, steep hills, rough roads but not really 4 wheelin. It would be loaded up with 4 human passengers, 2 dogs, camping equipment and towing a small 5x8 utility trailer with two small dirt bikes and camping equipment on these trips. In the whole year I think it will be well under 10,000 miles. Maybe only 7 or 9 thousand - maybe even less, just depends what comes up. A lot of these miles will be short shopping trips to the grocery store, walmart or something like that. Most cases including the stop(s) would be less than 20 miles.

I really cannot predict for sure what the driving will be. It could go for several months at less than 500 a month. Or it could get 1500 miles in just a few weeks. That is part of the rational for the 2500 mile changes.

Now on the other hand I drive my 1999 Ford ranger 4x4 with 3.0 flex fuel engine about 450 miles a week on the interstate as a commuting vehicle. It is rarely loaded with anybody but myself. Although once in a while my son and two dirt bikes are included on the weekend. Or maybe for a light load of landscape material or something like that. The 3000 mile changes seem best for the ranger. By the way I tried Mobil Synthetic early on with the Ranger, at about 25,000 miles, and the engine started making a knocking sound at idle. Went back to the valvoline right away.

On the Yukon, I plan on owning it for at least 20 years. If the plastic parts hold up and some moron doesnt run in to it.

My 1988 GMC High Sierra Suburban is still going strong with no oil consumption on conventional valvoline changes at 2500 to 3000 miles. Now getting close to 100,000 on the odometer. It will be flipping back to 0 real soon. I bought it in 2000 with either 50,000 miles or maybe 150,000 or 250,000 miles. Dont know for sure what it really was. Owner claimed 50,000.
But it could have been a lot more if it was highway and well maintained. In any case the motor runs like new, no oil comsumption and almost no emissions (the techs always comment on how low the numbers are). I plan on driving this old GMC Suburban as my hunting and fishing vehicle for another 20 years, it drives real nice both off road and on the highway. I actually like it better than the new Yukon that my wife is drving. Alot bigger too. The old GMC gets close to 20 mpg on the interstate if kept below 70. Pretty good for a real truck. Most of this trips in the old GMC involve quite a bit of highway and a little offroad to get to the good hunting and fishing areas.

I plan on keeping my Ranger for at least 300,000 or more. It may be my son's first truck in 6 years. After reading some of the stuff on this site, I am thinking of switching the oil on the ranger to something better than the conventional valvoline. I do wonder if maybe some of this is people falling for the synthetic marketing hype.

I like to keep my vehicles a long time, and dont mind doing a little extra maintenance.

This website is great, it is making me think even more about what is the best fluids to use.

Give me more advice, please.

 

[[email protected]]

quote:

---

Originally posted by farrarfan1:
I don't think anybody that responded to his post "hates" anything about it. I think everyone was "participating" and nobody was "critizing" him in any way. If he wants to change the oil and filter every day when he gets home from work so be it. I just think he was getting some suggestions. Nothing more, nothing less.

---

hehe sorry guys, i didnt mean my last post as serious as it was taken. I was just kinda poking around with a non-offending attitude... Now lets get back to the oil discussions

 

[[email protected]]

quote:

---

Originally posted by ToyotaNSaturn:

quote:

---

Originally posted by farrarfan1:
Oh and doesn't 4 oil changes in the first 2500 miles seem a little excessive? I understand getting rid of manufacturing debris and early wear metals but 4 in 2500

---

It he feels better about that large purchase by changing the oil that often, so be it. "Wear metals. What wear metals!??"

---

My point exactly.

 

[farrarfan1]

You are absolutely right about how great this site is.There are several members on here that have forgotten more about oil than most will ever know. As far as advice most on here will tell you to try to follow the manufacturers recomendation for oci's.Pick out which schedule, usually a "normal" or "severe", that fits your particular driving conditions and follow it as close as possible. That way you're protecting yourself while the vehicle is under warranty.I've also been a long time Valvoline user. Invest in a good flame suit and or riot shield.