2011 Acadia with AMSOIL OE 5w-30 with 4334 miles

[Rat407]

Here is my UOA on my 2011 Acadia with AMSOIL OE 5w-30 with 4334 miles on the oil and a Pure One oil filter. The vehicle had 7962 total miles on it at the time. I changed the oil and filter at 500 miles with OE and PO then again at 1500 miles and then again at 3628 miles. The oil sheared down to a 0w-20 weight. TBN was getting low and nitration is high. It is still breaking in so I'm hoping things will settle down as time goes on. Right now I'm not going to go past 5k on oil changes until I get some more miles on this engine. This has seen a bunch of remote engine starts on cold mornings here in NC and short trips around our little town.

 

[dparm]

When you say it sees remote starts, are you saying you're letting it idle a lot in the winter? That's a surefire way to contaminate the oil (and pollute more).

 

[Rat407]

A few cold mornings my wife hits the remote start right before she gets the kids out the door and off to school so it idles about 7 to 10 minutes max. She likes the heated seats to be warm when she gets in.

 

[beanoil]

DI engine. I doubt you'll see things improve much as time goes on. I found it better to use a good synthetic blend, changed at 4k intervals on my DI Equinox. IMO, it's a waste of money to throw top tier synthetics at the GM DI engines. (That is my opinion only, you are free to disagree and discover on your own...) Flashpoint is low, and fuel is at better than 1%, very similar to results I got at 5k miles. There are some oils that shrug off fuel dilution and still perform well at keeping wear in check. You may want to look over the UOA section for oils with those traits. Good luck!

 

[Rat407]

Depending on how things go I might go with RLI in the future. I just want to see where this takes me after we get a few miles on it. Our 08 was worse than this and it wasn't a DI engine.

 

[buster]

The OE is a decent oil. Considering the driving conditions, I'd stick with it and shorter drain intervals. Engine is still breaking-in.

 

[addyguy]

Not bad at all for a new DI GM engine. Agree with your plan to stay with short changes, and I'd stay with something like OE - it's relatively inexpensive for short changes. Did you trade your 08 in on the 2011? Was there something wrong with the '08?

 

[INDYMAC]

This report looks great for an engine that's just wearing in, especially a DI engine. I'm impressed that the fuel% was so low for the driving style too. I would stay with this oil and see if 5K mile OCI is the sweet spot.

 

[Rat407]

Yes, traded in the 08 with 82k on it. It started giving us issues with not wanting to start. You would turn the key and it would just click but then if you turned it again it fired right up like nothing was wrong. It started to get more frequent and the dealer couldn't find anything wrong with it. The last think I wanted was my wife being stranded with our special needs daughter some where. Other wise it was a great vehicle. This one gets worse gas mileage, we average 18mpg right now with the around town and highway driving. The 08 was giving us 20mpg. I must admit this one has way more power than the 08. I forgot to mention in the original post that the OLM was reading 15% when I changed the oil in the 2011.

 

[qr25de]

Originally Posted By: Rat407

A few cold mornings my wife hits the remote start right before she gets the kids out the door and off to school so it idles about 7 to 10 minutes max. She likes the heated seats to be warm when she gets in.

That is a serious luxury that I do not give in even -20C temperatures...is it really that cold in NC? Boron isn't an issue with this additive package so I don't see why they'd list it as a contaminant so consider that red block in the top left of the report...actually green. An argument could be made to keep the oil until it is a low-medium 20 weight so long as the TBN condition is satisfied.

 

[lexus114]

I thought the Valvoline WB did excellent in these GM motors? Or am I mistaken?

 

[lexus114]

Anyone? ^^^^

 

[REDDOG]

I agree with the Valvo WB-seems to do well in the GM DI engines. It would certainly make my short list (with short oci's). I also like the reasonably priced Amsoil OE and look forward to seeing how it does here in the long term.

 

[rbarrios]

whats the WB in Valvoline WB? im drawing a blank... but here are my UOA on Valvoline Conventional 5W-30. 2010 Traverse with the DI.

 

[rbarrios]

Im nearing 4000 miles on the current fill up. This oil is Valvoline Conventional 5W-30. But its the new Ilsac GF-5. all other UOA were on GF-4. Im curious about the 'new' oil. Im about to hit 40K.

 

[Rat407]

WB should stand for white bottle. That is a nice report for Valvoline conventional. I'm interested to see how well the OE does once the engine gets some more miles on it.

 

[rbarrios]

in that case--- White Bottle is what I used.

 

[buster]

I've read the Ca/Mg and even Na detergent combinations are good. Nice results with the Valvoline. Impressive.