2012 Chevy Traverse

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OSUFan86

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Hey I finally purchased a newer vehicle & bought a 2012 Chevy Traverse. I talked with the mechanic who informed me that I must really be careful when changing the oil & he also said not to put cheap oil in it because the engine has been known to be hard on oil.The mechanic also stated to change at or before 6,000 so you don't have issues with oil consumption. He didn't really want to elaborate on that statement so it leaves me feeling like he knows of a issue that might be worth looking into.I'm not sure exactly what he means by that other than thinking that I might not want to trust the OLM, however, he stated to use any name brand synthetic of 5w30 & it would be fine. I guess my main question would be is there any brands that seem to work better than others or are they all pretty much the same? The next is does anyone know what he was really trying to say about the issues he didn't feel like elaborating on?
 
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Yeah I would be changing it with a Dexos approved name brand synthetic every 5K. Those engines destroy oil, the early ones also ate timing chains.
 
The DI 3.6 in the traverse is very hard on oil. Its very common for them to eat oil and stretch the timing chain. I've also seen hvac problems with them also.
 
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Originally Posted By: Danno
If it was my Traverse, no more than 5,000 miles and Dexos synthetic oil. Engine is very hard on oil.


+1
 
Originally Posted By: daves87rs
Originally Posted By: Danno
If it was my Traverse, no more than 5,000 miles and Dexos synthetic oil. Engine is very hard on oil.


+1


Agreed.

I think most of the issues with this engine and the timing chain were abuse, 10k ocis without checking the oil level wrecked havoc.
 
I'm from Oklahoma too... it's not silver is it ????

Keep an eye on the oil level because it burned like crazy!!

I couldn't imagine owning this vehicle outside of warranty
 
I know a few people with Traverses, Acadias and Enclaves and they all like them. Sorry it doesn't have an H or a T on the grille.
 
The issue with the motor was timing chains. The oil life monitors were recalibrated because of this. I had heard that there were still issues in the 2011s but were fixed after that. There is a code thrown when the chains start to go and if it is ignored it gets bad. I think people thought it was due to the metallurgy on the chains. I have a 2013 with 65k on it and have never had any noticible oil consumption. It does carry over quite a bit of oil in the pcv though.

Another issue is the steering on these. Something to do with clunking when cold.

I have used 10w30 in my traverse before and it seams to quiet the valve train down. I mostly use 5 quarts of 5w30 an a quart and a half of 10w30 to cut down on the shearing.
 
Originally Posted By: jhellwig
I have used 10w30 in my traverse before and it seams to quiet the valve train down. I mostly use 5 quarts of 5w30 an a quart and a half of 10w30 to cut down on the shearing.


So you put in 5.5 quarts? Your Traverse holds 6... just a fyi

OP I wouldn't recommend an Acadia/Enclave/Traverse to my worse enemy. People regularly come in for warranty work for chains, trans problems (mixture of 3/5/R waveplate and torque converters) and people who wait until the oil life monitor runs its cycle to change the oil generally have the most problems. Even with the new calibration it can still go 8-9k miles before the olm goes off. 5k miles would be your best bet. Coming from a Buick GMC Technician.
 
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Originally Posted By: BMOC
Originally Posted By: jhellwig
I have used 10w30 in my traverse before and it seams to quiet the valve train down. I mostly use 5 quarts of 5w30 an a quart and a half of 10w30 to cut down on the shearing.


So you put in 5.5 quarts? Your Traverse holds 6... just a fyi

OP I wouldn't recommend an Acadia/Enclave/Traverse to my worse enemy. People regularly come in for warranty work for chains, trans problems (mixture of 3/5/R waveplate and torque converters) and people who wait until the oil life monitor runs its cycle to change the oil generally have the most problems. Even with the new calibration it can still go 8-9k miles before the olm goes off. 5k miles would be your best bet. Coming from a Buick GMC Technician.


You're not the first tech I heard say that. In fact what I heard was almost word for word to what you said.
 
Originally Posted By: BMOC
Originally Posted By: jhellwig
I have used 10w30 in my traverse before and it seams to quiet the valve train down. I mostly use 5 quarts of 5w30 an a quart and a half of 10w30 to cut down on the shearing.


So you put in 5.5 quarts? Your Traverse holds 6... just a fyi


Read it again. I said quart and a half not half a quart. That is 6.5 quarts as per the owners manual.

Somewhere on here I have posted a uoa of 5w30 napa syn in the traverse on a 5k run and it had lowered the viscosity some hence adding some 10w30 from then on.
 
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Originally Posted By: demarpaint
You're not the first tech I heard say that. In fact what I heard was almost word for word to what you said.


Unfortunately every tech I've talked to at different dealers have the same stories as I do. Really common.

Originally Posted By: jhellwig
Read it again. I said quart and a half not half a quart. That is 6.5 quarts as per the owners manual.

Somewhere on here I have posted a uoa of 5w30 napa syn in the traverse on a 5k run and it had lowered the viscosity some hence adding some 10w30 from then on.


My apologies, read it a little too fast. Anyways, it's odd that the owner's manual says 6.5 when Service Information says 6. And it's on the full mark at 6 if I do an oil change, gotta love GM.
 
My wife's 09 Acadia has been fine so far, first year of D.I. I researched D.I. When we got it and have done 5k OCI with QSUD or Mobil 1. Mine has not done the steering clunk but we got a notice that it would be covered. No recall. Only 60k on mine though.
 
Originally Posted By: BMOC
Originally Posted By: jhellwig
I have used 10w30 in my traverse before and it seams to quiet the valve train down. I mostly use 5 quarts of 5w30 an a quart and a half of 10w30 to cut down on the shearing.


So you put in 5.5 quarts? Your Traverse holds 6... just a fyi

OP I wouldn't recommend an Acadia/Enclave/Traverse to my worse enemy. People regularly come in for warranty work for chains, trans problems (mixture of 3/5/R waveplate and torque converters) and people who wait until the oil life monitor runs its cycle to change the oil generally have the most problems. Even with the new calibration it can still go 8-9k miles before the olm goes off. 5k miles would be your best bet. Coming from a Buick GMC Technician.



BMOC, are you saying that this problem continues with the 2016? I'm considering one.
 
Originally Posted By: powayroger
BMOC, are you saying that this problem continues with the 2016? I'm considering one.


Honestly it's kind of too early to tell. We have had quite a few as recent as the 11-12 model years, a few that are newer. One in particular was a 15 or 16 (I can't remember) that had less than 200 miles when the transmission had to be replaced (could be a lemon who knows.) That case happened a month or two ago. The problems can happen at any mileage, we've seen them all over the board. Usually though, they happen closer to 100k miles. However, I personally wouldn't buy one with my money.
 
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It's a shame about these problems because these are, IMHO the best looking trucks in their class.

We've had a Ford Flex since 2009, but I shopped the GMC Acadia. The Flex has been very reliable, I guess I made the right choice.

The newest Acadia is VERY nice, makes me wonder if GM has assigned the old problems to the new suit of clothes?
 
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