Hey everyone. Great site. The more I read the more I want to be an oil 'geek' and do what's best for my car.
I read the sticky, but unfortunately I do not have the owner's manual so I am not 100% sure on the oil type and change interval.
It's a 93 S10 Blazer 4x4, 4.3 V6 'W' engine (Vortec) with 93k miles. I just bought it a couple of months ago and it had 91k original miles which I think is fairly low for this year vehicle.
I am a part time mail carrier so that's the main use it gets 2-3 days a week, but I still use it to run errands in between. No long trips and not a lot of highway use. The 4wd does not work but I am going to get it fixed. I don't plan on taking it 'mudding' but as I am rural carrier it will come in handy sometimes on muddy driveways and snow (if we ever get any, doesn't snow a lot in this part of TN (USA)).
I had to use it for work the day after I bought it and didn't have time to do my own oil change. I was told it had regular maintenance, and externally it appeared to as it's way above average condition for it's age and runs great, again for it's age (the slightest of stumble on steady speed I'm trying to fix but to most people they wouldn't bother with it).
I watched them change the oil and it was black as black can get so I'm not so sure about the maintenance now. It does not leak or use any oil. After it sits for many hours, when I start it I get a slight puff of whitish/greyish smoke the second it starts and then no more. I was told it was the valve stem seals and it's common on this model/year/age/engine.
I had them put in 10w30 Castrol and I don't know what filter, didn't have a name I've ever seen, came in a plain box with just numbers on it I think.
O'Reilley's has had a sale on oil for the past month and I have been stocking up on Valvoline Durablend 10w30 ($2.79/quart).
So..... I didn't mean to write a book here but the sticky said give a background I've never put this much thought into oil and the brand of filter until I found this site. It's been years since I've done my own oil changes because Wal-Mart used to be so cheap I didn't think it was worth getting my hands dirty and hauling away used oil, but now it's cheaper to do it myself and I can use better oil for less money than they charge.
Well, any suggestions?
I read the sticky, but unfortunately I do not have the owner's manual so I am not 100% sure on the oil type and change interval.
It's a 93 S10 Blazer 4x4, 4.3 V6 'W' engine (Vortec) with 93k miles. I just bought it a couple of months ago and it had 91k original miles which I think is fairly low for this year vehicle.
I am a part time mail carrier so that's the main use it gets 2-3 days a week, but I still use it to run errands in between. No long trips and not a lot of highway use. The 4wd does not work but I am going to get it fixed. I don't plan on taking it 'mudding' but as I am rural carrier it will come in handy sometimes on muddy driveways and snow (if we ever get any, doesn't snow a lot in this part of TN (USA)).
I had to use it for work the day after I bought it and didn't have time to do my own oil change. I was told it had regular maintenance, and externally it appeared to as it's way above average condition for it's age and runs great, again for it's age (the slightest of stumble on steady speed I'm trying to fix but to most people they wouldn't bother with it).
I watched them change the oil and it was black as black can get so I'm not so sure about the maintenance now. It does not leak or use any oil. After it sits for many hours, when I start it I get a slight puff of whitish/greyish smoke the second it starts and then no more. I was told it was the valve stem seals and it's common on this model/year/age/engine.
I had them put in 10w30 Castrol and I don't know what filter, didn't have a name I've ever seen, came in a plain box with just numbers on it I think.
O'Reilley's has had a sale on oil for the past month and I have been stocking up on Valvoline Durablend 10w30 ($2.79/quart).
So..... I didn't mean to write a book here but the sticky said give a background I've never put this much thought into oil and the brand of filter until I found this site. It's been years since I've done my own oil changes because Wal-Mart used to be so cheap I didn't think it was worth getting my hands dirty and hauling away used oil, but now it's cheaper to do it myself and I can use better oil for less money than they charge.
Well, any suggestions?
Last edited: