Best results in an 07silverado 4.8

[Jmay9]

I just bought this truck and want to change the oil.
It has 70,000 miles on it and with the cold northern Minnesota weather fast approaching, I would like some fresh oil in it. My commute is 12 miles round trip and shouldnt be doing much towing this winter. Was thinking of pouring EDGE, Ultra, or maybe the new Amsoil XL. OM calls for 5w30 but was wondering if I should go with 0w30 with the weather dropping below
-20F often.

 

[synthetic_crazy]

Castrol Edge or Pennzoil Ultra would both be solid choices. I have found that the Edge 5w30 is slightly quieter in colder weather as it is almost a 5w-20 in terms of viscosity. I have a hard time finding 0w30 here in the heart of Texas, but you probably can find it more plentifully where you live. I was looking at Mobil 1's 0w30 viscosity numbers and found that at 40c the viscosity is not far from Pennzoil Platinum's 5w30 number for that same temp. Based on that the 5w30 should do fine in your temps. I haven't read much on the Amsoil XL...I'll leave its' recommendations to my fellow BITOG members.
By the way,

to BITOG!

 

[mrsilv04]

I'm in the northern half of Illinois and have always used 5w30 Pennzoil Platinum in my Silverado with the 5.3 engine.

The owner's manual for my truck does state to use 5w30 synthetic or 0w30 when temperatures drop below -20 F.

So either way, it sounds fine.

 

[Nick R]

Any synthetic. go with a 0w30 oil (other than Syntec, which is thicker).

 

[tig1]

M1 0-30AFE would be my choice in a GM engine.

 

[Boomer]

+1 on the Mobil 1 0W-30. I have it in my Nissan Frontier right now at the start of the colder driving season and it runs very well. Quiet and smooth.

 

[Jim 5]

Originally Posted By: Jmay9
I just bought this truck and want to change the oil.
It has 70,000 miles on it and with the cold northern Minnesota weather fast approaching, I would like some fresh oil in it. My commute is 12 miles round trip and shouldnt be doing much towing this winter. Was thinking of pouring EDGE, Ultra, or maybe the new Amsoil XL. OM calls for 5w30 but was wondering if I should go with 0w30 with the weather dropping below
-20F often.



I had an Avalanche with the 5.3L v8. I did about 3 UOA's on garden variety dino 5w30 with the OLM @ between 20% and 0% oil life remaining and I had very results all around. Your 4.8 is basically the same engine. Interestingly, my daily commute is around 11 miles, much like yours.

Where I live we have many days of -30C and many more at -20C and I'm confident my climate is far more challenging with yours. That being the case, I recommend any name brand 5w30 that meets the GM6094M cold pumping spec (which I think is a requirement for your engine). If you want a synthetic, then any 5w30 or 0w30 will be great as well, though not in my opinion necessary. The funny thing about the 6094M spec is that it changes by grade. So a 0w30 that won't meet the 6094M spec could have significantly better cold pumpability than a 5w30 that meets the same spec, since the cold pumpability threshold is different by grade. In other words, as far as cold pumpability is concerned the best cold pumpability would probably (this example is illustrative) be as follows:

1. 0w30 that meets 6094M
2. 0w30 that doesn't meet 6094M
3. 5w30 that meets 6094M
4. 5w30 the doesn't meet 6094M

In any case, my guess is still that you'll see negligible differences in your UOA between the dino and the synthetic unless you go below 0% on your OLM.

Bill in Utah used to post UOA's on his 4.8L gm v8 on dino oil in a very challenging climate as well. His results were very good (as they all are). Though much of that could be attributed to the way he drives, there's also plenty of support for the proposition that dino oils protect very well.

 

[mechtech2]

Good thinking to plan for tough winter conditions!

Good flow on start up is your #1 concern, along with simply not being too thick for the starter to turn over fast enough.

A 0-30 sounds good. But match up the actual specs. There are variations. Get one of the thinner ones.