Castrol GTX 5W30, 6800 Miles, 2005 Silverado 5.3 4x4

JParrott · Mar 15, 2006

18209 miles on the truck, 6800 miles on the oil, with less than 1qt make up added before the change. I used the GM OLM on this one and will continue to as long as these readings stay nice. Tranny analysis for the weak 4L60E coming around 25k miles.

From Blackstone:

Jason, your GM engine has passed through the break in period nicely. The universal averages shows typical wear from this type of engine after 5200 miles on the oil. Your oil was in use 6800 miles and the wear levels mostly read below average for this type of engine. We didn't find any moisture, coolant, or fuel in the oil, and the air and oil filtration systems (see silicon and insolubles levels) were functioning normally while this oil was in use. We wouldn't be suprised to see copper drop more next time. Looks like a nice engine!

Element columns are in PPM and read from left to right as unit averages and universal averages respectively.

Aluminum 3-5
Chromium 1-2
Iron 13-25
Copper 51-75
Lead 12-9
Tin 1-2
Molybdenum 8-38
Nickel 1-1
Manganese 0-2
Silver 0-0
Titanium 0-0
Potassium 0-1
Boron 0-60
Silicon 13-13
Sodium 4-9
Calcium 2270-1501
Magnesium 9-501
Phosphorus 597-836
Zinc 708-1012
Barium 0-0

Properties:

SUS Viscosity @210*F 57.8 - 54-61
Flashpoint in *F 415 - >365
Fuel% Antifreeze% 0.0 - 0
Water% 0.0 - Insolubles% 0.3 - <0.6

Al · Mar 16, 2006

Obviously the oil held up well as evidenced by the flashpoint. I'm thinking that either you might want to get an oil with moly or get to a slightly higher viscosity bc of bearing wear. Still the bearing wear isn't bad. I have had numbers higher than this in my 01 automatic Sentra 2L. The has since dropped to 6-8. All and all, pretty nice.

farrarfan1 · Mar 16, 2006

Moly-8. Boron-0. Magnesium-9.If this was Valvoline it would be blasted for it's "weak add pack."

Ray H · Mar 16, 2006

quote:

Moly-8. Boron-0. Magnesium-9.If this was Valvoline it would be blasted for it's "weak add pack."

Just what I was thinking, too. farrarfan1, do you ever get the impression there's a double standard around here that favors certain party-line oils and opinions? GTX is unquestionably a good conventional oil, and there's nothing wrong with how this engine's running-in. But there are same and even lower priced oils that consistently get the big yawn yet return as good results in the same engine family.

Al · Mar 16, 2006

Something is wrong Castrol GTX has moly.

Pablo · Mar 16, 2006

I, too, thought this oil contains moly....man I can't keep track.

Bill in Utah · Mar 16, 2006

quote:

Originally posted by Al:
Something is wrong Castrol GTX has moly.

Here is my GTX UOA and it was low in Moly.... In fact the same amount as above...

5w-30 GTX UOA

Any thoughts?

Bill

farrarfan1 · Mar 16, 2006

Ray I think it comes in cycles. Somebody posts something negative or positive about a given oil and the tide turns in that direction.Flavor of the month type thing.

Brons2 · Mar 16, 2006

i don't think these results are terribly impressive. lead wear is high.

JParrott · Mar 16, 2006

Lead is high?? The average is 9 PPM for 5200 miles on the oil and mine read 12 PPM with 6800 miles. The engine is just finishing it's wear-in period so I'm of the opinion that's it's doing well. There are some drastic differences (i.e. Calcium and Magnesium) but Blackstone is saying it's good, so I'm taking thier word for it. Chevrolet recommends 5W-30 dino, so I picked a reputable one.

Granted, I'm about as ignorant when it comes to oil and analysis as one can get, but if the numbers are close to the averages and there's no dilution or contaminants, I'm supposing things are going ok. But for this very same reason is why I post the results for feedback from those who are knowledgeable. Thanks to everyone so far for the comments.

Ramblin Fever · Mar 16, 2006

quote:

Originally posted by JParrott:
Tranny analysis for the weak 4L60E coming around 25k miles

Just curious what you mean by this? Are you not happy with the 4L60E tranny?

TomJones76 · Mar 16, 2006

quote:

Originally posted by Ramblin Fever:

quote:

Originally posted by JParrott:
Tranny analysis for the weak 4L60E coming around 25k miles

Click to expand...

Just curious what you mean by this? Are you not happy with the 4L60E tranny?

In Chevy Caprice circles, the 4L60E is widely believed to be at its absolute limit when outfitted with GM's LT1 engine, making 260 HP and 330 FT-LB of torque and attached to a 4200-lb car.
His truck makes slightly more horsepower, about the same torque, and weighs in around 4900 lbs dead empty.
The community that drives a Silverado may be inclined to consider this transmission overextended in this application.

JParrott · Mar 16, 2006

Other than the fact that they are notorious for being a weaker transmission, I'm happy with it. GM could do better. I don't like the factory setup for shift points and firmness because it allows for enormous slippage and wear but they'll last as good as any taken care of properly. They have inherent known flaws (i.e. servo and apply bands, the 2-3 shift especially). TransGo makes an upgrade kit for the weak spots that I plan on putting in between 25k and 50k miles. I want to see how she's wearing around 25k with it fully worn in to see where I stand with her. She doesn't get abused by any means, and I only do light towing once in a blue moon, but I do like to play sometimes and don't want a suprise if you know what I mean.

And as above, she's a heavy beast (not sure on curb weight) but it does make nominally 295HP and 335TQ. The numbers are probably quite a bit below that but as before, a rig of this weight and power puts that transmission to the test if you use it at all.

Largelarry · Mar 16, 2006

Jeez.......Thats not what I wanted to hear today.
I have an 05 Silverado 4x4 w/the 5.3 HO and I drive it hard. Plus tow a 2000# boat w/gear and passengers for extended periods.
Any thoughts on what I can do to prolong the tranny's life on this rig. It has the HD towing package for whatever thats worth. Extended warranty too, I may need it.
FYI.... The 700R4 in my 91 Silverado broke at 98K
w/same boat and driving habits. This w/30K OCI's.

Slick17601 · Mar 16, 2006

The difference between 9PPM of lead and 12PPM of lead is probably engine life of 300,000 miles vs 310,000. The rest of the truck will be gone long before the motor.

TomJones76 · Mar 17, 2006

quote:

Originally posted by Largelarry:
SNIP
FYI.... The 700R4 in my 91 Silverado broke at 98K
w/same boat and driving habits. This w/30K OCI's.

Heck, the 4L60E in my LT1-equipped CAPRICE started going out at 85K. No towing...

Tanj · Mar 20, 2006

quote:

Originally posted by farrarfan1:
Moly-8. Boron-0. Magnesium-9.If this was Valvoline it would be blasted for it's "weak add pack."

I guess you can win an argument over the internet.

Link to comments on my VOA on 10w-40 Castrol GTX

Jim 5 · Mar 23, 2006

Check on the bypass filtration topic. "Olympic" runs a taxi service with Pontaic Montana's. He was rebuilding his transmissions every 120k miles or some similar regular interval.

He then installed bypass filtration (and aux. cooling I think) on the transmission and has gone an extremely long number of miles without any further transmission problems.

It has been said here many times that the number 1 enemy of transmissions is heat, followed thereafter by junk in the fluid. Keep the fluid cool and clean and this will always extend the life of the trans.

If it makes you feel any better, I have a '98 Chev. K1500 truck with a vortech 350 and a 4L60E. It has 180k miles with transmission fluid changes every 45k miles or so. No problems yet. I don't baby this thing either, but no significant amount of heavy towing in it's life.

GoldenRod · Mar 24, 2006

quote:

Originally posted by Al:
I'm thinking that either you might want to get an oil with moly or get to a slightly higher viscosity bc of bearing wear.

Would you then recommend he go with a 10w-30?

grbr95 · May 4, 2006

I'd say, just go with Valvoline.

Castrol GTX 5W30, 6800 Miles, 2005 Silverado 5.3 4x4

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