Dusty environment for work truck - OCI reduction

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My work truck is a 2005 Silverado 4.8L LS engine with 200k miles 8700 engine hours..... hoping to get 500k+ out of it. It always got 3k oil changes with the cheapest conventional bulk oil up until I purchased it from my employer and now I'm running full synthetic currently m1 EP HM 5w30. It has an oil life monitor which I will take into consideration but it can't take into account the amount of dust clouds I'm driving through and idling in at construction sites. I work for a surveyor and do all our construction layout, so most of the trucks time is spent in new construction zone's and it breathes in a lot of dirt. I made sure the air filter was sealed up well, and plan on upgrading the filter to something better next time it's due. I'm just undecided in how much I need to shorten my oil changes because of the dusty environment and idling time with ac or heat turned on.

After this oil change going into the winter I'm switching to m1 0w40 FS for the extreme cold starts.

I'm looking for any suggestions of OCI considering I want this engine to last 500k+ or as long as I can keep the truck from rusting out....I sanded, primed and painted the frame and lines and then sprayed with fluid film..so I'm doing what I can to keep it long term.
 
I would suggest getting a good quality air filter. Also do a few UOA and determine if it's better to switch to a shorter OCI.

Maybe one option is to use Kirkland Full Synthetic and changing it earlier. Price point is good and you won't feel guilty dumping it early and often if that's the route you decide to take.
 
Off topic, just curious, are you an independent contractor? Wondering why you would buy a company vehicle and then use it for company use? Why don't they provide a work truck?
 
Off topic, just curious, are you an independent contractor? Wondering why you would buy a company vehicle and then use it for company use? Why don't they provide a work truck?
Getting the truck and being paid KMs to use it was a huge raise to me and kept me from leaving to go to another job that paid more. I'm not an independent contractor I just have to pay my own repairs and insurance etc on the truck I now supply. I drove it as a company supplied truck for years before making the deal to buy it.
I traded my winter beater Caprice to my friend who's a body guy to fix the truck up since it can now be my winter beater also. I'll spend half the time scraping off an icy cold vehicle at least driving the work truck to work.
 
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I would suggest getting a good quality air filter. Also do a few UOA and determine if it's better to switch to a shorter OCI.

Maybe one option is to use Kirkland Full Synthetic and changing it earlier. Price point is good and you won't feel guilty dumping it early and often if that's the route you decide to take.
I'll do a uoa soon. I've been meaning to do one on the car but checking for silicon on the truck is a better reason to get a uoa. I can go to Costco and get the box of Kirkland synthetic and that I will probably do in the future. For now I was running high mileage to try to slow a rear main and valve seal leak. My next OCI is m1 0w40 though. By spring I might run the Kirkland though.
I'll switch to a Wix air filter next time but I just put a new one in, the only one I could get quickly on short notice when I realized the old one was split around the foam and probably leaking dirt past it.
 
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What benefits do you really perceive to see running a 40 weight over the recommended 30 weight? SuperTech Synthetic 5W30 or Kirkland Synthetic 5W30 paired with a decent oil filter & air filter -- change oil every 4-5 thousand miles and be hopeful for 300,000 miles out of it to start with. Either people really over think things or just like to hear themselves talk.
 
What benefits do you really perceive to see running a 40 weight over the recommended 30 weight? SuperTech Synthetic 5W30 or Kirkland Synthetic 5W30 paired with a decent oil filter & air filter -- change oil every 4-5 thousand miles and be hopeful for 300,000 miles out of it to start with. Either people really over think things or just like to hear themselves talk.
The benefits I perceive are faster cranking with a 0w when it's minus twenty or colder out...and the fact that the 0w40 m1 is one of the better options that goes on sale locally where I buy my oil. What problem do you have with that choice? When the engine has 200k and burns a bit of oil the 30 weight recommendation from when it was a brand new engine is irrelevant in my opinion. Yes it's fine with the 5w30, but I prefer the 0w40 when it's the same price. What's your problem with that or did you just want to hear yourself talk?
 
The air filter lid should have a filter number on it for dusty conditions. Wix/ Napa gold will have it. If you can keep the dust out of the intake you should be able to do regular oci's.

I live on a dirt road. Sometimes the dust is so bad I have to stop to let it clear. I only get a few thousand miles out of air filters.

 
You already know what you want to do. Just do it.

The air filter change interval will be more important in your case than the oil change interval.
 
The benefits I perceive are faster cranking with a 0w when it's minus twenty or colder out...and the fact that the 0w40 m1 is one of the better options that goes on sale locally where I buy my oil. What problem do you have with that choice? When the engine has 200k and burns a bit of oil the 30 weight recommendation from when it was a brand new engine is irrelevant in my opinion. Yes it's fine with the 5w30, but I prefer the 0w40 when it's the same price. What's your problem with that or did you just want to hear yourself talk?
At any given time during this thread did you mention it burns or uses oil --- NO YOU DID NOT!!!! Hence my recommendation for 5W30. 350 rocket -- LOL!!!! What is a 350 rocket?? LOL
 
M1 0W40 is a hard oil to beat for durability, a higher mileage LS motor won’t have any issues with that. I’m wondering if I shouldn’t switch my high mileage 6.0 LS van to T6 5W40 (dual gas/diesel rated, older CJ-4) HDEO to raise the hot oil pressure. You’re not going to hurt that 4.8 with that.
 
Id look into an oiled foam prefilter over anything else. Good idea to ensure that the airbox (and everything else) is sealing well.

Insolubles count vai UOA is a good option, but youll need to do quite a few to get a real trend...
 
The benefits I perceive are faster cranking with a 0w when it's minus twenty or colder out...and the fact that the 0w40 m1 is one of the better options that goes on sale locally where I buy my oil. What problem do you have with that choice? When the engine has 200k and burns a bit of oil the 30 weight recommendation from when it was a brand new engine is irrelevant in my opinion. Yes it's fine with the 5w30, but I prefer the 0w40 when it's the same price. What's your problem with that or did you just want to hear yourself talk?

But why run the engine out of spec? Why do people think they know better than the engineers that designed the engine?

I get dropping to 0W for harsh winters, but why jump to 40 at the same time? Why not go with a 0W-30 instead?

I don't think thicker oil is always better. Isn't each oil designed for the application? Otherwise it'd be cheaper for lube manufacturers to just produce 0W-40 and run it in everything.
 
I would just keep running a high quality paper filter like AC-Delco or Wix and check the air intake tract past the filter to see if you are getting any dirt inside. I would probably change it about every 15,000 miles in your conditions.

My 98 chevy trucks have the little air filter indicator on the air filter box and I have never seen it read bad even after I ran the filter 90,000 miles because I had thought I had changed it when I didn't. Yours probably has one of these too but I wouldn't use it as a good indicator.

As a side note, has anyone ever seen one of these indicators read bad?
 
oil from a prefilter will contaminate the map sensor or whatever its called. this happened on my tundra that had a kand n air filter. recommend supertec synt oil and do 4 000 mile oci. the oil montor usually goes off around 3000 on my 5.3
 
But why run the engine out of spec? Why do people think they know better than the engineers that designed the engine?

I get dropping to 0W for harsh winters, but why jump to 40 at the same time? Why not go with a 0W-30 instead?

I don't think thicker oil is always better. Isn't each oil designed for the application? Otherwise it'd be cheaper for lube manufacturers to just produce 0W-40 and run it in everything.
Are you not aware that a lot of oil recommendations are only for corporate average fuel economy numbers? Yes an xw30 is working fine in this truck but so will a 40 weight and the fact that in my selection of off the shelf oils the 0w40 is thought of much more highly than my other options. If they had 10w30 high mileage EP on the shelf I would run that in the summer but they didn't, so I just ran the 5w30. I'm switching to the 0w40 for the winter since that's what I bought. The last of my 5w30 EP HM (not enough for the 6qt refill of the truck) is going in my 76 olds 350 v8 for winter storage and the first couple months of spring.
 
I would just keep running a high quality paper filter like AC-Delco or Wix and check the air intake tract past the filter to see if you are getting any dirt inside. I would probably change it about every 15,000 miles in your conditions.

My 98 chevy trucks have the little air filter indicator on the air filter box and I have never seen it read bad even after I ran the filter 90,000 miles because I had thought I had changed it when I didn't. Yours probably has one of these too but I wouldn't use it as a good indicator.

As a side note, has anyone ever seen one of these indicators read bad?
I also have not seen those indicators read bad. Mine didn't have it but it does since I swapped an air intake from a junkyard truck (mine had a broken screw hole).
 
oil from a prefilter will contaminate the map sensor or whatever its called. this happened on my tundra that had a kand n air filter. recommend supertec synt oil and do 4 000 mile oci. the oil montor usually goes off around 3000 on my 5.3
Yeah I would not run a k&n on this truck ever. Will stick with Wix paper filters.
 
At any given time during this thread did you mention it burns or uses oil --- NO YOU DID NOT!!!! Hence my recommendation for 5W30. 350 rocket -- LOL!!!! What is a 350 rocket?? LOL
Seriously?

You don’t know what a 350 Rocket is? Never heard of Oldsmobile and the Rocket 88? And you call yourself a car guy?

The 1949 Oldsmobile Rocket 88 was the first muscle car.

All their engines, at least through the 70s, paid homage to the Rocket. Open the hood on a vintage Olds and you’ll see “Rocket” with the displacement on the decal on the air cleaner.

Here’s a look under the hood of a 1970 Cutlass.

26C37DCB-5BB2-4C7A-9977-FA9470444850.jpeg
 
Seriously?

You don’t know what a 350 Rocket is? Never heard of Oldsmobile and the Rocket 88? And you call yourself a car guy?

The 1949 Oldsmobile Rocket 88 was the first muscle car.

All their engines, at least through the 70s, paid homage to the Rocket. Open the hood on a vintage Olds and you’ll see “Rocket” with the displacement on the decal on the air cleaner.

Here’s a look under the hood of a 1970 Cutlass.

View attachment 28983
Be honest with you -- never clarified I was a "car guy!!" Does he even have a vehicle with an Olds 350 rocket motor in it? I know I remember reading he has a 76 350 motor in something and I think a 305 in something else? I cant retain what all members have here for vehicles or engines and to me -- 350 rocket could mean multiple things??? The engine he mentions to have -- is that not rated at 160 -- 170 horsepower? There is some neat heritage with the Oldsmobile and some of there car makes and engines in there time.
 
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