Good oil for Vortec 5.7 Litre?

[Greg L]

I did a quick search on this forum & didn't find much about this GM motor.

We just bought a used 1996 GMC Automatic, with 5.7 Vortec motor and 127,000 original miles. I am new to this engine.


Any recommendations on a good oil for this motor? Apparently it takes 5w30.



GL

 

[addyguy]

HM 5w30, any brand, would probably be a good place to start.

 

[sparkplug]

small block chevy's will run on pretty much any good oil. conventional or synthetic

 

[Greg L]

Thanks!

 

[PT1]

Mine loved 5w30 in winter 10w30 in summer. My brother has too that get 10w30 all year. His both have over 200k on the clock.

 

[Greg L]

I have a stash of Havoline 5w30 I am considering using, but wasn't sure if the switch to HM should be first.....

 

[ThirdeYe]

My friend uses conventional 5w30 in his '99 5.7 GMC truck (carryover from 1998, it's a Sierra Classic). He used to just get it done at Wal-Mart that uses Valvoline conventional but I used Quaker State in it last time he had me change it. Runs perfectly, has about the same amount of mileage as your '96, too. I would use your Havoline 5w30 without hesitation.

 

[wtd]

I'm using Havoline in both of my 98 chevy trucks. One with the 5.7L and one with the 7.4L. I've had the 98 5.7L truck since new and have used 5w30 Havoline in it for the last six or seven years and have been happy with it. I wish Walmart was still carrying it.

Wayne

 

[Gillsy]

Originally Posted By: wtd
I'm using Havoline in both of my 98 chevy trucks. One with the 5.7L and one with the 7.4L. I've had the 98 5.7L truck since new and have used 5w30 Havoline in it for the last six or seven years and have been happy with it. I wish Walmart was still carrying it.

Wayne

Our local WalMart just discontinued Havoline as well. Not happy! I thought it could have been a marketing thing. Are they dropping it nationally?

 

[jstutz]

these engines appear to be very easy to please. i have seen them run on regular 5w30 conventional to HDEO 15w40 to synthetics. I would say more importantly that what oil you use, make sure that there is no antifreeze in your oil from a seeping intake manifold gasket. this is very common on the gm 4.7 and 5.7 engines. I have three Chevy trucks and that intake manifold gasket has went out on every one of them. My trucks are 93 1500, 99 sub, 02 blazer. Im not sure what all year models are affected by this. it is when they switched to dex cool that people started noticing the problem. Please do a google search for this problem and you will find all the details.

 

[Greg L]

I investigated the dipstick & checked the gaskets before buying the truck; all seemed well.

 

[Rob_Roy]

The intake gaskets seem to be much more of a problem on the Vortec engines. It has also been my experience that these engines are not sensitive to oil brand or viscosity. We have run them on 5w30, 10w30, and 15w40 in the high mileage ones with great results. One 350 in particular has 200,000 miles on it, still doesn't consume or leak any oil!

 

[ArrestMeRedZ]

I have a '97 C2500 with the 5.7L Vortec. I used Mobil 1 10w30 for the first 7 years of it's life, then switched to German Castrol 0-30. I'm now running Pennzoil Platinum 10-30. It's loved all of those oils.

When I took the intake manifold off at the 8 year point (because of the Dexcool destroyed intake manifold gaskets) the oil passages were clean enough to eat off of. Fortunately, the gasket coolant leaks were to the outside of the motor. I'll bet your truck has had those gaskets already changed, but keep an eye on it in case it doesn't have the upgraded gaskets.

Unless you know the maintenance history, I'd do a full fluid swap. Brake fluid, coolant, transmission, and differential (especially if you have limited slip).

 

[NHHEMI]

Originally Posted By: Greg L
I did a quick search on this forum & didn't find much about this GM motor.

We just bought a used 1996 GMC Automatic, with 5.7 Vortec motor and 127,000 original miles. I am new to this engine.


Any recommendations on a good oil for this motor? Apparently it takes 5w30.



GL


Personally I would run a 10w30 High Mileage but if you want to stick with the 5w30 do a HM there as well( IMO ). I recommend Valvoline MaxLife.

 

[Greg L]

Any preference for the transmission fluid and rear end?

 

[NHHEMI]

Originally Posted By: Greg L
Any preference for the transmission fluid and rear end?


Unless you are sure of the maintenance history of the truck I would leave the transmission alone if it shifts fine. You can cause transmission issues to arise if you service a high mileage transmission that never has been touched. Unless the transmission has been serviced regularly then avoid a flush. Just do a pan drop and filter change if you want to service the transmission.

As far as fluid just use any of the multi use conventional or blend ATF's that are spec'd for Dex III. If you want to run synthetic then Royal Purple MaxATF is a great choice.

For the differential I like Royal Purple MaxGear. Your truck more than likely came with 80W-90 convntional gear oil so you could go that route and be fine but I would go with synthetic 75W-90 and as said I would use RP.

 

[Greg L]

Thanks to all for the help!


GL

 

[PT1]

Originally Posted By: Greg L
Any preference for the transmission fluid and rear end?


For your trans use any of the DexVI brands that have a license stamp on the back of the bottle. If you do a search here you can find an approved list.

For the diff....amsoil or Mobil 1 if you want synthetic. For dino try Valvoline Durablend.

All of these are available at autozone at reasonable prices.

 

[harbison]

The GM 5.7L is a great engine. I've had two with a combination of half a million miles. Never leaked or burned oil. Run great. My '01 Denali has the 6.0 L and it currently has over 180,000 miles. They are definitely winners!