Have always heard that if you change brands of oil your vehicle could start using oil.I have a 1994 Chevy Z-71 with 49,000 miles. Have always used Valvoline premium 10w30 and was considering switching to synthetic and didn't know if I should stay with valvoline or not. Was thinking about Pennzoil Platinum or valvoline. need some advice please.thanks
Have always heard
- Thread starter RangerJ
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Sometimes changing brands or viscosity can cause oil consumption to increase, but it usually levels off after the first oil change or so. You should be able to switch oils without any problems, but the Valvoline 10w30 is also a good choice in your climate. The TBI 305/350 is a very reliable engine and very easy on oil.
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Your Z71 does not need synthetic. I would stay with conventional. Modern conventionals are all grp II+ base stocks or better. Without getting too technical, most of the shelf brand synthetics are conventional base stocks highly or severely refined more than labeled conventionals. It used to be that synthetic on the label in north america meant fully engineered base stocks (not petroleum base) but that changed some years back and now a highly refined petroleum base can be labeled synthetic. These are referred to as Group III base stocks, typically.
Each brand has its own recipe for the additive package that is blended into the oil by the maker, or they might buy an add pack that is already formulated and blend that in. Switching brands just causes what is called additive stripping which is the new brand establishing itself.
The Valvoline you have been using is a very good conventional. Some others that are very good:
Mobil Clean 5000
Pennzoil (yellow bottle)
Chevron Supreme
Havoline DS
There are others but those are ones that pop into my head on this Sunday morning...
Each brand has its own recipe for the additive package that is blended into the oil by the maker, or they might buy an add pack that is already formulated and blend that in. Switching brands just causes what is called additive stripping which is the new brand establishing itself.
The Valvoline you have been using is a very good conventional. Some others that are very good:
Mobil Clean 5000
Pennzoil (yellow bottle)
Chevron Supreme
Havoline DS
There are others but those are ones that pop into my head on this Sunday morning...
Originally Posted By: RangerJ
Have always heard that if you change brands of oil your vehicle could start using oil.I have a 1994 Chevy Z-71 with 49,000 miles. Have always used Valvoline premium 10w30 and was considering switching to synthetic and didn't know if I should stay with valvoline or not. Was thinking about Pennzoil Platinum or valvoline. need some advice please.thanks
It has happened that switching form conventional oil to synthetic oil after a significant amount of engine wear has occurred, sometimes causes excess oil consumption. This can usually be minimized by using a slightly higher viscosity of synthetic. But it depends on the amount of engine wear that has already happened as to whether this would be a problem for your vehicle.
Have always heard that if you change brands of oil your vehicle could start using oil.I have a 1994 Chevy Z-71 with 49,000 miles. Have always used Valvoline premium 10w30 and was considering switching to synthetic and didn't know if I should stay with valvoline or not. Was thinking about Pennzoil Platinum or valvoline. need some advice please.thanks
It has happened that switching form conventional oil to synthetic oil after a significant amount of engine wear has occurred, sometimes causes excess oil consumption. This can usually be minimized by using a slightly higher viscosity of synthetic. But it depends on the amount of engine wear that has already happened as to whether this would be a problem for your vehicle.
It sounds like your Chevy is very happy on Valvoline Premium, so why change it? I have been using Valvoline also and have been very happy with the results. I even had a uoa done that came back with stellar results.
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That`s weird,I`ve never had that happen with any car I`ve owned. I change brands almost every oci and I`ve never owned a car that uses even a single drop of oil.
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If if makes you feel better run Auto-RX before you switch. I would not worry about going to a syn oil, or any other.
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Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
That`s weird,I`ve never had that happen with any car I`ve owned. I change brands almost every oci and I`ve never owned a car that uses even a single drop of oil.
My wife's 4.0 jeep uses no oil. Even after 12.5k ..not a drop. But changing to RTS from D1 ..it consumed a quart in 3k. Freaked me out. I changed it out with fresh fill. It used a quart (still RTS) in 6k. Swapped it out again at the first quart of consumption ..then it went to 9k to use a quart. I then (for the time being) just changed it at 9k with no consumption.
Transitional consumption. No wear factor to it at all. I would not have considered the possibility of it if I didn't experience it myself.
Figure it this way. If you are someone who often recites "you can use cheap dino for the next hundred years and the car will outlive you" type rhetoric ...you're already of the belief that "wear" is not a function of oil selection among like spec'd oils. If you're of this belief (which would surely be mostly true) ..then why would one EVER suspect that consumption ..with a change ONLY in oil composition (hey, dino and synth are the same in "wear" aspects!!) was due to "wear"??
That`s weird,I`ve never had that happen with any car I`ve owned. I change brands almost every oci and I`ve never owned a car that uses even a single drop of oil.
My wife's 4.0 jeep uses no oil. Even after 12.5k ..not a drop. But changing to RTS from D1 ..it consumed a quart in 3k. Freaked me out. I changed it out with fresh fill. It used a quart (still RTS) in 6k. Swapped it out again at the first quart of consumption ..then it went to 9k to use a quart. I then (for the time being) just changed it at 9k with no consumption.
Transitional consumption. No wear factor to it at all. I would not have considered the possibility of it if I didn't experience it myself.
Figure it this way. If you are someone who often recites "you can use cheap dino for the next hundred years and the car will outlive you" type rhetoric ...you're already of the belief that "wear" is not a function of oil selection among like spec'd oils. If you're of this belief (which would surely be mostly true) ..then why would one EVER suspect that consumption ..with a change ONLY in oil composition (hey, dino and synth are the same in "wear" aspects!!) was due to "wear"??
Thanks for all the replies. I will stay with the 10w30 Valvoline and Wix filters. Thanks again folks.
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