HM for 4.3L vortec

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Hey all long time lurker, I've been given a 2005 gmc jimmy from my dad, which sat for 5 years in his garage. With all the reading ive been doing the 4.3L is not a picky engine when it comes to oil. The suv has 164k kms (101k miles) and my dad always changed the oil at 4k with 5w-30 green quaker state and orange fram filter when he drove it.

So before he handed me the keys he told me he did an oil change, and full engine tune up exactly 1 year ago. He did not put any kms on, but he would start and let it idle for 15mins every friday after work.

It doesn't leak, or burn oil within the 3 weeks ive been driving it. I put appx 45-55kms a day driving kids to and from school and to work. Mix of highway and city stop and go. Only fluid im losing is ATF, but not too worried about that right now.

So my question is does my Jimmy fall under the HM oil category? Or just stick to any conventional oil that is on sale? I read numerous threads that HM oil helps with seals and leaks, but mine is not leaking at all. And what would be a good baseline mileage to do a UOA for HM (M1 or Valvoline Maxlife) oil? 8000kms (5000miles)?
 
QS Green bottle is fine oil and has served its purpose well it seems. What is going on with the ATF? Not something you wanna put off.
wink.gif
 
Originally Posted by askani79705
Nothing wrong with what your father has in it. What he was doing is working


Originally Posted by BAJA_05
QS Green bottle is fine oil and has served its purpose well it seems. What is going on with the ATF? Not something you wanna put off.
wink.gif




Thanks guys, Ill stick with the QS green. Maybe I can use a different filter like a wix?

I believe the ATF is leaking from the output seal. I just noticed a nickle sized stain on the ground, but my dipstick still reads full. I saw few youtube videos on how to check the tranny dipstick so im hoping its accurate.
 
The HiMi oil question rears its head again......‚

The way I see it there are 2 side's to this debate. There's the side that believes in waiting until there's a problem (ie a leak) then using HiMi in hopes it works at stopping the leak.

Then there's the side that believes using a HiMi formula BEFORE there's a problem (since you don't have a crystal ball) hopefully stretches out the life of seal before failure (mtbf). There's no guarantee running a HiMi oil will result in longer life but it's not gonna hurt and just might help, only time will tell.

Then there's the question of whether your engine could benefit from the different AW and dispersant/detergents pkgs HiMi formulas have to combat problems unique to older engines, like increased blow by.

I guess it all depends on you... what category do you fall in?
 
Used mostly Quaker State 10W30 in the Astro Van 4.3 it didn't get regular changes and it still ran great after 10 years. No need to change unless you want to. If you can get Valvoline Maxlife ATF for the transmission it works great. But any DEXRON VI is better than what GM used as a factory fill especially in Canada's winter's.
 
I use a 10W30 grade in my 1999 S-10 with the same 4.3L engine and change oil and filter every 3500 to 5000 miles.

It was my late dad's truck and has 208,000 miles on it and still runs like a banshee. The only oil leak is from the timing chain cover but not enough of a problem in my view to pull the engine.
 
I had a '97 Sonoma with that engine, bought it from a friend. He used Mobil 1 5w30 for the first 92k, then I used Super Tech syn 5w30 for the next 105k. Never had a problem with motor oil leaks. I was adding to the manual transmission on a pretty regular basis toward the end, however.
 
Originally Posted by frisco
Originally Posted by askani79705
Nothing wrong with what your father has in it. What he was doing is working


Originally Posted by BAJA_05
QS Green bottle is fine oil and has served its purpose well it seems. What is going on with the ATF? Not something you wanna put off.
wink.gif




Thanks guys, Ill stick with the QS green. Maybe I can use a different filter like a wix?

I believe the ATF is leaking from the output seal. I just noticed a nickle sized stain on the ground, but my dipstick still reads full. I saw few youtube videos on how to check the tranny dipstick so im hoping its accurate.

Wix is great
 
Keep using the QS green bottle in 10W-30. Change every 3 to 4K miles if you'd like it to run some time yet.
Change the ATF to Valvoline Maxlife ATF. That would be a good move.
Wix 51042 or the longer 51522 filters would be great as well.
 
Originally Posted by frisco
Hey all long time lurker, I've been given a 2005 gmc jimmy from my dad, which sat for 5 years in his garage. With all the reading ive been doing the 4.3L is not a picky engine when it comes to oil. The suv has 164k kms (101k miles) and my dad always changed the oil at 4k with 5w-30 green quaker state and orange fram filter when he drove it.

So before he handed me the keys he told me he did an oil change, and full engine tune up exactly 1 year ago. He did not put any kms on, but he would start and let it idle for 15mins every friday after work.

It doesn't leak, or burn oil within the 3 weeks ive been driving it. I put appx 45-55kms a day driving kids to and from school and to work. Mix of highway and city stop and go. Only fluid im losing is ATF, but not too worried about that right now.

So my question is does my Jimmy fall under the HM oil category? Or just stick to any conventional oil that is on sale? I read numerous threads that HM oil helps with seals and leaks, but mine is not leaking at all. And what would be a good baseline mileage to do a UOA for HM (M1 or Valvoline Maxlife) oil? 8000kms (5000miles)?

That engine runs quiet (birth until old age) on any name-brand synthetic. Change that ATF fluid, for the fluid wears out on some, do to heat.
Also, keep an eye on oil fluid levels. I believe it's the lower intake that might give you problems someday. Thick white smoke out of the tailpipe is another symptom.
Had my 1999 high-output 4.3 S10 for 18 years. Gave it away to a needy, poor person.
 
It's 15 years old and will eventually leak no matter what. Whether or you want to try to delay or prevent that happening is up to you.

My 2005 4.8L work truck started leaking from the rear main or oil pan within this past year and valve seals (smoke occasionally upon start-up for the past 2 years). We switched to high mileage within the past year. So far it has gotten slightly better but not fixed. Would switching earlier have prevented or delayed the leak? Maybe.

Will a future leak destroy the engine? Not likely. You will check it often enough that if it starts to lose oil you can top it up (unless an oil cooler line rusts out and leaks very quickly which a high mileage oil can't prevent).

So is a high mileage oil worth it if the price is nearly the same? Yes, it probably is unless you don't care if it starts leaking.

Is dexron 6 worth it in your transmission? Yes, I think it's much better than what it came with.

And like the last poster mentioned watch out for intake gasket leaks. I think almost every 4.3 with the plastic intake had that issue.
 
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100,000 miles so it's broken in.
Keep an eye on those rubber oil lines to the remote filter and radiator tank cooler. They tend to leak as they get old.

Probably rust is more of a worry than your engine.
I'd start spraying the WoolWax if you plan to run it another 10 yrs or so.
 
Originally Posted by nascarnation
100,000 miles so it's broken in.
Keep an eye on those rubber oil lines to the remote filter and radiator tank cooler. They tend to leak as they get old.

Probably rust is more of a worry than your engine.
I'd start spraying the WoolWax if you plan to run it another 10 yrs or so.

I used to have a 2003 Chevy Blazer. Those rubber oil lines are notorious for leaking. I got rid of mine before fixing that. It is up to you if you want to use HM oil. Not required ever, but they do have there benefits.
 
Letting it idle for 15 mins everyday after work is somewhat scary. I have an uncle that ruined a muscle car engine doing this exact same thing.

I would change the oil personally. Lots of fuel dilution and iron going on.

I run just about anything in my Blazer, but can't say I've tried a HM oil yet. All it's seen is clearance synthetic oils from the local auto parts store, but I will say it does leak a bit at the oil pan. The power steering system leaks too so it's hard to see what it what, but it currently consumes about half a quart every 3k (miles) or so.
 
Wow thank you guys for all the help and info, especially with the ATF. Valvoline atf was on the top of my list. I thought I would just ask since the red bottle of HM valvoline says "for engines over 120 000 kms". The oil seal additive I found on this site regarding HM oils, so I wanted to double check.

As of now my 4.3L doesn't consume or leak oil. I'll just stick with QS green and a wix filter. But if

Regarding the common problems with the 4.3L, I actually just finished reading those problems mentioned on blazer forum. Seems like the oil line is a DIy job, I will add that to my To-Do overhaul list for the spring. Can an Oil analysis determine if coolant is present in the oil? I dont have the intake gasket symptoms (knock on wood).
 
Originally Posted by frisco
Wow thank you guys for all the help and info, especially with the ATF. Valvoline atf was on the top of my list. I thought I would just ask since the red bottle of HM valvoline says "for engines over 120 000 kms". The oil seal additive I found on this site regarding HM oils, so I wanted to double check.

As of now my 4.3L doesn't consume or leak oil. I'll just stick with QS green and a wix filter. But if

Regarding the common problems with the 4.3L, I actually just finished reading those problems mentioned on blazer forum. Seems like the oil line is a DIy job, I will add that to my To-Do overhaul list for the spring. Can an Oil analysis determine if coolant is present in the oil? I dont have the intake gasket symptoms (knock on wood).



Yes it will. The tell is a combination of sodium and potassium in the oil. Sodium can be an oil additive but it is not present in Quaker State motor oil nor has it been a additive in QS since I joined this site.
 
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