Keeping a vehicle for the long haul…oil choice
- Thread starter BTLew81
- Start date
You wanna own a turbo gdi dohc GM engine for the long run? Nothing but 30/40 grade euro oil changed at 5k or less is the only thing I'd be doing. M1 esp 5w-30 is a great oil and walmart just began selling it in store and online too. HPL is great but I don't think its necessary. Don't care if it's under warranty they won't scrutinize receipts to see if it's dexos or uoa it. I've been running euro oil in my 6.2 instead of 0w-20 for most of its life which is still under warranty today and that engine needs it less than these turbo mills gm makes.
Beat me to it. M1 ESP 0/5W-30. Your's is turbo and ESP is "clean". And it's $28 a 5qt. at Wally. /thread
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For the long haul you’re right going to a 30 grade. If you’re concerned with Dexos the EP or Truck & SUV are great choices. ESP is a non dexos option that is hard to beat. I’d also get on a service schedule that doesn’t involve “lifetime” fluids, which means regular trans and differential services. If you’re in the rust belt it wouldn’t be a bad idea to Fluid Film or Surface Shield the undercarriage. These practices have helped me take many vehicles over 200k. Of course everything is engine/vehicle dependent, my grand daughter burned a valve in her VW at 125k despite impeccable maintenance….
What was your oil temperature? I guess if its still near optimal, then lower viscosity isn't a big deal, but if it starts to climb up there, doing that often may not be a great idea if you plan to keep it?
Low rpms and high torque from a turbo, with a small displacement engine, thin oil, and towing at elevation. Everything has to be going right for that to be a happy combo in the long term IMO.
I think it's more important. Changing the oil every 3700 miles with any oil that meets spec, the oil brand is not going to impact much. In 24 years, OP will have 200k miles. If the vehicle doesn't last that long, it wasn't the oil brand.
Nope-the 5.3.
The point being his vehicle will never see that stress-and there is nothing wrong with 0W/20.
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Not sure how concerned I should be with dexos. lol. Still undecided. But…esp is a good option with good carts.
Preventative maintenance all around will be an absolute.
Interesting on M1 suv. I’m almost popped for it before. R&P is good but if I decide to stay with dexos, it’s a no go
No-it's the 5.3.- I replied above.
edyvw
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Run Mobil1 ESP 0W30 or 5W30.
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This^^^is exactly on point with what I’ve seen as a tech, and experienced personally with my own vehicles. Maintenance save a poorly designed vehicle/engine. We can try…it makes us feel good, but no oil or interval will save a poorly designed piston or poorly machined crankshaft oil gallery. Won’t happen.
Meanwhile your 2008 CRV could very well be slightly neglected and still get itself to 300,000 plus miles with minimum repairs. My daughter owns an 08 CRV with 208,000 miles…it’s gone 10,000 miles several times using nothing more than conventional oil, and often times 8,000-9,000 using Super Tech synthetic. It uses around 3/4’s a quart every 5,000 miles and has often gone 9,000 miles running low on oil. It just doesn’t care. It ticks along, no misfires, not a single check engine light ever. I wish it were better maintained but there’s only so many cars I can look after in the family….although right now it has gone 5,000 miles the last three oil change intervals.
I trust about 50% of what manufactures tell me about maintenance. Especially when their marketing dept gets involved and pushes “low cost of maintenance”. I perform all maintenance, minus spark plugs at 50% of what they recommend. Oil @5k, air filters @ 15k, coolant @50k, cvt fluid @ 30k or once a year. Spark plugs usually around 80k. Might be wasteful but I feel good about it and my oldest car runs like new @200k. I also stick with the grade recommended and no oil burning to speak of.
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Mobil 1 Truck & SUV 5W-30 IS Dexos 1 Gen 3 approved...I've used it in GM products without issue (bothe the LTG 2.0T and the 3.6 DI V6)...
Bill
https://www.mobil.com/en/lubricants...products/products/mobil-1-truck-and-suv-5w-30
Bill
https://www.mobil.com/en/lubricants...products/products/mobil-1-truck-and-suv-5w-30
I think you have to start first: with how you use the vehicle? How is it kept? Garage stored? How often will it need to start outside in a cold Illinois winter? Short trips? Mostly highway?
I think a mid-saps 504/507 like M1 0w-30 ESP is the best all around compromise between warm HTHS and cold startability for most of us. SAPS is low enough to not have any emissions systems issues any time soon, 0w-30 startability is excellent, the considerable ester content lets it run clean.
VRP is an excellent, clean-running oil, but the ESP is also clean-running (since you have a newer engine, it's already clean) and has the advantage of both better cold temp flow (0w vs 5w for the VRP) and higher HTHS (>3.5 for ESP vs ?? VRP).
The UOAs for VRP look good, but may reflect a duty cycle where the 5w30 has no disadvantage vs 0w30. YMMV.
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It is indeed a sleeper, especially in 5w30 where you get a D92 flashpoint of 260°C! As someone paying close attention to oil volatility for my TGDI Honda, I have to wonder if this isn't something I should be running if for no other reason than the low volatility. (ostensibly from a good dose of AN?)
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