M1 0w-40, 7000 miles. Dump it or keep going?

[BatmanLS1]

I just passed the 7000 mile mark in my 3800 Regal on this fill of M1 0W-40. At 4000 miles I changed the filter and toppped off w/ fresh oil which came to about a quart. I found out my drain plug wasn't 100% tight so it was leaking ever so slightly. It hasn't really burned any off since that fill.

From what I know, this oil is supposed to be a GM - LL oil.

Could anyone with experience with this oil make a recommendation? Should I keep chugging to 8000 or just play it safe and dump it? The car gets up to full operating temp almost everytime I drive it.

I plan on doing an analysis...then doing another run with LC...then compare the results. Not 100% scientific, I know.

 

[JohnBrowning]

I would waite for the UOA! This engine is not hard on oil so the 0W40 might well be doing just fine!!

 

[Patman]

Coincidentally, I just passed the 7000 mile mark on my OCI this morning too (although I'm using GC in my Vette), and I'm going to take it to 8000 miles, even though my oil life monitor is screaming at me to change the oil (it's saying 2% oil life left right now)

But for the sake of science, I'm going to push it to 8000.

I think you could do the same, as John mentions, the 3.8 is not that hard on it's oil.

 

[BatmanLS1]

I may split the difference and go 7500. Will make my mind up on the commute home.

Coincidentally Patman, I have 6 qts of GC sitting in my garage waiting for me to purchase a Vette. How do you like yours? I sold the Trans Am, now having LS series withdrawals. I may hold out until next spring for a lightly used Z06 to come into my budget.

 

[y_p_w]

quote:

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Originally posted by BatmanLS1:
From what I know, this oil is supposed to be a GM - LL oil.

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I think that's an Opel standard for Europe, but not something that GM considers for North American cars.

My biggest problem with the 3800 Series II was oil volatility.

 

[ATS-V]

I went 7k on my 3800 on my last OCI (Mar 05) and the results were almost identical as my previous 5k run.

I'm taking my current fill to 8-9k.

 

[Alan]

I'd say you won't have problems taking it to 10k considering you already changed the filter and added a quart.

 

[Ugly3]

Take it to 10,000 miles and do a UOA.

 

[wavinwayne]

quote:

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Originally posted by Ugly3:
Take it to 10,000 miles and do a UOA.

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Go, Go, Go, Go..............

 

[Patman]

quote:

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Originally posted by BatmanLS1:
I may split the difference and go 7500. Will make my mind up on the commute home.

Coincidentally Patman, I have 6 qts of GC sitting in my garage waiting for me to purchase a Vette. How do you like yours?

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I absolutely love mine! The best car I've ever owned, by a longshot! The C5 is one of the best sports car bargains on the used car market right now. There are a lot of nice low mileage 97s and 98s out there where the previous owner upgraded to the newer rims, so you can get a car which looks almost brand new, but for less than half the price of a new one. I think the early model C5s are more reliable too, at least in terms of things like piston slap and oil consumption. My engine uses no oil at all, and has no piston slap at all.

I drive it every single day, I bought it with 32k on it last August and just rolled over 50k the other day!

I was one of the first ones to get into the LS1 game, as I bought a 98 Formula brand new in April 1998. After 2.5 years I foolishly got rid of it, and regretted it big time. So after a few years I finally got back into the LS1 scene again, but this time getting the car I originally wanted in the first place. I'm not selling this one for a very long time! (the only way it's getting sold is to buy another Corvette)

 

[silverz06vette]

I like my C5 just a little bit.

Prices on a 97-98 are hard to beat right now. Just take your time and the one you like will come along.