M1 5w30, 2000 miles, LS2 Corvette (C6)

[Patman]

Here is yet another oil analysis I found from the C6 section on the Corvetteforum:

Mobil 1 5w30
AC Delco Ultraguard Gold UPF44 oil filter
2000 miles on oil
2616 miles on engine
zero makeup oil

Aluminum 3
Chromium 1
Iron 10
Copper 81
Lead 3
Tin 0
Moly 73
Nickel 0
Manganese 0
Silver 0
Titanium 0
Potassium 1
Boron 43
Silicon 49
Sodium 6
Calcium 2071
Magnesium 10
Phosphorus 525
Zinc 634
Barium 0

Viscosity 59.6
Flashpoint 425F
Fuel Water 0
Antifreeze 0
Insolubles TR

 

[buster]

Looks really good. Should have kept it in longer.

 

[Al]

quote:

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Originally posted by buster:
Should have kept it in longer.

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Corvette owners have money to burn.

 

[buster]

quote:

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Corvette owners have money to burn

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Must be nice.

This oil is also SM rated as you can tell by the P/Zinc.

 

[Patman]

Yep, he definitely should've kept it in longer, but at the same time, it's a new engine so you can kind of understand where they are coming from. The fact that they are doing oil analysis might convince them to go longer on their intervals in the future.

FWIW, if I were to get a brand new C6 Corvette, I'd do the first oil change at 3k, then I'd continue to run M1 and run the second interval for 5k. I would probably even put in M1 for the third interval, and at that point I'd get a pretty good idea of whether or not the engine was in good condition. If it was burning a lot of oil and I suspected the need for a warranty claim, I'd stick with M1 5w30 just to avoid warranty hassles. But if the engine broke in nicely and didn't consume much oil and had no piston slap, and I figured I wasn't going to need to make any warranty claims, I'd switch it over to GC.

 

[buster]

Patman, it wouldn't surprise me that many of the people that use M1 maybe aren't breaking in their engines hard enough?

Then again, M1 is more likely to burn off for some reason than other oils, in some engines, not all. GC is a great fit for Vettes. I'd also use RL if I had one.

 

[Patman]

I believe a lot of these guys are breaking in their engines wrong. They are babying them too much for the first 500 miles, most of them don't even come close to going full throttle during that time. I believe a new engine needs to be exercised with a bit of wide open throttle.

 

[XS650]

quote:

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Originally posted by Patman:
Yep, he definitely should've kept it in longer, but at the same time, it's a new engine so you can kind of understand where they are coming from.

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Yup, the oil looked pretty dark and it's nice to get the machined while you drive stuff out of a new engine. I'll make the next change in about 3,000 miles and if all is well go to a 6,000 mile plus interval, the size of the plus will be based on a UOA at about 6,000 miles.

 

[XS650]

quote:

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Originally posted by Patman:
I believe a lot of these guys are breaking in their engines wrong. They are babying them too much for the first 500 miles, most of them don't even come close to going full throttle during that time. I believe a new engine needs to be exercised with a bit of wide open throttle.

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A big share of new Corvette owners slavishly follow the owners manual on breakin. It specifies not over 55mph for the first 500 miles

The 49 Chevy owners manual allowed 60 mph before 500 miles was up.

 

[Gary Allan]

It's hard to tell what you're breaking in on a new Corvette. The restrictions might not be for the engine. They may have that in there for the trans or the rear ..or who knows what

 

[NewC6]

My understanding is that the breakin period is more for my diff than the engine. I kind of did a modified break in, yes I did do full throttle a little and some down hill engine braking.
OBTW, the M1 UOA is not from my C6. I am doing GC until the green runs out then going to Amsoil. Patman and I have run into quite a few corvette folks who are convinced that GM engineers are gods when it comes to deciding how to lubricate their engines. They just can't understand the marketing arraingment between GM and Mobil. We are trying to spread the BITOG word among the corvette folks but some of them are REALLY stuck in their ruts.

 

[BlazerLT]

Patman, you are practising the real way to break in an engine, drive it hard and get the rings sealed properly.

That is why you are seeing less break in wear.

 

[XS650]

quote:

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Originally posted by Gary Allan:
It's hard to tell what you're breaking in on a new Corvette. The restrictions might not be for the engine. They may have that in there for the trans or the rear ..or who knows what

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Gary,

That "break-in is for gears, brakes, whatever, but not the engine" is a common story on the Corvetteforum. I have my doubts about the not for the engine part. I don't dispute that gears need a break-in too.

There are reports on new Corvettes where engine oil consumption drops after a few thousand miles, so I'm calling ** on the gears only break-in theory that's prevalant there.

Also wear metals drop after 10k plus miles on LS1s and LS2s and the oil stays clean looking longer after 10k+ miles.

I got good numbers and zip oil consumpion with my don't baby it, don't flog it and vary loads a lot method. I'll stick with that even if some folk believe that the engine is broken in at the factory (seriously, some people actually believe that)

I didn't check the oil level right before my first change at 616 miles, so don't actually know if it used any oil before then.

 

[Gary Allan]

Well, the only reason I wonder is because the traditional cautions were always directed to the engine. "Don't stay at a steady speed" ..etc..etc. .and I always did the "healthy" upramp to near redline and coast down ..and basically leave it in 3rd gear for a good stretch. Not beating it. Just cycling it. But aside from my Pukeout diesel, my jeep was the first vehicle that gave me a mileage restriction (500) before going above 55 or something. Since the engine hadn't changed from the 60's aside from head design ..I just figured that it was for all the added gears that goes with a 4wd.

Now I see I'm in good company with the bowtie crew's #1 ..even if it's Bee-ess

 

[heycurt]

It's been 108 F. here in Texas this week. I picked up some of the Pennzoil Platinum 10w30 at HD this week. What do you think of this oil for a new LS2 Corvette with 700 miles for the first oil change to get the bulk M1 out? Its GM 4718M.

Couldn't find any green GC at three local AZ. Don't want to put M1 back in.

 

[shanneba]

WOW not above 55 mph for the first 500 miles.
I wonder how long ago that section of the manual was written?

My 2003 BMW manual says to stay below 4500 RPM and 100 MPH for the first 1250 miles. It says to vary the engine / road speed and no full throttle operation.

It also says to follow this if the engine or differential is ever replaced.

 

[AndyH]

quote:

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Originally posted by heycurt:
Couldn't find any green GC at three local AZ. Don't want to put M1 back in.

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Don't worry about not finding any "green" GC. The new "gold" GC seems to perform very well too, as long as it says "Made in Germany" on the rear label you're good-to-go.

 

[427Z06]

quote:

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Originally posted by NewC6:
Patman and I have run into quite a few corvette folks who are convinced that GM engineers are gods when it comes to deciding how to lubricate their engines. They just can't understand the marketing arraingment between GM and Mobil. We are trying to spread the BITOG word among the corvette folks but some of them are REALLY stuck in their ruts.

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I'd be careful believing you're smarter than all the engineers at GM. I see you guys talk about break-in procedures similar to those used to break-in pistons rings from years gone by. Today, with plateau honing and rings lapped at the manufacturer, virtually guarantees they are broken-in shortly after the engine is started. The rest of the engine, along with the drivetrain is a different story with many parts developing wear patterns so you don't want to generate localized hot spots and subsequent microwelding.

Do yourself a favor and try talk to some of the GM engineers involved in engine development, I think you'd be impressed with their knowledge. I'm not saying they're infallible, but they do have a clue.

 

[buster]

NewC6, have you ever performed a tear down? What about Redline? Have you seen a good UOA with RL? Many people who change to RL see improved bearing wear in raced engines, yet on BITOG, you would think bearing wear is elevated.

You can't just assume that what you see from a $20 report is telling you the whole story. I think that is where many people go wrong. M1R 0w30 is 10cSt, yet was tested by Joe Gibb's racing and came out 2nd, behind their own oil. These guys are probably pushing 750hp out of engines. Again, it's just more complicated than what you see here. IMO.

More importantly, I've yet to hear of a Corvette breaking down due

to engine failure and the oil was to blame...

 

[Patman]

quote:

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Do yourself a favor and try talk to some of the GM engineers involved in engine development, I think you'd be impressed with their knowledge.

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My cousin is one of the engine test engineers at the St.Catharine's GM plant actually, they are responsible for assembling the LS2 engine, and previously did the LS1 engine. My cousin is extremely smart and has done a heck of a lot of testing with these engines, and knows a ton of stuff about them, but he even told me that they don't do any testing of different oils there. GM just uses 5w30 because of fuel economy. All that matters to them is that the engine has a reasonable lifespan (in other words it'll get past the warranty period and a little bit more) I'm not saying that Mobil 1 5w30 won't give these engines a decent life, because it will, especially since most Corvette owners won't even put that many miles on them. All I'm saying is that these engines like a slightly thicker oil. It's not just GC that they like, but stuff like Amsoil 5w40 too. I get TONS of emails from LS1 and LS2 and LS6 owners asking me what oil to run, as they are unhappy with the consumption they get with M1. When I recommend something thicker, they almost always email me back to say their consumption went down. That alone is worth the trouble of switching, IMO.