Hi all,
I'm a new member to the forum and was hoping to get some suggestions from the group as to which oil I should use for my next OC.
I have a 2007 Buick Lucerne that has a 3.8L Series III motor with 84k miles. I have had the oil changed every 4k mi since the car was new and it is now out of the warranty period. I have read that this car should be easy on oil, making the choice of oil rather straightforward, but I have had some issues which have made me rethink how it should be maintained. Right now, the car consumes about 1 qt every 2K mi to stay topped off (4.5 qt capacity.) It was worse, but the dealer replaced the exhaust valve stem seals as per a GM TSB around 45k mi. After the fix, it started using oil at the 1qt/2k mi rate (give or take 1/2 qt.), which was not enough for GM to do anything more while it was under warranty -- a bit disappointing, but it is what it is. The dealer has gone over the vehicle carefully with me, and the exhaust is clean (no blue smoke) even after sitting over a weekend and there are no noticeable leaks: the car stays parked in the same park of my driveway and the pavement under it is quite clean.
One interesting bit of trivia about the car: I have been told that in an effort to improve fuel vaporization and economy on late model 3.8L equipped cars, GM increased the engine's operating temp. In support of this, I did notice from day one of ownership that the heat coming from the engine was noticeably higher than I would have expected. If this is true, it may give a clue as to why the oil is being used at a faster rate than expected (and make the case to consider an oil that dissipates heat well and maintains good shear properties.) All this said, the engine temp gauge has been very consistent on this vehicle in that when its at operating temp, it stays in the dead middle of the "safe zone." I suppose it would be worthwhile to somehow measure the oil temp to see if it is considerably different from previous cars that use that engine.
I have been using Buick dealer supplied bulk 5w30 synthetic blend since new with one exception: at ~60K, the dealer suggested a 10w30 weight to decrease oil consumption. I didn't notice much of a change as it took ~1.5 qts to make it to 4k, but its unclear if the oil they used had higher HTHS at running temp to the previously used 5w30, so that test might not say much.
My concerns are: 1. prolonging the life of the vehicle, and, 2. minimizing oil consumption. Added fuel mileage is not a concern. I live in Southern California, so the temps are mild (although the car is driven in freezing temps about 1 week/year.) 80% of the mileage is from short (sub 25 mi) interstate trips. I like the idea of sticking with a GM recommended oil, but since I am now out of warranty and no longer shacked by GM's GM6094M 0W/5w30 requirement, I am free to try other options. I will be doing the changes here on out myself and would prefer suggestions that aren't boutique oils (either easily available online or at a popular store: Walmart, AutoZone, Amazon.com, etc.) 4-5K change interval is fine, but i could go longer if the consensus was that a long-lived syth oil was best.
So what is the best oil for my car? Any suggestions are very much appreciated!!
I'm a new member to the forum and was hoping to get some suggestions from the group as to which oil I should use for my next OC.
I have a 2007 Buick Lucerne that has a 3.8L Series III motor with 84k miles. I have had the oil changed every 4k mi since the car was new and it is now out of the warranty period. I have read that this car should be easy on oil, making the choice of oil rather straightforward, but I have had some issues which have made me rethink how it should be maintained. Right now, the car consumes about 1 qt every 2K mi to stay topped off (4.5 qt capacity.) It was worse, but the dealer replaced the exhaust valve stem seals as per a GM TSB around 45k mi. After the fix, it started using oil at the 1qt/2k mi rate (give or take 1/2 qt.), which was not enough for GM to do anything more while it was under warranty -- a bit disappointing, but it is what it is. The dealer has gone over the vehicle carefully with me, and the exhaust is clean (no blue smoke) even after sitting over a weekend and there are no noticeable leaks: the car stays parked in the same park of my driveway and the pavement under it is quite clean.
One interesting bit of trivia about the car: I have been told that in an effort to improve fuel vaporization and economy on late model 3.8L equipped cars, GM increased the engine's operating temp. In support of this, I did notice from day one of ownership that the heat coming from the engine was noticeably higher than I would have expected. If this is true, it may give a clue as to why the oil is being used at a faster rate than expected (and make the case to consider an oil that dissipates heat well and maintains good shear properties.) All this said, the engine temp gauge has been very consistent on this vehicle in that when its at operating temp, it stays in the dead middle of the "safe zone." I suppose it would be worthwhile to somehow measure the oil temp to see if it is considerably different from previous cars that use that engine.
I have been using Buick dealer supplied bulk 5w30 synthetic blend since new with one exception: at ~60K, the dealer suggested a 10w30 weight to decrease oil consumption. I didn't notice much of a change as it took ~1.5 qts to make it to 4k, but its unclear if the oil they used had higher HTHS at running temp to the previously used 5w30, so that test might not say much.
My concerns are: 1. prolonging the life of the vehicle, and, 2. minimizing oil consumption. Added fuel mileage is not a concern. I live in Southern California, so the temps are mild (although the car is driven in freezing temps about 1 week/year.) 80% of the mileage is from short (sub 25 mi) interstate trips. I like the idea of sticking with a GM recommended oil, but since I am now out of warranty and no longer shacked by GM's GM6094M 0W/5w30 requirement, I am free to try other options. I will be doing the changes here on out myself and would prefer suggestions that aren't boutique oils (either easily available online or at a popular store: Walmart, AutoZone, Amazon.com, etc.) 4-5K change interval is fine, but i could go longer if the consensus was that a long-lived syth oil was best.
So what is the best oil for my car? Any suggestions are very much appreciated!!
