yes of course a turbo gdi engine will coke the oil unless that conventional is changed sooner than 3k routinely to not get varnish. But people think that in general its impossible to have a clean looking engine without any varnish with conventional at 3-5k intervals even in a port injected na engine. He said nothing but Pennzoil conventional so i take it as never having even a flush or additives also. Which i personally wouldn't do in a well maintained engine since new unless its known for cleanliness issues.
Oil for GM 3.6l famous for timing chains.
- Thread starter Hockeytown9
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The timing chains are only problematic when the oil level gets low which in turn prevents the hydraulic chain tensioner from working. GM came out with a revised valve cover gasket for the 2014 model year high feature 3.6 V6 which drastically reduces the amount of oil mist sucked out of the engine which reduces/eliminates oil consumption. So that might be something cost effective to look into.
My 2015 3.6 has been flawless, uses no oil and is just as quiet with 10W30 syn as it is with 5W30 syn.
My 2015 3.6 has been flawless, uses no oil and is just as quiet with 10W30 syn as it is with 5W30 syn.
Yeah, I ordered the new design gaskets to put in with the new chains. Also a new PCV that I plan to drill out. The PCV mod and new gasket are supposed to help as long as you change the oil every 3k. Might do catch cans too.
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You couldn’t just change her oil with some of that 100% real synthetic stash that you have ?
I mean you must have tons of it ?
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Sorry to say, I don’t see any oil handling this factory problem...and this is when the GM fans jump in and say...what problem? It’s overblown. GM sold 5 million units, this is only an internet fantasy. 
Did it leave a message on the tape?
Absolutely correct. It has a great deal to do with the engine design as illustrated by my 1MZ-FE and 1NZ-FE engines.
Maybe, but the chains on my 2010 went south despite using Dexos-spec oil, even though it didn't officially call for it yet in 2010, and I kept tabs on it religiously. Unloaded it at 170,000 because I wasn't going to spend the $$$$ to replace them. I don't recall that it had significant oil consumption, maybe 1/2 quart between changes.
I don't see how low oil quantity prevents the tensioner from working if it's fed with pressurized oil. If it didn't have enough oil to maintain pressure to keep it under tension, then how would there be enough oil pressure to keep the oil light off? At that point, the pump would be sucking air, not oil. It was my understanding that the oil consumption is problematic for the chains because the additives are correspondingly reduced, so the oil quality is quickly reduced.
While under warranty, I just let the dealer do the oil changes on my 3.6L Equinox. Now that the warranty is up I have been doing it myself using whatever dexos, full synthetic 5W-30 is on sale. I change the oil according to the OLM, which for me during normal routine is every 5,000-7,000 miles. At that frequency I don't think it makes much of a difference what is used.
I just changed the oil this weekend using Quaker State Ultimate Durability 5W-30, and an STP Extended Life oil filter (made in the USA, with a stated 10,000 mile "life") from Autozone. Only $36 for 6qts of oil and the filter.
Prior to that I used STP full synthetic 5W-30 (Amalie, same dexos license # as Carquest and Chevron) and an OEM ACDelco filter. Only drove 3,000 miles in the past year. The OLM still showed 44% oil life remaining, but the monthly Onstar report threw up a warning that it had been over 12 months since the last oil change. When the STP oil came out it was pitch black in color, but that doesn't really mean anything scientific about it's durability.
Just got word that the return to the office is imminent in the next 6 weeks, so oil changes will once again be 3+ times a year instead of once per year. Lots of opportunity to try different oils (don't really care what filter at this point, as long as it indicates at least a 10,000 mile service life just for peace of mind and isn't made in China.)
Just as an aside, my Dad was an "Amsoil guy" for years. Now he just uses whatever full synthetic is reasonably priced. He also used to be an OEM filter guy, but is now just using whatever mid-grade or premium level filter is available at a decent price. He is currently running Carquest full synthetic and a Fram Titanium filter in his Ford. The car is just as happy with that combo that it was with Amsoil and a Motorcraft filter.
I just changed the oil this weekend using Quaker State Ultimate Durability 5W-30, and an STP Extended Life oil filter (made in the USA, with a stated 10,000 mile "life") from Autozone. Only $36 for 6qts of oil and the filter.
Prior to that I used STP full synthetic 5W-30 (Amalie, same dexos license # as Carquest and Chevron) and an OEM ACDelco filter. Only drove 3,000 miles in the past year. The OLM still showed 44% oil life remaining, but the monthly Onstar report threw up a warning that it had been over 12 months since the last oil change. When the STP oil came out it was pitch black in color, but that doesn't really mean anything scientific about it's durability.
Just got word that the return to the office is imminent in the next 6 weeks, so oil changes will once again be 3+ times a year instead of once per year. Lots of opportunity to try different oils (don't really care what filter at this point, as long as it indicates at least a 10,000 mile service life just for peace of mind and isn't made in China.)
Just as an aside, my Dad was an "Amsoil guy" for years. Now he just uses whatever full synthetic is reasonably priced. He also used to be an OEM filter guy, but is now just using whatever mid-grade or premium level filter is available at a decent price. He is currently running Carquest full synthetic and a Fram Titanium filter in his Ford. The car is just as happy with that combo that it was with Amsoil and a Motorcraft filter.
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I gotta say the new Carquest/Fram promo's at AAP are pretty good, only $32 for a 5qt jug of the Synthetic + Fram Titanium Oil Filter + Fram Drive Air Filter, I don't think I could get 5qts of Supertech FS + a Fram Ultra, and a basic Fram or Supertech air filter that cheap at walmart
I tend to agree, design issues are not really solved by oil choices, shortening the interval between changes is always good. Advance just got rid of all the Carquest branded oil. Oil sludging is nothing new, Toyota had this problem so bad the sludge literally baked into a 2 to 3 inch rock hard layer under the valve covers. My friend has a similar problem with a Saturn, needs timing chain, tensioner guide etc. I would look at walmart dexos, change frequently.
In name oil, the new Fram oil is the same oil from Amalie in a new bottle.
I feel that i need to put the final 'period' to a thread started about 'motorcycle' oil, just use Dollar General, oil was stated. While buzzing around Walmart on their motorized carts, had a stroke 8 months ago, i see motorcycle specific, 20W50, vtwins, wet clutch includes transmission. Rice burner oil, etc etc. In total, maybe 5 different and that's Walmart.
Huh?
A friend of ours just traded in their 2011 Chevy Traverse 3.6 with 220k on it. Changed out the oil every 5k even though the OLM was still at 45%. Used AMSOIL OE 5w-30 and PF63E filter. No issues other than leaking transmission lines and serpintine belt breaking at 200k.
Why is a 96k mile engine out of the vehicle?Here's what the inside of our 2006 Outback's engine looks like after 15 years and 96,000 miles of using nothing but Pennzoil conventional 5w-30 changed every 3-5k miles.
It's what makes a Subaru a Subaru.
But actually -- it needed a rear main seal and valve cover gaskets. Doing valve cover gaskets on one of these cars with the engine in the car is a fools errand when the engine is so easy to pull.