Oil Reccomedations for New Chevy Traverse

[21Rouge]

Originally Posted By: Old Mustang Guy
I couldn't find the NOACK on Mobil 0W30 but I bought some to use in my wife's 09 Acadia next change. I am hopeing for slightly better mpg.


M1 0W30 is considered a very good oil but it does seem, looking at its UOAs it does shear (significantly) in many applications. So given that this 3.6 DI engine has a known fuel dilution tendency and as also a VVT engine which again seems to be hard on oil i.e. mechanical shearing maybe M1 0W30 isnt the best here....in terms of protection.

 

[Old Mustang Guy]

Lonestar and 21 Rouge, Thanks for the observations on Mobil 1 0W30. Makes sense.

 

[robd]

Have about 3000 miles on the current fill of Edge 5w30 and it seems very black. This is comparing it to my 2008 Mercury Sable with a 3.5L duratec with about the same mileage on the oil and it "looks" much cleaner in the Mercury (Motorcraft 5w20). Thinking the Traverse needs 3000 mile oil changes to be safe? I know this is not very scientific but if you compare both dipsticks the Traverse is looking almost like black paint and the Mercury is still golden brown.

 

[lonestar]

Originally Posted By: robd
Have about 3000 miles on the current fill of Edge 5w30 and it seems very black. This is comparing it to my 2008 Mercury Sable with a 3.5L duratec with about the same mileage on the oil and it "looks" much cleaner in the Mercury (Motorcraft 5w20). Thinking the Traverse needs 3000 mile oil changes to be safe? I know this is not very scientific but if you compare both dipsticks the Traverse is looking almost like black paint and the Mercury is still golden brown.


Have you visited the www.traverseforum.com as yet, or any of the lambda platform websites? Lots of discussion on the 3.6L DI and how it trashes oil quickly. You can do some searches on this site in the UOA section and see a few UOAs. With some oils the 3.6L DI will have them trashed in 3K miles but more typically around 5K to 6K with syn.

Many will say that color does not matter but having one of these engines I know what you mean about the color and the oil on your dip stick probably smells like gas.

 

[lexus114]

Originally Posted By: lonestar
Originally Posted By: robd
Have about 3000 miles on the current fill of Edge 5w30 and it seems very black. This is comparing it to my 2008 Mercury Sable with a 3.5L duratec with about the same mileage on the oil and it "looks" much cleaner in the Mercury (Motorcraft 5w20). Thinking the Traverse needs 3000 mile oil changes to be safe? I know this is not very scientific but if you compare both dipsticks the Traverse is looking almost like black paint and the Mercury is still golden brown.


Have you visited the www.traverseforum.net as yet, or any of the lambda platform websites? Lots of discussion on the 3.6L DI and how it trashes oil quickly. You can do some searches on this site in the UOA section and see a few UOAs. With some oils the 3.6L DI will have them trashed in 3K miles but more typically around 5K to 6K with syn.

Many will say that color does not matter but having one of these engines I know what you mean about the color and the oil on your dip stick probably smells like gas.



ouch,that cant be good.

 

[21Rouge]

Originally Posted By: robd
Have about 3000 miles on the current fill of Edge 5w30 and it seems very black.


I think this is not unexpected for a DI engine.

 

[robd]

Great car, it just seems to be hard on oil. I have been to the Traverseforum.net and have seen the posts. I'm wondering if I should just stick with a good syn and change every 3000 miles. I am not really sure I want to continue to use the Edge and may go to M1 5w30.

 

[21Rouge]

Originally Posted By: robd
Have about 3000 miles on the current fill of Edge 5w30 and it seems very black.


I encourage you to get a UOA for this run of EDGE. I think many of us are waiting to see how these "new" oils (EDGE and PU) do in this oil thrashing engine.

 

[robd]

I never did a UOA before, any input on how to get a test kit from Blackstone would be appreciated.

 

[21Rouge]

Originally Posted By: robd
I am not really sure I want to continue to use the Edge and may go to M1 5w30.


Why would you say this?

If you look for UOAs on all the Lambda forums and on BITOG for this engine I do hope it is the case that we can find a better oil then M1 as it has not shown well. Please dont go the M1 route.

I bet/hope EDGE will do better.

 

[robd]

I'm not sure any oil would perform better than the Edge. Just putting some ideas out there. Thanks for the response.

 

[robd]

I just ordered a test kit from Blackstone. It should be here in 1 to 2 weeks. I will keep everyone posted on the run of Edge.

 

[robd]

I Just got the report from Blackstone (Castrol Edge 5w30). I will post the results tomorrow on the UOA forum (Don't have report with me right now). The short story is with about 2400 miles on the oil the TBN was 3.9 and the report said I had very little fuel in the oil. What I can't understand is Blackstone said it looks like an oil with about 5000 miles on it. They also said try 5000 miles on next change. They confirmed that the oil was unusually dark like I stated earlier (Doesn't mean much). Silicone was a bit high but they said it was normal due to assembly sealants. Looks like the oil life monitor would have lead me astray because it would have never made it to 0% oil life(guessing about 9000 miles).

 

[robd]

Posted results in UOA section.

 

[SavagePatch]

Anybody have an updated opinion to this?

Planning on putting Valvoline Maxlife Full Synthetic 5w30 in a '10 Traverse with 69k miles on it. Going to pair it with a Fram Ultra and run it until the OLM is down to 10-15%.

 

[lubricatosaurus]

Originally Posted By: SavagePatch
Anybody have an updated opinion to this?

Planning on putting Valvoline Maxlife Full Synthetic 5w30 in a '10 Traverse with 69k miles on it. Going to pair it with a Fram Ultra and run it until the OLM is down to 10-15%.


Excellent choice of oil and filter. A dexos1 oil, check. Top oil filter, check.
A 5-year old Chevy like that with it's Cadillac V6 could run a euro-spec 0w-40 for extra protection, like walmart's Castrol or M1 0w-40, but only if you drive hard, like towing or lots of acceleration runs.

 

[SavagePatch]

Originally Posted By: lubricatosaurus
Originally Posted By: SavagePatch
Anybody have an updated opinion to this?

Planning on putting Valvoline Maxlife Full Synthetic 5w30 in a '10 Traverse with 69k miles on it. Going to pair it with a Fram Ultra and run it until the OLM is down to 10-15%.


Excellent choice of oil and filter. A dexos1 oil, check. Top oil filter, check.
A 5-year old Chevy like that with it's Cadillac V6 could run a euro-spec 0w-40 for extra protection, like walmart's Castrol or M1 0w-40, but only if you drive hard, like towing or lots of acceleration runs.


Thanks for the reply. It's a short trip grocery getter. Maybe 5k miles a year. Only hauls a baby and dog.