Hey all. I've been a lurker on here for a while but recently registered because I want to ask a few specific questions that I haven't been able to find answers for.
First off, I want to say that the "Motor Oil University" has been very insightful and has made me understand aspects of oil that I have never thought of before.
Following the forum sticky, here's my answers to the questions:
1. What kind of vehicle you have
- 1992 Chevy Suburban 2WD. Pretty sure it's got the 350 engine in it, has an oil cooler too. Was an old forest service rig, had very little use 6-7 years ago but had a lot of work done to it and it's now our main vehicle.
2. What your owner's manual says -- not just viscosity, but certifications (look for acronyms like API SM, ILSAC GF-4, etc.) and change intervals as well
- I know the fill cap says 5W-30, beyond that, I have no idea. I can go out tomorrow and look to see if there's more info. I believe the Chilton's manual says 7500 for OCI which seems pretty high to me.
3. Where you live
- North Idaho
4. How you drive (easy? hard? fast? slow?)
- Pretty easy most of the time. Usually let the car warm up a minute or two before heading off during the winter, especially if it's straight to the highway.
5. What your daily drive is like (short trips? long trips? city? highway?)
- Living in the country, the usual trips are a mile or so into the small town, run some errands, back home. Maybe once a week or so, drive 20-30 highway miles to the bigger city for other errands. I do live near the highway so after 1/2 mile of 20-30mph, I immediately get up to 40-50mph depending on where I'm going.
6. Whether your car has any known problems
- A lot of work has been put into it but there are some remaining issues. Seems to be a bit of seeping/wetness on the oil pan and tranny pan as well as some wetness next to the pumpkin in the rear. There might also be some seepage, I'm not 100% sure what the area is called though, there's 2 elongated black covers on the top of the engine, maybe the valve covers? They both seem, not wet but not exactly dry either. With that said, there's no leak bad enough where we lose any noticeable amount of oil, never have to top it off aside from shortly after changing the oil. Engine runs real smooth, starts surprisingly well at times.
So, here's my sin. The burb has pretty much always had whatever conventional oil has been cheapest. I did run some SuperTech High Mileage in it earlier this year but that's been changed out for NAPA 10W-30 (for the summer). Typically, I don't think we usually hit 3K miles on OCI, sometimes not even 2K. But, we have gone 5-6 months between changes. Now that it's getting cooler (below 48F at 8:30PM as I write this now), I want to at least change to 5W-30 but after reading the "Motor Oil University" posts, I'm wondering if a 0W-30 synthetic would be better. After reading that article, I did go out and get some M1 0W-30 synthetic for my snowblower as sometimes it doesn't even get above freezing during the day here.
Being that the burb is aging and might have a questionable seal here & there, I'm very cautious about sticking some synthetic in there. Is this worry unfounded anymore or is it still an issue with synthetic? Is 0W-30 even recommended for this 'vintage'? I want to treat the burb a bit better since it's our main vehicle and give it a bit more care. One final question, are oil pan heaters still recommended? Typically during the winter, I'd plug it in 20-30 minutes before leaving if it's anything below 40F.
Thanks in advance for any help
First off, I want to say that the "Motor Oil University" has been very insightful and has made me understand aspects of oil that I have never thought of before.
Following the forum sticky, here's my answers to the questions:
1. What kind of vehicle you have
- 1992 Chevy Suburban 2WD. Pretty sure it's got the 350 engine in it, has an oil cooler too. Was an old forest service rig, had very little use 6-7 years ago but had a lot of work done to it and it's now our main vehicle.
2. What your owner's manual says -- not just viscosity, but certifications (look for acronyms like API SM, ILSAC GF-4, etc.) and change intervals as well
- I know the fill cap says 5W-30, beyond that, I have no idea. I can go out tomorrow and look to see if there's more info. I believe the Chilton's manual says 7500 for OCI which seems pretty high to me.
3. Where you live
- North Idaho
4. How you drive (easy? hard? fast? slow?)
- Pretty easy most of the time. Usually let the car warm up a minute or two before heading off during the winter, especially if it's straight to the highway.
5. What your daily drive is like (short trips? long trips? city? highway?)
- Living in the country, the usual trips are a mile or so into the small town, run some errands, back home. Maybe once a week or so, drive 20-30 highway miles to the bigger city for other errands. I do live near the highway so after 1/2 mile of 20-30mph, I immediately get up to 40-50mph depending on where I'm going.
6. Whether your car has any known problems
- A lot of work has been put into it but there are some remaining issues. Seems to be a bit of seeping/wetness on the oil pan and tranny pan as well as some wetness next to the pumpkin in the rear. There might also be some seepage, I'm not 100% sure what the area is called though, there's 2 elongated black covers on the top of the engine, maybe the valve covers? They both seem, not wet but not exactly dry either. With that said, there's no leak bad enough where we lose any noticeable amount of oil, never have to top it off aside from shortly after changing the oil. Engine runs real smooth, starts surprisingly well at times.
So, here's my sin. The burb has pretty much always had whatever conventional oil has been cheapest. I did run some SuperTech High Mileage in it earlier this year but that's been changed out for NAPA 10W-30 (for the summer). Typically, I don't think we usually hit 3K miles on OCI, sometimes not even 2K. But, we have gone 5-6 months between changes. Now that it's getting cooler (below 48F at 8:30PM as I write this now), I want to at least change to 5W-30 but after reading the "Motor Oil University" posts, I'm wondering if a 0W-30 synthetic would be better. After reading that article, I did go out and get some M1 0W-30 synthetic for my snowblower as sometimes it doesn't even get above freezing during the day here.
Being that the burb is aging and might have a questionable seal here & there, I'm very cautious about sticking some synthetic in there. Is this worry unfounded anymore or is it still an issue with synthetic? Is 0W-30 even recommended for this 'vintage'? I want to treat the burb a bit better since it's our main vehicle and give it a bit more care. One final question, are oil pan heaters still recommended? Typically during the winter, I'd plug it in 20-30 minutes before leaving if it's anything below 40F.
Thanks in advance for any help