Synthetic blend
- Thread starter llmercll
- Start date
I thought GMs of that vintage spec Dexos which tend to be Grp III syns.
Conventional isn't going to hurt your engine, just make sure not to run it beyond the OLM change interval.
Biggest reason for Dexos was a lot of turbo engines coming into the product lines.
Impala of that vintage are 2.5 and 3.6 non turbo engines.
Conventional isn't going to hurt your engine, just make sure not to run it beyond the OLM change interval.
Biggest reason for Dexos was a lot of turbo engines coming into the product lines.
Impala of that vintage are 2.5 and 3.6 non turbo engines.
There could be a discrepancy between the OLM calculation and the actual condition of the lubricant at the specified interval.
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- Nov 19, 2023
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nothing really. i would shorten the interval in half for funnsies/bitog anxiety
What oil specification? That's what you should look for.
conventionals are mostly blends these days it’s fine
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The owner's manual states to use an oil that meets Dexos-1. The viscosity grade of 5W-30 for the V-6 and 5W-20 for the L-4 is specified. It's likely that the oil that was used does NOT meet that requirement. Dexos-1 is an improvement over the run-of-the-mill API SP/ILSAC GF-6A standards so it's not a bad idea to use oils that meet the spec. whether your manual calls for it or not. In this case, the manual does call for it.
Will it cause problems? No. However, I'd stop using that oil change place if they don't care enough to even look up the most basic maintenance information.
Will it cause problems? No. However, I'd stop using that oil change place if they don't care enough to even look up the most basic maintenance information.
Triple_Se7en
$50 Site Donor 2024
You are supposed to inform the Oil Change Shop what kind of oil you want, as soon as you arrive.
You are paying for the oil change. So the oil choice is yours, not theirs.
Well there was a coupon for conventional or full synthetic, but no part synthetic. We told them our make and model and told them we get synthetic blend and they charged us for the conventional.
If your Impala is the 3.6, you don’t want to use ANYTHING but a full synthetic Dexos 1 oil in it-the timing chain system is very expensive to replace, and cause engine failure. I would get it out, the oil life monitor is not programmed for any oil but a Dexos quality level synthetic. This is why I either change oil myself (on my vehicles), or have a trusted independent mechanic do it (company vehicles). Even dealerships can’t always be trusted to use what is correct for your car, unfortunately.
If you have 5W20 or 5W30 in it, there’s really no conventional any more, when the specification changed to SN a few years back those weights are pretty much all blend now. Still not good enough for an engine specified for (full synthetic) Dexos oil. I should be surprised, but some service centers are too focused on making profit.
Google “GM 3.6 timing chain failures”-make sure you are sitting down. GM has been specifying Dexos 1 (now up to Gen. 3) since 2007 in gasoline engines (high performance or diesel can be Dexos 2), all of them are full synthetic. I have been filtering out sludge in the 2011 Chevrolet Express in my signature since I’ve had it, Hertz was too cheap to use the Dexos oil-and it doesn’t have the expensive, intricate timing chain design your double overhead cam 3.6 has (thank God)!
So you’re saying not using dexos1 is what caused your sludge? Are you sure? Do you think running it for 3000 miles with conventional will cause damage? I’ve been using the dealership prior to this
It's fine for a run of 3k miles, if you need any top off fluid use any synthetic, and now it's a blend.
2012 Impala 173k with original timing chain. Used Pennzoil Platinum for 130k at 5k oil changes. Last 40k has been Valvoline Advanced full synthetic at 30% olm. Last oil change was 23% olm at a little over 10k.
5W20 and 5W30 have been pretty much all synthetic blends for awhile. You’re good.
