Synthetic blend

llmercll said:
The user manual doesn’t specify full synthic

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Full synthetic is best regardless of what your car manual says. It will do no harm and will perform better over the entire interval. It’s really what everyone should be using.

Don’t worry too much about conventional vs syn blends vs synthetic though. As long as they meet certain specs, the difference is mainly just how many miles they can last. If you don’t know what specs the oil they put in meets, it should probably be drained and replaced - but don’t worry too much about it. The odds of any damage being done in a single interval from this is incredibly low, and your car is fine.
 
The Dexos 1 Gen 1 requirement has been superseded by Dexos 1 Gen 3. This is what you should be asking for. And, yes, the 3.6 requires 5w30.
Dexos 1 Gen 3 is a full synthetic according to AC Delco.

5EF47E6D-8777-4EA5-8CEC-D37DC6942AF7.jpg
 
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goingplacesanddoingstuff said:
Full synthetic is best regardless of what your car manual says. It will do no harm and will perform better over the entire interval. It’s really what everyone should be using.

Don’t worry too much about conventional vs syn blends vs synthetic though. As long as they meet certain specs, the difference is mainly just how many miles they can last. If you don’t know what specs the oil they put in meets, it should probably be drained and replaced - but don’t worry too much about it. The odds of any damage being done in a single interval from this is incredibly low, and your car is fine.
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Does full synthetic do anything besides last longer? Does it actually make the engine work less hard or something?
 
llmercll said:
Does full synthetic do anything besides last longer? Does it actually make the engine work less hard or something?
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It doesn’t degrade as quickly, and it retains its protective properties better over the span of the change interval.

Oil is subjected to heat, oxidation, shear, and other degrading effects over the thousands of miles in an interval. Full synthetics stand up to all of it better and provide improved protection, so while a conventional might be done and potentially causing increased wear at 4000 miles, most synthetics will still be protecting fine.
 
bullwinkle said:
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)!
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I don't think all Dexos 1 has been full synthetic. I'd swear the first 5w-30 dexos oils I put in my 2015 Trax were semi-synthetic.
 
I would run of full synthetic in that engine myself- but I think much of it can depend on the type of driving that will be done with this car. If it it does quite a bit of stop and go traffic, it will be harder on the oil. Freeway driving tends to be easier on the oil. If it is going to be for a short interval (2-3k) even in city driving it should be okay.

Going forward i would use full synthetic to get the most out of the 3.6
 
c502cid said:
I don't think all Dexos 1 has been full synthetic. I'd swear the first 5w-30 dexos oils I put in my 2015 Trax were semi-synthetic.
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Pennzoil Gold was Dexos approved and semi synthetic… Plus a few others… I know Valvoline Durablend in the blue container was semi synthetic and Dexos approved too.
 
Dexos 1 of that era was a synthetic blend...it isn't any more...time moves on as we learn more about what is good for longevity of our cars...use a full synthetic Dexos 1 (currently Gen 3) oil in your Impala with whatever engine came in it...

Bill
 
I’ll agree that FS is the way to go these days by and large. However if blends are allowed (which they are for this model year) then it is allowed. And all 5W30 and 5W20 has been blend for awhile now. The OP is fine. Conventional doesn’t mean what it use to mean.

And for all those saying the OP needs FS oil.
1687647834926.jpeg

‘12 GM 3.6 on the original chain with only blends. Sold for reasons other than the engine. Engine ran like a top.
 
Snagglefoot said:
Here is the info from the OP’s manual. It’s just a case of moving on the Dexos 1, Gen 3, which is now a full synthetic.

View attachment 196585View attachment 196586
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The OP doesn’t necessarily have to move the new Dexos standards if he doesn’t want to. I used VL Max Life blend in our GM for years, which at the time was Dexos certified. I can’t remember exactly when it stopped being Dexos approved. But I just kept right on using it and the engine still “loved it” as the people who like to use anthropomorphism would say.
 
ATex7239 said:
The OP doesn’t necessarily have to move the new Dexos standards if he doesn’t want to. I used VL Max Life blend in our GM for years, which at the time was Dexos certified. I can’t remember exactly when it stopped being Dexos approved. But I just kept right on using it and the engine still “loved it” as the people who like to use anthropomorphism would say.
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For sure, but the OP is trying to follow the intended suggestions of his owner’s manual. True Bittoggers never use the manual. My 6.0 has Euro 0w30 which is not a Dexos oil and it has over 250,000 miles.
 
It might be that where you live you aren't allowed to do the oil and filter changes yourself. This puts you to a bit of a disadvantage and you have to use a corporate entity to do it for you and they don't get it right every time. After all, it isn't their car, even though some of the employees may do their best to please the customer. I am so pleased that I can do my changes and I know for sure what goes into my cars. I'm 85 years old and I still do my oil and filter changes and other maintenance work on my cars. I'm fixing to get into the brakes on one of them.
 
The manual might say syn blend but these v6 engines are known for timing chain issues and it's a common practice to use full syn and reduced OCI as part of the solution to avoid premature engine failure with these models. Just a bad timing system design.
 
llmercll said:
my 2017 Chevy impala calls for synthetic blend oil.

What would happen if an oil change center gave us regular conventional?
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All ILSAC oil grades (0w20, 5w20, 5w30, 10w30) are semi-synthetic - if you call group II+ and III interchange synthetic. I do not, but that is another discussion and mostly immaterial.

Synthetic, semi-synthetic and conventional is not an oil spec. It's product placement and pretty much meaningless.

If it's ILSAC GF-5 or GF-6A you are fine. Any reputable oil change facility will be using current ILSAC lubes as a baseline.

There are no majority conventionally refined stock used in current ILSAC lubes that I am aware of.
_________________________
 
llmercll said:
The user manual says synthetic blend not full synthetic

It is the 3.6l
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You are focused on the wrong thing.

Look at the specification, not the base stock description. Stop talking about “conventional” or “semisynthetic” because that is not the issue.

What specification does your engine require? Dexos?

Was the oil they put in Dexos certified?
 
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