UGH!!! My first observations using GC!

[Chris B.]

It has been 24 hours now sense I put GC in my 2003 Silverado 5.3! My Truck now starts much louder! It never made any start up noise with Mobil 1 10w30(believe it or not) but now with German Castrol it gargles/diesels(piston slap?) quiet a bit with GC(30 seconds worth)!!!!! It is very noticable the increase with engine noise and I'm very dissapointed!!!! Should I dump it and go back to M1 or try Halvoline? After start up it quiets down and oil pressure is the same as it was with M1 10w30. What to do, what to do, what to do???? Terry is advising me so I'll see what he has to say. Any comments are welcome!

 

[mikep]

If it is really that bad and lasts for 30 seconds (in late spring/early summer temps no less) then I would dump it. That noise would be like fingernails on a blackboard to me. It would be interesting to see if it made the same noise with M1 0w-30. Just curious....why did you want to switch from M1 10w-30?

 

[cweed]

Hmmm. you're not the first person to notice this with GC This is one of the reasons I'm a bit afraid of trying it in my LT1 as LT1s and LS1s are known to be noisy, especially with M1.... Sorry to hear about your bad experience, i personally wouldn't drain the oil, but if it really bothers you enough dump it....

 

[97tbird]

quote:

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Originally posted by Chris B.: It has been 24 hours now sense I put GC in my 2003 Silverado 5.3! My Truck now starts much louder! It never made any start up noise with Mobil 1 10w30(believe it or not) but now with German Castrol it gargles/diesels(piston slap?) quiet a bit with GC(30 seconds worth)!!!!! It is very noticable the increase with engine noise and I'm very dissapointed!!!! Should I dump it and go back to M1 or try Halvoline? After start up it quiets down and oil pressure is the same as it was with M1 10w30. What to do, what to do, what to do???? Terry is advising me so I'll see what he has to say. Any comments are welcome!

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[ June 17, 2004, 10:39 PM: Message edited by: 97tbird ]

 

[CONMCK]

I have a 2001 5.3l sierra. With 55000km (34000miles) it has seen GM dino for the 1st 10k, quaker state syn for 15k, royal purple syn for approx 27k, all 5w-30 and now GC german made 0w-30. I have to honestly say that all 4 of the oil's you couldn't really tell the difference with anything, (gas mileage, engine noise etc), although I honestly have to say I think the 0w-30 GC if anything is slightly quieter at startup than the other 3 oil's. I have my theories as to why I believe GC could make an engine quieter at startup; 0w-30 GC is on the thicker side of the visc scale for a 30 weight oil when warm therefore when you shutoff the engine there should be slightly more of a thin film of oil left behind, and at start up (cold) the oil should reach the engine parts quicker because it is a 0 weight vs a 5 weight. But occasionally in the 01's life with all the oil's used I have had startup noise when sitting overnight that disappears usually within 30 seconds. 2 separate GM service managers said; 1st one thought it was injector noise, and the second one thought it could be carbon build up on the piston top or combustion chamber. Piston slap has been ruled out. I believe in my case anyways that it's not a lube problem as it should do it all the time on overnight starts. I'm wondering in your case if it's not coincidental, ie, a bad ADB valve in the filter although it should then only rattle for maybe a few seconds on startup or something else like a hydraulic roller lifter bleeding down (in that case I guess it would be an oil related issue). I would leave it in for a little while longer and see if it persists.

 

[Patman]

quote:

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Originally posted by cweed: Hmmm. you're not the first person to notice this with GC This is one of the reasons I'm a bit afraid of trying it in my LT1 as LT1s and LS1s are known to be noisy, especially with M1....

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GC makes my LT1 engine quiet on cold starts and warm idling. In a week or two I'll report how it does in an LS1 engine.

 

[Pablo]

same brand of oil filter as before?

 

[jsharp]

quote:

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Originally posted by Pablo: same brand of oil filter as before?

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That was going to be my question. Hard to believe it's louder with the heavier GC... [ June 18, 2004, 12:00 AM: Message edited by: jsharp ]

 

[G-MAN]

I suspect that oils that have moly in them do a lot to dampen piston slap in engines that are prone to have that problem. That has been my experience with my GM 3.4. Since GC has no moly, that could be the "problem."

 

[Chris B.]

Yes the same oil filter, UPF44. The engine sounded the same with a NAPA Gold and M1 10w30 as it did with M1 10w30 and UPF44, same oil pressure also. Only now with GC it it starting to make noise????? It does so more on a hot start too believe it or not!!! On 1st start of the day it acts like M1 did...quiet. I whish I knew what was going on!!!!

 

[cweed]

Pat, I will be trying it after I drain my T&SUV oil out, I'll post my reactions as soon as I try it, I hope I get the same results as you G-Man, you may be right, I noticed that my LT1 has slightly more of the piston slap type of noise when warm with M1 T&SUV, which has no moly, but the oil is noticeably quieter on start, it starts as if the engine was warm already. I am planning on trying GC for 2k and then RL 5W-40 for 2k and doing UOAs on those two along with the T&SUV that is in there, I will also note any noise differences I experience.

 

[Blue99]

The start-up engine noise in my 99 Silverado 5.3 is greatly reduced with Chevron Supreme Hi-Mileage dino 10W-30, vs. the M1 10W-30 which I drained in mid April. The Chevron HM is a heavy 10W-30, 83 cSt at 40C. Now I can just hear a faint "marbles in a can" for about 2-3 seconds. Very strange that your LT-1 would be quiet on M1 & noisy on a thicker viscosity such as GC. Is it possible to try a new filter before draining the CG? Or drain the GC into a clean container & try $1.19/qt dino 10W-30 with the suspect filter?

 

[SSDude]

My car makes less noise with GC than another oil including Redline. You should give GC a chance to work. It usually takes at least a thousand miles before you will notice a difference.

 

[ekpolk]

quote:

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Originally posted by Chris B.: Yes the same oil filter, UPF44. The engine sounded the same with a NAPA Gold and M1 10w30 as it did with M1 10w30 and UPF44, same oil pressure also. Only now with GC it it starting to make noise????? It does so more on a hot start too believe it or not!!! On 1st start of the day it acts like M1 did...quiet. I whish I knew what was going on!!!!

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Try giving it a little time. Despite our engines being quite different (I've got the Toyota 3.0L VVT V-6), I have had similar GC results. I'm about 3,000 miles into my first GC run. Mine still starts with more roughness than it did with M1, Amsoil ASL, or RP, but the noise has now significantly diminished. Engine runs smooth and strong. The only other remaining difference that I can detect is a 2-3 mpg mileage loss. At least for now, I'm intending to run one more fill of the stuff to give it a full, fair "try out" before I reach my final conclusion.

 

[dropitby]

My wife's car has 11000 mi. and it started and sounded like it was going to die idled rough even the steering wheel was shaking. I drove it to Pepboys and bought a new air filter and put a bottle of Tectron fuel system concentrate and cleaner and took it out on I 95. well after I got back home it ran smooth as can be and started it this morning runs great no noise nothing.

 

[Geoff]

See if it persists after a few starts. I switched to 15w-40 and got a lot of start up noise the first morning afterwards. After that, fine. Maybe the lifters bled out or the oil pump got an air pocket.

 

[Richin Chicago]

quote:

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Originally posted by Chris B.: Yes the same oil filter, UPF44. The engine sounded the same with a NAPA Gold and M1 10w30 as it did with M1 10w30 and UPF44, same oil pressure also. Only now with GC it it starting to make noise????? It does so more on a hot start too believe it or not!!! On 1st start of the day it acts like M1 did...quiet. I whish I knew what was going on!!!!

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Just as an aside the UPF44 hasn't shown to be a great flow filter. I would get 32 PSI with that filer 40 with the K&N and 38 with a Baldwin all at 1700 RPM 210 oil tempeature. That was with Mobil 1 mix.

 

[Dr. T]

Let it do it's cleaning.....few thou miles....

 

[Chris B.]

I dont thin it has any cleaning to do. I used M1 and LC sence 2,800 miles. The engine now has 18,000. Maybe I'll try a different oil filter. What is a great flowing oil filter for the 5.3 Vortec? Napa Gold or any even better? I have noticed the engine is quiet in the morning and cold starts are quiet. It is the hot starts that the engine is making a racket! I went on several errins and I'd go in the store for 20 minutes to over an hour and every time I came out and started the truck it would knock. Why might this be????

 

[crashz]

My first run of GC was identical to Chris's expereince. The day after I changed my oil, I got this horrible knocking sound for about 10 seconds. It turned out that the filter I was using had a defective antidrain back valve. It was folded over when I took it out. It was a Motorcraft FL400S, which I still use occasionally. A new Napa Gold fixed the problem right away. Sometimes you can get a bad filter. So before draining the oil, try cahnging the filter.