1999 Firebird (3.8L) Oils

[comiczoner]

Hello,

Sorry for my first post being a topic like this, but I'm about ready for an oil change, and I wanted to know what you guys would recommend for my engine (I'm assuming that matters a bit). Also, I live in the eastern part of Tennessee.... temperatures usually range from 15 degrees fahrenheit on cold days in the winter to 98 degrees fahrenheit on certain days in the summer.

It's a well-running car (for it to have 100k on it), and I'd like to keep it that way (bonus points for performance boosts). Bought it as a wreck, but I figure whoever had it before the wreck did a good job of keeping it up.

Anyways, I'm leaning towards Royal Purple, but I can't find a whole lot of information on them (yes, I've spent a lot of time searching). Most of the stuff I CAN find on them seems to be either from Royal Purple or places that exclusively sale Royal Purple.

So, can anyone give me suggestions on the weight and brand of oil that I should use. I'm willing to pay up to $8 a quart or so.

 

[aquariuscsm]

I always ran my 87 Olds Trofeo (GM 3800) with 20W50 GTX. Sold her with almost 300k. Never any oil leakage or usage. Those GM 3800`s are INCREDIBLE engines.

 

[comiczoner]

Yeah, I'm pretty happy with the engine, and the car overall (it's my first car, and I've had it for almost 5 years). I just recently started learning how to realy take care of it, though (I was good about getting it serviced regularly... at Wal-Mart, unfortunately).

Within the last couple of months, though, I've started doing work on it myself-- had to change the spark plugs/wires, went ahead and changed the serpentine belt before it started giving me problems, etc. And this way, I can get better parts and still spend much less than I would spend to have someone else do things with cheap parts. Iridium spark plugs, high performance dynomax muffler... you get the picture.

I plan on doing my first oil change Monday, so I want to start off good and use good oil .

 

[Merkava_4]

Maxlife 10W-30 has been working out quite well for my Buick's 3800 being that it's a stout 10W-30, but I wouldn't feel comfortable using a conventional 10W-30 in the central CA summer; we get up to 110F here. I'd be using a conventional 10W-40 if I couldn't get Maxlife 10W-30.

 

[terminaldegree]

I had an '00 Firebird v6 until recently... miss that car already!

My suggestion would be to run whatever reputable synthetic 0-30, 5-30, 10-30 you can find on sale in the car. Brand didn't make any difference in performance, sound, or consumption in my experience with this car. I wasn't driving it much and doing 5,000 mile/6 month oil change intervals (OCI), with an annual trip to the dragstrip mixed in for fun. I'd not be afraid of a better dino on a shortish interval, depending on how you drive.

If you like to run oversize filters, the Wix/Napa Gold (and certain AC delco pf-52 filters made by wix in disguise w/ silicone ADBV- check O'reilly's) are slightly shorter than the other offerings out there, which leaves a little more clearance near the front swaybar. Very easy car to change the oil yourself...

 

[chas3]

strangely enough i like mobil's 0w40--so does my 3800. running 5w30 or 10w30 tends to seep a bit from the rear main seal (or something in the back of the engine, perhaps the cam cover).

 

[comiczoner]

Thanks for your suggestions!

So I take it that I don't really have to follow my manual's recommended weight all that much, then?

After doing a lot of reading, I decided on a Purolator Pure One oil filter.

Still not sure what oil I'll go with. I'll take any responses I get into consideration, and then see what I can find when I go into Autozone or Advance here in a few days.

 

[aquariuscsm]

My girlfriend`s Olds 88LS (with the 3800 Series II) has been getting a diet of Valvoline conventional 10W40 and an AC Delco filter. Runs MUCH smoother/quieter than when I tried Mobil 1 10W30 in it when she first got it. It had occasional upper valve train tapping with the M1 when the engine was good and hot. The Valvoline dino runs much smoother in that car.

 

[comiczoner]

So a lot of you guys are running dino oil, then? I thought synthetic was just better oil.

 

[wapacz]

It is better oil, but its not really worth the price unless you are doing extended drains or really pushing the engine.

If you had problems with the oil getting really hot or it shearing down then well it would be worth the costs.

 

[Bill in Utah]

Originally Posted By: comiczoner
Yeah, I'm pretty happy with the engine, and the car overall (it's my first car, and I've had it for almost 5 years). I just recently started learning how to realy take care of it, though (I was good about getting it serviced regularly... at Wal-Mart, unfortunately).

Within the last couple of months, though, I've started doing work on it myself-- had to change the spark plugs/wires, went ahead and changed the serpentine belt before it started giving me problems, etc. And this way, I can get better parts and still spend much less than I would spend to have someone else do things with cheap parts. Iridium spark plugs, high performance dynomax muffler... you get the picture.

I plan on doing my first oil change Monday, so I want to start off good and use good oil .


Getting it serviced at Wal-Mart is not a problem. It was good that you got the oil changed because most important thing is that you GET THE OIL CHANGED. Not what type of oil, but a good (and most oils (ALL OILS at Wal-Mart) are excellent.

For your car, anything in the proper grade (I'd bet 5w-30) that you can get there is going to work fine. I do not think that the 99 had a oil life light so follow the manual for your type of driving and buy whatever oil you would like.

The biggest problems I have with ANY place changing my oil are;

1. they do not care for my vehicle like I do.

2. cost.

I'm a cheap skate who has taken many vehicles well past 200+k miles over the years with oil changes that cost including the oil filter under $5.

That was on yesterdays conventional oils, todays are much much better.

Take care and

Bill

 

[comiczoner]

The problem wasn't the oil that was at wal-mart, so much as the service I was getting. They've done everything from incorrectly balancing my tires (using a technique which I *think* is called "counter-balancing"), not checking headlights (which I didn't care about, but they said that they had), etc. I once went down the road and the car was acting funny. I got out and popped the hood-- the dipstick wasn't all the way in (which I didn't think was the problem, but I put it in right and started up the car, and it worked fine). I've even caught them not changing the wiper blades after I had paid to have it done.

The biggest thing, and I don't know if they're the ones who did this-- I was checking my engine coolant a few weeks after I had gotten my oil changed... and there was what appeared to be OIL in it. I had completely changed the coolant out about a month before, so it had to have happened within that month, and nobody other than me had access to my car, other than when I had my oil changed.

I've had problems at all three Wal-marts that are near my house.

So yeah, long story short-- there's no telling what all has been done to it, but I'm not letting anyone else but me touch it now.

 

[aquariuscsm]

DIY is THEE ONLY way to go!

 

[comiczoner]

For real.

You know, this is really something they should teach kids to do in school, at some point or another.

 

[Barkleymut]

I really wish I could trust someone to take care of my 3 babies as much as I do. But I do not want to put them in daycare, they always run much better and longer when I do all of the homeschooling.

Learn how to do as much PM as you can on your car and it will love you back. BTW-my BIL has a 99 Firechicken with the 3.8 and while the oil pan leaks and he has no AC it still runs pretty good.

 

[sciphi]

Might want to Auto-RX it. I did that to my 99 LeSabre. It made a difference in fuel economy and oil leakage out of the rear seal.

Currently I'm running Schaeffer's 7000 5w-30 with 4 oz. of Auto-RX. Never had the car be as smooth as it is right now. About those oversized filters, my mileage went down when running one. The best tanks I've seen were with the normal size filters. It's likely coincidence, though.

 

[chas3]

the '99 firebird 3.8l does have an oil life indicator. since i am using a 'synthetic', i just follow the indicator. in my mostly city driving i seem to get about 6k miles, before it thinks i need a change. that works out to be twice a year. i seem to have a bit of consumption (or leakage), so i usually need 1 qt of makeup oil somewhere around 4k-5k miles.

 

[crw]

Not to thread-jack, but what kind of mileage are you all getting with the Firebird 3.8L? I was curious because the 3800 does really well in the front drive sedans.

 

[terminaldegree]

I got 30 in highway driving (usually set cruise @ 75), low 20's in-town with mine. It was a stick. Once my g/f got 36 with it following me driving a U-Haul at 65 mph cross-country.

The V6 will happily run regular gas in the f-bodies. I kinda wish I hadn't sold mine...

 

[crw]

Yes, that sounds excellent. Thanks,