04 Silverado 5.3 - 1 quart HDEO Rotella T5

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Hi all,

Last oil change I put in about 1.1-1.2 quarts of a mystery oil. Im 99% sure its Rotella T5 but its either 5w30 or 10w30.

I've been having a very small oil burning issue, 1 qt every 5,000-7,000 miles. BITOG laughed me out of the board when i brought it up. And rightly so, after putting it into perspective it is a non-issue and I simply adjusted my OCI accordingly. I was caught up in vying for that 10,000 mile OCI.

That said, having put this HDEO in the truck, do you think the ZDDP and other HDEO additive package might help to stop an oil burning issue? Will it clean out any sludge? is there anything this oil will do that it otherwise would not had it not been added? (Cleaning wise?)

I know we're talking a relatively small amount here. Around 15% of the total oil in the crank is Rotella but im curious whether the add package will help clean it out better or did i simply add more oil?

Thanks for any info here. Something i've been curious about. I've driven roughly 1,500 miles so far so there's nothing else i can add at this time.

Truck has 165,000 miles on it and i have never drained the oil and seen any sludge or clumps of oil, even when i "over-drove" an oil change interval well beyond its life.
 
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What oil is the other 85%? But regardless, I don't think it will make any difference one way or the other with or without the Rotella.
 
Im using 5w40 in my 03 5.3 as a cleaning cycle.

If you have a stash use that up first, if you dont then you may consider going to 5w40.


5.3s are known to consume 1qt/3-5K miles so its very common.

Mine had a lifter tick and startup rattle when i got it, ran MMO 1qt for 100 miles along with doses of Techron and Gumout High Mileage every tank.

I am going to do a 3K oil change on this cleaning cycle, then 4K then try to stay around 5K oil changes depending on consumption.

Using AC Delco filters non-ecore as well.
 
Put a catch can on that 5.3 I'm willing to bet your consumption your seeing is actually crank case oil vapor being circulated into intake for emissions burning and not actual burning. My ecotec 3 5.3 has "consumption" like that which is normal for that engine and known thing for L83's.
 
Originally Posted By: TexasTea
I know we're talking a relatively small amount here. Around 15% of the total oil in the crank is Rotella but im curious whether the add package will help clean it out better or did i simply add more oil?

15% isn't much, wouldn't affect anything. If it was 100%, that could be a different story.
 
T5 will not knock off sludge, if it does clean your engine insides, it will be insignificant at best. I tried t5 10w30 syn blend at 100% in a couple of vehicles and I didn't notice the engine being any cleaner when replacing the valve cover gaskets. I really like t5 in my beater during summer temps in socal.
 
What is criminal is the amount of oil a lot of GM engines are "consuming". While 1 qt in 5000 miles seems minuscule if that is all one has to relate to, but as a comparison, my factory remanned Detroit Series 60 12.7L with 622,000 miles on the reman consumes about 2 qt in 25,000 miles, or 1 qt in 12,500 miles. Pretty sad that GM considers their oil consumption "normal". Yes, I have standing to chide GM. I owned a 2013 1500 wth the 5.3L and now have a 2015 2500 with the 6.0L. But in my situation with each of them, neither has used more than 1/4 qt in 5000-6000 miles. Actually the 6.0 is a little better. Maybe about 1/8 qt in 6000 miles. Just lucky I guess.
 
I'd like to see stats on that - I have owned GM's for 40 years, 2500, 1500, small truck, big SUV, small CUV, Cads, Chevy, some of the no longer GM cars ... never burned a drop in 5k OCI ...
Last oil burner I had was 1979 PowerWagon ... still not bad - owned it 17 years ...
BIL 400k GM started to consume past 280k and often made the next OCI ...
 
I highly doubt your addition is going to help with your oil consumption. Like already posted LS engines love their oil. The LS4 5.3 in my GXP uses about a qt. every 6k miles or so. DOD/AFM is partly to blame but I'm not complaining; 170k miles and 4900+ hours on this motor and I get 25 mpg @ 80 mph.
 
GM's oil consumption issues all began with the introduction of the LS based engines. The old GM iron blocks never used oil unless they were wore out. GM's first few years of the aluminum block LS's ate oil and were lucky to see 100k miles if beat on at the drag strip or tracked. They ran good, just not for long..
 
in the heat of texas the cheap rotella T 15-40 would prolly do well. if looking to do 10K you would be best served by at least a group III refined Crude or GTL oil or better yet a real PAO + or Ester synthetic. you are doing better than most as it is!!!
 
Pennzoil Platinum if you want good cleaning, Pennzoil Ultra if you want exceptional cleaning.
 
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