My brother is selling his 1991 Buick Park Avenue with 115K and in pretty good shape, he already picked up a late 90's model Blazer with 234K on the clock. I drove it tonight and it seems to ride and drive well. I figured with 234K miles a 10w40 could prove beneficial as if I remember correctly these like to develop bottom end issues. Its the 4.3 V6. Is 10w40 taking it too far? He said at hot idle the oil pressure gauge on the dash reads 18-19ish, whether or not that is accurate I don't know. May I add, he is not the easiest on his cars.
Chevy Blazer 234K...what oil to run?
- Thread starter gregk24
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Originally Posted By: mclasser
In FL, 10W40 should be fine for the old girl.
Out of curiosity, what does the oil cap say?
I haven't looked, just rode in it tonight. Most likely 5w30. Most of the time I am I follow the owners manual kind of guy, but the history is unknown, and with 234K I figured some extra oil film thickness may help.
In FL, 10W40 should be fine for the old girl.
Out of curiosity, what does the oil cap say?
I haven't looked, just rode in it tonight. Most likely 5w30. Most of the time I am I follow the owners manual kind of guy, but the history is unknown, and with 234K I figured some extra oil film thickness may help.
Maxlife 10w30 or 10w40
Maxlife 10W40 should work well.
Cap will say 5w30 I can guarantee it. We run Castrol Edge 5w30 in my friends '99 Sonoma 4wd. We try and keep it at 4-5K change intervals, but time can get away sometimes. At 180K it doesn't noticeably burn any oil, but leaks from several places. Is it the 2wd or 4wd? I know most of the 4wd have the remote oil filter location, those lines like to leak after a while. We've replaced those twice. IIRC hot oil pressure is around 20. Like others said, in Florida you could get away with a 10w40. I use a 0w40 in my worn out 4 banger S10 to keep the oil pressure up.
Maxlife 10w40.
I would keep with 5W30 if that's what the owners manual says for your temp climate.
The dash oil pressure is probably not very accurate.
The dash oil pressure is probably not very accurate.
HDEO 10w30.
Any 10w30 you like would be good
4.3Ls really don't care what oil is in them, as long as they are kept topped off. In FLA, I'd probably run a 10W-40 - M1 HM is OK, but watch for the common RMS leak. If it has a RMS problem, run MaxLife Blend. I have seen 4.3s at auctions w 400 & 500k miles on them.
Originally Posted By: gregk24
as if I remember correctly these like to develop bottom end issues.
Does that mean leaks or bearing failures? After all it's only made it a quarter million miles so far...
as if I remember correctly these like to develop bottom end issues.
Does that mean leaks or bearing failures? After all it's only made it a quarter million miles so far...
Nick1994
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Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
Maxlife 10w30 or 10w40
+1
I'm pretty sure these get bad intake manifold gaskets too. Also some years had fuel injection problems with the "spider". Can't remember the years though.
Maxlife 10w30 or 10w40
+1
I'm pretty sure these get bad intake manifold gaskets too. Also some years had fuel injection problems with the "spider". Can't remember the years though.
At 234K, what the oil caps says means very little. Try Maxlife 10W-40 red bottle and a Napa Gold filter. Listen when you first start it cold in the morning with the hood up. If it's quiet'ish it's the right oil. If it rattles or knocks, you need to step up, maybe 20W-50 ...
GM specced sae30 above 40 degrees F, also.
Seeing its from florida that would work, also your 10w-40 would along with 15w-40.
harvey
Seeing its from florida that would work, also your 10w-40 would along with 15w-40.
harvey
I have the same engine + 2 cylinders (350 cu in) in my 95 Corvette-a 40 weight OR QS Green Bottle really quiets down the known valvetrain noise (which is why they used plastic valve covers). If not noisy, I would stick to any 10-30.
Steve
Steve
If a comparison to the small block V8 is realistic, it'll survive on anything from 5w30 to 20w50, doing best in the 10w30-15w40 range. If you have to run 20w50 to keep it quiet the root cause of the noise needs addressed - 5w30 may not cause immediate catastrophic failure but near as I can tell about 10% of owners of that generation Chevy truck adhere to "what it says on the oil cap".
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