rmcswain Posted May 18, 2003 Report Share Posted May 18, 2003 Opinions seem to run the gammit on the use of synthetic oil. I have never used synthetics and so I really don't know what the heck I am talking about when it comes to this subject It has been mentioned on this site that using synthetics too early could cause our trucks to be oil burners. I just talked to a auto parts salesman who has been in the business a long time and on the use of synthetics he said. "If your truck is brand new and less than 25 K miles DEFINITELY do not use synthetic oil unless you want it to be an OIL BURNER." He was adamant about this and strongly suggested I "use a quality 5W-30 oil and quality filter until 25 K and then switch to synthetics." Any thoughts on this very opinionated subject???????? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Mervz Posted May 18, 2003 Admin Report Share Posted May 18, 2003 Well.... The Corvette uses the almost the same engine design as the SS, its just that the SS has a longer stroke and an iron block. The vette uses Mobil One strait from the factory, and 99% of them don't use oil. Some do, but most don't. My personal thought would be to do two cycles with regular oil. (IE, first change use regular, then switch on the 2nd) This should put you around 5-7k miles. More than enough time for things to break in! You might also want to consider changing out the tranny, AWD diff, and rear diff fluids as well to remove the inital break-in shavings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krambo Posted May 18, 2003 Report Share Posted May 18, 2003 I changed out the oil in my 99 Silverado (5.3L) to synthetic (Mobil 1) the day I got it. I traded it in with 105K on the clock and it NEVER burned oil between changes. I just changed my oil over to synthetic on my SS (1500 miles) and am expecting the same results. Just my opinion, but go synthetic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcwarren Posted May 18, 2003 Report Share Posted May 18, 2003 I have changed my last ten new GM vehicles to Mobil 1 when they had between 500 to 1000 miles. The last two of course do not have many miles on them (02 Grand AM and 03 SS). They have all functioned great, consumed no oil between changes and when looking inside the oil fill cap look like new. The only purpose of using the Synthetic oil is for its superior lubricating and temperature withstanding qualities. Why in the world would you want to deprive your high performance engine of this superior lubrication any longer than during the initial "break in" period, when you are hopefully not driving it "pedal to the metal". GM states in your owners manual not to exceed 50 mph during the first 500 miles. I use this guideline for my "break in" mileage. You might also want to consider changing out the tranny, AWD diff, and rear diff fluids as well to remove the inital break-in shavings. Good point Mervz, I will post a few words on this subject in the Driveline area. Check out my credentials Again, just my $.02 worth, meant to be taken with no dis-respect to any fellow poster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJ Mack Posted May 18, 2003 Report Share Posted May 18, 2003 Regarding 99% of Corvettes not burning oil...I beg to differ . I traded a 2001 ZO6 for my 03 Silverado SS and the LS6 is notorious for burning oil. Mine burned a quart every 300 miles even after new pistons and rings were installed to correct the design flaw that led to excessive oil burn. After 8 attempts by the dealership to correct the oil burning and about a dozen other problems I decided enough was enough and went for the truck. So far I'm very happy but only time will tell. I work with a few people with standard C5 Vettes and a few of them also complain of excessive oil burning. As for my Silverado...I'll start using synthetic with my first oil change Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmcswain Posted May 18, 2003 Author Report Share Posted May 18, 2003 I have changed my last ten new GM vehicles to Mobil 1 when they had between 500 to 1000 miles. The last two of course do not have many miles on them (02 Grand AM and 03 SS). They have all functioned great, consumed no oil between changes and when looking inside the oil fill cap look like new. The only purpose of using the Synthetic oil is for its superior lubricating and temperature withstanding qualities. Why in the world would you want to deprive your high performance engine of this superior lubrication any longer than during the initial "break in" period, when you are hopefully not driving it "pedal to the metal". GM states in your owners manual not to exceed 50 mph during the first 500 miles. I use this guideline for my "break in" mileage. You might also want to consider changing out the tranny, AWD diff, and rear diff fluids as well to remove the inital break-in shavings. Good point Mervz, I will post a few words on this subject in the Driveline area. Check out my credentials Again, just my $.02 worth, meant to be taken with no dis-respect to any fellow poster McWarren, Thanks for your response, as indicated, I admit I know nothing about synthetic oil and your experience stands for itself and I certainly will not question it. Thanks again. In your SS, I assume its Mobil 1 5W-30, is that correct? What filter do you use and recommend with the Mobil 1? If your last 10 GM vehicles worked with no problems, with Mobil 1 and filter???????, I certainly want to follow that pattern and history of success Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcwarren Posted May 19, 2003 Report Share Posted May 19, 2003 rmcswain, I have always used the GM oil filter with great success. Yes, I went with the Mobil 1 5W-30. In prior years I used Mobil 1 5W-30 in my GM pass cars and Mobil 1 10W-30 in my trucks. But, decided to go with the 5W-30 for my new SS. One of the main advantages of synthetic oils is their increased flow ability, meaning that they start to flow and flow more readily than petroleum based oils. This is especially important on initial start up of your engine. Synthetic oil just gets to all of the rotating and reciprocating components much faster than petroelum base oils and 5W-30 gets there quicker than 10W-30. When you consider that a large portion of engine wear on a properly maintained engine that is not abused occurs at start up when parts are without lubrication, you see one of the really important advantages of synthetic oil in normal every day driving. Having stated the above.....If my driving style included a ton of WOT and or Drag Strip, I would consider a major brand name High-Performance oil filter that claimed increased flow if it also claimed to "meet or exceed" GM specs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TedG Posted May 19, 2003 Report Share Posted May 19, 2003 My C5 Vette has yet to use a drop of oil. So it is a light break in for me and nice clean Mobil 1 in the SS. I did the same with my 2001 Silverado and it never used a drop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Mervz Posted May 19, 2003 Admin Report Share Posted May 19, 2003 Well, all i an say, is that my fathers C5 doesn't burn oil, and all my friends who have C5s don't burn oil. (Over 10 ). I think the main problem is the 01 Z06's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RATFINK Posted May 19, 2003 Report Share Posted May 19, 2003 For what it's worth I run dino oil, have as long as I have been driving. I have never had an oil related failure and most of my vehicles are traded with over 200k on the clock. So long as you follow a religious maintenance schedule either oil is fine, my 91 S-10 has 411,000 harsh miles on it used as a shop truck running castrol 20w50 and wix filters. To this day the S-10 doen't use more than a quart between oil changes. RF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Posted May 19, 2003 Report Share Posted May 19, 2003 A lot of folks have mentioned wix filters. I've never heard of those. Anybody got a second to explain who makes them etc. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StealthSilveradoSS Posted May 19, 2003 Report Share Posted May 19, 2003 WIX is a manufacturer. Aftermarket replacements for stock items. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJ Mack Posted May 19, 2003 Report Share Posted May 19, 2003 Mervz - You are on the mark about the 01 ZO6 and its oil problems and I suppose the point of this thread is to discuss the pros and cons about synthetic oil, but I have to let all know that I asked 6 C5 owners today about their cars and if they burn oil or not and 3 of the 6 burn about a quart every thousand miles. I work for Mack Trucks and it's as if the C5 is the official car of our employees. As a result info on these cars is readily available at work (and the owners are engineers). At any rate, I think Mobil 1 is your best choice as it has great resistance to heat and doesn't break down as quickly as standard oil. One man's opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SSilverado60 Posted May 20, 2003 Report Share Posted May 20, 2003 My dads 01 Z06 doesnt have any oil burning problems, it does burn some but no more than a quart per oil change, usually its not even that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flash2003 Posted June 24, 2004 Report Share Posted June 24, 2004 Lee you asked about wix filters ( www.wixfilters.com ) I was using wix filters on all types of natural gas and diesel powered generators from 4 to 16 cylnders.We also took oil samples from these engines and never had a problem. Wix makes filters for NAPA you could tell by the part numbers. Also wix makes filters for other companys. (Not shure what ones )We cut a couple apart to see what the insides looked like. Looked like a good quality filter to me and my coworkers. check out the site. by the way nice addition to your SS c/ya Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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