Breaking in the babyMax Diesel?

Hammer said:

I just bought my 2016 duramax and have about 250 miles on the engine now. My questions are 1. When starting do I need to give the coils time to warm? 2. When should I change the oil myself (with exception to the 5000 factory change) during the break in? 3. What are some good transmission temp ranges during startup/warm up I should stick to prior to driving?

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Coils? If you mean glow plugs, if you're quick, you'll see the glow plug light on the dash for about 1 second on the first start of the day. Otherwise, it doesn't light up. As for oil, I changed the oil on my Colorado HD at 3000 miles. I have 5100 on it now. The oil filter life showed 64%. It is not measuring dirt accumulation, just miles. I bought my filter with cap from idparts. They sell the filter element without the cap as well. I did not see any reference to a 5000 mile change in the manuals but to be fair, I may have skimmed over some of the manual. The service schedule shows changes at 7500. The highest trans temp I have seen on mine has been 192. That was on a 98 degree day here in Florida. I had driven home from work 62 miles. Otherwise, the average temp I see (and I check once a drive) is about 175. That seems pretty cool. I do get some low mileage figures when driving, like 23 when I normally see 32-35. I suspect that is the DPF doing its thing. But it goes back to normal after a few miles. I am VERY pleased with the truck. It is actually quieter than my wife's MB GLK 250. We opted for the truck on a recent road trip over the MB. Forgive the rambling nature of the paragraph.

Ottomaddick said:

By now your Duramax has met the break in requirements specified in your owners manual...My question, have you changed your oil yourself? If so, where did you find the Dexos2 oil? Auto store, mail order, dealer???
The Dexos2 is hard to find in stores which makes Sat morning project a week long effort. From finding the online on Monday, waiting for it to arrive by Friday, and finally changing it on Sat.. I am doing a post break-in change at 2500-3000 miles just to flush out the concentrations of boron, phosphorous, silicon and any other elements that might have remained from manufacture....The dealer probably wouldn't comp an oil change this early even though I get 2 free a year for 2 years.

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I know this is an old thread, but Dexos 2 is still a bit of a mystery to most people. To shed some light, the defining characteristic of Dexos 2 compared to plain old Dexos is that it's a low SAPS oil. SAPS stands for Sulphated Ash, Phosphorous and Sulphur. These compounds are beneficial in that they are anti-oxidants, detergents and provide wear resistance. However, they are harmful to particulate filters and catalysts, and thus, a low SAPS oil is highly recommended for use with modern diesels as they have all these emissions devices.

The 2.8L Duramax won't fail next month if you don't use a Dexos 2 oil. Some dealerships will even use plain Dexos if you have them do an oil change for you. However, you may have premature failure of your DPF or other problems with your emissions devices if you don't use a low SAPS oil, but again, it won't happen next month. It will take some time, and one oil change interval here and there with plain Dexos or another high quality full synthetic like Mobile 1 won't ruin your emissions devices. You have a much greater chance of having issues by using cheap diesel fuel or neglecting to maintain your fuel filters.

Europe has been using low SAPS oils since at least 2010 when new standards were established as diesels are more common in Europe and companies like Amsoil have had "European forumula" oils for years now which are mid or low SAPS blends. While Amsoil didn't pay GM to certify it, their European 5w30 oil (product code AEL) is a low SAPS oil that is recommended for use where Dexos 2 is called for.