You are right Polar Bear, the price is tooooo much. $00 dollars. They are nuts. I do my own in my garage that has a lift. My 2nd gen dexos 5w-30 Mbil One cost me 38 and change for 7 quarts at Walmart. The filter I got for 6 each bought a dozen on line. The fuel filters came in at 12 for 2 buying a 6 pack. Total price was 56 and change doing it yourself.
Oil Change and Fuel Filter
1 - 16 of 16 Posts
Joined
·
269 Posts
The oil you buy is dexos2 and not dexos1 gen2, right? Has the blue dexos2 logo and not the green dexos1 gen2 logo? This has confused numerous people over the years because the "swoosh" looks like a "2" from a distance. Or they think dexos1 gen2 is the same as dexos2.
![Rectangle Font Electric blue Eyewear Automotive exterior]()
Joined
·
407 Posts
Good catch. I added a half quart of the dexos1 a few years ago. It was available at the auto parts store I stopped at, and the label fooled me. Lived to tell the tale, but DOH!
I just bought 2 jugs of the Mobile 1 ESP formula 5-30, with the blue dexos label. I only have 2500 miles on my truck, just checked the oil and it was down 1/4 of a quart. Don't know if its just break-in consumption or if these engines just use a little oil. My first oil change is a complimentary change at the dealer.
Joined
·
407 Posts
About like mine, so one more data point. But I'd get that infant change right away.
Joined
·
43 Posts
This rant applies to ALL engines, diesel or gasoline. When brand new or fresh from an overhaul you should change that first oil at 500 miles of use. Change it to whatever you plan to use all of the time. This first oil change removes all of the little crap out of the engine, and can extend the life of your engine by a factor of 2X.
FYI, on the giant engines on trains and ships, they sort of do the same thing, but not change all of the lube oil. They will test it, and then add various additives to bring things into specification. But for filtration they use a centrifuge filter that gets everything out of it.
FYI, on the giant engines on trains and ships, they sort of do the same thing, but not change all of the lube oil. They will test it, and then add various additives to bring things into specification. But for filtration they use a centrifuge filter that gets everything out of it.
Joined
·
407 Posts
Don't know if I would characterize it as a "rant", but your advice sure sounds good to me. I went ~1300 miles, but I like your number even better.
Don't want to hijack, but since the door is open, I believe that I also should have done the infant trans fluid change as well. I went ~2/3 of the recommended interval, and would have done it differently if I had a redo.
Even farther astray, I happened on one of those click bait "10 vehicles you shouldn't own" "click next for next vehicle" articles and went for it. We were on it, for poor quality. I bought our Z71 CCLB because of its diesel and its nameplate capabilities. It has served us well so far, but if Toyota had had a similar product (which I hear they will next year in a Tacoma) I would have bit. So, the name of the game now is driving within the advertised limits, and aggressive over service. If I get bit down the road, lesson learned....
Joined
·
95 Posts
If the dealer did your last oil change you don't know how much was added. You don't know how long it drained before putting the oil plug back in. 6 quarts is the capacity assuming they replaced the filter and gave it a good drain. We always assume the dealer does the best work with the best equipment.
Joined
·
407 Posts
You do if you check in the parking lot. Since about a third of my changes occur during our summers on the Cal central coast, I don't have my tools and workspace with me. So, I buy the oil and filter and pay for the service. I always check. The rest do in my drive way at home.
Joined
·
269 Posts
How long had the engine been off before you checked the oil? The dipstick markings are based on the engine being off for at least 2 hours to allow the oil to drain back into the pan. If you didn't check it after the engine had been turned off for a long period of time and instead checked minutes after shutdown then the reading is not going to be accurate. It's best to check the oil after it sits overnight.
See above. Checking the level in the parking lot right after the oil was changed and the engine was run is going to result in a less-than-full reading on the dipstick.
The statement above about doing the first oil change at 500 miles resulting in 2x engine life is 100% unfounded. The suggestion that there is break-in metal floating around the engine causing excessive wear (basically implying that by going the full interval on the factory oil causes 50% of the engine's lifetime wear) is also unfounded due to there being an oil filter. Any particles that pass through the filter aren't going to matter or make any difference in the grand scheme of things. Oil/Wear-related engine failures, such as worn rings, bearings, or cylinder walls, are a thing of the past and have been for a long time now. Improvements in oil/lubrication as well as manufacturing and cleaner engine operation have resulted in engines that outlast the rest of the vehicle or have failures unrelated to oil/lubrication and doing the first oil change at 500 miles instead of the normal interval would have absolutely zero impact.
Will changing oil at 500 miles hurt? No. But it also doesn't help.
Joined
·
407 Posts
"If you didn't check it after the engine had been turned off for a long period of time and instead checked minutes after shutdown then the reading is not going to be accurate. It's best to check the oil after it sits overnight."
With a hot engine weighing hundreds of pounds, circulating 10 pounds of 5W30 syn oil for a minute or 2 will heat it up enough so that a few minutes is all it takes to see a level close enough to use. The oil remaining in the engine will get plenty hot to drip down pronto. I've done this experiment...
Joined
·
269 Posts
I have as well, and the most accurate reading on the dipstick is after it sits for a while. If I check the oil after a few minutes, with the oil hot, it will read about 1/4 quart low.
GM explicitly states in the owner's manual that the most accurate reading is after the engine has been off for at least 2 hours. So as I said, if you're checking the oil within minutes of the engine being shut off it will read lower than it actually is.
Joined
·
43 Posts
Thanks for the kind words. I'm sort of anal about the products I use and how often I service things. This is based on a long time playing with cars as well as small to very large industrial engines and equipment. As a result, I've had input from some of the top engineers in various industries along with some unique experiences. As a result, I've never had a failure of something; and when there has been a problem, I knew the reason for it.
I have about 45,000 miles on my baby Duramax Colorado and plan on doing a transmission service at 50,000 miles. I'll use Redline D6 fluid in it when I do. I will drop the pan, clean it, and change the filter / screen as well. For what it is worth, I've also changed the rear end lube and used Redline 85W/90. FYI, when I drained the factory rear end oil, there was water in it! Lastly, for engine oil I use Mobil 1 0W/40 ESP P/N 123875 and yes, it has the Dexos 2 rating. I also have a catch can or crankcase vent filter Racor CCV 4500 on it as well as an oil bypass filter. I change it every 5000 miles. Automatic transmissions by the way are very well cleaned and deburred prior to assembly through various machines. Only about half of the engine components are deburred to that same level. So they are much cleaner after assembly, and as such have far less for the fluid to clean out.
So the dealers do try to do a good job, and most do. But I also know that not all dealers take the same care. I saw the notes about oil drain back and got a good laugh. First off, if it takes 2 hours for enough oil to drain back to the oil sump, you have some really big problems. While true, after 2 hours the level on the dipstick will be a little higher, how much higher? perhaps 1/16" to at the most 1/8". If I'm on a road trip, I'll stop for fuel, put the nozzle in the tank, then open the hood and check the oil and look at things like coolant and the serpentine belt. I also give the top radiator hose a squeeze to make sure there is pressure in the system. If the oil level is low, it will show it. If you add a quart because it said it was a quart low, and you end up with an extra ounce in it, it really doesn't matter.
Last tittle rant. If it looses more than a quart between oil changes, there is a problem in my book. There are various reasons for oil consumption, but the most common one is that people don't properly warm up their car before driving it like they're in the Indy 500. The best way I know to warn things properly is to start the vehicle cold. Wait about 10-15 seconds before driving it. I use that time to put on my seatbelt, check the mirrors, tune the radio, plug in my iPhone, etc. Then drive away and drive nice and slow. No hard starts and zoom - zoom moves. I use no more than about 1/4" of throttle and drive slowly like a little old lady until I see the water temperature get up to about half way between full cold and where it normally runs driving down the highway once it is warmed up. This warms the engine and various materials to where the clearances are within a safe range in the engine, but the transmission and rear end as well. At this point, I just drive the vehicle however I want to but avoid a full throttle move. Once it is up to temperature for about a mile, then, whatever I want to do, and I'm under complete control up until the point of impact! A nice thing on my wife's Subaru is there is an actual oil temperature readout. So I have her do this until it gets to an oil temperature of about 150F.
1 - 16 of 16 Posts
