1999 Silverado 5.3L oil contaminants

[Georgiey22]

Hello All,

Need some perspective on the used motor oil that I drained/filled today on my personal truck.

-1999 Chevrolet Silverado single cab
-5.3L V8
-79,200 miles
-2 wheel drive


Purchased the truck with 75K miles and changed the oil when I got it to Castrol Full Synthetic 5W30 with an AC Delco PF46E filter. The original owner "said" he only used Mobil 1 however receipt records in the glove box say otherwise, so who really knows. I wanted to take my time in cleaning the motor and any potential build up it may have so here has been my approach. I changed the oil again at 77K miles and today once again at 79K miles. At both the 77K and 79K mark the oil appeared fairly clean (dark honey in color) which put a smile on my face, however on all 3 OCI's there have been 8-12 micro sized blue plastic shards found on the screen of my funnel when I pour the used oil out of my catch can and back into the 1 gallon jug to take for disposal. What in the world is this, has anyone else seen this? On a high note the truck runs wonderful, it's quiet and has lots of power. Thanks in advance everyone!

 

[Chris142]

Could it be a ring from the oil bottle? They can come off when a bottle is shoved into the fill hole.

 

[Georgiey22]

Good thought and perhaps could be the culprit, however if it is a ring/cap it went into the crank case before I owned it. The blue shards are light blue in color, what oil bottle rings/caps are light blue?

 

[Chris142]

Wasn't super tech in a blue or grey bottle at one time?

 

[Chris142]

Valvoline dura blend

 

[Georgiey22]

Any ideas how I should go about cleaning the motor out or anything other solutions?

 

[Chris142]

I would not worry about it.

 

[Georgiey22]

Giving this some thought, the blue is the exact color of Fel Pro gaskets, maybe the gaskets are wearing out??

 

[barkingspider]

After 3 ea 2k miles oil changes, I think you are good to go 5k miles on dino or 7500+ miles synthetic.

 

[3800Series]

Originally Posted By: Georgiey22
Hello All,

Need some perspective on the used motor oil that I drained/filled today on my personal truck.

-1999 Chevrolet Silverado single cab
-5.3L V8
-79,200 miles
-2 wheel drive


Purchased the truck with 75K miles and changed the oil when I got it to Castrol Full Synthetic 5W30 with an AC Delco PF46E filter. The original owner "said" he only used Mobil 1 however receipt records in the glove box say otherwise, so who really knows. I wanted to take my time in cleaning the motor and any potential build up it may have so here has been my approach. I changed the oil again at 77K miles and today once again at 79K miles. At both the 77K and 79K mark the oil appeared fairly clean (dark honey in color) which put a smile on my face, however on all 3 OCI's there have been 8-12 micro sized blue plastic shards found on the screen of my funnel when I pour the used oil out of my catch can and back into the 1 gallon jug to take for disposal. What in the world is this, has anyone else seen this? On a high note the truck runs wonderful, it's quiet and has lots of power. Thanks in advance everyone!



Maybe blue RTV permatex. Would make sense why Not check oil pan and look to see if any is there?

As for the 5.3 I have this same motor ('02 Silverado) with 340k. If your trying to clean why not some Rotella? Not trying to tell you how to do it but I'm sure they extra detergent nd dispercents wouldn't hurt anything would Also be cheaper.

 

[SteveSRT8]

Originally Posted By: Georgiey22
Any ideas how I should go about cleaning the motor out or anything other solutions?


two choices, Kreen or Maxlife. ML is indicated here because that is actually a low mileage motor IMO (we have several in a fleet here) and can't be in too bad condition. The 5.3 generally runs forever with normal maintenance.

I have a couple of trucks with very high miles (>200k) and I have never had any oil that makes them run smoother and quieter than ML...

 

[bigt61]

You're going to "clean" the motor from blue plastic shards? Just drive it and do your normal OCIs. Let the oil filter do its work and relax. Other than pulling the motor apart, that's all you can do.