PP 5W-30, 10,277 miles, 2009 G8 GT L76

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The first report from my new-to-me 09 G8 GT. The oil was last changed early last fall (PO had Valvoline Nextgen in it). The car itself was a buisness car prior to me purchasing it, driven across country to a work location where employees used it instead of getting a rental.

Average drive was a 13 minuet, 8 mile, commute to work, with this winter having nearly daily 5-10 minute warmups thanks to the remote start. There were also four 1k+ mile plus trips on this change. Other driving is 80% city, 20% highway.


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Driver Side Rockers
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Filter Cut Apart
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Sorry about the images, its the first time I have used Google+ for image hosting
 
Nice G8! It was the 4-door Camaro V8 before there was the new 2010 Camaro (same Zeta Australian Holden GM chassis). Great car. I see those reincarnated in the form of the 4-door Chevy Caprice that cops get and the Chevy SS now sold.

Aluminum is a little troubling, but really you can't do much better than Pennz Plat you're using. Good choice for oil. Use a full-syn, good idea. Alum is probably shedding off the pistons in some piston slap when started cold, until heat expansion occurs. I think the crank bearings might use some aluminum in the babbit material if they are bi-metal, but thought the tri-metal bearings were usually used with the copper-tin-lead babbit. Maybe somebody knows if there is aluminum in there.

Wix (same as NapaGold) is a good choice. A better choice would be a Fram Ultra or MicroGreen oil filter.

If you drive it hard or want a good summer fill, go ahead and use a euro-spec 0w-40 synthetic oil like M1 or Castrol, as many people have gone to that tougher oil for harder use.
 
Originally Posted By: Snoman002
The first report from my new-to-me 09 G8 GT. The oil was last changed early last fall (PO had Valvoline Nextgen in it). The car itself was a buisness car prior to me purchasing it, driven across country to a work location where employees used it instead of getting a rental..


Lucky employees. A V8 power-rich BMW-like sports sedan, when a Nissan Sentra rental was the alternative? Nice!!!!! Work for that company.
 
The PP was replaced with PU this time around, the wiz with a Gram Ultra.

I was pleased with these results, considering the miles ran (and how I drive...).
 
I'd say considering everything is better than UAs; aside from Aluminum, push out your next fill to 12k or 1 year and see what it looks like. This is assuming Ultra will go even longer in terms of TBN and the Fram Ultra filter will hold more than the Wix and you are going from a 95% 20 micron filter to a 99%+ 20 micro filter.
 
You rockers look great. And the Pennzoil Ultra will do just fine with the Fram Ultra.
And yeah the autocorrect has jacked me up too.
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I have to say I did laugh at the gram Ultra though.
 
1.3 ppm alum per 1000 miles.

And someone here thinks there's some kind of a problem here. Gimme a break.

Besides as anyone here who has taken the time to properly educate themselves when it comes to reading a uoa until trends are established no one can say whether the wear metals present are high or not. Every engine and driver is different. What's normal in one engine may be different in the next so until trends are established its foolish to assume that anything is out of the ordinary and absurd to believe there's something "troubling"
What we can take away from this data is the oil could run 15000 miles without a second thought
Not bad for platinum.
 
^The Si readings are also insanely good. Less than 1 ppm / 1k miles. Those are ideal numbers. His engine is basically appearing better than the UAs, aside from the aluminum reading in this one report, but hey Black Stone has to point something out to fill in the comments section right?

I'd say just cap at one year or 15k miles tops on the Ultra. I would like to see how this fill would look at 15k to see if the TBN can truly withstand another 5k miles without dropping to critical levels / oxidation and deposit formation beginning to present concerns for a 'clean' run in the truest sense.
 
Thanks for the comments.

I will admit, the Aluminum is a small bit troubling and other L76's don't always show high Al like they typically show high Fe and Cu. However, as was said, one report is not a trend, nor does it in itself indicate a problem.

Initially I put in PP to clean the engine (couldn't find PU), however after looking under the rockers that is obviously NOT a problem. After this run of PU I may look for something different as cleaning is not a concern here. I know PU is considered an excellent all-around oil, but IMHO there are tradeoffs and a strong cleaning package may offset other areas. These engines like to eat lifters, so IF there is something I can do to help I want to try.

Mileage is a mixed bag and I'm still undecided if I want to run it further or just stick with the OLM.

As for Si, the air intake is all stock as of now, and the air filter was changed halfway through the run. It will be interesting to compare if I change to a better different intake in the future.
 
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Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
Aluminum shouldn't track with mileage like copper or iron. The copper and iron are of no concern here just aluminum and lead.


Well, his lead is the same reading at over 10k compared to the UAs at 6.7k. I'd say just monitor Aluminum some and carry on.

Again, his air filtration appears to be spectacular.

How about going to a Euro spec 0w-40 oil like M1 offers? (for sake of a conversation thanks)

If you are trying for an oil that may yield better 'results' in terms of protection you could argue going up a grade to a 0w-40 is a good option if just wear protection is in mind.

Granted, once you establish a trend first with the next UOA it may yield results that this is simply your typical engine 'wear' footprint in terms of a UOA. It's not a true overall measure of wear by any means and isn't meant to compare oils either. However, some oils are already known to be stronger in some areas, etc.

Even though Pennzoil's synthetics though marketed as a 'great cleaning oil', typically have shown some of the best looking 'wear metals' in UOAs posted on this site. Specifically, their PP.
 
Interesting comments, I had not really considered something like a 0W-40 as my feeble mind doesn't like the "0", nor the wide spread between the first and second number. That is mostly a knee-jerk reaction however.
 
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