At this moment….I’m scared spitless! My wife acquired a low mileage “31,700“ 2008 Pontiac Solstice GXP with the Ecotec 2.0T back in February. I’m using Mobil1 5w30 ESP and it just rolled over 33,000 miles. I’m planning on 3,000 to 4,000 mile OCI but now I’m second guessing myself (seems typical for Bitog members) as far as oil choice. From what research I’ve done the big no/no is not to lug these small DI engines. As soon as I feel the engine starting to lug ( the main cause of LSPI )I shift into a lower gear in hopes of keeping the rpm’s in the sweet spot in an attempt to keep the intake valves and oil rings free of carbon deposits, which seem to be a big problem in the turbo Ecotec engines. I’ve considered putting a qt of HPL cleaner in for one OCI then maybe switching to HPL oil altogether for added cleaning ability. Now I need to research the vacuum pump problems with the Ecotec engines……..! As far as the varnish pictured here, doesn’t bother me one bit! Sludge would keep me up at night!
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