Anyone using 5w20 in a GM Product+???

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davzog

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Mar 25, 2007
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I have been thinking about using 5w20 synthetic in my 07 Silverado with a 6.0L gas engine....trying to get better mpg than 9 in the city and 11 hiway unloaded....

Might a 0w30 be a better choice???

I am currently using 5w30 PP.....

Any suggestions??
 
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I think there are much better ways to improve MPG than messing with oil viscosities. I wouldn't try a 5W-20.

Won't do much better than what you are using now. Perhaps a 0W-30 could give you a little MPG improvement when starting cold...but even then you will have some enrichment circuits and the like going until the engine is warm.
 
I don't think it's worth going against Chevy's recommendations just to gain 1 mpg, if that.
But if you really wanted to switch, I'd choose the 5w-20, since the 0w-30 will theoretically be less viscous than the 5w-30 only at start up. The viscosity of the 0w-30 and the 5w-30 will equal out once warmed up.

Edit: If anything, I'd try getting higher gears (numerically lower) for that rear end. A 4.10 isn't very mpg friendly. Try something in the low 3s.
 
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I have ben using 0W-30 M1 AFE in my 04 2500HD with no problems. I don't think it is helping my MPG. I would not use a 5W-20 in that heavy truck it was designed for a 30 weight. You might have something wrong with that truck My truck is a fully loaded LT crew cab with 4.10 gears and I get better MPG towing my 5th wheel than you get empty.
 
BAD idea. If Chevy thought you could get any useful mileage gains from that, they would already have spec'ed it from the factory. Trust me, Obama is watching EVERY DROP of gas they use!
 
While not 'true' GM products, my Saturns have run many thousands of miles with 0w-20 or 5w-20 oils w/o issues.

I do believe that Pablo is right, not the best thing for your application here.

0w-30 won't benefit you with any MPG gain over the PP 5w-30 you are using.
 
Originally Posted By: davzog
I have been thinking about using 5w20 synthetic in my 07 Silverado with a 6.0L gas engine....trying to get better mpg than 9 in the city and 11 hiway unloaded....

Might a 0w30 be a better choice???

I am currently using 5w30 PP.....

Any suggestions??


I'd stick with 5w30. You could try a "thin" 5w30 like Chevron/Havoline, although the difference would be so small i doubt you'd notice it.

I wonder if your choice of tire could perhaps make more of a difference in MPG? Maybe something like a low rolling resistance touring tire, instead of a "truck" type tire, might make more of a difference. Although the initial cost of the tires would be a big hit to the wallet.
 
Originally Posted By: hominid7
Originally Posted By: davzog
I have been thinking about using 5w20 synthetic in my 07 Silverado with a 6.0L gas engine....trying to get better mpg than 9 in the city and 11 hiway unloaded....

Might a 0w30 be a better choice???

I am currently using 5w30 PP.....

Any suggestions??


I'd stick with 5w30. You could try a "thin" 5w30 like Chevron/Havoline, although the difference would be so small i doubt you'd notice it.I wonder if your choice of tire could perhaps make more of a difference in MPG? Maybe something like a low rolling resistance touring tire, instead of a "truck" type tire, might make more of a difference. Although the initial cost of the tires would be a big hit to the wallet.



+1
 
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Run syn in the diffs, keep tire pressure about 3 psi above the recommended level, keep speeds on the highway at 60 or below. Also, hominid7 is right on the money about tires. LT tires do cause a drop in mileage over P rated touring tires. When it comes time, change to those. And remeber....drive like there is an egg under your gas pedal. Anticipate stops and roll up to stop signs/red lights. Don't "over" accelerate.
 
Originally Posted By: Boomer
Run syn in the diffs, keep tire pressure about 3 psi above the recommended level, keep speeds on the highway at 60 or below. Also, hominid7 is right on the money about tires. LT tires do cause a drop in mileage over P rated touring tires. When it comes time, change to those. And remeber....drive like there is an egg under your gas pedal. Anticipate stops and roll up to stop signs/red lights. Don't "over" accelerate.


Agree!
34.gif


Also, remove all unnecessary gear and items from the truck to reduce weight. Get a tonneau cover as well for your bed. The drive easy part though will do more than just about anything. When I was on the Chevy truck forums with my Silverados many owners reported good MPG gains by having a custom mileage tune done to their PCM. Charlie Wheatley seemed to get the best reviews.

If this is a 1500 Silverado with All Terrain( AT )tires you can swap to some All Season tires( AS ). I highly recommend Firestone Destination LE's or General Grabber HTS if you have Firestone issues( the LE's are great tires!!!! ). I swapped out the AT's on my 07 Silverado 1500( NBS )to the LE's and it jumped my MPG big time. 2+ MPG highway. If you are running LT's and don't need the extra carrying capacity of them swap to some lighter P series and it will help more. If it is a 2500 or 3500 HD Silverado you kind of have to stay with the LT tires but you can still go to an AS from an AT. Most of the good AS tires come in the popular LT sizes too.
 
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Originally Posted By: Gary Allan
Change the other drive train fluids. They will probably do more for you.

That's a good point, before I started using synthetic oil I always made sure to use synthetic gear oil/transfer case fluid. That's probably the biggest bang for your buck oil wise, and should most certainly pay for itself.
 
Just to clarify, it is a 2007 HD 2500 truck with 4.10 gears (for towing)and load range "E" tires. I bought a 2wd to save a little fuel as I really do not need 4wd.

All fluids are full synthetic...engine oil, trans fluid (dexron vi) and gear oil. I drive with 55 pounds in th tires (rides rough) and I never carry anything but the spare tire with me.

We bought it to tow a 5th wheel camper, but parked the camper permanently in a private park...no more towiong, so it is a daily driver that is paid for so I don't want to trade it (I could not believe the hit I would take on a trade-in...holy [censored]!!). Tried to sell it myself but no takers.

At 11 mpg back and forth to work, I was looking for some way to save a little $$$, especially since I can see gas climbing back towards $3+++ a gallon for the spring....ugh!!!

I could probably change gears, put on a cold air intake, different tires and who knows what all else....spend several thousand dollars, and wind up with a 1-2 mpg savings....not good ROI....ugh.

I really like the truck and it only has 24,000 miles on it...just thought that if a simple change to something like 5w20 would help, I would try it....

My wife bought a new Hyundai Tucson and the owners manual recommends the 5w20....maybe I sould stay with 5w30 in it too?????
 
Originally Posted By: davzog
At 11 mpg back and forth to work, I was looking for some way to save a little $$$, especially since I can see gas climbing back towards $3+++ a gallon for the spring....ugh!!!


Get a beater for a daily driver. Corolla, Tercel, Cavalier, Civic, etc.

When I added a beater to my insurance policy as my daily driver (3 cars instead of 2) my rates went down!

PS I use 5w20 in my 2009 Pontiac Vibe :p
 
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I have been running 5w20 in my blazer for about 4 months now because my wife does many short trips under 10 miles. It seems to run great but really even if the 5w20 was not as good as 5w30 for this app, im not going to know it for a long time. Just because you put an oil in an all appears to be good, dont really mean that it is. maybe im getting an extra 5% in wear metals, ill never know it because i don't have a running avg of UOA's. Truth be told, in most engines you could run 5w20 or 15w40 and the engine would still last as long or longer than the car itself. To your point, PP 5w30 is a great synthetic, on the thinner side of 30W oil. If you switched to an oil that had a hot viscosity of 8cSt vs the 10.5 you have in there now, you would not even notice the mpg change unless you ran nothing but cold, very short trips. Even then it would almost insignificant. Also if you were in Alaska or something maybe but anything you are going to see where you are, PP 5w30 is perfect. Good luck
 
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