1995 Chevrolet LT-1 - three tests

[9c1]

1995 Chevrolet Caprice Analysis by Blackstone Labs
GM LT-1 5.7L, Gen II, 350 CID V-8
Fuel Gasoline 87 octane, various brands

code:

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142,468 Miles 136,986 Miles 133,938 Miles

3,323 interval 3,000 interval 7,267 interval

8/3/04 4/20/04 1/13/04

10W40 Penzoil 5W30 Penzoil 10W30 M1

LC+#132 Schaeffers 132



ALUMINUM 2 6 8

CHROMIUM 0 1 2

IRON 5 33 45

COPPER 3 4 6

LEAD 6 23 53

TIN 2 0 3

MOLYBDENUM 70 50 28

NICKEL 0 1 1

MANGANESE 0 1 0

SILVER 0 0 0

TITANIUM 0 0 0

POTASSIUM 0 0 0

BORON 30 26 30

SILICON 11 19 31

SODIUM 1 3 7

CALCIUM 1484 1449 1374

MAGNESIUM 18 221 1001

PHOSPHORUS 632 537 678

ZINC 739 754 852

BARIUM 0 0 0





SUS @210F was 73.8 62.2 62.9

Flashpoint 380 400 370

Fuel
antifreeze 0.0 0.0 0.0

water 0.0 0.0 0.0

Insolubles 0.1 0.3 0.5

TBN 1.3 1.1 2.2

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No make up oil between changes.
All tests are after double treatment of Auto RX.
Test of 8/3/04 was on an OCI that had Schaeffers 132 + LC + FP
Terry


[ August 11, 2004, 03:07 AM: Message edited by: rugerman1 ]

 

[Bobert]

Looks like your LT-1 likes the thicker 40wt. oil. If you compare the two 30wts., they seem to perform about the same if you factor in the mileage (M1 having about double the mileage compared to the Pennzoil 30wt.). Although the Pennzoil 10w-40 did great job here, it would be interesting to see how M1 5w-40 T&SUV would do.

 

[Patman]

Excellent numbers! The iron is especially low, much lower than my LT1 was. My lead was lower though, but yours is still very good.

Congrats on getting up to #13 overall on the Gasbuddy sites! I'm at #2524 now.

 

[9c1]

Thanks Pat. I think the Auto RX followed by LC & FP has cleaned up the internals nicely. Too bad I have already changed the intake gaskets, or I would have the chance to eyeball and photograph the insides.
All in all it is not too bad for the mileage and police service early in its life. Got to love those LT-1s.
I'm going to look for some GC 0W30 for the winter time OCI.
Glad you are participating at the Gasprices sites. I hope it is saving you some money.
BTW: I hope to snag an LS1 F-body soon. If I am lucky.

 

[lococrazy]

Hey 9C1, im from Berwyn too, and I also got a 95 LT1 9C1

Im running M1 5w-30 and I dont really like that weight, I guess i'll switch to M1 0w-40 when I change my oil this weekend.

 

[Santo Fontana]

Thats a HUGE improvement. Makes you wonder if dino oil + LC > synthetic???

 

[9c1]

I agree with you Santo. I was floored at the improvement. Back at the first analysis I was concerned about oil pressure (I still am - it has not improved materially) and bearing condition.
I have to get a real pressure gage on it to ally my concerns. These things have a poor gage system -- all of the gages function poorly.

Loco- nice to "meet" someone nearby. Let us know how the M1 0W40 works for you.

 

[Al]

What was the problem with the first sample???

 

[9c1]

High Iron and Lead. Iron is wear on the cylinder walls and lead is from the bearings.
Terry

 

[9c1]

High silicon also. I got rid of the K & N filter to bring down the silicon.

 

[lococrazy]

My car developed a knock on "warm" startups and high RPMs...hope its not related to the oil or the bearings, but it started like 500 miles after I switched to 5w-30..not to mention how noisy the car is on cold startups. I'll probabbly try some M1 0w-40 next and see how it goes, but looking at the UOA it looks like any Mobil 1 oil does poorly compared to other synthetics in this engine.

 

[DJ]

It is the M1 30wts. specifically that do poorly in this motor, a thicker oil or a different brand 30wt. would be better. I have a lightly modified 96 Caprice, after the cam and rocker swap it was a little loud which is to be expected, but after reading here I decided to try Rotella T synthetic 5w40. I really like it, much quieter than even Amsoil 5 or 10w30(both run thick), no UOA yet but I am due soon. I cringe at all the guys on the Impala and f-body boards that think M1 5w30 is the best oil for this motor, frankly I would sooner run the Walmart brand stuff and just change it sooner.

 

[XS650]

quote:

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Originally posted by DJ:
It is the M1 30wts. specifically that do poorly in this motor, a thicker oil or a different brand 30wt. would be better.

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I recently got the first UOA on my 96 1YY67 LT-4, the LT-1s snooty cousin.

It had just over 6,000 miles on M1 5W-30 and included an ARx clean cycle. Numbers were very simmilar to Terry's M1 numbers except tin was higher.

Lead 48
Tin 11
Silicon 29

I found a poorly connected joint in the intake system with a small gap on the bottom of one duct, so silicon should improve. I am near the end of the ARx clean cycle on 15W-40 Delvac Super 1300 so should be able to provide another misc xw-40 vs M1 xW-30 data point in a couple of weeks.

Right now I'm thinking I will run one more load of M1 10W-30 to confirm what's going on.

I'm going to ARx my wifes Acura and my GMC pickup, both of which are at about 100,000 miles. They both look like good candidates for an M1 vs Delvac Super 1300 comparo. The have always been run on M1 10W-30 since the first oil change.