Changing oil in 2005 Chevy Express van: Questions

[ChevyVan]

I have a 2005 Chevy Express 3500 cargo van with a V8 6L gasoline engine with 70,000 miles on it. I bought the van new in November 2004 and I'm the only one who drives it. It's one of those big white contractor-type cargo vans like plumbers, electricians, and HVAC techs use.

I do not use this van as a work van. Most of the time it is nearly empty. When I got it I had the ceiling, door panels, and the walls insulated and covered with a maroon corduroy fabric. So it's basically a play vehicle.

I've been taking it to the dealership where I bought it for oil changes and for service when it was under warranty but I've had some bad experiences with them in the last year or so and I'm thinking about starting to change my own oil.

Owner's manual says that the oil should meet: "GM Standard GM6490M" and be "SAE 5W-30". The oil filler cap says 5W-30 and it's had only Pennzoil up until now.

I live near Portland, Oregon. Most of the time I just drive around town and I drive kind of slow, probably from all of the years I drove a VW bus.

I prefer conventional oil and I'll be buying it from an auto parts store locally. I have automotive tools and a Chilton's manual (#28643) for my van.

There are no known problems with this van at this time, but the van seems to be using just a tiny bit of oil. I have been adding 1/4 - 1/3 of a quart every few months. There are no oil spots below where I park the vehicle.

My questions are:

1. What conventional oil is known for its high quality and would be best for this van and my driving habits?
(Before I got this van I had 1969 and a 1971 air-cooled VW buses and changed my oil all the time—always Castrol GTX conventional oil.)

2. What filter would be best/adequate and why? I plan to change the oil filter at every oil change.

3. It is said that one should change the oil every 3,000 miles or 3 months. But seriously, how long can one expect to get adequate lubrication after an oil change—less than 3,000 miles or more?

4. I've been using the Fram air filter, #CA9269. Is that going to be good enough? Other recommendations?

5. What about spark plug replacement? Supposedly I can go 150,000 miles before replacement, but [censored] I find that hard to believe. I haven't had them checked.

6. What are things that I absolutely don't want to forget to do when changing my own oil on this vehicle?

7. How can I get a factory manual?? What about allDATA or other online subscription manuals?

8. Anything else I need to know?

 

[bigjl]

Spark plugs are much better and last longer than they used to.

It isn't unusual for spark plugs to be left in situ for extremely long mileage intervals.

As far as oil goes I would opt for a semi synthetic oil or fuy synthetic oil.

But that is just personal preference as i feel it will protect the engine better and keep it cleaner in the long term.

There are plenty of examples of vehicles with sludged up engines that have been run on conventional/mineral oil, but I have yet to see anything talking about a sludged up engine run on semi or fully synth.

Maybe I haven't been looking in the right place.

At the end of the day you have to do what you feel happy with.

You say it has started to use a little oil.

As the mileage is 70k perhaps using a HM oil would be an idea.

I have just put Maxlife Synth blend in the wife's diesel Clio and it is running well, this car has been run almost exclusively run on Mobil 1 0w40 Full Synth and at just short of 100k it still consumes no oil, well the level may drop slightly but not enough to warrant a top up.

Performance is just as it was when we bought it with 28k on it.

Still returning around 60mpg in a mixture of stop start suburban running and some. Oh try roads and occasional highway use.

I think the vehicle is used under severe service as it does a lot of stop start and Renault state it should have 6k changes normal use 12k.

I have run it anywhere between 6k and 9k, though rarely more than 7k.

This OCI was 5k as I wanted to change it before winter temps dropped and if I didn't it would have run well past were I wanted it to be over the winter.

The Maxlife will run to 6/7k.

 

[il_signore97]

Welcome to the forums. I'll try to answer your questions, but maybe others that actually own this particular vehicle can chime in to add more detail to my post...

1. Many conventional oils are of good quality today. Any API SN oil will serve you well. If you are happy with the current fill of Pennzoil, then by all means keep using it. Many other brands are good as well. A 5W30 would be the most appropriate viscosity for you to use (or if you ever switch to synthetic, a 0W30 may provide you with some additional cold weather benefits).

2. If you can, I'd always use high quality filters. They are constructed better, and are less prone to failure of the filter media. I like Napa Gold filters myself, but there are many good ones (including OEM GM Delco filters that can be purchased in bulk from the dealer or AC Delco supplier for a decent price).

3. Does your truck have an oil life monitor? If yes, I would allow the oil life monitor to help you extend your oil changes (but never more than 1 year, regardless of mileage or what the oil life monitor says). Check your owner's manual to see if it is equipped with one. To be extra safe, you can change your oil when it gets down to 15% oil life remaining (if your model has a display where you can see the remaining oil life left). If it does not have an oil life monitor, most people find that 5,000 miles or 6 months can easily be achieved by conventional oils on *most* vehicles. GM V8's are not particularly hard on oil, so I believe you can do this as well.

4. Any quality air filter would be fine. Change it regularly, and make absolutely sure that the filter box seals well. Some silicone lube around the seal of the filter helps in this regard.

5. GM spark plugs are iridium now from the factory (yours may be double platinum ones still). Either way, you can go at least 100,000 miles, if not more. I'd probably change them at 100,000 just to be sure. Use only OEM GM spark plugs - they are of high quality and the correct heat range - I believe they are now made by NGK.

6. Don't over-tighten the filter or drain plug, make sure to add the correct amount of oil, and always check for leaks when you are done! A filter that is too loose or too tight can leak down the road.

7. I shouldn't really say this here, but check e-bay for GM eSI techline DVD's (I am not endorsing this nor recommending this).

8. Check your oil often. It is far more important to keep your truck full of oil at all times than to worry about the other stuff. Some oil usage is generally normal in most vehicles. These pushrod V8's generally don't use too much, especially with the easy driving you do. Just make sure to top it off soon if it uses some oil. Keep it full and enjoy your truck.

 

[Bgallagher]

Originally Posted By: il_signore97
Welcome to the forums. I'll try to answer your questions, but maybe others that actually own this particular vehicle can chime in to add more detail to my post...

1. Many conventional oils are of good quality today. Any API SN oil will serve you well. If you are happy with the current fill of Pennzoil, then by all means keep using it. Many other brands are good as well. A 5W30 would be the most appropriate viscosity for you to use (or if you ever switch to synthetic, a 0W30 may provide you with some additional cold weather benefits).

2. If you can, I'd always use high quality filters. They are constructed better, and are less prone to failure of the filter media. I like Napa Gold filters myself, but there are many good ones (including OEM GM Delco filters that can be purchased in bulk from the dealer or AC Delco supplier for a decent price).

3. Does your truck have an oil life monitor? If yes, I would allow the oil life monitor to help you extend your oil changes (but never more than 1 year, regardless of mileage or what the oil life monitor says). Check your owner's manual to see if it is equipped with one. To be extra safe, you can change your oil when it gets down to 15% oil life remaining (if your model has a display where you can see the remaining oil life left). If it does not have an oil life monitor, most people find that 5,000 miles or 6 months can easily be achieved by conventional oils on *most* vehicles. GM V8's are not particularly hard on oil, so I believe you can do this as well.

4. Any quality air filter would be fine. Change it regularly, and make absolutely sure that the filter box seals well. Some silicone lube around the seal of the filter helps in this regard.

5. GM spark plugs are iridium now from the factory (yours may be double platinum ones still). Either way, you can go at least 100,000 miles, if not more. I'd probably change them at 100,000 just to be sure. Use only OEM GM spark plugs - they are of high quality and the correct heat range - I believe they are now made by NGK.

6. Don't over-tighten the filter or drain plug, make sure to add the correct amount of oil, and always check for leaks when you are done! A filter that is too loose or too tight can leak down the road.

7. I shouldn't really say this here, but check e-bay for GM eSI techline DVD's (I am not endorsing this nor recommending this).

8. Check your oil often. It is far more important to keep your truck full of oil at all times than to worry about the other stuff. Some oil usage is generally normal in most vehicles. These pushrod V8's generally don't use too much, especially with the easy driving you do. Just make sure to top it off soon if it uses some oil. Keep it full and enjoy your truck.


+1,000 That was perfect

 

[bruno]

This might be the manual you're looking for

http://www.instantservicemanuals.info/wo...pdf-manual.html

 

[cp3]

Only thing I think I would change from il_signore97's post is #4. I would leave the air filter to at least the factory recommended interval.

 

[jdawg89]

I use castrol gtx or gtx high mileage in everything. Around 5000 mile oci usually...sometimes pushed to 8000. With a fram tough guard or extended guard

 

[weebl]

Welcome.

I assume your driving haabits do not include short trips? Portland has a very similar climate to Vancouver, where - used to live. There, on my daily commuter, I found dino worked just fine. You don't see extreme cold there, doesn't sound like you are seeing extreme heat or have heavy loads to contend with. All maake dino a perfect candidate.

Is this GM spec something hard to find? Something special? You would want to satisfy that spec, unless it is known that a nore commonly seen spec (eg. API SN/ILSAC GF-5) meets or exceeds. You certainly no longer have warranty requirements to worry about.

Thaat said, GTX is perfectly good. So would any other reputable dino oil. Manufacturer's OCI, unless you have aa UOA to support going longer. Napa Gold / WIX are good filters, but there are also many other good choices.