5W-30 Unknown - 9,408 Miles - 2012 Chevrolet Malibu

[SMB]

Hello all,

Been a long time since I posted here. My last post was back in November 2014!

Attached is a UOA from my 2012 Chevrolet Malibu LS - 4 cylinder.

I bought the car back in May 2018 and it had an oil change sticker (Cannot remember oil brand)
The info on the sticker that I remember was: Oil changed @ 128,911 miles back in November 2017.

I drove mostly in the city (Orlando) with some occasional highway driving.

Current fill is SuperTech 5W-30 Full Synthetic + Bosch Oil filter.

So far all seems good.

Next UOA will be for my father's Nissan in my signature.

Take care
SMB

 

[IndyFan]

Nice UOA! Those Ecotecs are great engines. I had outstanding UOA's on my 2006 Solstice with a 2.4 Ecotec, Supertech filters, and Mobil 1 5w30. I kick myself for selling that car. Anyway, that engine should have many, many reliable miles ahead of it.

 

[zeng]

Good metal wear rate, and used oil sample is probably in serviceable condition.

 

[irv]

Originally Posted by SMB
Hello all,

Been a long time since I posted here. My last post was back in November 2014!

Attached is a UOA from my 2012 Chevrolet Malibu LS - 4 cylinder.

I bought the car back in May 2018 and it had an oil change sticker (Cannot remember oil brand)
The info on the sticker that I remember was: Oil changed @ 128,911 miles back in November 2017.

I drove mostly in the city (Orlando) with some occasional highway driving.

Current fill is SuperTech 5W-30 Full Synthetic + Bosch Oil filter.

So far all seems good.

Next UOA will be for my father's Nissan in my signature.

Take care
SMB


Have you changed out any headlight bulbs yet? Have fun! You practically have to tear the whole front bumper/fascia off the thing just to get at them. Google has lots of vids fortunately.

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted by irv
Originally Posted by SMB
Hello all,

Been a long time since I posted here. My last post was back in November 2014!

Attached is a UOA from my 2012 Chevrolet Malibu LS - 4 cylinder.

I bought the car back in May 2018 and it had an oil change sticker (Cannot remember oil brand)
The info on the sticker that I remember was: Oil changed @ 128,911 miles back in November 2017.

I drove mostly in the city (Orlando) with some occasional highway driving.

Current fill is SuperTech 5W-30 Full Synthetic + Bosch Oil filter.

So far all seems good.

Next UOA will be for my father's Nissan in my signature.

Take care
SMB


Have you changed out any headlight bulbs yet? Have fun! You practically have to tear the whole front bumper/fascia off the thing just to get at them. Google has lots of vids fortunately.

Sometimes, the low-beam connector melts as well. GM sells a replacement sub-harness for a somewhat reasonable cost. I would do the job on a weekday when you can purchase another harness - take it apart twice is no fun.

 

[alarmguy]

Nice report - Im sure a relief to see that on a previously owned vehicle with over a 100K miles, looks like you can rest easy!


Amazing to read Gm still has connectors that melt. Over a decade ago I had two Tralblazers, tail light connectors would melt the bulb base all the time, think there may have been a recall, something as basic as a light bulb connector. You would see Trailblazers on the road all the time, look at the tail light, one would always be out *L*

 

[SMB]

Originally Posted by irv
Originally Posted by SMB
Hello all,

Been a long time since I posted here. My last post was back in November 2014!

Attached is a UOA from my 2012 Chevrolet Malibu LS - 4 cylinder.

I bought the car back in May 2018 and it had an oil change sticker (Cannot remember oil brand)
The info on the sticker that I remember was: Oil changed @ 128,911 miles back in November 2017.

I drove mostly in the city (Orlando) with some occasional highway driving.

Current fill is SuperTech 5W-30 Full Synthetic + Bosch Oil filter.

So far all seems good.

Next UOA will be for my father's Nissan in my signature.

Take care
SMB


Have you changed out any headlight bulbs yet? Have fun! You practically have to tear the whole front bumper/fascia off the thing just to get at them. Google has lots of vids fortunately.



No not yet. Yes I saw the videos on how to replace headlight bulbs.

I am planning an HID projector retrofit down the road once I have time.

 

[irv]

Originally Posted by SMB
Originally Posted by irv
Originally Posted by SMB
Hello all,

Been a long time since I posted here. My last post was back in November 2014!

Attached is a UOA from my 2012 Chevrolet Malibu LS - 4 cylinder.

I bought the car back in May 2018 and it had an oil change sticker (Cannot remember oil brand)
The info on the sticker that I remember was: Oil changed @ 128,911 miles back in November 2017.

I drove mostly in the city (Orlando) with some occasional highway driving.

Current fill is SuperTech 5W-30 Full Synthetic + Bosch Oil filter.

So far all seems good.

Next UOA will be for my father's Nissan in my signature.

Take care
SMB


Have you changed out any headlight bulbs yet? Have fun! You practically have to tear the whole front bumper/fascia off the thing just to get at them. Google has lots of vids fortunately.



No not yet. Yes I saw the videos on how to replace headlight bulbs.

I am planning an HID projector retrofit down the road once I have time.



My son's headlights are both fogged/filled with moisture so they need replacing as I already tried once to fix them. I've had this front end off 3 times now so I am getting better at it but it's still a PITA!

Clearly GM didn't want any owner changing these as they likely knew 99% of the population wouldn't even attempt it.
I am not sure what GM would charge to change out a burnt out bulb but I bet you you wouldn't come out of a GM shop paying any less than $150 dollars!

 

[dave1251]

Well at least you know you comfortably change the oil at 10K with no issues.

 

[Artem]

You blindly ran unknown oil of unknown quality 9,408 miles?! That's some Brass Cojones you have there. I would have drained it out as soon as I parked the car in the driveway after purchase and considered that a mini flush to get things going with my ownership. LOL.

 

[Patman]

Originally Posted by irv




My son's headlights are both fogged/filled with moisture so they need replacing as I already tried once to fix them. I've had this front end off 3 times now so I am getting better at it but it's still a PITA!

Clearly GM didn't want any owner changing these as they likely knew 99% of the population wouldn't even attempt it.
I am not sure what GM would charge to change out a burnt out bulb but I bet you you wouldn't come out of a GM shop paying any less than $150 dollars!

It's the same with my Civic with the whole front end needing to come apart to get to the lights, when I bought it used in 2011 I was happy that the previous owner had put in HID lights, as I figured they'd last a long time. A few years later one of them burnt out so I had a local shop put in an LED kit (at a total cost of $400), I was told those lights would last 10-15 years. One of them burnt out last year so I now have an appointment this Saturday to have a new LED kit put in (this time the total cost is $329) This will be the last time I change bulbs in this car, hopefully, I'll be sending the car to the junkyard in 2022.

 

[Patman]

Originally Posted by Artem
You blindly ran unknown oil of unknown quality 9,408 miles?! That's some Brass Cojones you have there. I would have drained it out as soon as I parked the car in the driveway after purchase and considered that a mini flush to get things going with my ownership. LOL.


I do the same thing every time I buy a used car. I'm always anxious to get a good synthetic in there, and am also always anxious to finish that first interval in order to get my first UOA done

 

[Artem]

Totally agree. I couldn't sleep at night knowing there's a possibility of a cheap Dino oil being in the sump of a NEWLY purchased vehicle.

 

[dave1251]

Originally Posted by Artem
Totally agree. I couldn't sleep at night knowing there's a possibility of a cheap Dino oil being in the sump of a NEWLY purchased vehicle.



If its current API specification it really does not matter. Getting a fresh drain and fill of ATF would be more beneficial IMO.

 

[Artem]

Ha. That's a different topic all together.

When I bought my 203,000 mile Celica, I replaced ALL fluids, spark plugs, ran a ton of fuel system cleaner, balanced the tires, and spent 5 hours detailing it before I proceeded to daily drive it.

 

[dnewton3]

The UOA shows very commendable wear; good wearing engine with no contamination to speak of.

As to the lube ... who cares? Honestly, just about any API lube can easily do this. These are clean running engines, and one does not need anything special for this kind of performance. Wear rates drop as the miles pile on; that's proven across the board in my data for most all engines.

Fear mongering need not apply here.

 

[Patman]

Originally Posted by dave1251
Originally Posted by Artem
Totally agree. I couldn't sleep at night knowing there's a possibility of a cheap Dino oil being in the sump of a NEWLY purchased vehicle.



If its current API specification it really does not matter. .


That's the thing, who knows if it is even the current spec or if it's cheap out of spec dollar store oil that was put in there. The only way to be sure is to do a fresh oil change on any used vehicle.

 

[Artem]

x2 @ Patman.


/ discussion.

 

[irv]

Originally Posted by Patman
Originally Posted by dave1251
Originally Posted by Artem
Totally agree. I couldn't sleep at night knowing there's a possibility of a cheap Dino oil being in the sump of a NEWLY purchased vehicle.



If its current API specification it really does not matter. .


That's the thing, who knows if it is even the current spec or if it's cheap out of spec dollar store oil that was put in there. The only way to be sure is to do a fresh oil change on any used vehicle.


Exactly, and who knows how old/long the oil has been in there and if someone didn't just reset the OLM without actually changing the oil? Just like my wife's car, new oil filter but definitely not new oil.
Shysters are everywhere!

 

[Patman]

Another thing to consider, is that some shady used car dealers (or even private sellers) will put in super thick oil (and maybe even STP oil treatment on top of that) in order to mask any abnormal engine sounds too.