Did a Blackstone UOA last summer, but decided to switch it up to Wix this time since it was half the price. Blackstone at 5,000 miles came back all good except fuel dilution thinned the viscosity some. They recommended pushing it to 7,000-7,500 which is right in line with the OLM for the Terrain. I decided to push this one to 6250 and Wix came back with "Caution" because the viscosity had thinned, it didn't say it was because of fuel dilution, but that is my assumption. This is known issue with the 2.4 EcoTech engines, but Wix seems to be more concerned about it than Blackstone was.
121k 2011 GMC Terrain 2.4 ~ PP 6250 miles
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Need to start establishing some [wear] trends to determine if you have abnormal levels of Fe/Al wear for this engine. No copper or nickel, so that's a plus. The iron and aluminum are probably coming from the rings/liners. Go up a grade and/or cut it back to say 5k miles, and do another UOA.
Comparing my Wix UOA to the Blackstone I got last summer, everything is almost identical. I just find it odd that Blackstone says the thinned viscosity won't hurt anything and is nothing to be overly concerned about but Wix put my engine in the "Caution" category over it. I think I'll go back to 5,000 miles changes for this engine. It was rebuildt under the oil consumption warranty last year and I am hoping to squeeze out another 3 years in this vehicle. So I think 5,000 might be the best spot for this engine.
They flagged it because it's out of grade, nothing more nothing less. BS probably based their comments on universal avgs for this engine/mileage. While it's preferred to see lower levels of Fe and Al, 28 & 4ppm respectively over 6k miles isn't crazy high by any stretch. PP does start out on the thinner side of an Xw30, so it's not clear to me that the low 100c viscosity is due to FD and not shearing... especially since the Wix report doesn't indicate a high water %. Knowing the flash point would provide more visibility into that question.
I change the oil in my I4-powered 2013 Equinox every 3K to 3.5K miles. Why so soon? Because of the same viscosity thinning issue and the fact my timing chain elongated and needed to be replaced at around 110,000 miles. Skip the OLM percentages and change the oil and filter at 3000 to 3500 miles. It's cheap insurance with this dreaded GM DI engines. This engine beats up oil...
My 5.3L "L59" V8 truck engine doesn't have these issues. I wonder why...
My 5.3L "L59" V8 truck engine doesn't have these issues. I wonder why...
Originally Posted by SteveG4
I change the oil in my I4-powered 2013 Equinox every 3K to 3.5K miles. Why so soon? Because of the same viscosity thinning issue and the fact my timing chain elongated and needed to be replaced at around 110,000 miles. Skip the OLM percentages and change the oil and filter at 3000 to 3500 miles. It's cheap insurance with this dreaded GM DI engines. This engine beats up oil...
My 5.3L "L59" V8 truck engine doesn't have these issues. I wonder why...
Yup, I am fairly active over at the terrain forums, and had those issues and heard all about the others. When they fixed the piston ring oil consumption issue on my 2011 they also replaced the timing chain, guides, gaskets and about a dozen other things, so it sucks it happened but it has been a pretty sweet deal having all those parts replaced for free at 89,000 miles. I won't let the oil go over 5,000 on this engine anymore, and I have been changing out the tranny fluid every 50,000, so here is to hoping for a couple of more years out it. The next issue that concerns be is the plastic TCM pressure switches going out. Glad they got rid of those starting in 2012, but I am stuck with them and the possibility of having that issue in the future if I keep the car.
I change the oil in my I4-powered 2013 Equinox every 3K to 3.5K miles. Why so soon? Because of the same viscosity thinning issue and the fact my timing chain elongated and needed to be replaced at around 110,000 miles. Skip the OLM percentages and change the oil and filter at 3000 to 3500 miles. It's cheap insurance with this dreaded GM DI engines. This engine beats up oil...
My 5.3L "L59" V8 truck engine doesn't have these issues. I wonder why...
Yup, I am fairly active over at the terrain forums, and had those issues and heard all about the others. When they fixed the piston ring oil consumption issue on my 2011 they also replaced the timing chain, guides, gaskets and about a dozen other things, so it sucks it happened but it has been a pretty sweet deal having all those parts replaced for free at 89,000 miles. I won't let the oil go over 5,000 on this engine anymore, and I have been changing out the tranny fluid every 50,000, so here is to hoping for a couple of more years out it. The next issue that concerns be is the plastic TCM pressure switches going out. Glad they got rid of those starting in 2012, but I am stuck with them and the possibility of having that issue in the future if I keep the car.
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