Originally Posted by otis24
I plan on running this truck another ten years, unless I hit the lottery. The body is more likely to fall apart before the engine goes, even with some oil consumption. This truck has been a short-tripper for the last twenty years. The school I work for purchased it with 56k miles on it when it was five years old. They put less than 2000 miles per year on the vehicle, driving it around campus. The oil was changed once per year with about 1200 miles average on the oil. Mobil bulk conventional oil. I am guessing that the short tripping wasn't good for this vehicle. I just need to keep a closer check on the oil. If I can't find a good deal on a 5w/40, I may try adding a straight 30 wt for a while then move to a 10W/30 or 10W/40 next oil change. Current fill is Havoline 5W/20 HM. Will have to try to thicken that up a bit as it with a heavy top off oil as it consumes.
Originally Posted by otis24
I plan on running this truck another ten years, unless I hit the lottery. The body is more likely to fall apart before the engine goes, even with some oil consumption. This truck has been a short-tripper for the last twenty years. The school I work for purchased it with 56k miles on it when it was five years old. They put less than 2000 miles per year on the vehicle, driving it around campus. The oil was changed once per year with about 1200 miles average on the oil. Mobil bulk conventional oil. I am guessing that the short tripping wasn't good for this vehicle. I just need to keep a closer check on the oil. If I can't find a good deal on a 5w/40, I may try adding a straight 30 wt for a while then move to a 10W/30 or 10W/40 next oil change. Current fill is Havoline 5W/20 HM. Will have to try to thicken that up a bit as it with a heavy top off oil as it consumes.
5w20 is a little light for that era of 4.3. Anything with 30 or 40 weight is appropriate. After driving, remove the oil fill cap and look in the valve cover to see if oil is ponding on top of the head. If so the oil drain back holes are sludged and causes the oil to reach a level that can be drawn down the valve guides. It's then as simple as removing the valve covers and cleaning the sludge out of the drain backs. Both ends of the heads.