Mobil 1 5w30 GMC Sierra 230,000 miles

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Mar 10, 2012
Messages
7
Location
Indiana
Just did my first UOA. Couldn't be happier with this. 2004 GMC Sierra - 5.3. Mobil 1 5w30 ever since the second oil change at ~1500 miles. OCI has probably averaged 5-7k during that time. 230,000 miles strong - operates just as she did on Day 1.

Code:
Code:

OIL m15w30

MILES IN USE 6k

MILES 230k

SAMPLE TAKEN 7/1/2013



ALUMINUM 3

CHROMIUM 1

IRON 12

COPPER 4

LEAD 7

TIN 0

MOLYBDENUM 67

NICKEL 1

MANGANESE 0

SILVER 0

TITANIUM 0

POTASSIUM 1

BORON 44

SILICON 12

SODIUM 4

CALCIUM 1010

MAGNESIUM 669

PHOSPHORUS 789

ZINC 880

BARIUM 0



INSOLUBLES 0.2

WATER 0

FLASHPOINT ºF 410

SUS VIS 210ºF 60.5

cSt @ 212ºF 10.37
 
Your UOA and description gives me motovation to continue with regular maintenance. The payoff is a great running vehicle that you can be proud of.
 
I'm going to be a bit blunt; not meant to offend, but rather to give you an honest assessment of your maintenance plan. A bit of "tough love" that may hurt to hear now, but will be an asset to you later on.


M1 for 5k miles is total waste of money in this application. Any decent house brand dino fluid can do this well. Seriously; dino oil would do every bit as well here. Your wear rates are totally average, and you paid probably 2x more money for M1 than any decent house brand lube that will protect every bit as well.

Certainly the engine and lube are in fine shape; that's not the point. The underlying issue here is paying a premium for performance that is every-day average.

If you want to get the value out of your lube, then you'll need to greatly extend the OCI.
Or ...
If you intend to stick to 5-7k miles, then run any recognized house brand conventional oil and any decent normal filter. And quit the UOAs; there is no logic to paying for information you promptly ignore.
 
Last edited:
Good to see you actually stick to one oil and not skip around like most do. The results you have with continued use of M1 is typical for all of us that use M1. I have several friends and family that only use M1 oils and all of us have the same result as yours. Very long lasting, clean, and excellant running engines. My only suggestion would be to run your OCI out to at least 10K. A friend has the same engine as yours and does 15-20K OCI and has 350K on his engine and it still runs great and remains clean with no real oil use.
 
Nice . My dealer fill Mobil 1 5w30 on my 2013 z71 crew cab 5.3l since day 1 . I hope it mobil 1 or just regular Mobil

To op what oil filter you running with it ?
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: MetalSlug
Nice . My dealer fill Mobil 1 5w30 on my 2013 z71 crew cab 5.3l since day 1 . I hope it mobil 1 or just regular Mobil

To op what oil filter you running with it ?


Probably 75% of the time I've used AC Delco filters. 5% FRAM when in a pinch and the store was out of AC Delco. 20% of the time I've purchased m1/Bosch filters if there was a good sale.
 
Originally Posted By: Slowrider5
Originally Posted By: MetalSlug
Nice . My dealer fill Mobil 1 5w30 on my 2013 z71 crew cab 5.3l since day 1 . I hope it mobil 1 or just regular Mobil

To op what oil filter you running with it ?


Probably 75% of the time I've used AC Delco filters. 5% FRAM when in a pinch and the store was out of AC Delco. 20% of the time I've purchased m1/Bosch filters if there was a good sale.


Thanks . It's encore or metal cage inside ? It's been awhile is ac delco switch back to metal cage inside type or they still encore
 
I have never investigated the filters inside to be honest, but since you mentioned that I did some searching and read that the ACDelco filters with an "E" at the end of the part number are the encore. I have noticed a few of those more recently, but never paid attention. I figured the E was for something like "extended" or "enhanced". Doh.
 
Thanks all for the feedback and opinions. My OCI is probably closer to 8k now, the 5-7k was an average over the previous 200K miles. It was 5K for the first 100K miles, and I've slowly extended it since then.

I don't disagree with the facts, but even if Blackstone Labs gave me hard proof with an engine warranty that I could switch to a 12K OCI I wouldn't do it at this point. Like the guy who scoops up every last bottle of Motor Honey when it goes on sale, I'm sticking with what works for me. That's M1 every ~8K miles, tranny flush every 25K, and everything else I take the manufacturer recommendation and cut it in half. Seafoam it twice a year thru the brake booster hose and throw in a bottle of fuel system cleaner every 3-5K miles. I had the intake manifold and injectors off not too long ago to replace a knock sensor....clean as a whistle. Not a single drip of fluid has ever leaked from this truck except the front diff (axle seals). 230K on the original 4L60E tranny is way above normal. No water pumps replaced, no power steering pump failures, nothing, nadda, zilch.

So I may be throwing money away changing my fluids too often....oh well.
 
Engine wear decreases as the miles rack up on the oil. Changing more often isn't always better. Your racking up what 20k miles a year? 12k is cake, you wouldn't be risking much besides the filter if it's an e core, but the regular Delco filter would do good with those fast miles.

If you're going to be doing the Uoa anyways, why not do 12k once so you can prove to yourself it's easily attainable in this engine and operating conditions. Sure there's risk, but it's not much.
 
Originally Posted By: Slowrider5
Thanks all for the feedback and opinions. My OCI is probably closer to 8k now, the 5-7k was an average over the previous 200K miles. It was 5K for the first 100K miles, and I've slowly extended it since then.

I don't disagree with the facts, but even if Blackstone Labs gave me hard proof with an engine warranty that I could switch to a 12K OCI I wouldn't do it at this point. Like the guy who scoops up every last bottle of Motor Honey when it goes on sale, I'm sticking with what works for me. That's M1 every ~8K miles, tranny flush every 25K, and everything else I take the manufacturer recommendation and cut it in half. Seafoam it twice a year thru the brake booster hose and throw in a bottle of fuel system cleaner every 3-5K miles. I had the intake manifold and injectors off not too long ago to replace a knock sensor....clean as a whistle. Not a single drip of fluid has ever leaked from this truck except the front diff (axle seals). 230K on the original 4L60E tranny is way above normal. No water pumps replaced, no power steering pump failures, nothing, nadda, zilch.

So I may be throwing money away changing my fluids too often....oh well.





I've got 270 on my 99,same tranny. Changed the fluid once,at 200000,so I must have an anomaly as well.
I hear ya about extending the drains. I'm stuck in my ways. Every engine I ever maintained/owned still purrs at 300k.
I guess I take comfort in knowing my oil changes on syn aren't set in stone. So if I don't have time,or if life just gets in the way I know for certain its not imperative I stick to the 5000 or 10000,I've got breathing room.
This winter I'm going to give devlac elite 222 a shot in the Chevy. I can get it by the 5 gallon pail pretty cheap,and its a great oil.
If it ain't broke right.
 
I Like what Dnewton says.
While my 2003 Trailblazer with the inline 6 was my daily driver- Id go 10,500 to 11,500 miles between oil changes- using the OLM. (Ive postes my UOA on here)
The oil I used?
Regualar Dino-- Valvoline 5W-30.
Its only at 170,500 miles- but it still runs great. Last month passed its California Emissions test easily.
Now I change oil 1 time a year- since it doesnt rack up 11,000 miles.

The only work done to the engine?
a thermostat change, water pump, plugs.
CELs= P0128- (thermostat)- and the code for the gas cap- witch I didnt tighten.

Nice truck!
When it was nearing 150,000- I bought a 2010 Traverse.... BUT didnt trade in the Trailblazer- since the UOA came back so good.
Its now my dads daily driver.

So-- roughly-- in its 1st 150,000 miles- I only had about 13 oil changes.
others would have had 13 oil changes in about 40,000 miles.

Im also using this Valvoline in my Direct Injected Traverse.
 
I decided to come back and update this post with my final recorded result. I ended up extending the interval up to 13K after doing some more UOA's. The final one I did suggested I could easily go to 15K. So I did it before trading it in just over 300K miles. Had trouble getting any buyer interest in selling a truck with that many miles despite being one-owner and meticulously maintained. It was a badge of honor but not sure I will do that again if I can get better resale value at 150-200K miles.


Code:
Code:

OIL m15w30

MILES IN USE 6k 13k

MILES 230k 286k

SAMPLE TAKEN 7/1/2013 2/2/2016



ALUMINUM 3 3

CHROMIUM 1 1

IRON 12 13

COPPER 4 6

LEAD 7 12

TIN 0 3

MOLYBDENUM 67 75

NICKEL 1 2

MANGANESE 0 1

SILVER 0 0

TITANIUM 0 0

POTASSIUM 1 3

BORON 44 30

SILICON 12 15

SODIUM 4 5

CALCIUM 1010 997

MAGNESIUM 669 716

PHOSPHORUS 789 906

ZINC 880 1039

BARIUM 0 0



INSOLUBLES 0.2 0.3

WATER 0 0

FLASHPOINT ºF 410 385

SUS VIS 210ºF 60.5 60.3

cSt @ 212ºF 10.37 10.29




Blackstone comments:
We logged this sample in as the high-mileage formula and the oil's physical properties look great. The additives aren't much different from what we found last time, although there is more zinc here than the last two reports. That's just an additive in the oil, and having more or less isn't an issue. We're really happy to see less lead in the oil. It's still elevated, but it's not high enough to show a bearing problem. The TBN was strong at 3.2, so there's lots of active additive remaining for a longer run. 15K miles would be okay, but this interval works too.



And one important note, never make assumptions for anticipated oil life in a new vehicle that is based on doing UOA from another vehicle. I've got two VVT solenoids to replace on my wifes 2012 Cadillac SRX after being slow to get it in for oil change. The OLM went to 0% around the 8500mi mark and check engine went on shortly before 9000 mi. I figured I was golden for another couple thousand miles. WRONG!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Bummer on having a hard time selling a high mileage vehicle, though I've found it to be the case. Hey, better for those of us that ignore the odometer
laugh.gif
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top