Oil for '98 Chevrolet K1500 - 350 Vortec

[redhat]

Hello everyone, one of my first posts on here. Looking for an oil recommendation for my father. He has a 1998 Chevrolet K1500 pickup with a 350 Vortec. He puts on about 3000 to 4000 miles annually and usually does once a year oil changes.

I live in WNY and he bought the pickup a couple of years ago from a dealership in Albany, NY. On the drive back, he was going about 70MPH on the Thruway and had about 18 pounds of oil pressure. Somewhat concerned myself and him. Drained whatever was in there and filled it up with Mobil 1 10W-40 and the oil pressure was excellent. (just a little background info) I don't think anything is wrong with the engine lubrication system wise -- but I just though that was relevant.

I'm looking for a decent oil that he can run throughout the whole year. He drives moderately and doesn't beat on the truck. In the summer he tows a 25' 5th wheel trailer and does go up and down some decent hills. We see temperatures from 1 to 2 degrees all the way to 95 degrees in the dog days of summer. Owners manual for the truck calls for 5W-30 but also mentions that a 0W-30 can be used in cold climates (very surprised and happy at the same time for GM to honestly recommend a 0W back in '98!)

From what I was looking, I was interested in the Shell Rotella T6 5W-40 or perhaps M1 0W-30. What do you guys think? Thanks.

 

[hounddog]

Sounds OK. Any of the 0/5/or 10w30s. I'd use a synthetic just cause they are easy to get these days and relatively inexpensive for a once a year service.

 

[BoiseRob]

GM specs 5w30 oil for their light-duty gasoline pickups. Any quality (properly spec'd) dino PCMO will work great in the 350 engine.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Someone is going to recommend Rotella T6 5w-40 for the flat tappet cam.

 

[Stewart Fan]

I ran Chevron Supreme 10w-30 in my '98 Z-71 with the 350.

Pulled a 5500lb travel trailer all over the NW with good UOAs to show for it.

 

[Chris B.]

I have the same engine and truck. I use Castrol GTX 5w30 and Blackstone labs says I have the lowest wearing 350 they have on file by a large margin. I contribute that to a well built engine and that GTX is the best dino oil on the market.

 

[Corvette Owner]

I have a 1996 Chevy Van 1500 with the 350 cu-in V8 and have always used Mobil 1 10W-30. Van has 100,000 miles on it, no engine troubles. I go 7500 miles OCI, across a couple of years.

This is my third Chevy V8 Van, I towed (23 foot Travel Trailer) with the other tow. Used same oil, never any engine problems.

 

[jegs]

Originally Posted By: Miller88
Someone is going to recommend Rotella T6 5w-40 for the flat tappet cam.

'98 Chevrolet K1500 350 Vortec has a roller cam.

 

[electrolover]

Originally Posted By: Miller88
Someone is going to recommend Rotella T6 5w-40 for the flat tappet cam.

 

[cronk]

I have a 93 chevy 1500 with a 305 which oddly has a roller cam. (it shouldn't be a roller, but I discovered it when changing intake gaskets)
Mine has over 180k miles, I bought it with about 150k.
I have ran Rotella T6 5w40 year round for the past 2 years with great results.
It starts just fine in sub zero weather, and holds good oil pressure in hot summer weather.
It has also slowly been cleaning up some of the sludge from the previous owners poor maintenance.

 

[BillyTheKid]

I have same year and engine in a suburban. Those 350s can run on just about anything for the most part. It all depends on if you want to spend on synthetics or not really. I have tried quite a few different oils and weights, and yes different weights early on in the trucks life. With 150k plus miles and counting, I've ran maxlife the last few changes and happy. You could always try rotella t5 10-30. I think I may give that a try soon enough. The rotella 15-40 I tried did well for me. Heck, there's so many brands and weights I want to try still.

 

[redhat]

Thanks for the information everyone.

 

[bama7x57]

I run whatever 5w/30 is on sale in my 2. When I changed my intake manifold gasket last weekend it was nice and clean inside the engine.

 

[daman]

5 or 0w30 is all that truck needs,i was running 0w30 in my '99 vortec with 240,000 miles.

 

[sweezy722]

I have a 1998 Chevrolet truck with a 350 vortec. It has 220,000 miles and runs great every day of the week for a short commute. It used to go 100 miles every day. At 100,000 miles my oil pressure started going down. I spent a day replacing the oil pump with a new one and then put in new main bearings. It still had low oil pressure. I then spent $30 for the oil pressure sending unit and my oil pressure has read normal since. I also spent a day replacing the intake gasket later but that is a whole different story.

 

[wtd]

I have the same year truck with the same engine and currently run 5W-30 PYB in it. I bought this truck new and have run a lot of different oils in it over the years. It ran the worst on 5W-30 and 10W-30 Mobil 1 and had the worst oil analysis results with this oil. It runs very good on the PYB and I'll probably stick with that. Truck has almost 125,000 miles on it.

Wayne

 

[redhat]

Just an update. After the great recommendations on going with a 0W/5W-30, I decided to go with the CATERHAM blend for this pickup.

Three quarts of Mobil 1 0W-40 and three quarts of Toyota Genuine Synthetic 0W-20. Also using a NAPA Gold filter.

Good yearly OCI and the truck couldn't be happier.

 

[JR]

398K on the gmc z71 . It has bulk oil change in it now.. the oil was changed like under a thousand miles before i bought it. i plan to change it before winter.
i am not sure what to run yet. no leaks smoke or usage. holds 40+psi hot idle . 70-80psi cruising . 60+psi cold idle.
I have napa syn. 2cases of 0w20. 1Case 15w50. Shell dino 5w20. Nextgen maxfile 5w20. Syntec titanium. dexos approved 5w20(30quarts.

ken

 

[JR]

I have the syntec in the sump so i will burn up the 30 remaining quarts in the stash in it.

ken

 

[KenO]

10W-30, 5W-40, try any number of oils. They will run and last forever on [censored] near anything. I'd recommend at least a syn blend, just for the sake of heat capabilities, if he does some towing ona grade. Maxlife, Rotella T5, etc. should work just fine.