Posts: 202
Location: Angola, IN | gordo2000 - 5/5/2013 7:01 AM
I always use conventional oil during the first 10,000 miles, because synthetic oil doesn't allow proper seating for new engines.
There is ALOT of misinformation in this thread. I doubt anyone on M1 has read more about oils and worked on more engines that I have.
Just drive the truck. Honestly, you are not gonna hurt it. If you want to follow the book and not go over 55mph for the first 500 miles, that's gonna be fine. If you want to take it to the drag strip and burn off 500 miles, a 1/4 mile at a time, that's gonna be fine too.
The factory fill (FF) on all new engines contain a high amount of anti-friction, anti-wear agents, and friction modifiers in them to help with break in. A few of these are ZDDP (Zinc) and Moly. It's a good idea to keep this oil in your engine for at least a 1000 miles, and I wouldn't go further than 3000 miles before I changed oil.
Remember, you'll need to run Dexos I certified oil in your Silverado. So make sure you use the correct oil. I highly recommend Mobil 1 0w30 AFE and Pennzoil Ultra 5w30. For the price, there isn't anything better.
The myth that you have to use conventional to break in an engine is hog-wash. I think nearly all Dexos I oils are synthetic now and EVERY car manufacturer is going to 0w-20 and 0w-30 weight oil....even Corvettes, Ferraris, and BMW's come with Mobil 1 0w-40 as their factory fill.
One thing I'd watch out for, is to kind of ignore the oil maintenance reminder on your dash/consol. It's been proven time and time again that these are misleading and can use real issues. If you run a good quality oil, like Mobil 1 or Pennzoil Ultra, I wouldn't go more than 6k miles in any V8 Chevy truck. And if you have active cylinder management (where it swtiches to 4 cylinder for fuel economy), this system is SUPER hard on engine oils. It cooks it. It causes excessive oil consumption and it causes oil to be baked into the ring lands causing stuck ring packs and all kinds of problems.
If your truck has active cylinder managment, the best thing you can run is an oil with the lowest NOACK % you can find....which is a measurement of the volitility of the oil (how much of the oil will "cook off" due to heat).....most synthetics are around 10-12%. Conventional oil is around 15%. But the lowest NOACK is Pennzoil Ultra. By far. 6%. This will help prevent all kinds of gunk from forming in your new engine. Pennzoil Ultra has such a huge advantage over the rest of the field because they use a new, special refining technique that's called GTL....and it's only found in one oil refinery on the planet and Shell/Pennzoil owns it.
There are other oils out there at 6%, like Red Line Oils (which is an awesome oil....one of the best you can buy, and is a true synthetic, a Group V, which is an ester-based oil), but Red Line won't cut GM a check for the Dexos I certification....so using it would void your warranty....even though Red Line's products far exceed any Dexos I requirements.
I know what I'm talking about. Believe me.
Edited by SteveHulbert 5/6/2013 8:17 AM
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