Oil Change in LQ1 with 120k

[Nicutlass_Supremacy]

Hi,

 

Like some of you already know I´ve got stucked in the middle of an engine pull out because of a dammed freeze plug. Trying to get the best of all this work I´ve bought and changed not only those freeze plug but also, alternator, high pressure steering hose, engine mounts, etc. Now I need to buy oil for the beast but I´m in doubt if I´m gonna use the same I´ve been using.

Here in Uruguay I found a couple of brands that had 5w 30 oil and I´ve choosen Liqui Moly Longtime High Tech 5w 30.

Liqui Moly has a lot of other oils including those with MOS2 and other things. I know my LQ1 burns some oil between changes, should I change the 5w30 ? Or maybe try some other like those with aditives for worn engines???

 

What should I do?

[Imp558]

I ran the high mileage stuff for a while and everything started dripping. My old L36 literally rained oil when the car was on a lift. My assumption was that the stuff to rejuvenate the seals deteriorated the front and rear mains, oil pan gasket, and the rear cover gaskets. Ever since I got rid of that engine I've run conventional Valvoline 5w30 with no problem.

[55trucker]

Can't tell you what to do........

 

can suggest.......

 

in my corner I've never run anything lighter than 10w30 (the car sits all winter with such in the pan), generally in the summer hot weather it's 10w40, when the A/C is running the engine does get hot, and a higher viscosity (film strength) oil provides more protection at high temps than a lower viscosity oil will. I'm not so concerned with fuel economy loss but I am concerned with engine life. I've not used a synthetic in the engine at all. I simply change the oil every 4,000kms/2500miles.

 

here's some good reading on the subject.......

 

 

 

http://www.upmpg.com/tech_articles/motoroil_viscosity/

[Psych0matt]

Cheap off the shelf 10w40, not really much reason to get fancy.

[Schurkey]

Feedback fuel injection and an overdrive transmission...I change my Luminas at 6,000 miles, with occasional oil samples proving it's still fit for use.

 

I probably should change every 10,000 miles instead of 6,000.  Changing at 2,500 is silly unless the car has problems with the thermostat or has other oil contamination issues.

[55trucker]

 Changing at 2,500 is silly

and why is that?

[digitaloutsider]

Because any modern oil, dino or not, is designed to go well over a 2500mi service interval, particularly when paired with a quality oil filter. It's an absolute waste of money.

 

I don't even go by mileage in either of my cars anymore, I just go by the GM OLM. Last one in the Regal went around 5K. Sent that sample off to Blackstone, and they saw no reason I couldn't run it even longer. I do NOT drive the Regal nicely. It gets a lot of short trips, plus it's E85 swapped and redlines a few RPM higher than stock. And this is the cheapest 5W-30 synthetic oil (still API SN and Dexos1 Gen 2 certified) I can get on my Pep Boys commercial account, just paired with a Purolator PureOne or "BOSS" (whichever I get cheaper). The Corvette gets the exact same thing, but gets an ACDelco Speciality Ultraguard Gold filter.

 

If it makes you feel better, more power to you. But these cars do not need any sort of accelerated engine oil change schedule. 

[Imp558]

I'm worse, don't even look at mileage. Spring and Fall, I run a quality oil filter like WIX or Hastings with my conventional white bottle Valvoline. Hastings are nice, I found them by the dozen on RockAuto which is cool with an entire fleet of 3800 cars all using the same filter.

[vipmiller803]

I have a mechanical oil pressure gauge and I can see a drop off as the oil ages. Maybe it's the lucas that I run with it that really looses its stability. I don't know. It is usually around 3500 miles but it does seem to vary based on my use. I guess I could document it next oil change.

 

I imagine E85 actually might be better for oil, as its blowby combustion byproducts may be less nasty, as well as running cooler overall.

[Schurkey]

and why is that?

 

 

Feedback fuel injection and an overdrive transmission.

Feedback fuel injection practically eliminates over-fuelling, cylinder wash, ring wear, and therefore fuel and blow-by contamination of the oil.

Overdrive trans means fewer RPMs per mile, therefore less engine wear in general.

 

Together, they've DRAMATICALLY improved oil life.

 

Don't believe me?  Good.  You shouldn't.  You should be taking occasional oil samples and having a lab analyze them.  I do.

 

At 6K miles, the oil report always comes back "oil fit for further use" except for when I had thermostat failures (engine wouldn't warm up) and once I had a faulty air filter (silica contamination of the oil.)

 

My Trailblazer goes ~13,000 miles between oil filters, based on the Oil Life Monitor, which tells me the oil life is "done" at around 13K.  There was a time that I changed oil then, but after seeing the oil sample reports,  I've been topping off the oil at 13,000, changing it at 26,000 for the last few years.  Guess what?  Oil samples prove the oil is still good at 26K.  I use quality oil (Amsoil XL 5W30, but the oil is not the specific reason I get long oil life.)

 

Feedback fuel injection and overdrive transmissions are a gift from God.  Roller cams, roller rockers, Improved engine-building, and improved oil formulation are similarly wonderful, but not all of those apply to every engine.

[Imp558]

I'm guessing, isn't it cheaper to do an oil change than a laboratory analysis? And more important the time involved in extracting the sample vs just draining it and changing the filter. I've never done an analysis.

[55trucker]

 

 

 it's E85 swapped and redlines a few RPM higher than stock. And this is the cheapest 5W-30 synthetic oil (still API SN and Dexos1 Gen 2 certified)

 

 

 

 

 

My Trailblazer goes ~13,000 miles between oil filters, based on the Oil Life Monitor, which tells me the oil life is "done" at around 13K.  There was a time that I changed oil then, but after seeing the oil sample reports,  I've been topping off the oil at 13,000, changing it at 26,000 for the last few years.  Guess what?  Oil samples prove the oil is still good at 26K.  I use quality oil (Amsoil XL 5W30, but the oil is not the specific reason I get long oil life.)

 

 

 

I agree with you both whole-heartedly on the use of synthetic oils (that which you both listed), in the fact that they perform better & last far longer than mineral based oils do,

 

ash content in mineral oils is far higher than it is in synthetics (in synthetics it's almost non-existent), the ash leaves behind sludge deposits on every surface the oil comes into contact with. The detergents (additives) in mineral based oils are introduced to keep the ash under control, but the additives break down after time (the base oil stocks do not) & the problem gets worse.

 

So where a mineral based oil is concerned changing it regularly before it gets to the state of additive break-down is why I do so at the interval I stated.

 

I did not make any reference to me using synthetics in my earlier post. 

[Schurkey]

My oil life monitor does not know I'm using synthetic oil.

 

TAKE OIL SAMPLES.  I bet you'll find out your oil is still usable at double or triple (or more...) your usual change interval unless you have an actual engine or filtration problem (as I did when the thermostats failed, or when I had a defective air filter.)

[Schurkey]

I'm guessing, isn't it cheaper to do an oil change than a laboratory analysis? And more important the time involved in extracting the sample vs just draining it and changing the filter. I've never done an analysis.

I paid $15 each for a case of 10 or 12 Detroit Diesel sample kits closing on two decades ago.  I have a few left.  I don't  know what the current price is.  Prior to buying the case of DD sample kits, I was buying a couple at a time from Cummins, and that goes back to the early '90s or late-'80s so the prices wouldn't be relevant.

 

Amazon has this:

https://www.amazon.com/WIX-Filters-24077-Analysis-Pack/dp/B000CSEUQ0/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1525451650&sr=8-4&keywords=OIl+sample+kits

 

I don't sample EVERY oil change.  I may sample an engine when I buy it, to see how the previous owner maintained the thing--but often a car gets the oil changed just before it's sold, and if that's the case I don't bother.  I sample after I've driven it what I expect to be a reasonable interval--which depends on the vehicle and usage.   And I sample if I have a suspicion of engine trouble.  I spot-check (Random Piss Testing) if I realize a given engine hasn't been tested in a very long time.  And of course, I sampled at 26K with the Trailblazer a couple of times, to assure that the oil wasn't cooked, 'cause I had some trouble accepting an oil change interval that long.

 

I knew from oil-sampling the first ('92) Lumina that the second one ('93) would have zero problems with 6K oil changes.  So the second Lumina has only been sampled once or twice.

 

Point is, two or three oil samples on a given vehicle might allow a person to vastly extend their oil change interval with complete confidence, SAVING a heap of money (and time) in the long run.  Fewer oil filters going into the land-fill, less oil discarded. 

 

Who knows?  You might even learn something about the engine.  I did.

 

Collecting the sample is dead-easy.  Clean the drain plug area of the oil pan.  Loosen the plug, get the sample container ready.  Pull the plug out, let it fill the sample container.  I let the rest drain into the drainpan because usually I'm changing oil anyway.  If not, stuff the drain plug back in and tighten appropriately.

 

Takes as long to fill in the paperwork that goes with the sample--fill in your name and address, vehicle number, check the box for "Engine", check the box for "Lube oil" (not "Hydraulic oil", "trans oil", "steering fluid", etc.)  Mark the advertised viscosity (5W30) and whatever else they're asking for.

 

Put the tightly-sealed sample container inside the tightly-sealed shipping container, haul it to the post office, and buy ground-shipping postage to the lab of choice you've selected from a list of three or five options.  Wait a couple weeks for the report to be mailed back to you.

 

First three samples taken on the Trailblazer, before I went to 26K changes.  I haven't scanned any of the other reports.  Bought the unit in '06, used, with some mileage on it.  Note that the "Time on Unit" and "Time on Oil" are listed as "hours", but it's actually miles.

 

[pitzel]

LH0, not the LQ1 engine here, but last oil change I did on it was in 2008, approximately 90,000km ago (56k miles).  Had the oil pan off, no sludge whatsoever.  Carefully drained the oil prior to removal into a clean container, and simply poured it back in.

 

No, just in case someone asks, there is not a typo in my post.  

 

So modern oil in an otherwise mechanically sound engine can last a *long* time.  

[digitaloutsider]

Wow. Did you get that oil sent to a lab?

 

I mean I'm sure a 3.1 would probably run happily enough on Crisco, but 56k miles and a decade is certainly extreme for any motor oil. Oil builds up acidity over time, but I guess this would depend on how much moisture is getting into the oil and how the car is driven. As long as the additive pack isn't getting diluted by fuel or moisture, I guess that's okay.. but man 10 years..

[Imp558]

At least I don't look negligent with my oil change schedule any more.

[Go4DaMo]

On 5/3/2018 at 11:26 AM, Imp558 said:

I'm guessing, isn't it cheaper to do an oil change than a laboratory analysis? And more important the time involved in extracting the sample vs just draining it and changing the filter. I've never done an analysis.

Tom,

x2.  I work at  Kubota Engine dealership and our coolant, fuel, and oil analyses aren't cheap.

Samuel Polk

Edited October 20, 2023 by Go4DaMo