Oil life %... How accurate is it?

[iamdub]

I learned to ignore the OLM a long time ago. I go by what's most convenient for me that shouldn't be harmful to the engine, and that's changing it every 5K miles. I rotate the tires every 5K so doing the oil change while I have it up on jack stands just makes sense. I use full synthetic, mostly Pennzoil Platinum but I have used M1 when purchased on sale. I'd rather change it too often than not often enough. Also, gauging by the color of the oil, 5K is right about where it starts to look dirty to me and that's when I want it out.

 

[kbuskill]

Well all this oil talk prompted me to get a Blackstone labs kit sent to me.

I think I will pay the extra $10 to see how the additives are holding up after 10k+ miles on this oil change.

 

[homesick]

I understand...

As far as efficiency is concerned the M1 EP filters are 99% efficient at 30 microns. As far as filters go the M1 ranks up at the top with Purolater Pure 1, K&N, Wix (Napa gold). When compared with other filters these are considered the best according to the research I have done.

And as far as the additives are concerned I agree. That is why I use the 15K mile oil.

The other thing to mention here is that with the bigger filters and the aftermarket oil cooler I am running 2+ additional quarts of oil in the system. I say 2+ because I don't know for sure how much capacity was added since I pour my oil out of 5qt jugs it hard to get an accurate measure.

What I do know is that a quart of oil is 57.75ci and my 2 filters equal 131.10ci.

So 57.75 x 2 = 115.5

And 131.10 - 115.5 = 15.6ci

So the filters alone add almost an additional 2 quarts by themselves. I say almost because my filters capacity is 2 quarts plus that left over 15.6ci and the stock filters capacity is 28.21ci which leaves it 12.61ci shy of 2 full quarts. Now if you figure in the capacity of the oil lines to and from my filter setup and oil cooler and the capacity of the oil cooler itself it is probably somewhere in the 2.5-3 quart range over stock.

I know that two 5 quart jugs will top off the truck with a little left over in one of the jugs. I just never really paid any attention to how much was left. If I had to guess I would say maybe a little over a quart.

Anyway back to my point.

While the bigger size of the filter doesn't automatically mean that the filter has more filtering material inside what it does mean is that the filter (and cooler) adds more total capacity to the oil system which in my particular case is somewhere between 33%-50% more than the original capacity of 6qts.

So if we deduce that the factory 6qt capacity and it's associated amount of additives is good for X number of miles then by adding 33%-50% (2-3qts) more capacity and their additives then we should be able to figure that the OCI should be able to be safely extended out 33%-50% further.

If you think about the oil system as a circulatory system them by adding more oil to the system the "same" oil particles don't get circulated through as many times with the same engine run time which equals cooler, cleaner oil.

At some point I should send an oil sample out and have it analyzed to see how it fairs after 10k+ miles. I just hate to spend $30-$40 on it... lol... yes I am cheap sometimes.

Who knows... with an oil analysis perhaps it would reveal that I can extend it out even further... lol

It seems to me that, if you're willing to repeatedly spend extra money on extra oil and extra filters, you'd be eager to have the oil tested to verify the extra protection you're buying. Personally, in your situation, I'd want to test and compare the stock system with your modified system.

I'm curious enough that I'd even kick in a few bucks for such a comparison.

joe

 

[kbuskill]

It seems to me that, if you're willing to repeatedly spend extra money on extra oil and extra filters, you'd be eager to have the oil tested to verify the extra protection you're buying. Personally, in your situation, I'd want to test and compare the stock system with your modified system.

I'm curious enough that I'd even kick in a few bucks for such a comparison.

joe

Well as stated in the post above yours, I had Blackstone send me the kit to test the oil. So I'm hoping that will be here next week before I have my son change the oil again. If not I will save a sample of oil in an air tight container until their bottle arrives and then I will send it off to be analyzed.

I am quite curious now myself... lol

Unfortunately I never did this before modifying the oil system in the truck so I don't have a control to base anything off of other than what similar vehicles oil analysis will show I guess.

I will keep you guys updated as to the results.

 

[Fless]

I learned to ignore the OLM a long time ago. I go by what's most convenient for me that shouldn't be harmful to the engine, and that's changing it every 5K miles. I rotate the tires every 5K so doing the oil change while I have it up on jack stands just makes sense. I use full synthetic, mostly Pennzoil Platinum but I have used M1 when purchased on sale. I'd rather change it too often than not often enough. Also, gauging by the color of the oil, 5K is right about where it starts to look dirty to me and that's when I want it out.

This is pretty much what I do, too. Since it's not my DD, I put only about 5K miles on the Hoe each year and the 5K / 1 year mark is easy for me to remember. Ditto on tire rotation, it's the perfect time to do it.

 

[homesick]

Well as stated in the post above yours, I had Blackstone send me the kit to test the oil. So I'm hoping that will be here next week before I have my son change the oil again. If not I will save a sample of oil in an air tight container until their bottle arrives and then I will send it off to be analyzed.

I am quite curious now myself... lol

Unfortunately I never did this before modifying the oil system in the truck so I don't have a control to base anything off of other than what similar vehicles oil analysis will show I guess.

I will keep you guys updated as to the results.

Would it be possible/practical to return the truck's oiling system to stock for a cycle or two?

joe

 

[kbuskill]

Would it be possible/practical to return the truck's oiling system to stock for a cycle or two?

joe

Possible yes... practical not really... am I going to the trouble... heck no... lol

 

[thompsoj22]

this threads info on the valvoline warranty got me thinking, i have been loyal to M1 as we owned MBZ for years and that was the OE oil. However i use valvoline max life on trans flushes for our other cars so im jumping the fence and yesterday changed the oil in the denali xl using valvoline full syn high mileage $7 cheaper and a PF48E delco filter $4 cheaper at 50% remaining on oil life counter and a total of 3,436 miles on the old oil. I have allways changed oil early because i must be ocd and fix/maintaine things til they break lol. I also went through the car fax service history which is extensive and specific to two dealers for 9 years. some of the oil changes are as high as 12,000 mile intervals with no mention of synthetic oil's being used? im not stressing over it, but i will change oil at 3k intervals using the valvoline and see how far she'll go. You need to ease up on the valve cover deposits, imo as long as they arent dry/burnt deposits defineing over temp/lack of lubrication pressure than they arent a reliable indicator of maintanance history? Im at 130,736-

 

[thompsoj22]

Very interesting that Valvoline has that guarantee seems like a person would want to SELF guarantee a 300k mile engine and do 3000 mile intervals themselves? All I know is that this 198k mile 2009 Tahoe 6.0 AFM/DOD that I recently bought has oil sludge inside the valve cover. The previous owner swears that it always had Synthetic oil and was changed per OLM. Does anyone think that it would be sludged if it was changed every 3000 miles. I sure do not think so. Now next question is does a little light sludge actually hurt anything? To me it looks like it would be equal to plaque inside your arteries and restrict flow?


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if the sludge were in the oil systems pressure circuit than yes, if it is blowby deposits on the inside of the valve cover than "NO". are the rockers/valve springs/head valleys/oil return ports sludged or obstructed? i dont think they are, and using the basis of this threads concern for the sludge it is implying that the oil itself is sludge and the filter is allowing this sludge to pump through the tight tolerances of the oil system. we detail the cosmetics of the vehicle not the interior of the combustion engine! IMO it's ok to clean components when you R&R them, But there is no functional benefit to run cleaners in a combustion crankcase to "detail" the inside of the engine. The inside of the valve cover will look clean at the expense of every close tolerance in the oil circuit.

 

[dnt1010]

There is really nothing that I can do at this point other than keep the oil changed and see how it does. No way that I am adding anything to the oil that would break this sludge apart and stop up all the filter screens. I am just going to run it. The sludge is soft enough to be removed easily with a paper towel with no degreaser so it is not a hard baked on type deposit.
However after seeing this sludge on the old Tahoe 6.0 my New Denali 6.2 is going to be at 5k or less synthetic change intervals no matter what the OLM says........................
Oil is recycled anyway so not like I am killing the planet or something. I mean shoot man the Ta"**"e is a Hybrid I can get some green credits from the tree huggers for that right? "Keep It Green"