2002 Express Cargo Van, 3500 Lw 8.1l

a990dna · March 12, 2010

Hello,

I need some general advice. I ordered my van in 2002 and was originally a company fleet vehicle. As indicated in the title, it has the 8.1L Vortech... I loaded it with full power, 3.73 posi, HD trailering package - essentially the works. When new, I also had it upfitted at Commercial Van Interiors.. it wasn't used much, when I bought it from the company in October 2009, it only had 10K miles.

My question is what should I look out for and possibly do to extend the life of my new Chevy Express with a Big Block?

It uses oil, about 1 quart every 1000 miles... I guess it's normal for this 496ci engine.

The company had the oil changed in regular intervals.. they used cheap 5W-30 Pennzoil dino. I recently changed to Mobil 1 5W-30 Synthetic.. It appears to clatter more at start-up, when cold, at idle, with the Mobil 1 oil and filter. Does this motor have a heat riser in the exhaust manifold? .. is this normal?

If any GM Techs can provide some insight on the 8.1L, it will be grealty appreciated.

Thank you

Nytemare · March 12, 2010

Hello,

I need some general advice. I ordered my van in 2002 and was originally a company fleet vehicle. As indicated in the title, it has the 8.1L Vortech... I loaded it with full power, 3.73 posi, HD trailering package - essentially the works. When new, I also had it upfitted at Commercial Van Interiors.. it wasn't used much, when I bought it from the company in October 2009, it only had 10K miles.

My question is what should I look out for and possibly do to extend the life of my new Chevy Express with a Big Block?

It uses oil, about 1 quart every 1000 miles... I guess it's normal for this 496ci engine.

The company had the oil changed in regular intervals.. they used cheap 5W-30 Pennzoil dino. I recently changed to Mobil 1 5W-30 Synthetic.. It appears to clatter more at start-up, when cold, at idle, with the Mobil 1 oil and filter. Does this motor have a heat riser in the exhaust manifold? .. is this normal?

If any GM Techs can provide some insight on the 8.1L, it will be grealty appreciated.

Thank you

Pennzoil Dino oil is a good oil man. Nothing wrong with it at all. With 10K miles on that engine, it really hasn't been used enough to even brake anything in. Probably where the oil burning is coming from. Take it on a nice long trip on the highway...take a weekend and drive as far as a tank of fuel will get you, fill it again and drive home. Try to vary your speeds between 45 and 75MPH for increasing intervals, and that should seat everything in nicely. Also, I would run a bottle of GM EOS (Engine Oil Supplement) to try and remedy the clatter issue...sounds like it may be lifters. Toss it in before the trip and keep it in there for at least 1600 miles.

Welcome to GM-Trucks.com and nice buy man.

EDIT:

Once you are done with the highway trip, you may want to get a can of Seafoam and toss about 1/3 to1/2 of a bottle in the tank with a full tank of fuel to clean out any deposits that may have been left due to the burning oil. Than you can do a search on here on how to do a Seafoam treatment on your intake.

a990dna · March 15, 2010

Thanks for the insight... I've done some reading and I've decided to take the Mobil 1 out and replace it with Pennzoil 10W-30 conventional oil.. do as you suggested and assure it receives a good break-in. I can't stand to hear the lifters at first start.. it appears this is a common issue with Mobil 1 oil and larger displacement engines.

Thanks

Nytemare · March 15, 2010

Thanks for the insight... I've done some reading and I've decided to take the Mobil 1 out and replace it with Pennzoil 10W-30 conventional oil.. do as you suggested and assure it receives a good break-in. I can't stand to hear the lifters at first start.. it appears this is a common issue with Mobil 1 oil and larger displacement engines.

Thanks

If you really want synthetic benefits and quietness of the dino oil, try using a synthetic blend...but yeah, make sure you do a good break in with a bottle of GM EOS

a990dna · March 18, 2010

Nytemare-

I pulled the Mobil 1 oil and filter out and went back to Pennzoil 5W-30 conventional and used the L15313 Purolator Classic filter... it made a huge difference at start up. This 496ci really likes the dino or Mobil 1 products have digressed in quality.

I have a 2010 Grand Cherokee SRT8 6.1L and Mobil 1 0W-40 was the SRT factory fill from 2006 to 2009... Chrysler recently moved away from Mobil 1 products and are now using Pennzoil Platinum 5W-40 as the 2010 factory and service fill. There's also a rumor Mercedes has moved away from Mobil 1 products... not sure how accurate the info is.

At some point I may convert to a synthetic blend as you suggested, I'll maintain a close watch on the oil consumption over the next 3K miles. I want to get a good break-in run on this motor and then I'll start from there.

Thanks for the great advice!

Nytemare · March 18, 2010

Nytemare-
I pulled the Mobil 1 oil and filter out and went back to Pennzoil 5W-30 conventional and used the L15313 Purolator Classic filter... it made a huge difference at start up. This 496ci really likes the dino or Mobil 1 products have digressed in quality.

I have a 2010 Grand Cherokee SRT8 6.1L and Mobil 1 0W-40 was the SRT factory fill from 2006 to 2009... Chrysler recently moved away from Mobil 1 products and are now using Pennzoil Platinum 5W-40 as the 2010 factory and service fill. There's also a rumor Mercedes has moved away from Mobil 1 products... not sure how accurate the info is.

At some point I may convert to a synthetic blend as you suggested, I'll maintain a close watch on the oil consumption over the next 3K miles. I want to get a good break-in run on this motor and then I'll start from there.

Thanks for the great advice!

My Silverado was a lease return, I have the service records from the previous owner ( a development company) and it had Pennzoil Platinum put in it from the first oil change. Its nice and quiet and it ran very smooth when I bought it.

I since switched to Royal Purple and I love that oil...

New technology in oil nowadays though, even dino oil is awesome. Talking with a few guys here that work in large shops, they hardly ever see an engine come in due to an oil related problem

a990dna · September 3, 2010

Hello,

I need some general advice. I ordered my van in 2002 and was originally a company fleet vehicle. As indicated in the title, it has the 8.1L Vortech... I loaded it with full power, 3.73 posi, HD trailering package - essentially the works. When new, I also had it upfitted at Commercial Van Interiors.. it wasn't used much, when I bought it from the company in October 2009, it only had 10K miles.

My question is what should I look out for and possibly do to extend the life of my new Chevy Express with a Big Block?

It uses oil, about 1 quart every 1000 miles... I guess it's normal for this 496ci engine.

The company had the oil changed in regular intervals.. they used cheap 5W-30 Pennzoil dino. I recently changed to Mobil 1 5W-30 Synthetic.. It appears to clatter more at start-up, when cold, at idle, with the Mobil 1 oil and filter. Does this motor have a heat riser in the exhaust manifold? .. is this normal?

If any GM Techs can provide some insight on the 8.1L, it will be grealty appreciated.

Thank you

Pennzoil Dino oil is a good oil man. Nothing wrong with it at all. With 10K miles on that engine, it really hasn't been used enough to even brake anything in. Probably where the oil burning is coming from. Take it on a nice long trip on the highway...take a weekend and drive as far as a tank of fuel will get you, fill it again and drive home. Try to vary your speeds between 45 and 75MPH for increasing intervals, and that should seat everything in nicely. Also, I would run a bottle of GM EOS (Engine Oil Supplement) to try and remedy the clatter issue...sounds like it may be lifters. Toss it in before the trip and keep it in there for at least 1600 miles.

Welcome to GM-Trucks.com and nice buy man.

EDIT:

Once you are done with the highway trip, you may want to get a can of Seafoam and toss about 1/3 to1/2 of a bottle in the tank with a full tank of fuel to clean out any deposits that may have been left due to the burning oil. Than you can do a search on here on how to do a Seafoam treatment on your intake.

It's been several months and wanted to touch base with the results. I've taken a few road trips and have 16K miles on my van now and the motor is using less oil between changes -- about a quart every 3K.

I also took it in to have the body panels cherried out (dentless repair) and replaced a few trim pieces and its now in showroom condition. I guess I'll start looking at turning it into a hauler / Motovan ... somthing on that order.

Thanks for the insight and advice.