Best Engine Oil For 2011 Silverado?

gizzardshad · April 28, 2011

It just seems that on a 2011 truck, it should be "smart" enough to calculate when I need an oil change. Not down to the week...but it doesnt make any sense when I'm almost 5k on a new truck and oil life says 43% remaining.

Dave4x4 · April 28, 2011

It just seems that on a 2011 truck, it should be "smart" enough to calculate when I need an oil change. Not down to the week...but it doesnt make any sense when I'm almost 5k on a new truck and oil life says 43% remaining.

It all depends on how your drive it, how long its running, whether your gassing it, cruising, etc... I know mine seems fairly accurate. I was planning on changing mine every 7k and its right about that time so i'll be doing mine next month. I think mine says about 20%.

tanked_darren · April 28, 2011

I use penzoil platinum and napa or gm filters, whichever I can get for cheaper I get discounts for both. Generally go with the napa.

INSERT DEAD HORSE GETTING BEATEN PIC HERE

Mulaka · April 28, 2011

...but it doesnt make any sense when I'm almost 5k on a new truck and oil life says 43% remaining.

Why does this not make any sense? That's about right. 9-10,000 mile OCI is what you generally get from following the OLM.

shagadelic · April 28, 2011

Oil change once per year? I've always run synthetic and always have had my mileage changed every 3k.

"Engine wear actually decreases as oil ages. This has also been substantiated in testing conducted by Ford Motor Co. and ConocoPhillips, and reported in SAE Technical Paper 2003-01-3119. What this means is that compulsive oil changers are actually causing more engine wear than the people who let their engine's oil get some age on it. "

From the website...

Oil Study

It's a good read, been a few years since i read it, but take it for what its worth.

Is it a bible?....no, is it an end all, tell all...no.

It's just something to make you think, and assist you in some of your decision making on the oil subject.

The SAE tech paper is real however.

I personally won't touch my synthetic oil for 8-10,000 miles. I don't care what the sensors say. No reason to.

Engines built today are a whole helluva lot different than 30-40 years ago. IMO 3,000 mile changes are a thing of the past....distant past. Specially using synthetic.

Nytemare · April 28, 2011

Oil change once per year? I've always run synthetic and always have had my mileage changed every 3k.

"Engine wear actually decreases as oil ages. This has also been substantiated in testing conducted by Ford Motor Co. and ConocoPhillips, and reported in SAE Technical Paper 2003-01-3119. What this means is that compulsive oil changers are actually causing more engine wear than the people who let their engine's oil get some age on it. "

From the website...

Oil Study

It's a good read, been a few years since i read it, but take it for what its worth.

Is it a bible?....no, is it an end all, tell all...no.

It's just something to make you think, and assist you in some of your decision making on the oil subject.

The SAE tech paper is real however.

I personally won't touch my synthetic oil for 8-10,000 miles. I don't care what the sensors say. No reason to.

Engines built today are a whole helluva lot different than 30-40 years ago. IMO 3,000 mile changes are a thing of the past....distant past. Specially using synthetic.

Interesting!!

I use Dino...and I don't touch it till the OLM says so...or 6 months...whichever comes first. That's what the dealer, the warranty, and owners manual wants....so thats what it gets. As I don't put 10K miles on the truck in a year...I may talk to the warranty rep and ask if I can extend my oil changes to 1 year or OLM. Synthetic oil change is 15 bucks more up here...so 65 instead of 50, and I think the extra 15 bucks is well worth not spending another 50 a year.

20Silverado11 · January 23, 2014

Since I've only been driving my truck about 6-7k mi/yr, my annual oil change day (Apr 15) is coming up (see post #4 in this thread). I just found a great deal on the Mobil One Extended Performance 5w30 over at my local Wal-Mart and thought I'd share it with you. If you buy the 5-qt bottle, it runs about $27.50, which works out to about $5.50/qt. Not bad considering my local auto parts store is selling it for about $9.50/qt. I loves me a good deal and figured I'd share my findings here.

Cowpie · February 8, 2014

I don't use an "approved" dexos oil, but one that is compliant with the spec. And it is not any of the stuff off the shelf. I use Schaeffer 9003D 5w30 full synthetic. I get it thru my supplier for my commercial oils cheaper than the stuff off the shelf and it gets shipped to me for free. I would probably be using QS Ultimate, Mobil 1, or any of the other oils on the list if my supplier did not have a dexos compliant oil already. It has a real strong zinc and moly package as part of the oil, and I have grown fond of that performance in my commercial stuff. I really have no concerns that this oil will do the trick. Schaeffer is the oldest lubricant manufacturer in N. America, since 1839. And they developed the lubes for the Apache attack helicopter and are a primary supplier for the M1 Abrams tank. And they even make a few products for other oil companies, Shell in particular.

As for the OLM and the oil change intervals, it is pretty spot on about when you should change. But you do have to interject some common sense. it cannot tell what the environmental conditions you are operating in. For instance, in my case, substantial time on dusty gravel roads. No way the OLM can detect that. So, for most, the OLM is a good indicator. Just use that gray matter between your ears and adjust the time based on if you are operating your pickup "outside the norm". In my situation, I usually drop the oil at about 25% life left on the OLM because of the dirtier conditions mine has to live with.

The last time when my OLM got to 25%, I had 6200 miles on the oil when I changed it.