Jump to content

2002 Express Cargo Van, 3500 Lw 8.1l

a990dna

By a990dna
in Ask A GM Technician

Recommended Posts

a990dna Enthusiast

a990dna

Posted
Posted

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 Senior Enthusiast

Nytemare

Posted
Posted
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 Enthusiast

a990dna

Posted
  • Author
Posted

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 Senior Enthusiast

Nytemare

Posted
Posted
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 Enthusiast

a990dna

Posted
  • Author
Posted

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 Senior Enthusiast

Nytemare

Posted
Posted
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

  • 5 months later...
a990dna Enthusiast

a990dna

Posted
  • Author
Posted
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.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • Latest Articles

  • Posts

    • richard wysong
      Gas Prices

      By richard wysong · Posted

      Diesel $5.42 at the truck stop on the hi-way
    • Chuck FB
      Joke Thread

      By Chuck FB · Posted

    • txab
      Gas Prices

      By txab · Posted

      $3.59  
    • needafix
      2019+ Brake failure, it's complicated

      By needafix · Posted

      I'm not sure if this should be a new topic, let me know if it's out of place. This my first post. Thanks 85077522 - AC Delco GM Genuine Parts Brake Master Cylinders. Anyone else had to replace this brake master cylinder yet. I didn't do any brake work, it looks like new parts and I've had the truck for about 4k miles, 119k total miles.  When it started to throw codes I did the calibrations with a bidirectional scanner and got the codes to clear but they came back so I did the routine; base bleed, automated bleed and final base bleed. All that with Bosch ES16-32N fluid (please look it up). That seemed to fix it but 100ish miles later it failed again so I ran the same process but with a pressure bleeder this time and got the same results, fixed for 100ish miles. The original fluid looked bad and I thought I got most of it out, it could've been the wrong fluid. The codes; P25A2, C05B0-00, C2A1B. I can get them to clear but not for long. The C05B0 indicates a leak in the front circuit (which is bone dry) so I'm thinking of doing the bleed process on that front again today and I don't know if that's taboo to just do the front but at this point it seems like it's worth the try anyway. The new master cylinder/module unit is supposed to get here today. But now I'm pretty much convinced this install is over my head. I've called several shops and some mobile guys that I know but this thing is like radio active material, scary wise. I did get 2 local shops say they should be able to do it, one says he has the SPS2 programing capability. And with the battery disconnected is there supposed to be pedal resistance, mine is to the floor, then if I pump it I can get some resistance. I had a panic stop prior to this issue which may have contributed from what I read. And on the first attempt to bleed and hydraulic test the scanner listed things to look for and one was any gaps between the pad and rotors which I did notice on the RF corner and I removed the outer pad (where the gap was) cleaned it and the hardware and didn't see a gap after that but will re-check it. I read that if pushing the caliper pistons back then you're supposed to open the bleeder so as to not push fluid backwards into the abs module or it will damage it. If that's true then that's also a possibility from the previous owner having the brakes changed before I got it. I'm using an XTool ip500 scanner. Any suggestions, questions and comments welcome. 
    • Donstar
      Navigating senior years.

      By Donstar · Posted

      Next Friday will be my 6 week point from my right knee replacement.  The surgeon says it will be fine if I choose to drive after this checkup.  I know I could drive now but best to do as my surgeon (and my wife) tell me.  Richard compared being 62 to 72.  I remember when I was in my early 60's I was experiencing slow but regular decline in my mobility.  Thanks to good medical support,  i continued to fight the speed and spread of this decline. During my 60's I worked on non-surgical methods and just when I turned 70, my orthopedic surgeon recommended joint replacements.  In a little over a year, I had one shoulder and both knees replaced.  This hasn't been a terribly fun experience, but worth the discomfort as my future mobility health trajectory has reversed.  It is a treat to now be watching my mobility. balance and confidence steadily improve!

  • GM-Trucks.com Clubs

  • Popular Contributors

×
×
  • Create New...