Oil Capacity And First Oil Change Questions

[MaverickZ71]

I just did the first oil change on my '09 Silverado Crew Cab Z71 with the 5.3L LC9 flex fuel engine. The owner's manual said it takes 6.0 quarts of 5W-30 with a filter change. I found that 5.5 quarts fill it on the dipstick. Now I wonder if the manual is wrong, or if the dipstick is wrong. It was overfull on the dipstick when I bought it new. Any ideas? Also, I was amazed at the tight clearance for the oil filter and the oilpan. Changed it hot to get a better drain, but just burned my hands trying to install the new Fram XG series filter. Surprised at how far the oil shoots out of the oil pan--danged near to hitting the passenger side wheel! Guess I'll have to stick with AC filters and use an end-cap wrench from now on. Does anyone use Purolator gold filters? Any feedback on them or any other preferred filters? I'm using Pennzoil regular 5W-30 now. Wish their synthetic blend was still available. Any preferred oil for these engines?

 

Thanks in advance for any replies!

 

Bret

[dlstewart01]

It takes 6 quarts. Manufacturing tolerances being what they are, all dip-sticks may not be exactly equal.

[jro909]

its 6 quarts on the dot, some of the oil goes into the filter thus 5.5 in the crank case and half a quart in the filter....stick to ac delco filters, i think the majority on here run mobil one but oil is oil long as its a good brand and make sure you change it religiously, screw the oil life monitor just go by a certain amount of miles

[dlstewart01]

its 6 quarts on the dot, some of the oil goes into the filter thus 5.5 in the crank case and half a quart in the filter....stick to ac delco filters, i think the majority on here run mobil one but oil is oil long as its a good brand and make sure you change it religiously, screw the oil life monitor just go by a certain amount of miles

 

 

Yeah the GM engineers especially the ones with PHDs are really dumb shits. What were they thinking when they spent all that time developing this....

 

The OLM does NOT just monitor engine revolutions. Each specific engine has a stored maximum "bank" of set engine duty cycles (revolutions) between OCIs, reset by the user at time of service. Each time the PCM fires, it subtracts the number of revolutions from the bank. When the bank = 0, the "Change Engine Oil" or oil light illuminates. Outside air temp, coolant temp, cold soak time, throttle load, vehicle speed, etc. are all accounted for in an effort to predict oil temperature, which in turn assess an exponential penalty factor. If the oil temp is above or below the standard algorithm allowance, the amount of degradation increases and is subtracted from the bank value at a higher rate. Hence, if you drive short trips in cold temps, the OLM ticks away faster. If you track your Vette with high rpm/loads, the OLM ticks away faster. If you tow, well you get the idea...

 

The ONLY thing the OLM cannot account for is a mechanical engine fault. If you have a leaky air filter or a coolant leak, the OLM will never know or change it's signaled OCI. This is where and oil condition monitor would be superior. GM chose this route for simplicity/cost. They are willing to stake a 5yr/100K powertrain warranty on it, so it can't be too terrible.

 

IMHO, the intervals are a bit on the high side, usually signaling for a change right at the time the oil is spent. I prefer a buffer of 10-20%, but have no qualms about going to 0%. I have yet to see a bad UOA by following the OLM

[jro909]

its 6 quarts on the dot, some of the oil goes into the filter thus 5.5 in the crank case and half a quart in the filter....stick to ac delco filters, i think the majority on here run mobil one but oil is oil long as its a good brand and make sure you change it religiously, screw the oil life monitor just go by a certain amount of miles

 

 

Yeah the GM engineers especially the ones with PHDs are really dumb shits. What were they thinking when they spent all that time developing this....

 

The OLM does NOT just monitor engine revolutions. Each specific engine has a stored maximum "bank" of set engine duty cycles (revolutions) between OCIs, reset by the user at time of service. Each time the PCM fires, it subtracts the number of revolutions from the bank. When the bank = 0, the "Change Engine Oil" or oil light illuminates. Outside air temp, coolant temp, cold soak time, throttle load, vehicle speed, etc. are all accounted for in an effort to predict oil temperature, which in turn assess an exponential penalty factor. If the oil temp is above or below the standard algorithm allowance, the amount of degradation increases and is subtracted from the bank value at a higher rate. Hence, if you drive short trips in cold temps, the OLM ticks away faster. If you track your Vette with high rpm/loads, the OLM ticks away faster. If you tow, well you get the idea...

 

The ONLY thing the OLM cannot account for is a mechanical engine fault. If you have a leaky air filter or a coolant leak, the OLM will never know or change it's signaled OCI. This is where and oil condition monitor would be superior. GM chose this route for simplicity/cost. They are willing to stake a 5yr/100K powertrain warranty on it, so it can't be too terrible.

 

IMHO, the intervals are a bit on the high side, usually signaling for a change right at the time the oil is spent. I prefer a buffer of 10-20%, but have no qualms about going to 0%. I have yet to see a bad UOA by following the OLM

 

 

 

i don't knock people that go by OLM just from experience (i've changed oil in about 5 different gm vehicles with the olm) and the oil comes out like asphalt patch, but then again the filters the drivers bring me are junk cheapo brands..idk i have always just stuck to 3k oil changes in all my vehicles and probably always will, it makes me feel fuzzy inside

[Black02Silverado]

6qts is what it takes.