2004 Silverado 8.1L motor flush?

[thejck]

My friend who is really familiar with this engine (he ran them in his boat) and knows a lot more about cars than I do keeps telling me that he hears a sticky lifter when the truck is first turned on after sitting overnight. I dont know what it sounds like so I cannot pick it up.
He says it goes away after a few minutes.

He suggested adding a motor flush in it before the oil change and run it for 20 minutes then drain and cheap oil run for a short time and then go back to my mobil 1 that I have been using for a few years now.

Any thoughts?

 

[ATMINF]

If you have run Mobil 1 or any good oil and change it on a regular basis you should have zero oil sludge in your motor. Here is my story, I bought a 1995 Camaro z28 brand new changed oil regularly with a synthetic, at about 20k I put a supercharger on it, and at around 114,000 my FMU when bad and I cracked #1&7 ring lands. I thought I would have to bore the motor .30 over and the regular stuff. Well pulled the motor apart and the motor had no sludge and even had the factory hash marks. All we had to do is hone the bores and slap in new pistons and basically button up the motor. Long story short, if you have changed your motor oil on a regular basis with a quality oil you will never have to do a "motor flush". Just my two cents.

[thejck]

i bought the truck with 89k miles on it so I dont know what its like beforehand. I have always used mobil1 full syn. He has told me he heard this lifter back when I bought it about 4 years ago. I do not drive the truck very much and have only put 8-9k miles on it since I bought it. My neighbor uses it to tow his boat as well.

 

Since I do not drive it very much I only change the oil about every 6 months. Cause the mobil 1 you can go longer between changes.

does the mobil 1 clean out existing gunk in there?

 

Also should i use the mobil 1 that can go for 15k betweek changes?

[dewfpo]

"does the mobil 1 clean out existing gunk in there?"

 

Yes it does, no need for a flush.

 

I don't know why your changing the M1 after only 6 months. That is crazy but any M1 flavor will work at that interval.

DEWFPO

[kstruckcountry]

I would not flush it either. Some people do use additives or add stuff before they change the oil. I got my truck at 79k miles, changed it to M1, and have just let the oil and filter do their job since then.

 

The standard used to be change every 6 months if you don't put on many miles, but with synthetic it's not really necessary.

[thejck]

If I go with that Mobil1 EP thats supposed to last 15k Can I go a whole year without changing it and just top it off?

SInce the 8.1 is known to burn oil should I go with the 10w30 oil so that it doesnt burn as much?

 

thanks for the thoughts on the flush

[dewfpo]

If I go with that Mobil1 EP thats supposed to last 15k Can I go a whole year without changing it and just top it off?

 

SInce the 8.1 is known to burn oil should I go with the 10w30 oil so that it doesnt burn as much?

 

thanks for the thoughts on the flush

Yes, I've run M1 as long as 5 years in my 8.1L SIlverado but I don't put that many miles on it and when I do run it, I run it for at least a few hours at a time so everything gets good and hot for awhile. I have not had any problems with condensation in the oil at all. I've been doing this for years in several different vehicles and have had zero issues. If you want to use less oil go with a 40 weight an not a 30 weight. The first number is the cold start weight. That does nothing for your oil consumption. I run a 0W40 or 5W40 in all my vehicles but I deal with -20F to +100F temps throughout the year.

 

My 8.1L is an '05 built in '04 and uses about 1 qt. per 3,000 miles (on 0W40) which isn't bad. It used a little more when I first used 5W30.

 

DEWFPO

[springfield]

I can not comment on the flush but maybe on the ticking. I also have an 8.1 and at one time had a cold tick. The ticking was the exhaust manifold leaking slightly. As the engine warmed up, the manifold expanded and the ticking went away. Both the front and rear most bolts on both the left and right side manifold were loose. I thightened all of them back up and have not had a problem since. This may not be your problem...but food for thought.

[sdeeter19555]

If its had even a decent oil ran in it, it should be fairly clean...if I was to consider a flush, it'd probably be AutoRX which was pretty highly regarded on Bob is the Oil Guy.

 

I did a UOA on Mobil1 5w30 EP from a change in my 2012...with 6500 miles on the oil, it was still considered suitable for continued use. I would probably put a year on it if it was mine.