Engine oil 2014 1500 5.3l

Rawyzf · May 10, 2015

Become a member/dealer on Amsoil and you save a ton. That's what I do.

ToesonTheNose · May 11, 2015

You used all your changes by 14k miles???? Wow wtf. I just had my 2nd at 14k. I change when the dash reads less than 10%

Novass454 · May 11, 2015

You used all your changes by 14k miles???? Wow wtf. I just had my 2nd at 14k. I change when the dash reads less than 10%

I change it when it gets to around 50-60% 3,000-4,000 miles. I dont like to push my luck. Plus i know one day ill have to work on the engine and i want it to be clean and sludge free. If i ever have to remove something. I maybe wrong but i dont think the gm computer knows when oil is really broke down. Im sure it just goes by mileage and hours.

three of my friends have 2000 model 1500 with the 5.3l, one done an oil change every 3,000 miles and some when the light came on. hes over 400,000 miles with no engine problems only the crank sensor. he used valvoline

2nd friend changed the oil in his once every 1-2 years. He lost his first engine at 130,000 miles. it started with lifter taping. pulled the plug and his oil was so sludge up. you had to take a screw driver to get it out of the drain plug in clumps. it clogged the oil pump it was so thick. Any brand oil

3rd he changed his oil every 5,000-7,000 miles his original engine lasted to around 225,000 miles. dont remember

So you say wtf, If my engine has a failure I will know its not from the lack of maintenance. oil is the most important thing in and engine. its metal on metal, just like amsoil says good for up to 25,000 miles. i wouldnt take the chance and change it every 5,000. I dont plan to trade in, in say 5 or so years, I would just buy a new truck or car and keep this one till the wheels fall off. I feel ripped off every time i trade in.

Coppertone · May 11, 2015

I just used my last free oil change and I will be doing them from now on. I see that it needs to be dexos1 apporved and 0w20. I have always liked valvoline full synthetic, because after 200,000-300,000 mile when you pull the valve cover or oil pan the engine still looks like new. No sludge or oil build up.

If proper oil change intervals are implements, no sludge should be present regardless of the sticker on the bottle of oil. Wayyyyyyyy too much though is put into what brand of oil to use.

I buy whatever synthetic oil and filter is on sale at autozone and have had zero oil related problems at 10,000 mile oil change intervals.

ToesonTheNose · May 11, 2015

I had an rsx type s that I ran royal purple in changed the oil one time a year, that sucker was clean as a whistle torn down. My Honda ridgeline was also a 2 time a yr oil change when the computer told me so and again clean as a whistle

I hate to break it to ya, and its certainly your truck and I get it. but these DI engines aren't the engines of old, ill bet at 14k your valves look like a poorly maintained bbq grill unless youre running a catch can. at the shop a few months back I saw the head on a motor with port injection 200k miles nice and clean, saw one of ours with 34K and it looked like a grill never cleaned a day in its life. if GM says follow the oil service life, I am listening to them lol

good luck man, I learned a ton in this thread alone about my oil selections when it comes time

dcheeseman · May 11, 2015

I change it when it gets to around 50-60% 3,000-4,000 miles. I dont like to push my luck. Plus i know one day ill have to work on the engine and i want it to be clean and sludge free. If i ever have to remove something. I maybe wrong but i dont think the gm computer knows when oil is really broke down. Im sure it just goes by mileage and hours.

three of my friends have 2000 model 1500 with the 5.3l, one done an oil change every 3,000 miles and some when the light came on. hes over 400,000 miles with no engine problems only the crank sensor. he used valvoline

2nd friend changed the oil in his once every 1-2 years. He lost his first engine at 130,000 miles. it started with lifter taping. pulled the plug and his oil was so sludge up. you had to take a screw driver to get it out of the drain plug in clumps. it clogged the oil pump it was so thick. Any brand oil

3rd he changed his oil every 5,000-7,000 miles his original engine lasted to around 225,000 miles. dont remember

So you say wtf, If my engine has a failure I will know its not from the lack of maintenance. oil is the most important thing in and engine. its metal on metal, just like amsoil says good for up to 25,000 miles. i wouldnt take the chance and change it every 5,000. I dont plan to trade in, in say 5 or so years, I would just buy a new truck or car and keep this one till the wheels fall off. I feel ripped off every time i trade in.

I share your Philosophy 100%.....You know what your talking about in my opinion! Your the type of person I like to buy a vehicle from.

Daniel

Cowpie · May 23, 2015

The dexos1 approved only thing is not written in stone as mandatory for warranty compliance. GM TSB 13-00-90-001 elaborates on this. A quote from that bulletin......

If you are unable to locate a retailer, then a GF-5 Synthetic grade 0W20 oil that meets the dexos1™ specification, such as Mobil 1™ 0W-20 Advanced Fuel Economy synthetic oil can be used. It meets or exceeds International Lubricant Standardization and Approval Committee (ILSAC) GF-5 requirements.

So, there is no requirement that a dexos1 "approved" oil be the only choice. As long as an oil meets the ILSAC GF-5 spec it is good to go. Interesting thing, the GF-5 spec is tougher regarding ethanol in gas than the dexos1 spec is. See http://www.gf-5.com Considering GM promotes ethanol use, it is strange they would offer a less capable oil spec regarding ethanol. Not that dexos1 is a bad spec, just that it is not the savior of mankind that some would believe. And some that suffer from inflamed paranoia glands over the dexos1 and warranty thing can rest a little easier.

Cowpie · May 23, 2015

Become a member/dealer on Amsoil and you save a ton. That's what I do.

I am a preferred customer of Amsoil. While the "save a ton" thing does seem like it, it is not quite what it seems. The standard pricing is highly inflated so that when someone gets the preferred customer thing and prices drop 25%, they think that they are saving a ton and they are. But it is a slight of hand trick by Amsoil by inflating the price first then bringing it back down to give the impression of saving.

I do use some Amsoil products for special applications, and am not against the products, but I get the bulk of my oils from a local supplier that offers products every bit as good as Amsoil at reasonable pricing and ships it to me for free. Something even Amsoil won't do. Amsoil has been in the lube game since 1972. My main source of oils and greases has been at it slightly longer... since 1839. And was awarded a couple of years ago with an award for being in the top 500 most technological advanced companies in America. They developed the lubes for the Apache Attack Helicopter and the M1 Abrams tank. Schaeffer Oil of St. Louis, MO. So, Amsoil is not taking it in the shorts by any stretch of the imagination with the preferred customer thing. They are making more than enough.

Good products, just not sure Amsoil's pricing is right.

tnchevy · May 24, 2015

I use what weight the manufacturer calls for and buy the cheapest I can find, always have. We buy oil in bulk to change the oil in our company trucks and we get whatever is cheapest at the time of order. We work our trucks hard and when we get rid of them they are beat all to hell with transmission, transfer case, and front suspension problems but never have engine problems. If you think you will drive your truck for 500K miles then by all means use what makes you feel good but for the average driver the cheapest will do just fine.

Debra in Cali · June 3, 2015

My hubby is an Amsoil dealer. We have been running synthetic oil in our vehicles for over 35 years. My last vehicle used 100% synthetic after it was broken in, roughly 6,000 miles. We got 330,000 + miles and 24 years of use before that sucker bit the dust. It was the cooling system that killed it, not the actual engine. I was hoping to keep it even after buying a new one, to use for hauling stuff and doing jobs that you wouldn't want to do with a new vehicle. We fully intended on getting over 500,000 miles out of it.

In 2001 we drove cross-country pulling a trailer. My vehicle had over 180,000 miles on before we even left. We zigged and zagged from California to NY and back. Total mileage for the trip was 8,800 miles in 30 days.