Sugar Bears 2015 GMC Terrain SLE-2 2.4 AWD

[Grumpy Bear]

154,000 Mile Services

 

12/10/2021

 

154.088 Actual

2,211 miles this OCI

4 quarts, 10 ounces Kirkland 5W30

Total charge 166 ounces, 5 quarts 6 ounces. 

28 ounces TRIAX S7 (4.93:1 cleaning ratio)

1 Purolator Pure One PL15436 Filter

 

8 ounces total makeup this OCI or a quart in 8,000 miles nominal. 40% improvement.

Moisture in cap, trace.  

Pulled sample for UOA. 

[Grumpy Bear]

This OCI's Oil Log

 

This is the easiest place for me to keep track of things. I'll add to this as I cross each marker or make an add. Then I can compare to last log. Last OCI we did the first add at 750 miles (a reminder to self)

 

12/10/21 Start this OCI

 

12/27/21 1,500 Miles  6 ounces added. (5 oz Kirkland 5W30, 1 oz TRIAX S7)

 

On the money 0.08*% of fuel used.  A bit high of the 0.03% to 0.05% "normal" but well inside 0.25% 

 

 

Edited December 28, 2021 by Grumpy Bear

[Grumpy Bear]

UOA sent in 12/22/2021 from last OCI final. 

[Grumpy Bear]

Dizzy's 1st UOA

 

12/29/2021

 

6.5% fuel dilution by GCMS is the headline in this report. Note the effect it has on 100 C and 40 C viscosities. Goes in a 5W30, comes out a *W20.

 

This is NOT a straight fill of Kirkland 5W30 but a 5:1 blend of Kirkland 5W30 to TRIAX S7. Something to keep in mind when you read the UAO vs VOA which is straight Warren Products 5W30.

 

We have some work to do. Upon advise I will discontinue the S7 add and cut my OCI by half....again....UNTIL this fuel issue is under wraps. That's a 1K OCI.  

 

Note wear metals are pretty much nonexistent? Nitration is running near the top but it is viscosity that is the OCI trigger at this point. 

 

My head wrench has COVID and is changing shop locations so I will start with the simpler things. Plugs and coils/boots. 

 

[diyer2]

Did you use Blackstone labs?

 

[Grumpy Bear]

9 hours ago, diyer2 said:

Did you use Blackstone labs?

No sir.

 

Edited December 30, 2021 by Grumpy Bear

[Black02Silverado]

With that much fuel dilution,  RLI lubricants is the only oil that I have see that can handle such high fuels.  Might want to experiment with them and see how it goes.  

 

You can find their products on Amazon, not all of them but some.

[garagerog]

Grumpy, I had Blackstone do a UOA on my wife's 17 Equinox with 36+K miles on the clock. I wanted a baseline for when I start doing dealer changes as I'm getting to old and crippled for DIY old changes (Santa didn't bring me a lift).  I haven't posted the UOA here as I'm a tech illiterate, but I can share some of the pertinent information. Oil was AC-Delco Dexos generation 2, OCI was at 4909 miles (I know, I know, but wife was working a lot of hours at the time and I couldn't get ahold of her car).  Fuel Dilution was at 2.5%, TBN was 2.9, wear metals looked good, viscosity numbers were below minimum threshold with the 2.5% fuel dilution so I'm going to shoot for a maximum OCI of 3500 miles. With your 6.5% fuel dilution on a relatively short OCI I would be worried about a leaky injector or worse perhaps the HPFP on it's way out.

 

[customboss]

34 minutes ago, garagerog said:

Grumpy, I had Blackstone do a UOA on my wife's 17 Equinox with 36+K miles on the clock. I wanted a baseline for when I start doing dealer changes as I'm getting to old and crippled for DIY old changes (Santa didn't bring me a lift).  I haven't posted the UOA here as I'm a tech illiterate, but I can share some of the pertinent information. Oil was AC-Delco Dexos generation 2, OCI was at 4909 miles (I know, I know, but wife was working a lot of hours at the time and I couldn't get ahold of her car).  Fuel Dilution was at 2.5%, TBN was 2.9, wear metals looked good, viscosity numbers were below minimum threshold with the 2.5% fuel dilution so I'm going to shoot for a maximum OCI of 3500 miles. With your 6.5% fuel dilution on a relatively short OCI I would be worried about a leaky injector or worse perhaps the HPFP on it's way out.

 

Roger, as inaccurate the closed cup flash testing Bklabs does that 2.5% could have been much higher.  Getting GC fuels and FTIR work makes Bklabs nearly useless unless the analyst has a lot of other lab data to compare to.  

[garagerog]

22 minutes ago, customboss said:

Roger, as inaccurate the closed cup flash testing Bklabs does that 2.5% could have been much higher.  Getting GC fuels and FTIR work makes Bklabs nearly useless unless the analyst has a lot of other lab data to compare to.  

Ok, thanks!

[Grumpy Bear]

Correction is the goal. Everything else is supporting cast. So as I know that nearly everything bad that can happen to oil and the machine it protects is based on some and many saturation limits the oils saturation limits will determine current OCI. They are saying 1K is enough. Using a more expensive oil will be tossing more $$$ away even if it helps but there is nothing I'm aware of that will not solve out at 6.5% naphtha loading. It is also a variable that can be held a constant as this is the baseline oil. And it is doing quite well under these conditions. 

 

IF after everything that can be done short of tossing a new motor in it is done AND the condition is not fully corrected THEN oil chemistry would be a last stop before the boneyard. 

 

I have allot of faith in my analyst ability and I have patients of Job with machines. I trust the science. 

 

It can or it can't. It will or it won't. 

 

 

[Grumpy Bear]

155,700 Mile Service

 

12/31/2021

 

1,612 miles this OCI with 6 ounces of make up. 

Quart in 8.6K and a hair better than last outing. Statistically? Identical. 

On fuel this was 0.074% and amazingly this would be okay with GM's 0.25% ceiling. It is also an improvement over last outing...(based on fuel, not miles) Less water this time gauged only by eyeball and gut. 

 

5 Quarts Kirkland 5W30 drop and fill. No filter this time. No TRIAX S7

On oil changes this short.....No makeup should be required but will be noted.

Next planned OCI in 1,300 miles at 157K.

 

 

4 Denso coils with silicon boots were ordered today. Denso is the coil supplier for GM. These have never been changed. 

 

4 NGK Ru DFE plugs ordered. NGK is also GM's supplier. Ruthenium is the newest alloy from NGK. Next step above Iridium. Not blessed by the GM priest but..... While I personally think the Iridium plugs in her are fine even at 55K miles my oil analyst feels other I will bow to his experience and cautions. If the do well it may become my standard fleet plug. 

 

 

 

 

[Grumpy Bear]

1/8/2022 Update

 

Coils, boots and plugs arrived today. Of course it freezing rain today and 20 mph winds. Need a break here. I don't have cold weather ballast and my lighting in the unheated shop is tube. About half of them are working. Fun times. Cold and dark or frozen and blown. 

Haven't heard from Jason on shop time for the injectors. Still moving to the new location and he has been Covid sick. 

Haven't heard back from my Cummins Engineer either on availability of their Restore chemistry. A solvent. The world is on back order, right? 

 

Closer attention to the PCV system is paying off however.  That's something, eh? 

 

[diyer2]

Did I miss something? Were you having problems? Rough idle, a miss? I get changing the plugs but unless their was another problem why wires and coils? Of course preventative maintenance goes a long way. 

[Grumpy Bear]

1 hour ago, diyer2 said:

Did I miss something? Were you having problems? Rough idle, a miss? I get changing the plugs but unless their was another problem why wires and coils? Of course preventative maintenance goes a long way. 

 

Analyst saw something in the UOA JOAP results he believes is contributing to the high fuel dilution on the ignition side. It's a coil on plug system so.... 

 

Last time we changed plugs in this motor we found all four plug seals blown and still could not feel a miss in it. Feels funny to me too but new things often do. Shell seals not those at the head. Carbon tracking all the way up. Weird stuff. 

 

Anyway none of it has been replaced before but plugs and it's a job I can do. I also want to peel this onion one layer at a time so I can learn something for all this money I'm spending. Tis the cost of my education.....so I need to pay attention....right?   Thanks for asking! 

 

 

Edited January 9, 2022 by Grumpy Bear