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just bought a 2016 Chevy 2500 4x4 6.0, looking ahead to maintenance ..


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So I just picked up a new 6.0 4x4 yesterday. This is a W/T model, not just a driver. It will be used for work, pulling trailers....not really heavy but it will be working.

I havent even crawled up underneath it yet to look around and plan on future maintenance.

 

Changing the oil and filter challenging (as in getting to the filter) or is it all good? I'll be using synthetic but might use conventional on the first oil change to give it a chance to break in. Probably change the oil after a couple thousand miles. Is the drain plug magnetic?

Anyone ever switch to a high capacity oil pan??

 

What about the axle fluids? I'd like to switch to synthetic to the rear end as well. Might give it a few thousand miles to break in then change it. Perhaps change the rear end cover to a heat dissipating cover.

 

What other fluids do I need to look at? Its 4x4 so what do I need to change up front?

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This truck is really easy to maintain, there is plenty of room for everything, although I don't have 4x4 so I don't have a transfer case or front diff so more space on my truck...

 

I put royal purple in the rear axle, I think a new diff cover is a waste, doubt it would make a big difference...

 

Same with the deep oil pan, I think it would make more sense to just change the fluid more often and use high quality synthetic oil...

 

Main thing is, keep oil changed, Grease the fittings semi regurarly (they may be almost empty from factory) and use quality fuels... Everything else maintenance won't be for a while...

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Responses in blue good sir:

 

So I just picked up a new 6.0 4x4 yesterday. This is a W/T model, not just a driver. It will be used for work, pulling trailers....not really heavy but it will be working.

I havent even crawled up underneath it yet to look around and plan on future maintenance.

 

Changing the oil and filter challenging (as in getting to the filter) or is it all good? I'll be using synthetic but might use conventional on the first oil change to give it a chance to break in. Probably change the oil after a couple thousand miles. Is the drain plug magnetic?

 

Really easy to do. Factory oil fill is semi synthetic ACDelco Dexos1 5w30. Drain plug is not magnetic. No real need to do anything special breakin wise. I changed mine at 1500 miles, kept it under 4000rpm during that, light throttle and have no oil consumption issues. 6 quarts is capacity. PF48E is the filter, but you can run the UPF-48R. I ran Synthetic blend till 13,000 miles (the GM free oil changes) and then switched to full synthetic.

 

Anyone ever switch to a high capacity oil pan??

 

No need.

 

What about the axle fluids? I'd like to switch to synthetic to the rear end as well. Might give it a few thousand miles to break in then change it. Perhaps change the rear end cover to a heat dissipating cover.

 

Factory fill is full synthetic GM 75w90. No additives. I dumped mine at 10,000.

 

What other fluids do I need to look at? Its 4x4 so what do I need to change up front?

 

I dumped rear axle, front axle and transfer case at 10,000. Factory fill is full synthetic GM 75w90 on the front axle as well. Transfer case takes Dexron 6. The front suspension/steering does have grease fittings. Upper ball joints (2), Lower ball joints (2) Outer tie rod ends (2) Pitman arm (1) Idler arm and top of Idler arm pivot bracket (2).

 

I run nothing but factory lubricants except for engine oil (Pennzoil Platinum).

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Well, "factory" lubes are made by other oil companies. AC Delco is just a label on a bottle or jug. It meets the minimum standard and the folks making it won the bidding process to do it. All of the major brands of oils/lubes/fluids will work fine. I have been partial to Mobil Delvac 75w90 for all my differential needs from my Cadillac CTS, thru my 2500, on up to my semi truck. Amsoil Severe Gear 75w90 is a solid one also.

 

All of the major brands of engine oil, and even many of the house brands, do a fine job. I wouldn't use a conventional only in the pickup if it was mine. A syn blend or full syn would be the better choice. Actually, 20% of any motor oil is additive package, so that should be more of a concern than the base oil. Base oils have come so far in the last 20 years it is harder to differentiate any appreciable differences between conventional, syn blend, and full syn oils in that regard. But even within a particular specification, there are wide differences in additive package among different oils. A good place to see those differences is the Petroleum Quality Institute of America website. And many major syn blends and full syn oils also have some good add packs in them. One example where things on the conventional side actually puts some synthetics to shame is the Pennzoil 10w30 conventional. It so surprised the PQIA folks that they retested it to confirm. it actually was a better formulation and had lower burn off qualities than many full synthetics, including Amsoil's OE variety.

 

I am fond of a mileage/hour oil change regimen than using the OLM. The OLM might generally be good, but GM has screwed the pooch on some of the OLM coding on various vehicles from time to time. They really messed up on the Caddy CTS that I own. After many folks suffered catastrophic timing chain failures, GM recognized they had to change the OLM coding to get oil changes to 1/2 of what the OLM was recommending before. I prefer to use mileage/engine hours standard and ignore algorithms and such from the OEM. Your call on that one.

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You will find everyone here is harsh on Cowpie, but most the time he is the only one who knows what he's talking about lol!

 

I was really intrigued by your knowledge in semi's and how you try to transfer that to these trucks to do what you can to make them last longer..

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Well, just learned over a lot of years and millions of miles and many different engine platforms. The nice thing about the 2500 6.0 setup is that it is one of the easiest of modern vehicles to maintain properly. One of the reasons I like it. The 2500 6.0 is the ultimate package right now.... robustness, durability, longevity, reliability, and owner friendly in terms of general maintenance. Just about the best value for the dollar. Sure, it does like to drink gasoline, but given all the other considerations, that is tolerable

 

Like Alems said, there is no need for a larger oil pan on anything. The Trans and the engine have very good, efficient oil coolers standard. And a high quality full syn 75w90 in the diffs will handle anything you can throw at it with just normal lube capacity.

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I don't think there are any unique issues that I'm aware of, in the old days only GM had the specific fluid for the transfer case...that may have changed and may be dependent on if you have manual or auto transfercase (if 4wd).

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I don't think there are any unique issues that I'm aware of, in the old days only GM had the specific fluid for the transfer case...that may have changed and may be dependent on if you have manual or auto transfercase (if 4wd).

Unless it's something specific to the auto-4wd versions, the transfercase in the 2500 should be Dex VI like the 6l90e transmission.

 

Couple things I'll add...everything but the transmission and power steering have drain plugs. I typically suck about half a quart of PS fluid out every oil change, I installed a Fumoto drain valve on the oil pan, and like the others I changed everything out early.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk

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  • 4 months later...

Y'all are on CRACK for even thinking about rear end fluid changes at anything less than 100k miles.

 

10k and you dumped it? Complete waste of time, $ and perfectly good fluid.

 

 

Change engine oil and filter every 5k. Maybe less if you're running it REAL hard.

 

Transmission/xfer case every 40,000.

 

Rear and front ends every 100k.

 

Ps fluid every 50k,if you're really bored, and super OCD. This is a super low wear, low heat area with huge tolerances.

 

Dont overthink it. Use good fluid, but dont get crazy with ultra exotic, hard to find, and $$$ bullshit. You dont need synthetic engine oil.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I swear, sometimes this place reminds me of the Diesel forums, where a 21yr old thinks he is the first person to Hot Rod anything, and has all kinds of inside info that no one else has figured out yet.

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Y'all are on CRACK for even thinking about rear end fluid changes at anything less than 100k miles.

 

10k and you dumped it? Complete waste of time, $ and perfectly good fluid.

I wouldn't call the crap ton of break in wear metals that came off that magnet a waste of time. Besides the axle manufacturer, AAM (American Axle Mfg.) even calls for a drain of axles at 500 MILES! After that they are good for 40-50K severe use and 100k normal use. I'd say 10K wasn't any harm.

 

Change engine oil and filter every 5k. Maybe less if you're running it REAL hard.

 

Transmission/xfer case every 40,000.

 

Rear and front ends every 100k.

 

Ps fluid every 50k,if you're really bored, and super OCD. This is a super low wear, low heat area with huge tolerances.

 

Dont overthink it. Use good fluid, but dont get crazy with ultra exotic, hard to find, and $$$ bullshit. You dont need synthetic engine oil.

 

ALL OE's spec synthetic blend or as GM does now on ALL engines Full Synthetic. It's even factory fill now. A bit behind the times you might be...

 

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I though most people were using 5W-30 engine oil in the transfer cases now in place of the trans fluid?

Maybe at the dealership I use!

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  • 1 month later...

About to do my first (trucks second, dealer did the first) oil change. What surprised me was that it has the smallest oil filter I have seen on a truck.

It also holds less than 6 liters of oil. The only thing where the L96 isn't efficient at is fuel economy.

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