2.7 Turbo 4 Fan Club

customboss · April 13, 2023

On 4/5/2023 at 2:15 PM, customboss said:

Test 6 went pretty well. Wear control is exceptional.

Used less oil over drain but its apparent that this engine will begin consuming oil around ~5000 miles of use and it seems its a design issue.

At 6000 miles the MPG benefits of Havoline are giving it up, maybe an earlier air filter change would have helped lower oil usage even further.

Lots of rough winter weather and in 4WD on this interval.

The lower ash content Havoline with about 25% Estolide base oils did hold up well. 75% of the oil is GRP III.

I THINK the lower ash content is less easy to be consumed as its oil usage was about 25-30% less than the last two intervals.

Hope this last full test for me is helpful to others running this wonderful mill. Will go to SyntheticAdvantage TUNER in future if I test it at all.

Note as predicted Chevron/Texaco got a Dexos1 Gen3 license for this lube tested above in 5w30 that was licensed as Dexos1 Gen2 when I ordered it from Walmart. The 25% estolides make a big formulating difference. Before you dimiss the Dexos licensing it means it was better than they tested for. IMO PERIODIC testing matters if you care about your investment. Finding a lower cost alternative that consumes less oil in our beloved turbo mills is a good thing.

Acpantera · April 15, 2023

On 4/13/2023 at 3:40 AM, glmack10 said:

Any of you seen a 2.7L turbo with high mileage yet? Thinking of getting a 2019 with 34K and I'm questioning reliability and longevity...help!

I personally have not seen any real high mile ones yet, mine only has 20,000m on it and it's been a good trouble free engine. There have been some reported near 100,000m with out issue.

I can only imagine the amount of sweat the engineers put into a 4cyl meant to power GM's best selling vehicle, full size trucks. GM knew it would be heavily criticized, so it's well built and extensively tested. No worries, If the truck is in good over all condition and it's a decent price, buy it.

Acpantera · April 15, 2023

On 4/13/2023 at 3:40 AM, glmack10 said:

Any of you seen a 2.7L turbo with high mileage yet? Thinking of getting a 2019 with 34K and I'm questioning reliability and longevity...help!

I personally have not seen any real high mile ones yet, mine only has 20,000m on it and it's been a good trouble free engine. There have been some reported near 100,000m with out issue.

I can only imagine the amount of sweat the engineers put into a 4cyl meant to power GM's best selling vehicle, full size trucks. GM knew it would be heavily criticized, so it's well built and extensively tested. No worries, If the truck is in good over all condition and it's a decent price, buy it.

622Trailboss · April 26, 2023

622Trailboss · April 26, 2023

Acpantera · April 26, 2023

So power is more than adequate, but you should have weight distribution bars over 5,000lbs. Proves again the 2.7 is an over achiever.

622Trailboss · April 27, 2023

I’m impressed by the videos especially knowing I have no intentions of pulling that much weight

Texcl2 · April 27, 2023

I pull a 19’ boat with mine and it pulls great, I forget it’s back there. Get 12-14mpg’s while pulling it but it’s flat here.

Acpantera · April 29, 2023

I'd much rather pull with a turbo engine. My brother has a 26' camper, a few years ago we used his Tundra 5.7 v8 to tow to Indy, the next year towed the same trailer to Indy, but with his new F150 with the bigger turbo v6. The turbo pulled much easier, less rpm and didn't sound like it was screaming out of the engine compartment like the tundra did. Fuel mileage was about the same, but the drive was just more relaxed.

I for one would rather have the 2.7 vs the 5.3 to tow, especially if towing into altitude, a naturally aspirated engine looses 3% of power every 1,000 ft of altitude, the turbo engine won't. That means a lot when climbing over 5,000+ ft.

Texcl2 · April 29, 2023

I drive both, 2.7ho and the 5.3 and they are honestly pretty equivalent. I think if you were to be disappointed with the 2.7 you would definitely be disappointed with the 5.3 too and might need to move up to an HD truck. For towing boats and normal sized trailers and campers for leisure the 2.7 has exceeded my expectations. Great mpg’s at reasonable speeds are a bonus.

4banger · May 4, 2023

On 4/26/2023 at 2:23 PM, 622Trailboss said:

1. Convex mirror, I noticed with mine there's a gap that can hide a car or motorcycle, had it happen twice and called my parts guy to bring in non convex mirror. Then get to NAPA for the 3" convex mirrors they sell, the nice ones with the slender tin lip (no chunky black plastic lips!) and did both sides. I run those 3" NAPA convex mirrors on every single vehicle both sides, can't live without them.

2. No half ton will be happy with 9000 lb loads for all the time. Towing comfort is had when you cut any vehicles max rating in half. The 2.7 tows as good or better than the 5.3.

3. Boost is better than displacement, Dodge proved that with the cummins in 1989 against all the big block v8's. This 2.7 is the same formula, overbuilt, long stroke, inline, big jugs, single turbo. This 2.7 is a 21st century interpretation of that formula and it's light enough to fit into half tons. The 5.9 cummins is like a 1200 lb motor and it came with 160-170 hp and 400-410 ft/lbs torque. We have a approx. 350 lb motor that doest 310 hp and 430 ft/lbs torque. Pretty cool. Would choose this over the ford v6 turbos and also the new dodge hurricane twin turbo inline 6...less is more for truck engines.

4. Airlift airbags, best way to fix that sag and keep headlight alignments if you tow all the time.

5. Aftermarket wired in trailer brake controller the dealer put in for me works great, since couldn't get the factory one at time, much prefer it to the curt echo which I had on last vehicle although it did work perfectly for a couple years.

6. 8 speed transmission. The more torque you have the less gears you need. 8 is way more than enough for this truck and motor! It runs 500 rpm intervals on the gears up top, it's ideal imo, I tow 3000 lbs plus gear and people a lot, its wonderful. The torque curve on this is a square, it's there from 1500 rpm to sign off, so changing 500 rpm at a time between gears to hit the hp needed for hills etc. is no issue, stay with the lighter transmission better suited to torque monsters, the 8 speed for the win on this motor.

7. He wants to trailer too fast and complain. He likely went past the speed ratings of his trailer tires, likely his axles or bearings if he were to read his trailer specs. Who drags 9k around at 80 mph? Good lord.

8. Tow haul mode drops 8th gear off the map from recollection with mine. It's just an overdrive. So it's a 7 speed in tow haul mode. As said above, 8 gears is more than enough for this motor. It could easily do a stellar job with 6.

Otherwise he nailed a lot of the pro's of this truck and engine. It's awesome to live with, strong, quiet, low rpm relaxed comfort on the highway including towing. He should rent a 5.3 and try to duplicate what he did and go after it like he did with the 2.7...the 2.7 would come away with the win.

And people get hung up on the 2.7 thinking its small? It has bigger cylinders than the 5.3 plus up to 27 psi boost in them. The 5.3 has 666 cc cylinders and the 2.7 has 680 cc cylinders. The 5.3 is also a short stroke motor, the 2.7 is a long stroke motor. So the 2.7 has bigger jugs, longer stroke and trades 4 cylinders for 27 psi boost which is all benefit, 160 lb lighter motor, simpler, less parts and the power that which make hills and elevation disappear. So glad I don't have to listen to NA motors scream on the hills while I'm trailering now.

Edited May 4, 2023 by 4banger

customboss · May 15, 2023

Added 13 ounces of DEXCOOL to the 31,282 mile Custom Trail Boss L3B electric driven coolant system yesterday. Yes I am picky.

Its not as easy as just unscrewing the cap and filling to the bottom point of inverted arrow on pressure tank. The manual says to place the ECM in service mode ( key in on ..without turning starter) position, depress brake and throttle at same time for 2 seconds) this starts electric coolant valves ( 3 I am aware of) cycling and electric coolant pump to purge out air. Worked well. It is suggested to plug in a battery charger while this takes place as it runs 15 minutes. I did that and charged battery fully for the fun of it.

Looked like a ~20 amp draw for the test when valves and coolant pump motor running. They cycle not on all the time of course.

I also measured how much oil has been used in 3,119 miles. Topped up 11 ounces but I have no Havoline ProRs 5w30 so used Renewable Lubricants Inc ( RLI ) 5w20 HD low ash BIO SYN formulation that is a 9 cSt @100C engine oil that does not thin much in use.

This truck continues to amaze for power, durability, smoothness, and raw TQ that will spin all the drive wheel DuraTrac's off road so one must feather that throttle.

In 2WD and some light rain pulled out of Kroger parking lot to HWY 160 and got sideways for the fun of it with turbo fully pumping to merge with traffic. Drifting beautifully. Got a thumbs up from a fellow GM truckster watching the old guy enjoying his 4 cylinder Turbo CHEBBY....

4banger · May 15, 2023

well I'm about to go for another oil change about the 5000 mile (7500-8000 kms) mark and didn't use much oil at all, didn't trailer as much this time either, but last one trailered a bunch, was cold a bunch, and used that Amsoil oe, and had to add at least 1 quart, this time I just let the dealership put whatever oil in they wanted and doesn't look like it's using any, I'm at 22,100 miles or about 36,000 kms now, love this motor and drivetrain, a joy to drive as said above, I also love hearing that turbo whistle faintly and all the grunt it has at low rpm

Edited May 16, 2023 by 4banger

Amcguy1970 · May 15, 2023

On 4/27/2023 at 5:37 PM, Texcl2 said:

I pull a 19’ boat with mine and it pulls great, I forget it’s back there. Get 12-14mpg’s while pulling it but it’s flat here.

I can tell when I have double jetskis behind the truck from movements to sounds and the slight drag when accelerating among other clues. Never understood this saying as it would have to be a very light trailer to not notice it. That boats roughly half the truck weight, I hope you know its back there. It is even worse when guys nearly load down their truck to max and want to brag they don't feel it, though it is usually the Tundra guys that say that.

Tyler

Texcl2 · May 16, 2023

Well how about this, I notice it less than when we pulled it with our Armada and less than with my old 1993 f250 diesel and about the same as with my 2018 Nissan TITAN. If you’ve tow a lot like some of us you’d understand the saying as there’s some vehicles that require more attention than others. This truck is very capable. I’m also used to towing and don’t fret over it, it comes with experience and confidence. you obviously can’t drive a truck the same with a trailer as without. Doesn’t mean a person is being unsafe, it’s just a saying. It pulls as good as a 5.3. Lol