OIL , what is a favorite oil on the forum for the mighty 6.2 V8

[dirtfan21]

I have been a Schaeffer's guy for years, but they don't want to pay for the Dexos certification so it's made me a bit uncomfortable using it in my wife's Acadia and my RST due to warranty concerns. This last oil change in my RST I decided to try the Mobile 1 Truck and Suv, always run Wix filters. I'm curious to see how it performs.

 

The '98 K2500 with 100k gets Schaeffer's 7000 and a wix filter. Just had the engine partially torn down for intake gaskets and an oil pan gasket last summer, everything looked pretty darn good internally. That truck sees a lot of short and hard trips, it's my weekend work truck for house projects.

 

I've pretty much always ran Amsoil in the diffs and transfer case, always had good luck. Nick on here is a great dealer for Amsoil FYI.

[Big_Kahuna]

1 hour ago, BIGDOGx said:

The Bear that is grumpy has not seen this yet.

 

1 hour ago, BIGDOGx said:

The Bear that is grumpy has not seen this yet.

I hope he is not ignoring me because im new on the page .... lol

[Grumpy Bear]

3 hours ago, BIGDOGx said:

The Bear that is grumpy has not seen this yet.

 

 

What!

[Black02Silverado]

How I missed this thread is amazing. 

 

Basically if you keep up with oil changes and really want to know how things are going a used oil analysis is the way to go.

 

I don't think I need to say what oil I use. 

[Grumpy Bear]

20 hours ago, FJB said:

I hope he is not ignoring me because im new on the page .... lol

 

No sir. Just didn't see it. So what oil for the 6.2 is the question? 

 

How about something thick enough, slick enough and clean enough.

When it isn't one of those three...change it. 

 

Not picking on you but questions such as this don't provide enough information to give a detailed answer. Much like the OEM I have no idea what or how this unit will be used or under what circumstance. The suggestions in your manual make some assumptions about those things that may or may not be true. Given that, they are close most of the time about most things but the length of the oil change interval. That is spectacularly unique to each unit and each operator in each region of the world. The OEM suggestion is one that gets them past their responsibility to the warranty. Period. That OCI has more to do with unit life than the brand by multiples of life, and brand has influence on that. 

 

Might as well ask, If I throw this rock will I hit that barn? I'd don't know. How far is the barn. How hard do you throw and how big is the rock?  Oh! What is the best rock for hitting that barn? There ya go. Same questions would need to be answered, eh? 

 

 

 

[diyer2]

The best oil is the oil YOU like, no matter what they say.       

[Byrds8]

We all have our favorites as well as ones we wont touch. For the most part any good quality oil will work just fine .

[Minnvmax]

30 years of using Mobile 1 with no problems only to find out today it's junk. Dang my experience. I better start using one of them boutique oils! Lol

[Grumpy Bear]

For the most part oil has but a few functions. 

 

1.) Keep one part from rubbing on another part.

2.) Reduce friction.

3.) Cool.

 

Point #1 is covered by viscosity and all oils have viscosity. Use the correct one for the build and conditions. 

Point #2 is covered if point one is covered....pretty much. 

Point #3 follows point #2.....pretty much.

 

 

Petty much means?

 

Yes there are some small mole hill like differences that marketing makes mountain like in appearance. If you have enough knowledge and experience you can leverage some of these differences into tangible advantages. Most do not. Fact is most don't even care. But there will never be a shortage of debate on the topic. Mostly ignorant debates.

 

  

 

 

 

[diyer2]

Well I never evaluated oil for over 50 years, I just changed it more, it worked for me. Coming here the oil debate raised it's head but all it proved to me was there are a lot of different opinions about every aspect of oil. From OCI's to the brands people use. For a while I got caught up in this debate but in the end shorter OCI's have always been the norm for me and I never had a mechanical failure on any motor. 

So I'll change my oil while you guys debate oil.

 

[Byrds8]

The gas debate falls in the same category as the oil debate. How many times have we seen, "What's the best gas to use?"

[Grumpy Bear]

18 minutes ago, diyer2 said:

Well I never evaluated oil for over 50 years, I just changed it more, it worked for me. Coming here the oil debate raised it's head but all it proved to me was there are a lot of different opinions about every aspect of oil. From OCI's to the brands people use. For a while I got caught up in this debate but in the end shorter OCI's have always been the norm for me and I never had a mechanical failure on any motor. 

So I'll change my oil while you guys debate oil.

 

 

You may have noticed I did not state an oil nor an oil change interval? A motor does not run on opinions and you are right as rain. There are as many as there are operators. Wicked number and most can say as you. "Never had a mechanical failure on my motor". I'm sure you meant oil related mechanical failure  

 

I've had two and both the result of an OCI that was to long for the state of motor tune for the selected oil. I sold the first to a guy who was aware of what he was buying. The second has made a recovery from stuck rings and now is on a much shorter OCI. 

 

 

[diyer2]

I've been following your fight with the stuck rings and it proves my point , clean oil is a good thing. I repeat, once oil is saturated with the by-products of a combustion engine it deposits the excess on the internals of the engine. Yes I go by mileage for oil changes but I also consider how dirty it looks. 3 K miles the oil is dirty to me and that holds true with every vehicle I've owned. 

I bought a new snow blower and the manual said the first oil change was at 5 hours of use. I changed it at 3 hours because the oil looked dirty to me. Cheap insurance like I've said before. I like clean oil! 

[WeGone]

48 minutes ago, diyer2 said:

I've been following your fight with the stuck rings and it proves my point , clean oil is a good thing. I repeat, once oil is saturated with the by-products of a combustion engine it deposits the excess on the internals of the engine. Yes I go by mileage for oil changes but I also consider how dirty it looks. 3 K miles the oil is dirty to me and that holds true with every vehicle I've owned. 

I bought a new snow blower and the manual said the first oil change was at 5 hours of use. I changed it at 3 hours because the oil looked dirty to me. Cheap insurance like I've said before. I like clean oil! 

 

100% agree, One year old 5K miles 2 oil changes so far.

[customboss]

Unless you test you guess.  Opinion isn't science and experience is anecdotal but reality for us little people.  

Be careful using past experience as a guide to these newer IC engines because they are severely stressed and using that 40% cooling the engine oil provides to the system as a lifeline. 

 

Many of us posting are 60  YO and older.  Our engines experience is half pre unleaded fuels, pre EGR, mostly PCV, pre catalyst, pre DPF and soon GPF. 

 

Changing your oil so its clean is a wonderful thing but it WILL mask problems that these critical IC engines and advanced transmissions have that might be corrected early instead of later. 

 

I am not telling anyone what to do, just sharing R&D level experience of testing IC engines since 1980 to today. 

 

Grumpy Bears 2.4L rings stuck because he did everything right and the engine was  OVER fueling  diluting oil , nitrating, acidify, and carboning up the rings and valves.

 

Had nothing to do with changing out the oil or frequency or quality of oil.  That engine design was asked to do a lot and it can do it if its clean internally.  Fuels being pumped in to cool the cylinder, light the catalytic converter, and still properly vent and regurgitate EGR gases is a fine line. The ring design is NOT the cause its a symptom.  Grumpy tests and learns and is not going to be caught again with this situation.  GM could have done a better job ventilating this engine but you get one plug, coils, or injector not perfect and these engines will load as we saw in observation and analysis. 

 

I have had customers over the years and even myself running the 2.4L with NO problems but oil analysis caught a bad plug, cam phaser solenoid, coil pack, loaded air filter, PCV clogged, Emissions vent system causing a sensed lean and adding more fuel needlessly all........ BEFORE MIL code ever set if it would at all.