Here we go.. I'm coming up on 8000 miles on my 07 - 2500 Sierra 6.6 LBZ, I'm hearing mixed reviews about going to Synthetic oil. Is it worth the cost? I want to do some power improvements over the next year, but don't plan on going ridiculous. Keep'n the truck around for the long haul is my goal.
To Syn or not to Syn...
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To squash the mixed reviews, if it wasn't any good, the synthetic engine oil market wouldn't have
expanded so dramatically over the last ten years. Some engines come with synthetic as the factory engine fill now because the OEM's know it's value, in addition to the Heavy truck industry which INSISTS that synthetic be used to maintain most extended powertrain warranties.
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I feel its good stuff, better than dino oil? I dont know, i run syn in everything but the engine!
If you do run syn in the engine run the 15/40 as quite a few of the modded trucks running 5/40 have had engine failures, Im not saying the oil caused it but some folks smarter than me have pointed at it as a possible cause!
If you do run syn in the engine run the 15/40 as quite a few of the modded trucks running 5/40 have had engine failures, Im not saying the oil caused it but some folks smarter than me have pointed at it as a possible cause!
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Correct viscosity is always important, but 5W-40 is also a recommended Viscosity grade by GM for a stock motor.
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Amsoil AME 15W40. 15k mile oil changes, better mileage, less wear. Add a bypass filter and you can extend the oil changes even farther. This is good for trucks that will see a lot of miles. Keeps the downtime to a minimum.
I run syn in everything I own, even my lawnmower!
By far worth the money.
Jason
I run syn in everything I own, even my lawnmower!
By far worth the money.
Jason
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46 Posts
oil
07 LBZ duramax / 2500HD / Allison
I believe my owners manual calls for 15/40 and Ive been having trouble finding synthetic in this grade .
Im using Shell Rotella at the moment and Amsoil is hard to find ( unless you order online ) .
Any other brands that have the 15/40 synthetic ?
Thanks...........
Fenmor / Vancouver
07 LBZ duramax / 2500HD / Allison
I believe my owners manual calls for 15/40 and Ive been having trouble finding synthetic in this grade .
Im using Shell Rotella at the moment and Amsoil is hard to find ( unless you order online ) .
Any other brands that have the 15/40 synthetic ?
Thanks...........
Fenmor / Vancouver
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It is easy to sign up as a preffered customer or a dealer with them. It would save you some $$ if you plan on placing a couple orders a year...
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Unless you intend to sell Amsoil, the Preferred Customer option is the way to go. You get the order everything you want factory direct at dealer cost. No minimum orders or anything. You pay what I pay.
There is a membership fee of $20 per year, which I wave for forum members with their first order. This is a small cost per year. If you order 1 case of oil in the year, you will break even between the retail and PC cost. Everything after that is money saved. Put it towards truck bombs!
As for what else is available, that is kinda a loaded question. There are several 15W40 oils out there that are labeled Synthetic, but are far from it. There is no legal definition for the term synthetic, so oil makes can put the term on their bottles, even if its no different that the "other" stuff they sell. Best bet, look at the MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet). It will tell all, because by law it has to. Shell, for instance. Their "synthetic" oil in the MSDS states that its composition of materials is 93% hydrocracked petroleum. Not synthetic, but conventional oil with a cool new label.
There is a membership fee of $20 per year, which I wave for forum members with their first order. This is a small cost per year. If you order 1 case of oil in the year, you will break even between the retail and PC cost. Everything after that is money saved. Put it towards truck bombs!
As for what else is available, that is kinda a loaded question. There are several 15W40 oils out there that are labeled Synthetic, but are far from it. There is no legal definition for the term synthetic, so oil makes can put the term on their bottles, even if its no different that the "other" stuff they sell. Best bet, look at the MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet). It will tell all, because by law it has to. Shell, for instance. Their "synthetic" oil in the MSDS states that its composition of materials is 93% hydrocracked petroleum. Not synthetic, but conventional oil with a cool new label.
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Sounds like Castrols' "SYNTEC" garbage and how they fought to be able to call their hydrocracked junk as a "synthetic" oil.
As a side note that is hilarious,
Penzoil said years ago that they would NEVER offer a synthetic as there is no market for it.
Funny!!:tease:rof
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what about mobile del vac? good bad
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Delvac 1300 is good ...for a Dino oil,
The "DELVAC_1" is the synthetic version, also the same is the 5W-40 "turbo diesel" oil they offer(Mobil).
Both are fantastic oils.
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7 Posts
Royal Purple
Ya'll might ought to look in to Royal Purple as a Syn option....Where I am from in Waco, Texas it's pretty easy to get a hold of. I have run it for years in everything from a 9 second 1/4 mile car I once owned to a center console fishing boat we now own. I don't know if I am just being bias toward Royal Purple, but I have never and I mean never had any catastrophic engine failures when I was running this stuff......Failure meaning any internal component. Hell I run the stuff in my lawnmower too. I love it!! :gearjamin
Ya'll might ought to look in to Royal Purple as a Syn option....Where I am from in Waco, Texas it's pretty easy to get a hold of. I have run it for years in everything from a 9 second 1/4 mile car I once owned to a center console fishing boat we now own. I don't know if I am just being bias toward Royal Purple, but I have never and I mean never had any catastrophic engine failures when I was running this stuff......Failure meaning any internal component. Hell I run the stuff in my lawnmower too. I love it!! :gearjamin
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You're not being biased, just happy with your results. Nothing wrong there! Royal Purple is a good oil, but cost wise Amsoil is still a better choice, unless you have a hook up. Out here on the west coast Royal Purple is harder to come by, but Red Line is abundant (its made out here). Red Line is decent too.
As for the other brands (Mobil, Shell, Cheveron, ect), just do your research on the products. You might be surprised what you find.
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I am a little nervous to switch to the syn, three trucks ago i bought into the hype. Immediately after switching from valvoline conv. to "syntec" i started useing oil it just dissapeared, not out the tailpipe not into coolant just dissapeared into oblivion. switched back after two or three oil changes with syn and problem gone never used another drop
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From my experiences, when switching over to Amsoil, typically a motor will appear to use about a quart in the first 5k miles. Top it off and it will not use any more. My understanding here is that the oil dino oil that is trapped in the block and mixes with the syn slowly boils off. A quality Syn will not boil off NEARLY as fast as dino oil This would explain why after the first quart, it doesn't use oil again. usually there is about 1-2 quarts of oil trapped in the block during a change, depending on the motor.
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This is true, a conventional has MUCH higher Volatility(boil off) than synthetic PAO oils.
I'll also add that after the changeover, there is varnish and grime being cleaned up by the synthetic oil that the conventional left behind. One area that can get very noticeable cleaned s the ring lands. This can be seen from an engine that consumed oil and was changed over to synthetic, then several thousand miles later, the oil consumption has tapered off to nothing or is greatly reduced. This has been experienced by me on several high mileage vehicles that have been converted to synthetic oils over the years.:rockin
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Yep, Rotella and Castrol are the fake's in the "synthetic" market.
Amsoil, Mobil1 and Royal Purple are true "PAO" group 4 synthetic oils.
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