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03 Avalanche 2500 best oil change

Sstevieboy0208

Sstevieboy0208

Full Member
Joined
Oct 21, 2020
Messages
69
So my new to me Avalanche 2500 with the 8.1 is very close to an oil change. Any recommendations on the best oil type that I can use in it and any additives to put with it ? Any help would be appreciated. I have no leaks or anything like that.
 
No additives
Milage on engine ?
5w 30 or 10w 30
Based on your picture 5w- 30 in winter.
I have 10w-30 mobil 1 H.M. in my avy but I'm in central Florida
 
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Do you know if the previous owner was using Synthetic or dino oil.. If so, I would stay with Synthetic, if not I would switch to a Synthetic for high mileage 5-30W..
 
Randy said:
Do you know if the previous owner was using Synthetic or dino oil.. If so, I would stay with Synthetic, if not I would switch to a Synthetic for high mileage 5-30W..
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I honestly don't know what kind of oil he used but she seems to be very well taken care of. She was someone's baby and now mine. So I was thinking about giving her the same treatment as my previous trucks. My last one was a Suburban with the 5.3 and I used Mobile 1 5-30. So I'm thinking about the same thing in the winter time. They have truck oil not sure if there a difference between them but that's my thoughts. I also threw in a can of restore every other oil change and it served me well
 
just keep an eye on the oil level at every fill up as the 8.1l can eat some oil.
 
I second the idea of checking the oil at every fill-up, especially if you have the 37 gallon fuel capacity. My 8.1 with only 82K on it uses about a quart every 1,000 miles.

My go-to oil has always been Castrol. I don't much worry about the type of oil just as long as it stays the same from change to change. An '02 is old engine technology. The owners manual gives you a starting point.

Oil's used are up to your own tastes. Oils these days are miles better than they used to be. However, there's some additive packages that are archaic but still better than today's. That only means that older engines might benefit slightly from using them (they have slightly more zinc, magnesium, boron, sulfur, etc.) but today's oils will most likely not let you down.

If you really want to understand oils (good luck with that) there's plenty of sites that do a good job trying to explain how the additives work. Just search for automotive oil additive packages - here's a starter >>> https://pqia.org/2020/05/15/read-the-labels-on-motor-oil-before-you-buy/
 
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-JRW- said:
I second the idea of checking the oil at every fill-up, especially if you have the 37 gallon fuel capacity. My 8.1 with only 82K on it uses about a quart every 1,000 miles.

My go-to oil has always been Castrol. I don't much worry about the type of oil just as long as it stays the same from change to change. An '02 is old engine technology. The owners manual gives you a starting point.

Oil's used are up to your own tastes. Oils these days are miles better than they used to be. However, there's some additive packages that are archaic but still better than today's. That only means that older engines might benefit slightly from using them (they have slightly more zinc, magnesium, boron, sulfur, etc.) but today's oils will most likely not let you down.

If you really want to understand oils (good luck with that) there's plenty of sites that do a good job trying to explain how the additives work. Just search for automotive oil additive packages - here's a starter >>> https://pqia.org/2020/05/15/read-the-labels-on-motor-oil-before-you-buy/
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Mine is an 03 and I kept an eye on the oil level since I got it 5k ago and it seems to burn only about a quart every 1500 to 2k. But again the oil needs changed so I will do that. My old 03 suburban 5.3 burned about the same or a little more so. And I'm planning on going to 3k oil changes.
 
3K is what I do regardless. Always have. Sometimes I've slipped it up to 4K but not very often. I'm older and still don't really trust full synthetic.
 
-JRW- said:
3K is what I do regardless. Always have. Sometimes I've slipped it up to 4K but not very often. I'm older and still don't really trust full synthetic.
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I'm older too, but I have been convinced to use only full synthetic. Years ago I determined in extreme cold my synthetic car started but the one with conventional wouldn't crank over.

That said the quality of oils has improved over the years, maybe I am wasting $$ by aligning myself to full synthetic.

Generally I use the 5K rule, makes it easy to remember:

The wifes' Subaru uses about 1/2 a quart in that (5K) timeframe. My F150 and Milan don't use any noticeable amount in that time frame.

BUT I have exceptions:

My '04 Avalanche the DIC (odometer display) has a mind of its own, I never know when it is going to display so I use the 6 month rule, that 6 months rarely exceeds 3K.

Both of my Corvettes are low milers.. aka date night cars and the like, maybe 1 trip of <1K per year so every fall I change the oil before winter layup.. sits all winter with new oil waiting for spring time. Same with our motorcycles.
 
Sstevieboy0208 said:
So it is normal for the 8.1 to use quart or so every 1500 miles give or take a 100 ?
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Per post from many of our 2500 members going back to 2002.... Yes they eat oil
 
Something to do with the way the crankcase is vented from what I have gathered in all my reading. I haven't owned mine for long but after the first oil change while in my possession it was down about a quart in about 1500 miles. It certainly raises the cost of ownership.
 
-JRW- said:
Something to do with the way the crankcase is vented from what I have gathered in all my reading. I haven't owned mine for long but after the first oil change while in my possession it was down about a quart in about 1500 miles. It certainly raises the cost of ownership.
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it is my first 8.1 so i am trying to figure it all out , my last one was a 5.3 and it was doing the same thing
 
I watch a lot of utube stuff and some of the ones doing intake, exhaust, and dyno testing are pretty informative. That's where I first noticed folks saying a quart between oil changes and it having to do with the way the crankcase is vented.
 
Yes, the design of the 8.1L PCV is crap. They just put a port in the bottom of the intake that sucks in the oil into the intake, and it gets burned thus making it look like it uses oil, not that it won't use some oil, it' a BBC but I don't think it's all getting by the rings... You can add a catch can you plug that port and pull the vapors from a valve cover or oil fill tube return it first through a catch can that separates the oil vapers and then back behind the throttle body like an old school PCV system used for years. The vapors condense back into oil, and you drain it as needed usually after a couple of tanks a gas. I have one for mine but haven't installed it yet, I just don't drive it that much sine I retired..
 
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