2.7 Turbo 4 Fan Club

[VicFirth]

May be a bit harder to justify Amsoil or HPL now that this is readily available.  

Edited May 27 by VicFirth

[VicFirth]

I take that back, I think ultimately the boutique oils with known high solvency are the way to go from the start.  Likely would never need Restor and Protect.  Good oil though for neglected engines.  

 

There was one thing though that Roger said that caught my attention was how polar base oils have historically been used to keep deposits at bay.  This oil goes further in actually removing them (dissolving).  But yet at the same time, the high ester original Restore accomplished cleaning in one change.  However that oil also used way more ester than any known brand I'm aware of.  Even HPL at most has likely no more than 20% of group V.  So keeping deposits at bay and engine clean vs cleaning is the interesting thing here.  At least to me.  We really don't know if HPL or Amsoil could clean existing deposits or totally prevent them.  

Edited June 4 by VicFirth

[the wanderer]

17 hours ago, VicFirth said:

I take that back, I think ultimately the boutique oils with known high solvency are the way to go from the start.  Likely would never need Restor and Protect.  Good oil though for neglected engines.  

 

There was one thing though that Roger said that caught my attention was how polar base oils have historically been used to keep deposits at bay.  This oil goes further in actually removing them (dissolving).  But yet at the same time, the high ester original Restore accomplished cleaning in one change.  However that oil also used way more ester than any known brand I'm aware of.  Even HPL at most has likely no more than 20% of group V.  So keeping deposits at bay and engine clean vs cleaning is the interesting thing here.  At least to me.  We really don't know if HPL or Amsoil could clean existing deposits or totally prevent them.  

 

HPL has a dedicated cleaning product. They recommend throwing 1 quart of it in along with your previous oil choice and running that for a while to start a slow-er clean.

 

Once you've done that for a few OCI's, then you run their real oil which is exceptional at cleaning. If you call/talk to Dave, he'll never recommend using their main oil directly on an old dirty engine as it will clean so much as to overwhelm the filter.

 

All that to say, yes, HPL definitely cleans. Not only does it clean, it is the complete package. It has loads of moly and other antiwear ingredients and friction modifiers, it uses the best VII's to prevent shear down and carbon deposits, their oil has 0 foaming etc etc. It's not a one trick pony, it's the entire package, the real deal. You won't find a better oil at that price nor would you need to either.

Edited June 5 by the wanderer

[customboss]

On 11/26/2023 at 11:27 AM, customboss said:

Update on our  22 LTD @45000 miles and using Mobil Full Syn 5w30 dexos1 GEN3. It used nearly a qt @5600 miles on the oil drain.  Thats better than adding 3/4 qt 4700 miles on a mix of 5 qts QS 5w30 GEN3  and 1 Qt  RLI 5w20 HD low ash.

 

I will be testing Chevron Delo 600 10w30 syn blend that contains VERY LOW ZDDP but additives that allow it to handle HD diesel and natural gas engines contact & power cylinder pressures.  Its sulfated ash content is 0.4 or less that means less metallic deposits on rings, valves, piston tops/lands and spark plugs. 

 

Why? Because this engine design has a sliding wear component that the unique DELO 600 might mitigate damage to polymers used in other oils and I think they may be permanentaly damaged. Delo 600 most likely uses little or no VII but GRP III and GRP II cuts with pour point depressants that do more than any PPD ever did. 

 

My Canadian friend with the White beauty with a H.O. that found oil usage slowed using GM Dexos 5w30 is on to something but its not a total solution. 

 

Delo 600 MIGHT just MIGHT show some directional benefit of less deposits, better sliding wear on valve train when those two center cylinder shut off or start up which is constant and nearly undetectable. 

 

I have kept fuels dilution down to 0.6% when the target is 0.5% or less. Most other engines of this design will run 1% or higher fuel in the oil. 

 

Delo 600 is a anti noxidant too. Nitration NOT oxidation is the enemy of every damn GM engine we discuss here. GM like all OEM's is designing engine oil to handle NOx holding as a liquid filter. That damages the oil too.  

 

FINALLY the real secret for ANYONE here is allow a 1 minute cooldown. GM does not suggest a idle period to stabilize the oil temp. I think the additive packages of our even GEN 3 oils is cooking on the turbo circuit and that eats about a QT of oil in a 5000 -6000 cycle oil drain.  

 

 

Will fill the reader in on my results after winter up here at 9000'.  BTW I run almost exclusively E15 fuels.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finished testing DELO 600 10w30 and it stopped the oil usage significantly ( by 50% or so). However at 6,450 miles run on second oil drain the iron wear went to 18 ppm aluminum up to 5 ppm. Those are totally normal but its a rise of over 50% in iron wear indicated which actually may be iron rings seating better thus the less wear. However it oxidized since its not really synthetic and since it has NO ZDDP your most effective and cheap anti oxidant is not there so it thickened to something like a 15w35.  It still achieved exceptional MPG and operation was smooth and quiet.  

 

After about 2000-3000 miles on the fresh Delo 600 I will change to RLI BIOSYN 5w30 PCMO. 

 

Just warning that the DELO 600 is not suitable nor cost effective for this engine past say 5000 miles.  

 

 

[fondupot]

Quick update: Getting ready to do an oil change on my 2.7, right over 105,000 miles. The Mobil1 5W30 high mileage formula did not stop my oil consumption. I have 6 more quarts of it that I will use but then I am going to switch to something else. Overall fuel mileage was around 1 mpg lower than usual using this oil, but that could easily be a random variance.

[fondupot]

On 5/25/2024 at 11:01 AM, Black02Silverado said:

RLI has great products.  Looking forward to how it performs.  The price is great and anyone that wants to try it should take advantage of this low price.

 

Picked up a case...the price alone is worth stocking up. I just did an oil change using the rest of the Mobil1 5W30 high mileage formula. Will run it 5k and then switch to the RLI stuff.

[Texcl2]

I’ve been running super tech 20k mile synthetic oil and it seems to use less oil than Mobil 1 ep. It’s not a huge difference though and no t a big deal since I change my oil at 3500 miles typically. 

[customboss]

33 minutes ago, Texcl2 said:

I’ve been running super tech 20k mile synthetic oil and it seems to use less oil than Mobil 1 ep. It’s not a huge difference though and no t a big deal since I change my oil at 3500 miles typically. 

Try the RLI Biosynxtra 5w30 it’s lower cost than SuperTech if you get the free shipping. 

[fondupot]

Installed a Cold Air Inductions Intake System on my 2.7. Seems to liven up the throttle response, give a little more power and supposedly MPG. Too early to tell on MPG tho. But it does look pretty cool in the engine bay!

 

See

[customboss]

Nicely done @fondupot. Like the setup. Oiled air filter not so much. You do a great job on your videos. 
 

[customboss]

Just changed and sampled our 59000 mile 22’ Ltd trail boss  2.7 T to RLI 5w30. Will let you all know how it performs and consumes. 

 

 

Finished 3 tests with Delo 600 10w30 but it was beginning to form deposits under oil fill cap, as it is not full synthetic so it could not hold up to the L3B.

Chevron ISO SYN is not good enough for our engines.

The no ZDDP engine oil worked fine as far as that additive being 0.  
Once the borate ester additives depleted wear rises.
 

It did stop or slow significantly oil usage. 
 

Will share test 10 here so someone like Grumpy can use it to learn oil analysis interpretation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 15 by customboss
Cleaned up

[fondupot]

On 7/14/2024 at 2:32 PM, customboss said:

Just changed and sampled our 59000 mile 22’ Ltd trail boss  2.7 T to RLI 5w30. Will let you all know how it performs and consumes. 

 

 

Finished 3 tests with Delo 600 10w30 but it was beginning to form deposits under oil

fill cap as it is not full synthetic so it could not hold up to the L3B. Chevron ISO SYN is not good enough for our engines. No ZDDP engine oil worked fine but once Borate ester additives depleted wear rises. It did stop

or slow significantly oil usage. 
 

Will share test 10 here so someone like Grumpy can use it to learn oil analysis interpretation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This will be the stuff I use on my next oil change. Interested to see your results.

Edited July 15 by fondupot

[fondupot]

Was browsing my online service manual for something, and was reading thru the latest TSB's. Found this one regarding the "goose honk" that some of us experience when turning the engine off. I guess a calibration of the wastegate is required.

 

PDF attached.

 

TSB 24-NA-091 L3B Turbocharger Wastegate Calibration.pdf

Edited July 21 by fondupot

[customboss]

4 hours ago, fondupot said:

Was browsing my online service manual for something, and was reading thru the latest TSB's. Found this one regarding the "goose honk" that some of us experience when turning the engine off. I guess a calibration of the wastegate is required.

 

PDF attached.

 

TSB 24-NA-091 L3B Turbocharger Wastegate Calibration.pdf 3.44 MB · 4 downloads

Never had a shutdown honk but have experienced since new a start up cycling of the wastegate going through a built in test of control range, most people won't notice it unless it burps or jerks as you pull away too early, if one waits until the unit idles down from emissions high rev for heating CAT Converter it won't show.  That's the high idle that jerks the transmission enough that people have complained of " shift or trans" issues.  When its its a built in emissions reduction technique. 

 

BTW ran to KC and back about 1650 miles and no oil usage or issues with the RLI 5w30. We ran it very hard on mostly E15. I went up to E30 and had no drop in MPG at all from E10-E15. Was amazed.  Operated in manual shift mode frequently to keep clean center plugs.  One treatment of Amsoil PI was used with BP 87 octane in KC.  Decided not to drive up to Illinois to slap Grumpy in head because he was flooding so I felt sorry for him......LOL 

 

Edited July 21 by customboss

[newdude]

Just wanted to add to this.  Which ever engineers set up the cooling system on these 2.7s, I must say they've done a great job.  I just recently did some towing, about 100mi in some hot weather, maybe 4,000lbs?  AC cranking and everything was stable as can be.  Even transmission temps were well regulated and barely any hotter than when empty which surprised me, I had expected that to climb more.  I saw maybe 210F transmission temp?  Which I've seen empty on a hot and humid day before.    

 

Also, low speed high torque off road driving and hard, fast off road.  I just came back from the Chevrolet Experience dealer training, and one of the modules was the ZR2 Colorado/ZR2 Colorado Bison off road course.  Those trucks were running almost non stop from 8am until we got to that course at 1pm and they were unphased.  None of them had any signs of overheating, ac was on.  Lots of 4HI and 4LO with steep grades and twist ditches, and then a fast baja style rip with the pro driver.  One truck popped a tire, that was it. 

 

If anyone gets the chance to use a Colorado ZR2/Canyon AT4X as engineered, they are impressive and so is the low end ability of that engine in those scenarios.

Edited July 24 by newdude