Recommended engine oil for L83 supercharged

Louie.c · June 18, 2020

About to change the oil on my 17' suburban 5.3 with a whipple on it. Just recently installed the whipple and I'm curious to what engine oil is best now that it has a supercharger. I live in Florida where it's always hot which I've seen some people discuss over some searching. So far I've seen people say stick with 0w-20 but I've also seen people do the change to 5w-30 and I'm curious as to what will be best.

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Grumpy Bear · June 19, 2020

Do you know what your oil temperature is after say two hours on the interstate at your 'normal' speeds? And how about in crawling city traffic? Were there any notes on lubrication with your supercharger? If so what were they.

MaverickZ71 · June 19, 2020

I wish good ol Cliff was still on here to provide some sane arguments on oil viscosity, additives, etc.

OP, be prepared for an onslaught from the AMSoil dealers on here telling you it is liquid gold, cures cancer, prevents COVID, promotes world peace, quells riots, etc. Then buy whatever makes you happy.

Louie.c · June 19, 2020

Do you know what your oil temperature is after say two hours on the interstate at your 'normal' speeds? And how about in crawling city traffic? Were there any notes on lubrication with your supercharger? If so what were they.

Haven't logged oil temps yet but from whipple it doesn't recommend any special engine oil and supercharger oil change is every 100k

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Louie.c · June 19, 2020

I wish good ol Cliff was still on here to provide some sane arguments on oil viscosity, additives, etc.

OP, be prepared for an onslaught from the AMSoil dealers on here telling you it is liquid gold, cures cancer, prevents COVID, promotes world peace, quells riots, etc. Then buy whatever makes you happy.

Yeah that's what I'm looking for, I've seen some threads about the whole amsoil debate

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Grumpy Bear · June 19, 2020

1 hour ago, Louie.c said:

Haven't logged oil temps yet but from whipple it doesn't recommend any special engine oil and supercharger oil change is every 100k

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So the Supercharger is self contained, right? Did it give an SAE grade?

Tell ya what. Go to the forum Vehicle Appearance, Care & Maintenance then Practical Lubrication and Filtration. Take snacks and a cold beverage.

I'm going to relate a current personal experience. These differ from a story, right?

Wife owns a 2015 GMC Terrain with the L 2.4 which now has 120,000 miles on the clock. Just under 90K a motor that used next to know oil per 5K OCI's started using. First 3/4 of a quart at 90K then cam phasers failed. I changed from QSUD/Mobil 1 which had been it's diet to Red Line HP. At first it looked as if the lower NOACK was going to do the trick then......BOOM. The PCV system became overrun as the rings collapsed. This is GM"s way of saying the rings stuck in a band of varnish. Water vapor in the oil makes foam. The oil turned black within the next hundred miles and it was back in the shop again. It received the full TSB for the failure plus a valve PCV orfice and injector cleaning. AMSOIL was loaded. At peak usage it was going through a quart in about 2700 miles. AMSOIL was loaded. It used a quart in 3500.

A Gunk Flush and Valvoline/NAPA fill . Crankcase pressures were zero. Better than postive. Used a quart in 3500 miles.

BG ERP flush on the next change and lord what a mess came out of her. Valvoline loaded again and zero used this change of 2500 miles and strong vacuum ones again.

Take some notes here. For 100,000 miles I used 'synthetic group III' oils in a motor notorious for sticking rings. WHY do the rings stick? Varnish. What causes varnish? Oil oxidation! What causes oxidation. Heat!! Yet this motor rest comfortably within GM's specifications. They extended the warranty for this issue to 115,000 miles and in a memo suggested that oil be change more frequently...IE 5K instead of the OLM 7.5K

Well I was already dong 5K OCI's but GM never had my wife in mind when they tested these motors. She is going to a fire every time she drives and that is HEAT. More heat than a Group III can take for even 5K miles. Switching to the PAO/Ester oils actually aggravated the situation. My bad. The ERP should have been first up and venting issues solved before the switch.

The PCV failure was due to 'stuck rings' and you can see the snowball from there. The rings and cylinder were not 'glazed' they were varnished. GM's cure is a honeless piston and ring replacement. They know what the problem is and their solution has been to retire this motor in the Terrain. It just works to hard to be long lived in this application.

The upper thermal limit for a Group III is about 220 F. That does not mean it fails there. It means that is the initiation temperature for oxidation. Much higher than a Group 1 at 160 F but not as high as 250 F for a PAO or almost 300 F for a polyol ester (a bit less for a diester).

Well it looks like I have the rings free and the next oil change is to AMSOIL 10W30. Why? Why would I want to repeat this entire $1500,00 adventure all over again.

If your bulk oil temperatures rarely exceed 212 F then use whatever oil you are comfortable with. If they run hotter day in and day out you have two COMMON PAO/POE choices. AMSOIL or Red Line HP.

For the motor you are working with, 5.3 Ecotec3 GM has already has a memo shortening OCI to 5K due to varnish. And that is with a Group III synthetic. They know it runs to hot for the oil but Goldie Locks perfect for emissions and mileage. You have chosen to install the supercharger. Nice add BTW. Did you add an oil cooler and instruments to monitor temperatures?

Suggestion. If you just love your Mobil 1 or Valvoline or .......change it every 2.5 to 3K and use a GREAT filter.

These examples are motors with stellar UOA's. Know what they are not monitoring? Cleanliness. The oil will be dirty enough to stick rings well before it's physicals fail. IMHO.