Yikes!....maybe a testament to the venerable LS3.

OK - I have one better than that. In 1976 I bought a brand new Datsun B210. I drove it to 75K miles without ever changing, checking the oil before I gave it to my ex-wife in a divorce settlement. ZERO ISSUES...and vendetta at the same time....hahaha.......She could still be driving it too....hahaha!.........

 

Ls3 can run on water instead of oil I promise you!!!! Lol

Wow!!!! That's very impressive! Lol

 

What are your oil temps?

Bet they are high. I work for a company that makes performance oil, and normally going that high in an LS leads to high temps unless the engine is worn out or has huge clearances.

I get my oil free and tried what you did and went back to the factory recommend 5W30 and all is well.

 

I think I am at around 212 normal driving if I hammer it I get up to 230. I'll take pics and report back.

Ever since I had friends get rod knock using 5w30 (Including myself) running at the canyons or track nope Fudge that. Turned to nothing lower than XW-40 and zero problems maybe just luck, my thing is I might hit 105 freeway commute from work and then tonight I might hit the canyons so I guess it's a feel good thing to know the oil can handle it. I know I am gonna get the "I use 5W-30 with 500+hp zero problems" I guess to each there own LS3 lol.

 

Okay didn't get to take a pic will today. I am at 212 on the street, on 6th gear cruising I am at 223 and on 5th gear on the highway I go up to 230. Bad numbers??

 

No, nothing wrong with that. You SOLD me. Think I'll go change my oil right now to 15w50 so I can get some of those oil temps too. In fact, maybe look for 0W50, for those cold mornings. Nothing better than a good spread between the 0 and the 50, eh?

 

Sarcasm? Lol I'll take a pic after I get off the freeway today.

 

I just got off the freeway sorry for the late reply guys.

 

I know this is a really old post, but since the blog post was updated this year with a new, clear winner on wear protection, I thought it would be good to bump this. Spoiler alert, quaker state 5w30 and temp of thermal breakdown of 290*. You're welcome lol

 

According to Castrol, the way you read oil viscosity is the number in front of the W is the resistance to flowing when cold, lower being better and the number after the W is the resistance to flow when hot. So a 5w30 flows better when cold than a 10W30.

 

Okay someone please correct me if I’m wrong. Just throwing out some thoughts here. In this post we are talking cold starts at 40 degrees Celsius. Which would definitely show and as illustrated that 5w30 is the better “cold start” oil. However 0w40 will have a better (lower) “pour point” and 0w40 oil will still flow at a lower temperature than 5w30. So I guess my two cents would be when you are at extreme low temperature I think the 0w40 would be superior. The question I would love answered is at what temperature does it have to be for 0w40 to come out the “better” cold oil?

 

40° Celsius is COLD???Are you meaning MINUS 40°C? Anyway, the cold flow differences between these 2 oils are negligible, with 5w-30 having a very small advantage in extreme cold. Maybe microseconds difference in oil reaching critical areas. You might check out "Bob is the oil guy", or look for posts by polyolefin on another popular LS forum. 0w-40 isnt like pumping 5w-40, or 10w-40. Its cold flow is only very slightly lower at startup. The basic design of the LS oiling system is inferior (my opinion, but I'm not alone) to the Gen1 SBC, anyway. It'll take longer for oil to reach the mains and rods in an LS than it does the Gen1 SBC no matter what oil viscosity you choose. But I don't see any huge number of LS engines wearing out mains and rods. I think this is one of those theoretical things that is "on paper" correct, but lacking in a real world application. I've run 0w-40 in my engine since 2005, and I live in Michigan. I've never had any cold flow problems. It's splitting hairs choosing one over the other for cold flow. However, a 40 weight oil holds all the cards in high temp, high rpm performance applications. Which is far more important to most people. 5w-30 is a good oil. I just prefer to have 40 weight protection at 200°+ oil temps, with nearly identical cold flow. FWIW-GM now recommends 0w-40 in the newer Corvette engines........

 

You may want to revisit the blog post thats been updated recently with more testing in the original post. Quaker state 5w30 with excellent shear protection and no thermal breakdown until 290*F. And it's affordable.

 

I'll stick with 0w-40 M1. Worked great the last 17 years, and it's what GM now recommends. But thank you for the info.

 

I've been running the Euro spec 0W-40 Mob 1 for as long as I can remember. Last I checked, that oil had some of the highest zinc and phosphorous levels of any of Mob 1's offerings. With the LS engine series having the valvetrain as its achilles heel, I like the extra Zn and P. Plus, we rarely have any extreme cold temps around here.....and I tend to drive my Vette like I stole it.

 

What is the trade off between easy flow when cold and no need to flow immediately because the parts are still coated with the heavier oil? The heavier oil does not drain into the pan as quickly. I assume time is a factor but it seems that should be a consideration.

Imagine an oil, say 15-40 oil suitable for diesels, that will help an engine run 800K miles but will reduce mpg a bit. Who in the government or at GM would recommend it?

 

You may have a point about thicker oil "clinging" better. I'd assume that if the car sits for a week, the advantage would diminish as time between engine starts increases. I do know Id never run a 10w-40, or a 15w-40/15w-50. Just too thick at cold temps.....

 

I get that, if it ain't broke don't fix it. Lol