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Oil Change C6 LS3

mikeypsur

New member
Joined
Aug 27, 2013
Messages
3
Location
Fremont, IN
Corvette
2008 Coupe Z51
I have decided to change the oil on my own instead of taking to the dealer. 2008 C6 with the LS3, says recommended Mobil 1 10W-30 oil and PF 48 filter any advice. I think holds 6 quarts.
 
You will get as many opinions here as there are members.

This is what the Mobil 1 representative for racing said last Saturday at a presentation in the Corvette Corral at the ALMS race at Virginia International Raceway: For normal driving, 5w30 was recommended. For track days, nothing less than Mobil racing 15/50. Because of the additive package, the oil should be drained after competition, or the zinc, etc. will ruin the cat in short order.

He also said Mobil 1 is now OEM fill, even though it isn't on the fill plug. Tanks will be installed in BG, according to him.

Let the other opinions begin.

BTW - I'm not a Mobil1 user.
 
Here's my 2 cents:

6 quarts is pretty close to what's required but I don't blindly put 6 quarts in my car when I do the oil change.

I pre-fill the oil filter before I screw it on and then add 5 quarts to the oil pan. Then I run the engine while still up in the air and check for leaks at the filter and the plug and make sure I see oil pressure.

I put the car on the ground and wait a bit and then check the dip stick and add just what is needed to bring it up to the full mark. That is close to 6 quarts most of the time.

I use Mobil 1 10w30 here in OK and the AC Delco filters. Never had any problem with either.
 
For the LS3 for MY08, its 5.5 qts for base and 6.0-qt for Z51. The extra half quart is for the coolers.

I love these "oil reps".:chuckle Their job is to sell oil. Imagine if he can get you to run 15W50 at the track then throw it away when you get home. The bastards!

Ok, to the issue at hand: your LS3 will have the best durability with 10W30 not 5W30. You can get Mobil 1 10W30 at Costco.

For racing, whether you go with 10W30 or 15W50 depends on the engine, the driver and the weather. If your car has Z51 and the coolers, 10W30 is likely all you need for track days unless you're the type who always runs near the rev limiter and the weather is really hot. In that sitch, I'd use Mobil 1 High-Mileage 10W40. It's got only 1000 PPM phos and splits the difference in phos and vis. between 10W30 and 15W50. Amazing this Mobil 1 "rep" didn't tell you that.

If you don't have the coolers and you see sustained oil temps over 250°F, you can go to 15W50. The part about cats failing in short order is BS. Yes, 15W50 has more phosphorous in it than 5W30 but it's only 1200 ppm vs 800 ppm. 15W50 may decrease cat life over a long period of time but it's more likely the difference between 75,000 miles and 150,000 miles rather than failure in short order.

For more accurate info on M1 products see this web page

I should add that the oil I've used for the last 20 years has a phosphorous content of 1100-1200 ppm and I have cats on two vehicles which both have gone 125,000 miles so far. I had another, scrapped back in 01, which had 140,000 miles on the original cat using that oil with 1100-1200 ppm phos.
 

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