How much oil, and what weight for my 98 LS1?
03-13-2008, 11:20 AM
#1
How much oil, and what weight for my 98 LS1? I know its been on here before, but the search engine seems to be down right now, so I can't try that for the results.
How much oil will I need for an oil change in my 98 LS1 in my sig? I will be using the factory sized AC Delco oil filter, not one of the larger ones like Mobil 1 makes. I think its like 4.7 quarts or something like that, but I can't remember.
Also, what weight oil should I be putting in?
Sorry for the stupid questions, but its been a really long time since I've changed the oil in my LS1 as I just don't drive it that much, and I can't remember what I used last time.
How much oil will I need for an oil change in my 98 LS1 in my sig? I will be using the factory sized AC Delco oil filter, not one of the larger ones like Mobil 1 makes. I think its like 4.7 quarts or something like that, but I can't remember.
Also, what weight oil should I be putting in?
Sorry for the stupid questions, but its been a really long time since I've changed the oil in my LS1 as I just don't drive it that much, and I can't remember what I used last time.
03-13-2008, 11:24 AM
#2
TECH Apprentice
iTrader: (4)
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Sugar Land, TX
Posts: 394
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Pretty sure it's 5.5 qts. I'm about to change the oil first time on my car.
https://ls1tech.com/forums/new-ls1-owners-newbie-tech/869134-5w-30-10w-30-oil.html
https://ls1tech.com/forums/new-ls1-owners-newbie-tech/869134-5w-30-10w-30-oil.html
03-13-2008, 11:29 AM
#3
Launching!
iTrader: (6)
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Southeast, Michigan
Posts: 274
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
5-5.5 qts (look at the fill line after 5qts is in, after starting it 30 seconds / shutting it down and letting it sit for 30 seconds)
5w-30 oil does the trick, it will have 5w-30 wrote on the oil filler cap.
5w-30 oil does the trick, it will have 5w-30 wrote on the oil filler cap.
03-13-2008, 12:03 PM
#6
TECH Regular
iTrader: (4)
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: The Plywood State
Posts: 492
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
If the car has over 50,000 miles, or you see a drop in oil pressure when the car gets hot, then it is time to switch over to 10W-30. 5.5 quarts is the exact amount, but as stated before, fill it with 5qts, start it up for 30 seconds, and then check. You can fill and re-check the oil level without having to start the car again.
03-13-2008, 02:27 PM
#7
If the car has over 50,000 miles, or you see a drop in oil pressure when the car gets hot, then it is time to switch over to 10W-30. 5.5 quarts is the exact amount, but as stated before, fill it with 5qts, start it up for 30 seconds, and then check. You can fill and re-check the oil level without having to start the car again.
Thanks
Trending Topics
03-16-2008, 09:21 PM
#10
most people believe that 10w30 is "thicker" than 5w30. It's not. Both are 30 weight oils and between brands, when hot, both will be very similar in weight.
Take Mobil 1 5w30 and 10w30. The only difference is in cold start. The 10w30 will be "thicker" as the w indicates when cold. Unfortunately for both those oils they are on the thin side of the 30 weights, meaning at temp ie 100C it will have a rating that actually puts it in the 20 weight area. This is NOT what GM had in mind when they initially recommended 5w30 for our cars.
If you want to do more research on your own, I would suggest search for posts with Patman as pretty much the resident oil guru of LS1Tech. www.bobistheoilguy.com is another valuable resource.
For oils, Penzoil platinum series has been run by a few members here and sent in to the labs for oil analysis. German Castrol Syntec 0w30 (Made in Germany) is a LS1Tech favorite for good reason. It shows excellent wear numbers (next to none) in daily driving and extended mileage situations making it a VERY ideal oil for our engines.
Amsoil is another excellent product as well. Royal Purples XPR line is the recommended over it's base oil line.
The best way to find out what oil and how long you should run it is to do an oil analysis on your engine oil. Put in your favorite brand, or one of the recommended I mentioned, run for 3k, change and send in a sample to www.blackstone-labs.com . They will tell you what's going on inside your engine and based on the report we can help you determine if you should change to another brand or if something is going wrong or if something is going right.
So choose an oil, run 6 quarts, run the longer truck oil filter version of your favorite brand filter (don't run FRAM!!!), drive it for 3k miles or 3 months. Follow blackstone labs instructions for collecting a sample at that next oil change. Tell us what they told you and proceed from there.
Take Mobil 1 5w30 and 10w30. The only difference is in cold start. The 10w30 will be "thicker" as the w indicates when cold. Unfortunately for both those oils they are on the thin side of the 30 weights, meaning at temp ie 100C it will have a rating that actually puts it in the 20 weight area. This is NOT what GM had in mind when they initially recommended 5w30 for our cars.
If you want to do more research on your own, I would suggest search for posts with Patman as pretty much the resident oil guru of LS1Tech. www.bobistheoilguy.com is another valuable resource.
For oils, Penzoil platinum series has been run by a few members here and sent in to the labs for oil analysis. German Castrol Syntec 0w30 (Made in Germany) is a LS1Tech favorite for good reason. It shows excellent wear numbers (next to none) in daily driving and extended mileage situations making it a VERY ideal oil for our engines.
Amsoil is another excellent product as well. Royal Purples XPR line is the recommended over it's base oil line.
The best way to find out what oil and how long you should run it is to do an oil analysis on your engine oil. Put in your favorite brand, or one of the recommended I mentioned, run for 3k, change and send in a sample to www.blackstone-labs.com . They will tell you what's going on inside your engine and based on the report we can help you determine if you should change to another brand or if something is going wrong or if something is going right.
So choose an oil, run 6 quarts, run the longer truck oil filter version of your favorite brand filter (don't run FRAM!!!), drive it for 3k miles or 3 months. Follow blackstone labs instructions for collecting a sample at that next oil change. Tell us what they told you and proceed from there.
03-16-2008, 09:40 PM
#12
That makes the filter the lowest point around the k-member. A friend had that problem when he caught a water patch. He went into the dirt, but his filter caught and ripped out most of his underbody oil lines (oil cooler and one or two other things.
It's a good idea in theory, not so great in the real world, IMO.
03-16-2008, 11:45 PM
#13
you have to be driving in some really messed up places to scrape off the filter.
I can tell you my longtube headers AND my K-member are MUCH lower than the oil filter on my car. Heck my driver's side cat is THE lowest point on my car and the only time that's ever scraped is on a high speedbump.
I've driven in some sketchy road ways too from blizzards this winter (where your bumper becomes the plow dammit) to the roads of Detroit where potholes will blow a tire if you aren't careful at the damn speedlimit. Heck even I75 was a nightmare to drive on at 60mph surrounded by trucks and cars at night with the road under construction and missing chunks of pavement that could probably tear more than just a filter off my car. I've got 100k on it, I and the previous owner both ran a long filter.
In the real world, I and many others run the long truck filter with no problems. Your friend may want to reconsider where and how he drives his car to be able to do that because the other parts I've mentioned would hit first and be severely damaged before my oil filter goes...
I can tell you my longtube headers AND my K-member are MUCH lower than the oil filter on my car. Heck my driver's side cat is THE lowest point on my car and the only time that's ever scraped is on a high speedbump.
I've driven in some sketchy road ways too from blizzards this winter (where your bumper becomes the plow dammit) to the roads of Detroit where potholes will blow a tire if you aren't careful at the damn speedlimit. Heck even I75 was a nightmare to drive on at 60mph surrounded by trucks and cars at night with the road under construction and missing chunks of pavement that could probably tear more than just a filter off my car. I've got 100k on it, I and the previous owner both ran a long filter.
In the real world, I and many others run the long truck filter with no problems. Your friend may want to reconsider where and how he drives his car to be able to do that because the other parts I've mentioned would hit first and be severely damaged before my oil filter goes...
03-17-2008, 12:22 PM
#14
LS1Tech Administrator
iTrader: (3)
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Schiller Park, IL Member: #317
Posts: 32,362
Likes: 0
Received 1,794 Likes
on
1,278 Posts
I use M1 0W40 in both my LS1s. One has 14k miles, the other has 73k miles. That oil works great in both (meaning no buring, decent pressure, etc.).
03-17-2008, 07:39 PM
#17
LS1Tech Administrator
iTrader: (3)
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Schiller Park, IL Member: #317
Posts: 32,362
Likes: 0
Received 1,794 Likes
on
1,278 Posts
That's why I use it. I know there are slightly better oils out there (not like it really matters anyway, unless you're using the car under extremely severe conditions or doing 10k mile change intervals), but they are hard to find. I can find M1 0W40 almost anywhere.
04-02-2008, 04:04 PM
#19
Teching In
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 21
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
If the car has over 50,000 miles, or you see a drop in oil pressure when the car gets hot, then it is time to switch over to 10W-30. 5.5 quarts is the exact amount, but as stated before, fill it with 5qts, start it up for 30 seconds, and then check. You can fill and re-check the oil level without having to start the car again.
im guessing you mean when the engine has 50K on it?
