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While doing an oil change today I found some oil shavings stuck on the filler plug magnet. I know some metal fuzz is normal but this is more than I've ever seen before. Besides the obligatory LS1 piston slap, there's no noise coming from the motor. Oil pressure is very healthy too: 40 PSI at idle and 60ish going down the road. 84000 miles on the clock.
Now the question is, do I go ahead with the 0w40 Mobil one I was going to use or should I use a heavier grade like 20w50 or 15w50 since these shavings could've come from the bearings?
Last edited by Jeep_junkie; Mar 15, 2017 at 12:11 AM.
Reason: Added mileage
Don't change anything. I got almost that same amount on every oil change on my 427ci....the damn thing ran for 173,000 miles. Theres no engine that doesn't lose metal every time it runs.
If that much is on the magnet....there's 5 times that much everywhere else......
newbie question - whats the value of using 0w40 motor oil? why not stick with manufacturers recommendation?
So, I'm not an oil expert, but I read that it has better lubricating properties than 5w at cold temperatures, and it doesn't thin out quite so much at operating temperature. The latter is important for higher mileage engines, which most of ours are. I specifically stayed away from 10w30 and 5w30 Mobil one as it has a reputation for thinning out to more like a 20 weight oil at operating temp.
If anecdotal evidence is anything to go by, using 0w30 Mobil one in my 200k mile LT1 made idle oil pressure drop to 7-8 PSI. Went to 10w40 and it helped out quite a bit.
No reason to use something heavier than recommended. My truck has 190k and 40-50psi hot oil pressure all day long with dino 5w30.
Again, I'm not an oil expert, but I chose the 0w40 Mobil one based on UOA results at BITOG, especially since Mobil one 5w30 and 10w30 are notorious for thinning out at operating temp. Probably a lot thinner than the dino 5w30 you're using. You might also notice that manufacturers also recommend a heavier grade oil for track duty. Not that we're always driving full throttle, but our cars certainly get flogged regularly.
Again, I'm not an oil expert, but I chose the 0w40 Mobil one based on UOA results at BITOG, especially since Mobil one 5w30 and 10w30 are notorious for thinning out at operating temp. Probably a lot thinner than the dino 5w30 you're using. You might also notice that manufacturers also recommend a heavier grade oil for track duty. Not that we're always driving full throttle, but our cars certainly get flogged regularly.
M1 0w-40 is manufactured to meet very demanding Eurospecs and is one of the best oils out there for LS1 duty. Definitely better than the other M1 grades for our cars. I'd use it but I got tired of shelling out the big bucks for full synthetics years ago.
Again, I'm not an oil expert, but I chose the 0w40 Mobil one based on UOA results at BITOG, especially since Mobil one 5w30 and 10w30 are notorious for thinning out at operating temp. Probably a lot thinner than the dino 5w30 you're using. You might also notice that manufacturers also recommend a heavier grade oil for track duty. Not that we're always driving full throttle, but our cars certainly get flogged regularly.
precisely.
it's the opinion of some that the Mobil 1 0w40 is the next best thing to GC.
the idea for the 0w40 grade for Mobil 1 is that Mobil 1 tends to be on the lighter side and GC was a heavy 0w30 and therefore a good match for the LS.
While doing an oil change today I found some oil shavings stuck on the filler plug magnet. I know some metal fuzz is normal but this is more than I've ever seen before. Besides the obligatory LS1 piston slap, there's no noise coming from the motor. Oil pressure is very healthy too: 40 PSI at idle and 60ish going down the road. 84000 miles on the clock.
Now the question is, do I go ahead with the 0w40 Mobil one I was going to use or should I use a heavier grade like 20w50 or 15w50 since these shavings could've come from the bearings?
Shavings stuck to the magnet are not from bearings, Bearings are not magnetic. That's ALOT of material IMO most likely places that would come from is the cam-lifters-rockers-valve tips or timing chain-sprockets. I've owned many LS cars and never seen anything like that on my magnets.
Shavings stuck to the magnet are not from bearings, Bearings are not magnetic. That's ALOT of material IMO most likely places that would come from is the cam-lifters-rockers-valve tips or timing chain-sprockets. I've owned many LS cars and never seen anything like that on my magnets.
I'll have to agree and say that my A4 car has 152k of which I've put on 120k. I've always changed my own oil but I've never seen anything like that. Same with our G8 at 50k.
The other two LS1 Firebirds I've owned have been occasional use cars, but I have not seen the likes of this in the 5-6 oil changes I've done on them.
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Metal particles in engine oil 
