'13 GMC Sierra

woodbutcher

Well-known Member
I changed the oil for the second time since I bought this pickup. The manual says it should hold 6 quarts with a filter change. So, I poured in five and a half quarts and cranked it up. Then I killed it and checked the oil. The stick showed half quart low. So, I poured in the other half quart. Sure enough, when I checked the oil, it's over by what looks like a half quart. I hate to pull the drain plug and make a mess, but I tried putting some clear surgical tubing down the dipstick tube, and I can't get it into the crankcase sump. Has anybody else found a way to siphon excess oil?
Butch
 
I have had to remove excess oil from a few cars when I had the dealer do them. I have some small stiffer plastic tube I found that I can get down them and then use my mighty vac hand vacume pump and suck it out. But these were not long dipsticks either.
You can loosen the plug and then I bet till you get it back in or drop it you can start all over refilling it again ! LOL.
 
The oil was cold the first time you pulled the dipstick, so there was still a pint up in the engine. The second time you pulled it, the oil was warmer and so it made it back to the pan.

I wouldn't sweat a half-quart over-full. Better than half a quart low.
 
5W30 Castrol comes in many flavors. Some are Dexos-certified and some are not. If your empty oil containers don't have a Dexos label on them, you would be well advised to schedule another oil change in the near future. Most semi and full synthetics are Dexos-2.
 
Before you get too excited you might check to see if your dipstick is correct for that engine. Half the 3.7 V6 engines Dodge put out have the wrong dipstick in them. Maybe Chevy's quality control is just as bad.

If the manual shows 6 quarts and that's what you added I wouldn't short it now.
 
I had my oil changed on my 2011 Silverado at the dealer . They used dexos like it called for . The next week I took it to the tire store and they put tires on and changed oil again by mistake. They put castrol ( not dexos).'i read the owners manual and it recommends dexos, but if not available a good grade of regular oil will do. The next change I will go back to the dexos oil. Tommy
 
One thing to consider is the thermo expansion of the oil when hot. I would not sweat it one bit
 
I wouldn't sweat it for one oil change. If the owner wants to, he can buy some Dexos oil, make a copy of his receipt, and then take the oil back and get his money back. If the engine would crap out, he could say that he put Dexos in it. Technically, Dexos IS needed for the warranty, but the real reason that GM went to a Dexos oil is to get money...and lots of it. See, every time you buy a quart of Dexos oil, GM gets some royalty money from it. While other automakers like Porsche and Ferrari have an oil spec that's needed for warranty, they are not collecting royalties from the oil manufacturers. GM is doing a money-grab that, in my opinion, needs to be stopped.
I will admit that Dexos is a slightly better rated oil than non-Dexos, but the increase is minimal.
 
My book on my 2013 doesn't say that, so I have to assume his doesn't either. It specs dexos1. Now it does say you can use thinner oils in the winter, and gives the grades, but not a spec for the oil.
 
As I said below - Irrelevant! Spec calls for dexos, dexos should be in it. GM will void the warranty if dexos is NOT used, and its within the laws of the MM Act. Would you expect a dealer to replace an engine if it blew within the warranty period if you went by the book, yes. Should they if you didn't, no!
 
Magnuson-Ross does not apply here. There are many oils that are Dexos certified, and most are reasonably priced. The majority are NOT GM products.

The real point isn't so much whether or not the use of a non-Dexos oil voids the warranty. The point is that GM determined that current API certification levels were not good enough to give adequate engine life in their engines. At today's prices for trucks and replacement engines, it's false economy to save a few bucks on an oil change, when a better oil will give you longer engine life.
 
One thing I wonder is if there were engine problems - how would the dealer determine if or when someone used non-Dexos oil in it? I know if had non-Dexos oil in one and experienced engine issues that would be the first thing I would do - change to a Dexos oil, then take to the dealer. I do own a 2011 Silverado, and I have used Dexos oil in it from day one, however it is VERY likely I will move to the oil I use in everything else once the warranty is out on my truck. I think half the issue with those engines is the AFM that is on my engine, and GM started requiring this to help with those issues. I have wondered many times if I had engine issues if the dealer asked me to prove I used Dexos oil how I would be able to prove, since I purchase my own oils and do my own changes (I will not pay a dealer to change my oil, and nearest dealer is an hour away anyhow and I am rarely in that area during their business hours). I am sure the Dexos oil is fine, but is it indeed better than what I normally run in my other vehicles? BTW, I installed a device to disable AFM on my truck, and it was money well spent as far as I am concerned......better power, and fuel economy with all 8 running all the time, and it got rid of the downshifting all the time when it switches over to V4 mode. I only wish I had purchased a non-afm 6.2 engine instead of the 5.3 at the time, as in 2011 the 6.2 did not have the AFM.
 
Dealer told me, if I wanted to do my own changes, keep the receipts! (Most any place now will show the oil type/brand/etc. on it.)Write the mileage on it when it was changed, etc. Anything that will cover you is good enough. But I live like 9 miles from my dealer, and the only charge me 40 bucks to change the oil and rotate the tires, so it cost almost as much for me to do it myself, so why get my hands dirty. I saw this: Guy was in the dealership not long ago, like 3 months ago, raising all king of sand about how he had been changing his own oil, etc., etc. and how his extended GM warranty should pay for the engine in his car. (I dont know what was wrong with it) I watch the tech take a sample from the oil pan, wipe off the container, and put it in a small box, hand it to the parts guy and told him to send it out for sampling. When they called me back I asked the service manager what they were doing with that sample. He said they were sending it out to check several things in it, and to see if it was dexos oil or not. I dont know if he was just saying that or what, but hes been doing that job, at that dealership for at least 30 years now, so I dont think he was lying about it.
 
It is very likely they analyze the oil before replacing the engine, even though the oil may not have actually caused the failure, and sometimes I believe they may use any excuse to avoid replacing an engine. I do not mind paying extra for Dexos rated oil - if (very big if) I am buying better oil, and my engine will live longer. But I am having a hard time swallowing that Dexos oil will indeed make my truck engine live longer. I drive a 1998 model 4 cylinder car for my daily driver, it has over 250,000 miles on it, runs like a new one, and I have been putting the "Super Tech" oil from Wal-Mart (Warren oil) as long as I have owned it, changing every 4,000 miles. Prior to that I also used this oil on several vehicles with absolutely no issues. I fully expect the engine in my driver to reach 400,000 miles (maybe more) and I have no plan on switching oils any time soon. It is VERY likely my 2011 Silverado will get that same oil when the warranty expires on it unless someone convinces me paying extra for a rating on the jug give me a superior product which will in fact extend my engine life. An oil change with 5 quarts of the Super Tech oil and a filter cost is roughly $16, so it is hard for me to justify paying someone $40 and the inconvenience of driving somewhere, and waiting for something I can do in 20 minutes myself for less cost. Where I live, it is simply much more convenient and costs less to do it myself, and I have no issue washing up after, and knowing it is (most important) done right. I have seen many times where some of those 900 lb gorillas who change oil nearly strip the threads on the drain, or filters and I end up driving a screwdriver through it to remove a filter. Hopefully I do not have to prove to someone I purchased Dexos rated oil, as it will be difficult to produce a receipt where I purchases the oil I put in my Silverado a few weeks ago as I purchased several 5 quart jugs of it on sale a few years ago and just now exhausted those, so it is impossible to prove that the oil I put in my truck was purchased 3 years ago, much less that it even went into my truck. But my 2011 pickup only has a little over 25,000 miles on it now, so I will run out of warranty due to time rather than miles.
 
Wow! I traded in a 2009 with the 5.3. When did they start using the AFM in all the 5.3 engines?
Butch
 
I bought the LS with the simplex pushrod 4.8 V8, none of the fancy stuff. Great engine. Previous truck was a Dodge Hemi and it had the 8-4. I will say that it was hard to detect the difference but I never paid much attention to downshifting as most roads are reasonably flat around here. I am very happy with the performance of this engine. Plenty of power and twice the MPG of what I got back in the 80's for example on a bigger, more comfortable truck. Had it 4 1/2 years now and I have to take it back to the dealer annually............for Texas vehicle inspection. I trust him! Other than that twice more for wiring harness repair that the squirrels thought they'd redesign.
 

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