What is the best engine oil for my aveo5?

[daug1502]

I agree with the second link bit rabbit, I only posted it to make a point that even the name brands had their flaws

Please don't tell me fram and motorcraft (Ford) are related, I have bad luck with fords. . .

[JPD]

Dear Forum, Happy New Year I'm looking for information about motor oil, I'm running an Aveo sedan 1.4l in Thailand. Does anyone know about the GM oils? The three options at the dealership are:
GM Tech S - 10W-30 Mineral - $17.5 - (3,100 miles)
GM Tech SS - 10W-30 Semi-synthetic - $30 (6,200 miles)
GM Tech SSS - 5W-40 Fully synthetic - $57 (6,200 miles)
All are 4 liters (4.2 US quarts).
I drive only around 6-7000 miles per year and the problem I have is that the synthetic is so much more than mineral - I could change the mineral thrice for less money.
From reading this thread I've gleaned that some synthetics may be mostly mineral - is this the case for GM Tech does anyone know?

[charlieb]

in north america conventional oil is made from group lll base stock.also sythetic oil that is made from group lll oil is super refined so that the molecules are more consistent(same small size) and this is considered synthetic.(penzoil,quacker state,castrol ect...)in europe the base stock must be group iv or group 5 made from ester or poly base oils.(castrol europe,amsoil,royal purple,)cant think of rest.but bobistheoilguy is a good website to read up on the difference.also aveos dont need synthetic if u change the oil often enough(its not a high revving porsche) that being said i only use group lll synthetic oils in all my vehicles (chev aveo/dodge ram 5.7l)just because it helps me sleep at nite.

[petrified.rabbit]

i've revved my aveo higher than a porsche?

what charlie says is good, as far as your example though JPD i am not sure about your market offerings, and such but if you only drive 6-7000 a year, i think moisture will be your biggest problem, I would choose a synthetic (maybe not the dealers options) and change it yearly. ircc i think there is even a time recommendation on synthetics, anyone?

[charlieb]

each manufacturer of oil has suggested time/milage intervals.biggest problem with short drives is moisture/fuel washdown.every time you drive car and it dosnt heat up to full temp you add moisture and raw fuel into the oil.this causes oil to absorbe and turn acidic.so dino oil they recomend 3 months and synthetics usually 6 months of short interval driving. amsoil is 1 that claims 1 year or 10k miles but they have 3 different kinds(3 different prices as well)

[Sidewinder]

I've been using synthetic and have been happy so far. I'm paying for the changes at the dealership just in case for warranty (they are actually the same price as most quick lubes) and the sticker is 10,000KMs from the change and I believe 6 months. I wanted to pipe in for the Oil Life Monitor guys though. According to the manual the oil may not need to be changed for over a year depending on your driving and oil, but the filter MUST be replaced yearly and therefore the oil. I'm beginning to question the validity of the oil life monitor though.

I've done some extensive research on it that frankly didn't make huge sense, but what I did understand was that it measures the point in which oil no longer provides lubrication against the friction, then adds 20% or so for safety. My concern has actually cropped up with my dad's Torrent GXP. The timing chain on the 3.6 is, according to the GM tech, oil cooled. Apparently because the oil life monitor does not trigger soon enough, the timing chain on the Torrent stretched and threw off the timing and damaged the top end. Not quite two years into the life of the Torrent and the engine basically was rebuilt under warranty. Now assuming that this is actually true (it was running like crap, but who knows) that means anyone who does not do the driving my dad does for sales will have a broken engine a few years from now.

How does this relate to the Aveo though? Well I just changed my oil when the oil light came on after 8 months since my last change, and when I did I noticed a SIGNIFICANT change in the way the engine ran after the change and I wonder if the interval is too long for my car as well.

Anyway, I apologize for going off on a long tangent, but I wanted to see what everyone thought about the length of time as well when it comes to the newer oil life monitors.

[petrified.rabbit]

i typically change my oil when the car feels "slow" its usually just before the "written" oil change interval and the first two or three times i changed the oil the light cam on right after i changed the oil. don't trust a light.

[aveosam]

5w 30 conventional oil and fram oil filter haven't let me down. I've gone 7000 miles on it before change. I try to do 3000 to 5000. I commute 2.5 hrs on the turnpike. I've beaten on the car daily since I got it in 04 and it is still running strong.

[SpeedshifterNC]

Im gonna go w aveosam..its an aveo folks and unless you're going to street/strip race the aveo(which doesnt make much sense...yet), go with conventional oil and filters, save your money, and spend it on something useful. On the flip side, if u are performance minded Ive chosen from research two well proven oils..Pennzoil Platinum 5w30 which can be used in colder climates..or if you're in a warmer climate(though I was told the actual weight was closer to a 5w30)..German Castrol 0w30 works well. I use the pennzoil in my turbo neon and the GC in my ls1 camaros

[NYChevoo]

I'm gonna throw this out there anyway. I've always used Pennzoil 10w-30 conventional dino oil with a PF47 AC Delco filter and changed my oil at every 3K or as close to that as I could. I've not always met that exact mark and sometimes have gone over by 500 to 1000 miles but now have 154K on the car. No tapping or ticking or anything like that.