That is nowhere near the worse I have seen but I would not expect that with full synthetic. I have never seen synthetic carbon up like that, not even at 200k. Have you own this since new? This is my motor at 48K no cleaning. Today with over 100k I would expect a wipe of a rag would make it look just like this.


The reason I switch to mobile one in the late 80’s was because I was working on a fleet Van. It had a big sign taped to the inside of the hood. “Mobile one ONLY”. The truck had 150K on it and was in for a blown headgasket due to a stuck thermostat. Normal 150k job means a lot of grim. In this case the motor was cleaner on the inside then the outside. A single wipe with a blue shop towel showed me gray cast iron with no stains. Rocker did not even need wiped. I probable added dirt by putting it in the parts cleaner to clean the outside of it.

 

Does not add up in my case. I have never gone beyond a ~4500 mi. service interval, so it has to be something else contributing, such as stop and go city driving, or driving it hard.

 

I bought the RS used 53,531 mi. in Aug-2008 -- any previous condition was unknown to me since this is the first time my engine has been opened up in my ownership. Previous owner was a college student, so you know what that could mean... so over half the current miles on the car are from this other owner.

So do you use Mobil 1 now exclusively on all your cars?

 

I use nothing but Mobil 1 in all of mine. If you look down the valve cover filler cap of my LT1 (106k miles), all you see on the heads is a nice golden oil color. Synthetic doesn't sludge up like that, unless you never change it. Quite possible your car saw nothing but cheap oil and infrequent changes before you got it.

 

Right now the 93z has the cheaper valvoline in it because I am fighing oil leaks. Once it is sorted out it will get mobil one. The 96 only had dino oil in it once since I put the motor in.My mechanic did an unrequested oil change during state inspection. He dumped out my 1000 mile M1 and put in quakerstate. I ran it 3k and switched it out.

Right now the wifes car is still under GMs care. Once the freebees are done that car will get Mobil one.

I would agree the above is a gift from the previous owner and should be covered under the warranty. They may require you to provide proof of oil changes. I had a guy one time that drove his new car until it locked up. (13,000 miles). He never even checked his oil and he admitted that to me on his first visit. Our service manger said he needed proof he changed his oil. He brought in 3 receipts for oil changes. They had nice spread out dates and the invoice numbers where in sequence. Service manager asked him if he was the only customer at this garage LOL.

 

I bet you anything that College Student could never be bothered to check or change his oil in that car. Probably ran all 55k miles in it until you got it.

As for which oil you choose to run in your car is up to you. I personally just get synthetic blend (High Mileage) any brand really. Valvoline, Castrol, etc...which ever is on sale. I never get non-name brand oil unless I know who makes it e.g. NAPA brand is valvoline. I can't justify spending double on Mobil 1 oil. I just don't see any benefits by doing this. If it makes you feel better putting more expensive oil in your car go for it. Just telling you what I do.

 

Because it's cheaper to use full synthetic compared to conventional oil. You can go twice as long between oil changes, which also means with conventional oil, you're buying two oil filters to only one when doing a synthetic oil change. Not to mention spending half the combined time doing oil changes for the same given amount of miles. On top of which, conventional oil can sludge up, synthetic does the opposite (cleans sludge).
Other than all of that, yeah no benefit at all!

 

Anyone have any experience cleaning their engine using these products like Gumout/Sea Foam you add to the crankcase? How many oil change cycles would I expect to need to clean the system? I will not pay to have the lifters replaced if my Ext. Warranty does not cover it, since it seems with longer cleaner product usage I many be able to get rid of the noise/power loss that way.

You searched for lifter - Sea Foam Sales Company

 

If you're the slightest bit mechanically inclined, you can dismantle the lifters and give them a good cleaning to start out fresh. And there they are, sitting on the bench ready to be helped. I've done that before, it's not very hard to do.

 

Of course I would, but the car is at the shop...