Quote:
Originally Posted by Chef-j
Color has nothing to do oil life.
|
I would agree when running gas on a engine in good working order (doesn't burn oil, good rings, etc...) but in the 7 years of owning E85 capable vehicles, (2012 Ram, 2015 Sierra, 2006 Grand Marquis) the oil would turn darker, quicker than when running gas, and once it did turn color it would thin the oil out greatly. Oil consumption would go quickly at that point.
My 2015 Sierra (Gen3 5.3) was a lease and had the oil service included, and the dealer wouldn't change the oil any earlier than 6000 miles or when the OLM indicated it needed changed. I considered it to be the D.O.D., but that truck would use two quarts of oil between 5000 and 6000miles, but hardly any between 0-5000 when on E85. Strait gas and it would just use about a quart every 6000 miles.
A friend of mine works at the GM Milford Prooving Grounds in the R&D / Calibration Team and according to him, all of the GM OLM systems are just algorithms that don't actually measure anything with the oil, it is just a predictive system that looks at things like how much it idles, start / stop driving, etc.... so it really has no idea from one oil / fuel / weather conditions, etc... if the oil is holding up or not.
My Camaro I have done a lot of work to it, but am now running E85 and based on his advice have started using 15-50 Mobil1 as it is a oil that still has a fair amount of zinc in it, but the heavier weight should resist watering down. However it is not a daily driver and I anticipate changing it every 2000miles or so.
A point that is important, is if you run a lot of E85 and you plan on storing the car, it is advised to switch the vehicle to strait gas and then change the oil prior to storage to get all the watered down / contamination out.