Fluid Changes

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

animal

Super Moderator
Staff member
Super Moderator
Joined
Jul 30, 2010
Posts
5,625
Reaction score
3,899
Location
Georgia
First Name
Lee
Truck Year
1986
Truck Model
c10 silverado
Engine Size
350ish
Where do you buy the Mobile 1 15w50? I have not noticed it in any of my local stores. But I also hadn't looked for it because I didn't know it existed.
You can pick it up at Joe's
 

TX87R10

Full Access Member
Joined
Jun 25, 2020
Posts
1,094
Reaction score
2,291
Location
Texas
First Name
Txr10
Truck Year
1987
Truck Model
R10
Engine Size
305
I'm assuming you have had the valve covers off and have verified that the oil drain back holes are clear?
Do what now? Gave me a new project I wish that was it
 

Goldie Driver

Full Access Member
Joined
Mar 19, 2018
Posts
4,049
Reaction score
6,655
Location
Houston, Texas
First Name
Britt
Truck Year
1980
Truck Model
GMC K1500 Suburban
Engine Size
350
My understanding is 0w is "thicker" than 5w
Not sure I follow since the higher the number, the greater the viscosity. 10W30 is thicker than 5W30 at low temps as the small number is the "winter" rating and both equal at the high temp side. 10W40 thicker still at high temps, etc etc. Gear oil is in its own class of numbers and so 90W is not 3 times thicker than 30W motor oil.

Misc info : Toyota recommends 0W16 on some of their new engines. Sewing machine oil ...

:oops:
 

bucket

Super Moderator
Staff member
Super Moderator
Joined
Aug 3, 2010
Posts
30,615
Reaction score
28,847
Location
Usually not in Ohio
First Name
Andy
Truck Year
'77, '78, '79, '84, '88
Truck Model
K5 thru K30
Engine Size
350-454
Do what now? Gave me a new project I wish that was it

If the oil drain back holes in the heads are clogged with sludge or burned oil crud, the oil can collect around the valves and exaggerate a leaky valve seal issue.
 

gmbellew

Full Access Member
Joined
May 27, 2018
Posts
1,239
Reaction score
1,327
Location
Kansas city
First Name
glen
Truck Year
1990
Truck Model
suburban 1500
Engine Size
350
If the oil drain back holes in the heads are clogged with sludge or burned oil crud, the oil can collect around the valves and exaggerate a leaky valve seal issue.

I am assuming I can clean them with a pipe cleaner or one of those stiff brushes meant to clean out straws if the crud isn't too hard?
 

bucket

Super Moderator
Staff member
Super Moderator
Joined
Aug 3, 2010
Posts
30,615
Reaction score
28,847
Location
Usually not in Ohio
First Name
Andy
Truck Year
'77, '78, '79, '84, '88
Truck Model
K5 thru K30
Engine Size
350-454
I am assuming I can clean them with a pipe cleaner or one of those stiff brushes meant to clean out straws if the crud isn't too hard?

A flat screwdriver and a vacuum cleaner works well. The ones I've dealt with had the hard, chunky type crud usually.
 

TX87R10

Full Access Member
Joined
Jun 25, 2020
Posts
1,094
Reaction score
2,291
Location
Texas
First Name
Txr10
Truck Year
1987
Truck Model
R10
Engine Size
305
If the oil drain back holes in the heads are clogged with sludge or burned oil crud, the oil can collect around the valves and exaggerate a leaky valve seal issue.
If this ends up relieving my truck smoking like a freigth train on cold starts in anyway whatsoever I will doordash you some booze or something
 

bucket

Super Moderator
Staff member
Super Moderator
Joined
Aug 3, 2010
Posts
30,615
Reaction score
28,847
Location
Usually not in Ohio
First Name
Andy
Truck Year
'77, '78, '79, '84, '88
Truck Model
K5 thru K30
Engine Size
350-454
If this ends up relieving my truck smoking like a freigth train on cold starts in anyway whatsoever I will doordash you some booze or something

Lol, it probably isn't clogged up, but it's very easy to check.
 

TX87R10

Full Access Member
Joined
Jun 25, 2020
Posts
1,094
Reaction score
2,291
Location
Texas
First Name
Txr10
Truck Year
1987
Truck Model
R10
Engine Size
305
Lol, it probably isn't clogged up, but it's very easy to check.
I'd bet a dollar it is actually... I need to change the PCV valve anyway and it would be good to get in there and just double check everything under the covers and get a new gasket installed. Truck is running great and some days it's smoke free but some days it's embarrassing how smokey it will be on startup.
 

Hunter79764

Full Access Member
Joined
Sep 1, 2021
Posts
344
Reaction score
536
Location
Grand Prairie, TX
First Name
Shawn
Truck Year
1987
Truck Model
Suburban V20
Engine Size
350
Apparently the vapor from a high pressure leak can be flammable, but other than that, it's hard to make it burn. Putting hydraulic oil on a bonfire is almost like putting water on it.
If you get it hot enough, it will burn... We had a pretty big fire at one of our locations, a hydraulic press that was for hot forming steel burst a hose and caught fire when it hit the red hot steel. Brand new machine, I think it was a 2000 ton press? Some quick thinking shut it down, and the fire damage was thankfully minimal. Most of the stuff there was heat resistant, for obvious reasons.
 

Bextreme04

Full Access Member
Joined
May 13, 2019
Posts
4,464
Reaction score
5,630
Location
Oregon
First Name
Eric
Truck Year
1980
Truck Model
K25
Engine Size
350-4bbl
If you get it hot enough, it will burn... We had a pretty big fire at one of our locations, a hydraulic press that was for hot forming steel burst a hose and caught fire when it hit the red hot steel. Brand new machine, I think it was a 2000 ton press? Some quick thinking shut it down, and the fire damage was thankfully minimal. Most of the stuff there was heat resistant, for obvious reasons.
Military aircraft and Main battle tanks use a special kind of hydraulic fluid called... Fire resistant hydraulic fluid. The stuff we used in the tanks used a chemical to reduce the flammability that also acts as a paralytic, so if you had a bunch of it on your hands for a prolonged amount of time it would make your hands start to go numb. I had a drill sergeant that was a tanker and had a hydraulic line pop a leak while they were shooting gunnery. It sprayed hot hydraulic fluid on his face and in his eye and gave him a permanent lazy eye and a nice burn scar on that side of his face.

This is a representative example, maybe not the same... but close. The stuff we used had a huge warning on the side about it being a paralytic and to not drink it (probably there for the Marines ;))
https://santiemidwest.com/mil-prf-8...MIgua7lY6siAMV5c3CBB2GDjimEAYYAiABEgJv9PD_BwE
 

Hunter79764

Full Access Member
Joined
Sep 1, 2021
Posts
344
Reaction score
536
Location
Grand Prairie, TX
First Name
Shawn
Truck Year
1987
Truck Model
Suburban V20
Engine Size
350
Makes sense, come to think of it, we were challenged/instructed to switch to an oil that was less flammable after that incident. Pretty sure we switched everything over, and as soon as any machine needed service, they probably just went back to regular straight hydraulic fluid... But we weren't headed for a warzone and/or 30,000 feet either.

On the tongue in cheek topic of oil changes, my favorite vehicle to change by far is my motorhome. It has the 8.1, fairly known for oil consumption, I'm usually burning less than a quart per 1000, and it's a 10qt sump. So basically I run it until it shows low on the dipstick (which is 3 qts low), then slide under (no jack required), put a new massive filter and dump 2 jugs of conventional 5w30 in and I'm good for another 3500-4000 miles. My last trip all across the southwest, fully loaded, and going through quite a few mountains, I actually only used about 1 1/2 qts in 3500 miles, so that was cool...
 

Bextreme04

Full Access Member
Joined
May 13, 2019
Posts
4,464
Reaction score
5,630
Location
Oregon
First Name
Eric
Truck Year
1980
Truck Model
K25
Engine Size
350-4bbl
Makes sense, come to think of it, we were challenged/instructed to switch to an oil that was less flammable after that incident. Pretty sure we switched everything over, and as soon as any machine needed service, they probably just went back to regular straight hydraulic fluid... But we weren't headed for a warzone and/or 30,000 feet either.

On the tongue in cheek topic of oil changes, my favorite vehicle to change by far is my motorhome. It has the 8.1, fairly known for oil consumption, I'm usually burning less than a quart per 1000, and it's a 10qt sump. So basically I run it until it shows low on the dipstick (which is 3 qts low), then slide under (no jack required), put a new massive filter and dump 2 jugs of conventional 5w30 in and I'm good for another 3500-4000 miles. My last trip all across the southwest, fully loaded, and going through quite a few mountains, I actually only used about 1 1/2 qts in 3500 miles, so that was cool...
I have just failed to fix the oil leak on my 350... so it acts as both a continuous oil change and a nice corrosion inhibitor to the underside and frame of the truck. Every couple weeks(depending on how much I'm driving it) I check the oil level and every 6 months to a year(or when I've used the entire 5qt jug of oil) I change the oil filter and rotate the tires... done.

Another war story.. we were shooting some practice target stuff at an old republican guard barracks that was turned into a range in Iraq in 2005 and one of the tanks fired a main gun round at a wall and then suddenly had a huge puff of mist come out of every hatch... quickly followed by the entire crew bailing out. The shock and movement over a period of time had caused one of the hydraulic lines to rub a pinhole against the turret cage while they were traversing the turret(which has the hydraulics active for stabilization and traversing) and it shot a fine mist of the hydraulic fluid out and filled the whole turret. The hydraulics on the M1 are running off the Turbine engine at something like 36 GPM flow rate at 3000PSI. Thankfully it stopped spraying when the gunner let go of the hydraulic engagement switch and bailed out. I was the mechanic that had to climb in there and try to figure out what happened... it was a hot mess in there. There was a fine film of hydraulic fluid on EVERYTHING and we had a hell of a time trying to figure out where it was coming from. We ended up having to start it back up and then quick click the hydraulics on and back off while looking for where the spray was coming from because the specific line that popped wasn't fed from the smaller aux pump that could be electrically switched on and off. Then it turned out to be pointless because, of course, we didn't have a replacement line out there in the boonies.
 

YakkoWarner

Full Access Member
Joined
May 29, 2024
Posts
188
Reaction score
252
Location
Central Texas
First Name
Wolf
Truck Year
1989
Truck Model
R2500 Suburban
Engine Size
454
If the oil drain back holes in the heads are clogged with sludge or burned oil crud, the oil can collect around the valves and exaggerate a leaky valve seal issue.

That could explain some of the very odd intermittant oil smoke I have gotten when running at highway speeds...not sure how hard removing the covers on mine will be (1989 a lot of "stuff" in the way compared to the 60's-70's engines) but could be worth a look....
 

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
44,414
Posts
956,953
Members
36,735
Latest member
rljohnson013
Top