Can I use standard 5W30 Pennzoil in the H3?

[Mike E]

I know this may be a stupid question for most but do I have to run synthetic in the H3? The dealer said they use synthetic but I always used Pennzoil motor oil in my other cars and was fine. When I looked at the quart it didn't say anything about meeting the GM "standards" but it did have the star on front that it meets the petrolium blah blah blah..

Any info is appreciated. Thanks.

[Mike E]

I know this may be a stupid question for most but do I have to run synthetic in the H3? The dealer said they use synthetic but I always used Pennzoil motor oil in my other cars and was fine. When I looked at the quart it didn't say anything about meeting the GM "standards" but it did have the star on front that it meets the petrolium blah blah blah..

Any info is appreciated. Thanks.

[nmikes]

The dealership I have been using uses pennzoil nonsynthetic oil. They are of the opinion if you change your oil regularly at 3K miles it doesn't matter. I think if you are going to change your oil based on the oil monitor it might be a good idea to use synthetic, but there are other threads regarding this subject where people that know more about it than I do comment. You might want to check those threads out.

[Mike E]

Thanks! I did a search and read some on it. It does seem more of opionion. I did go with the new synthetic pennzoil since I will use the oil monitor system and thats what the dealer originally used. A few bucks more but what the heck.

[nmikes]

oh yeah one last thing, heard it from the dealer so take it as you will... said if you want to use synthetic you should run a few thousand miles of the dinasour bones through it first for breaking in. They said that if you start out with synthetic, your engine may never break in... sounds a little out there, but hell what do I know.

[f5fstop]

Engine is not shipped with synthetic oil, engine does not require synthetic oil, good old fashioned dyno oil is used for both.
Just make sure, the oil used meets or exceeds the GM spec as listed in the owner's manual. For the H3 it is GM Standard GM6094M, GM's synthetic oil standard is GM4718M, which exceeds GM6094M.
As for when to start using synthetic...you want to see some fights, bring this subject up in a meeting with some engine heads.
Many will say that synthetic is too slippery to allow the rings to set, therefore, run dyno for a few thousand miles, then switch to synthetic. Some will say it makes no difference due to the heat, friction from new rings against a cross-hatched cylinder wall, and synthetic will allow rings to seat.
GM does ship all Northstars, LS series engine (Corvettes) and most turbocharged engine (Cobalt/Saturn Redline, etc.) with synthetic right out of the plant and there appears to be no ring setting problems. (LS engine were noted in the past to burn oil, but that was fixed in later years with new designed rings.)
I changed to synthetic at 2000 miles for two reasons.
One, get that break-in oil out, and from then on, go with the oil light.
Two, I have more synthetic oil on the rack than most auto parts stores due to a two-for-one sale I came across a year ago while living in TN. So it cost me $15.00 (plus Mobil 1 filter) to put synthetic in the H3. If I had not had cases of this stuff, I would have used a good grade of regular dyno oil.
Only thing I caution against is making sure to run oil that meets or exceeds GM's requirement since the oil life system relies on this grade to correctly monitor the oil system. Using oil that does not meet or exceed this requirement will make the oil life system inaccurate.

[Mike E]

f5fstop, thank you for the great information. Simply awesome. So I just grabbed one of the quarts i used in the garage and here's what is says about meeting requirements. Keep in mind it is Pennzoil Platinum Protection full synthetic 5W30.

"Meets or exceeds requirements of ILSAC GF-4, API SM and previous API standards, GM 4718M and other GM, Ford and Chrysler service and factory fill requirements."

So I assume that it's ok to run. I ran the original oil in the H3 (from the factory) for 3K miles and then had the dealer change it. They used synthetic. So I just changed it for the second time last night (plan to run it at least 5K miles or use the oil change monitor) with the Pennzoil.

What are your thoughts?

[boomer]

if you use reg.5-30 oil in one hummer and synthetic in another, will the oil change senser in the hummer with synthetic come on later than hummer with reg. oil?

[Planohummer]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by boomer:
if you use reg.5-30 oil in one hummer and synthetic in another, will the oil change senser in the hummer with synthetic come on later than hummer with reg. oil? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

NO. The oil light is based on a series of calculations--it doesn't physically monitor the oil.

[f5fstop]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Planohummer:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by boomer:
if you use reg.5-30 oil in one hummer and synthetic in another, will the oil change senser in the hummer with synthetic come on later than hummer with reg. oil? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

NO. The oil light is based on a series of calculations--it doesn't physically monitor the oil. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

[f5fstop]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Mike E:
f5fstop, thank you for the great information. Simply awesome. So I just grabbed one of the quarts i used in the garage and here's what is says about meeting requirements. Keep in mind it is Pennzoil Platinum Protection full synthetic 5W30.

"Meets or exceeds requirements of ILSAC GF-4, API SM and previous API standards, GM 4718M and other GM, Ford and Chrysler service and factory fill requirements."

So I assume that it's ok to run. I ran the original oil in the H3 (from the factory) for 3K miles and then had the dealer change it. They used synthetic. So I just changed it for the second time last night (plan to run it at least 5K miles or use the oil change monitor) with the Pennzoil.

What are your thoughts? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Good oil, meets the spec...no problems.