Chevy & GMC Vans

I'm a bit low on oil, and due to the current financial situation, even if the entire family pitched in, we couldn't afford enough oil for an oil change, so I'm still using the same oil from when we got the van in February. It's a tick low (low meaning not as full as it could possibly be), and I don't like that. However, I don't know anything about the current oil except for the fact that it was still golden last time I checked. I wanna add some oil, but I heard that if you mix synthetic and non-synthetic, it has some nasty results. How do I determine what it is?

I can taste the difference...

But for real, top it off for now.

LOLz, Jim

Chances are it is regular oil most people will not drop $70 worth of oil into a 20 year old van. The new synthetics are so good that if you put some regular oil in it will not make a difference. Just buy the cheapest oil on the shelf you only need half a litre to go from the add mark to the full.

As long as it's in the hashed area on the dipstick you're fine. Synthetic oil is fully compatible with non-synthetic.

By the sounds of it, it doesn't need to be changed yet, but how much does it cost there? Here it's about $10 for a jug of oil and about $7 for a filter. Less if you buy in bulk.

I was only gonna change it because I didn't know what it was and I heard mixing oil was bad...

Anyway, oil here isn't that expensive, it's just that we're having trouble with the reccession that is still in nearly full force around here.

Here's a simple truth.........any oil is better than no oil. Oil is far cheaper than an engine rebuild.

I topped off the oil with some from Dollar General.

No worries now.

This is an old post but I had to chime in - We regularly toss in a quart of synthetic or synthetic blend to the standard change charge on higher mileage vehicles - something about the synthetic swells the piston rings a bit and helps compression

I haven't heard that before. I've changed my oil since I started this thread (Valvoline 10w-30), but next time I do a change I think I'll give fully synthetic oil a try.

JTalley wrote: but next time I do a change I think I'll give fully synthetic oil a try.

I would save your money. About the time you buy the expensive synthetic, you'll have my luck and something will break!

JTalley wrote:I haven't heard that before. I've changed my oil since I started this thread (Valvoline 10w-30), but next time I do a change I think I'll give fully synthetic oil a try.

If you can barely afford to top it up now, why blow extra $ on fully synth?!.....save the $ and put some pennzoil yellow bottle in there...a great conventional oil that will fulfill your requirements, everytime. I use Walmarts' Supertec brand ($14 for 5 qts!)in my van, I use the high mileage version with a NAPA gold filter