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This is an Ecotec engine so it has a cartridge oil filter, not a spin on canister filter. There is no such thing as a high performance filter for these engines just overpriced hype to bilk you out of more money. Other than the US made filters no one knows who makes the filter but just where they are made. The best filters are the AC Delco at Advance Auto (not from the dealer) made by Hengst USA, with the Purolator US filters next best and Champion Labs US filters below those. Foreign wise best to worst is from Western Europe(very rare), Poland (very nice but hard to find) , Korea (okay), Bulgaria (junk) and China (take a guess).
Note that there have been several different oil filter caps since the Ecotec was introduced. A replacement AC Delco cap is $16 at the dealer ($8 at Rock Auto) and includes the o ring and a new Hengst USA filter (shelf stock filter seems to be the cheapest bid of the week like many auto store filters) as well.
Keep in mind that the oil level will read differently because oil will drain out of the oil filter housing back into the oil pan after a while. Sitting over night the engine should read at Max and hot it will read a notch or two low so do not add oil. Ecotecs rarely use oil so but do not have an oil level warning sensor so do check the levels.
Some synthetic oils will cause noise issues that simply do not occur with other oils. Mobil 1 is bad about this problem on some Ecotecs and will cause noises that point to a weak timing chain tensioner. Changing oils can fix these noise problems.
Not sure if the F Body of that era used it but GM used what they called an auxiliary battery post which attaches the battery positive to the main fuse panel. A single jam nut on a plastic mounted zinc bolt is all that connects everything except for the starter and the alternator. Loose or corroded connection causes major heatup and melted plastic with major or no power issues. There is a Caprice forum with the how to fix procedure if this is the case.
Check for a leaky fuel pressure regulator. Use a clear piece of tubing and attach it to the FPR. Try to keep a vacuum on it for several minutes and watch for a slug of gas coming from the FPR. A leaky FPR will not usually set any DTC on a GM engine and the hot restart problem is the beginning of this problem.
Quoted From Moose:
I think it’s actually made by Conoco-Phillips, so the base oil is fine at least, you just don’t know what additives are in it. It’s probably not much different from other “house brand” motor oils really.
If it is made by Conoco-Phillips it is either the Motorcraft/Trop-Artic synthetic or the Kendall synthetic with Ti. Both oils are good oils on par with Havoline/Chevron oils and an excellent buy at $2.99 a quart. Many generic or rebranded oils are bottled by a few companies so do not worry about it. A WPP or WNE on the bottom of the bottle means it is bottled by Warren Performance Products which is a big blender/bottler for Walmart and Exxon Mobil also bottles a lot of oil for the generic and house brand labels (ie “fat mouth” Walmart Supertech oils).
Quoted From Moose:
“Liberty Gold” motor oil and “Bullsye” have been reported to be the two worst motor oils for sale in the United States. I’ve seen a report somewhere that neither of them meet acceptable standards for motor oil. I’ve seen Bullseye for sale around here in convienence stores for nearly $6/quart…
These are the oils that people should be worried about. Here north of Dayton I have seen these oils sold for $1.99 to $3 with name brand oils going for $5-6 a quart so sadly people are going to buy these oils and mess up their engines. People interest on details of these bad oils should check out http://www.pqiamerica.com for more info. Note that this site does not play favorites, it simply checks to make sure that the motor oils meet the specs which they are sold under (ie SN,SJ, etc) and that they are not no additive “flush” or “cutting” oils.
Do check out Bob is the Oil Guy forums (aka bitog) for any oil info. Used oil analysis is a great way to tell the condition and find problems with any engine. Want to know if your GM 3100/3400 lower intake manifold gasket is starting to leak 10-15-20k miles before you could find it normally (or it trashes the engine). Do an used oil analysis. Want to know if there are bearing wear problems or problems with the PCV system. Do an used oil analysis.
Fuel in the oil is an older problem that nearly had disappeared but has returned with a vengeance. The auto makers have rushed into production the direct injection gas engines without properly testing them so the public are the “beta” testers. The biggest problem is fuel dilution in the oil so bad that 4% by 5k miles is common unless driven 90% or more on the highway. Short trip UOAs are a nightmare on these engines. Also without fuel “washing” the stem of the intake valves deposit buildup is a problem similar to worn intake valve guides/seals on older cars. Toyota and Audi are using an “extra” injector or two to supply some gas into the intake at low speeds to clean the intake valves on newer designs.
Is the valve cover/timing cover leaking? This is a common source of oil leaks but is usually changed out when the timing chain/water pump/head gasket set is changed out.
These engines do not have a PCV valve system. It is called an air-oil separator and the box and hoses can get sludged up on some cars. Then the engine will suddenly burn about 1qt of oil every 3-400 miles. These parts have been obsoleted by GM for years so be carefully when taking the separator box and hoses apart because you will have to get a junkyard replacement if you break the box.
Do not trust the oil level light on the dash; check the oil level manually at every gas fillup. This is because the low oil level light will come on at 1 1/2 quart low on an engine that barely holds 4 qts. 1 qt low is enough to starve the rod bearings on cornering which is why the rod bearings spin and sometimes have a rod through the side of the block (usually #3 for some reason).
GM side post batteries are well known to have corrosion problems inside the cables as well as at the ground and positive attachement points and this is a major problem on GM FWDs. Also do not forget to check out the positive cable from the battery to the underhood fuse panel and well as the main body ground from the negative cable. A slightly loose or corroded connection here will cause starter issues. Remove the side post bolts from the battery cables and either slide off or cut off the rubber boots to check for corrosion there.
Be very careful about using these memory saver devices. It is possible for the airbags to deploy in some cases from using these devices. Learn how to disable the airbag(s) on the vehicle or at least stay clear of the airbags while using a memory saver.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CR32Lpt623M
It is the video where Realfixesrealfast shows how to troubleshoot a no code misfire on a Ford modular V-8. You will probably need a scan tool that can read mode $06 data to have any luck with finding this problem.
The Mazda 3 is a terrible design of a cartridge filter. Two separate O-rings that must be replaced on a trash can style filter that is a mess to because there is no drain and leaks if anything was done wrong. IIRC the same year Ford Focuses used a spin on canister filter and it was very easy to convert back to the nicer spin on by changing out the oil filter mount.
The Ecotec filter is a nice design. A bit of oil leakage on pulling the cartridge out but very nicely done even considering the filter and cap was redesigned early on. I would have wished that GM had gone to a toilet paper style thick media bypass filter but it is still better than many other cartridge filters overall.
You are only suppose to loosen those plugs about 60 degrees then pull the plug out. It is common to have to use a pair of pliers to pull the plug out and if you are unlucky the entire plug will come flying out and shoot coolant straight at you. You can buy a new drain plug if needed at the dealer or at the auto parts store.
Ditto on double checking any recent engine work. The early Ecotecs had a major flaw with the timing chain (poorly designed timing chain oiler nozzle that liked to clog caused the chain to stretch and break plus much rarer was a timing chain tensioner spring that liked to break) so engine swapouts are very common on these cars. Check the fuel rail and the fuel rail quick disconnects. Also the Ecotec has the vacuum line from the fuel pressure regulator hooked up to the air intake resonator on top of the throttle body. If the fuel pressure regulator is leaking (which tends to be common on GM cars) the car will run rich, be able to smell gas inthe cabin and at the exhaust but may not set any troublecodes. The EVAP system will set a code within a few days for impossible to find problems so he would have a P0440 if there was any EVAP system leak that you could smell.
You will need an aftermarket (not from GM) upper intake plenum kit plus you absolutely should change out the lower intake manifold gasket (from GM which is the best) and the coolant elbows at the same time (some kits include these).
A compression test might be in order after all of these has happened. It is common to blow a head gasket or even hydrolock a piston and bending a rod on the rear two cylinders.
FYI since these upper intake plenums are made from plastic there should be a month and year date molded in somewhere which will tell you if the plenum had been changed out. GM plenum replacements are inferior to the aftermarket plenums. Ditto on the comments not the use Dexcool especially the green “mix with any color” coolant. If it has 2-EHA or sodium hexanate or something along those lines then it is what is known as Dexclone (unlicensed Dexcool).
Quoted From jerryandcora:
Are you saying it should be warmer in the rear of the cat if it is operating normally?
Yes. A proper working cat will always be warmer at the rear once the engine has warmed up and the cat is above the “light off” temperature internally. Also a cat that is plugged can still be warmer at the rear as well if the precious metals are still working so an exhaust backpressure tester (ie a 18mm threaded to a vacuum line adapter hooked to a fuel pressure gauge) is needed as well.
In the above case I highly doubt that either cat on the Honda was plugged. Some cars can kick out a P0420 with only a few percent loss of cat efficiency. The the P0420 test is very sensitive on many makes/models and will kick out a code quite easily.
Note that any exhaust leak between from the exhaust manifold gaskets to the new cat gasket can cause O2 to be introduced into the exhaust stream causing the a P0420.
Ditto to everything written above.
Check both sides of the rotors for what is called thickness variation or TV. Pad outline imprints are a common cause of TV. Many times this can happen when stopping at a stop light/sign after driving at high speeds.
There is a wealth of info at the http://www.stoptech.com website in the technical info section. I would read through this site to troubleshoot disc brake problems.