AC Delco PF 63 Oil Filter Anatomy

[AXE]

I changed oil on both my wife's 6.2 L Tahoe and ZR2 at 1500 miles. Here's what I've learned.

• Filter is constructed well with a lot of filter media.
• Oil was darker than expected for 1500 miles.
• Filter was doing its job well.
• Oil had a fair amount of gray sludge visible in drain pan from metal wear.
• Filter media had collected plenty of metal shavings deep in the pleats.
• I personally always change oil early first time and stand by that decision based on what I've seen here.
• Oil change is pretty clean and easy. Oil drains fast and well from drain plug. Filter will drain some on the sway bar and drive line support. Filter is set up in there and a little hard to access especially when hand tightening if you have big mitts.
• I love changing oil and cutting open filters.

 

[AXE]

The lighter filter media is from Tahoe and darker media is from ZR2. You can see the metal debris pretty easily.

 

[R I G]

This is awesome!

I'm a big supporter of the early first oil change. Always have been. Treat it will, it treats you well back.

Nice work.

 

[scubatech]

I did mine early at 1200 miles as well. I'll do it again at 4K. My oil was pretty clean & the filter was too, like your Tahoe. I hope this is a good sign moving forward. I do three fairly long road trips a year and I want to be able to trust this truck. It takes me a while to really believe in a new vehicle. I can only imagine having to call roadside assistance in the middle of nowhere and ruining the whole journey. I like this stuff too.

 

[AXE]

Just to be clear, the Tahoe filter looks cleaner cause it was drier after draining for two weeks on my workbench. The ZR2 filter was wet and only had 24 hours of drain time. Comparatively they were both the same.

My biggest concern was the metal sludge in the oil. Not because I think it was abnormal. However, It is suspended and not filterable. That means the oil cannot effectively put a barrier between wear surfaces. In my experience this could happen for a few oil changes, but should dissipate.

 

[MNNJR69]

This is awesome!

I'm a big supporter of the early first oil change. Always have been. Treat it will, it treats you well back.

Nice work.

Changed mine 1st time at 1750. I also believe in early oil changes.

 

[AXE]

Here are the Tahoe and ZR2 filters at 10k. Nothing really remarkable. Barley a couple small flakes visible in the deep filter pleats. Filters were drained for about 1 week+, filter media looked very clean. The Tahoe change was 5000 mile interval and the ZR2 was 2500 miles. Tahoe on left, ZR2 on the right.

 

[slicer]

My zr2 has 4500 miles and I haven't changed oil yet. Guess I better do it soon at the dealership (cuz its free).

 

[AXE]

My zr2 has 4500 miles and I haven't changed oil yet. Guess I better do it soon at the dealership (cuz its free).

Yep, it'll like be pretty dirty and the filter will have plenty of debris. You risk getting a plugged filter and then the bypass will open and it'll circulate dirty oil and increase wear.

 

[MNNJR69]

My zr2 has 4500 miles and I haven't changed oil yet. Guess I better do it soon at the dealership (cuz its free).

OH MY...... I can just hear the metal pieces snapping on the magnet.....

Congratulations on your new truck! I hope you enjoy it as much as all of us do. It's an extremely capable vehicle and has definitely outperformed my expectations. I am extremely happy with this truck!

I am an avid believer in frequent oil changes. It will extended the life of your engine quite significantly if you change your oil every 2k miles or so. Some even recommended every 1000- 1500 to really get the most out of an engine. Any engine!

I did my 1st oil change long before 2k. Others here have even done it before 1k. It gets all the break-in particles out.

I only use high quality brands of oil like Mobil 1 or Valvoline and only fully synthetic. I also use 1 q of fully synthetic Lucas oil stabilizer every change as well.

I have used Lucas in every vehicle I have owned and it has definitely improved the longevity of my engines. I'm not a salesperson for Lucas, I just firmly believe that the product does an outstanding job at protecting and extending the life of any engine whether it be a lawn mower or generator or diesel or gas. I paid cash from my truck and I want to protect that investment in the best way I can. I believe frequent oil changes are the number one maintenance item to extending and protecting the engine life.

When you take it in to get the oil changed, ask the tech if you can see the oil. Like @AXE said It's probably extremely dirty and full of the break-in metals which is horrible for your engine. That will definitely change your mind. Just be glad you didn't let it go longer.

I plan on having my transmission and transfer case done as well. Long before the recommended changes.

Don't take my word for it, just do the research yourself and you will find out just how important frequent oil changes are.

Welcome to the forum. There are a great bunch of fellas here and a plethora of invaluable information!

 

[ZR2NYC]

OH MY...... I can just hear the metal pieces snapping on the magnet.....

Congratulations on your new truck! I hope you enjoy it as much as all of us do. It's an extremely capable vehicle and has definitely outperformed my expectations. I am extremely happy with this truck!

I am an avid believer in frequent oil changes. It will extended the life of your engine quite significantly if you change your oil every 2k miles or so. Some even recommended every 1000- 1500 to really get the most out of an engine. Any engine!

I did my 1st oil change long before 2k. Others here have even done it before 1k. It gets all the break-in particles out.

I only use high quality brands of oil like Mobil 1 or Valvoline and only fully synthetic. I also use 1 q of fully synthetic Lucas oil stabilizer every change as well.

I have used Lucas in every vehicle I have owned and it has definitely improved the longevity of my engines. I'm not a salesperson for Lucas, I just firmly believe that the product does an outstanding job at protecting and extending the life of any engine whether it be a lawn mower or generator or diesel or gas. I paid cash from my truck and I want to protect that investment in the best way I can. I believe frequent oil changes are the number one maintenance item to extending and protecting the engine life.

When you take it in to get the oil changed, ask the tech if you can see the oil. Like @AXE said It's probably extremely dirty and full of the break-in metals which is horrible for your engine. That will definitely change your mind. Just be glad you didn't let it go longer.

I plan on having my transmission and transfer case done as well. Long before the recommended changes.

Don't take my word for it, just do the research yourself and you will find out just how important frequent oil changes are.

Welcome to the forum. There are a great bunch of fellas here and a plethora of invaluable information!

my thoughts exactly..well said

 

[AXE]

Did a 15k oil change on my wife's Tahoe 6.2L. There was 5000 miles on this change and the oil life was 33% in DIC.

Mobil 1 0W20 still looked and smelled good and color was brown/gold. This is after the hottest summer on record in Phoenix, where we broke 14 extreme heat records.

Cut the filter apart and inspected the media. It looked really clean. Only seen a couple tiny silver particles. Might be able to see one in this photo.

I noticed the design on the PF63 filter was changed again. It has more holes in the base for better flow characteristics, but seemed lighter and lower quality.

Sent an oil sample to Blackstone Labs for analysis, so I'll post it in my lab results thread when I get it back.

 

[ZR2NYC]

Did a 15k oil change on my wife's Tahoe 6.2L. There was 5000 miles on this change and the oil life was 33% in DIC.

Mobil 1 0W20 still looked and smelled good and color was brown/gold. This is after the hottest summer on record in Phoenix, where we broke 14 extreme heat records.

Cut the filter apart and inspected the media. It looked really clean. Only seen a couple tiny silver particles. Might be able to see one in this photo.

I noticed the design on the PF63 filter was changed again. It has more holes in the base for better flow characteristics, but seemed lighter and lower quality.

Sent an oil sample to Blackstone Labs for analysis, so I'll post it in my lab results thread when I get it back.

good info.

 

[MNNJR69]

Did a 15k oil change on my wife's Tahoe 6.2L. There was 5000 miles on this change and the oil life was 33% in DIC.

Mobil 1 0W20 still looked and smelled good and color was brown/gold. This is after the hottest summer on record in Phoenix, where we broke 14 extreme heat records.

Cut the filter apart and inspected the media. It looked really clean. Only seen a couple tiny silver particles. Might be able to see one in this photo.

I noticed the design on the PF63 filter was changed again. It has more holes in the base for better flow characteristics, but seemed lighter and lower quality.

Sent an oil sample to Blackstone Labs for analysis, so I'll post it in my lab results thread when I get it back.

Thanks for sharing! Looking forward to seeing the results

 

[AXE]

Changed oil on my 1500 ZR2 at 13,333ish miles and 500 engine hours. That's my new 3333 mile change interval......LOL. I've decided I like the look of the oil and the laboratory analysis just a little better, so three changes per 10k.

Oil looked pretty good and felt clean. I collected the oil in two 1 gallon distilled water jugs so I could pull a sample to send in. Also wanted to see if I had a full 8 quarts. I did add about 1/2 quart at 2500 miles, but it drained 8+ quarts out I use a little bit of oil, probably cause I run it through the gears in higher rpms occasionally. I noticed a little bit of light copper colored film on top of the oil. Didn't feel like much, not sure if it was contamination or air bubbles as shown in the picture.

The filter looked really clean, just a few small silver specs visible. Also seen what looked like two small grains of sand in there, but it sort of looked like something from the filter when I cut it off the base. Never seen that before.

I'll post the oil analysis in the oil analysis thread I started in a few weeks when I get it back.

 

[185EZ]

I called dealer yesterday to schedule my free service of tire rotation and oil change.
I tell him I have 1500 miles. He says I'm way early. Chevy says 5000 miles for severe duty and 7500 miles normal driving.
I guess I can wait a bit. It's under warranty and I'll buy another truck before the warranty ends.
But it bugs me that first oil is in there lol

 

[Stretch1560z]

@ 185EZ...Tell the Service department this...."Customer is not asking or requesting...Customer is REQUIRING the FREE SERVICE TO BE DONE"...They wont refuse You...Be Nice but Firm....My dealership questioned me on my 23 ZR2 at 1000 miles....I won that battle and even had the 7500 mile talk with them...My oil changes are on a 5000 mile schedule,with no problems so far with my 6.2...just rolled 15k with a fresh oil change last week...dont back down and hold em responsible for everything with these trucks.

 

[AXE]

I called dealer yesterday to schedule my free service of tire rotation and oil change.
I tell him I have 1500 miles. He says I'm way early. Chevy says 5000 miles for severe duty and 7500 miles normal driving.
I guess I can wait a bit. It's under warranty and I'll buy another truck before the warranty ends.
But it bugs me that first oil is in there lol

That first oil is nasty and full of metal filings and sludge. It'll look silvery green and pour out thick. Get it changed now. Dealers and manufacturers want your shit ruined cause it's good for business.

 

[stevev331]

I called dealer yesterday to schedule my free service of tire rotation and oil change.
I tell him I have 1500 miles. He says I'm way early. Chevy says 5000 miles for severe duty and 7500 miles normal driving.
I guess I can wait a bit. It's under warranty and I'll buy another truck before the warranty ends.
But it bugs me that first oil is in there lol

I had mine done at 1232 miles. Service writer wanted to argue with me. I told him to do it anyway... So, they did.

Put your foot down Dude.

 

[185EZ]

OnStar just gave me my report
I need to talk to them too lol