Oil and coolant for my 2012 sonic ls

[hazelwood garage]

They told me at the auto parts store Chevy recommends only synthetic oil and the orange coolant for my sonic, any using anything else?

 

[66roadie]

If it's a turbo, it wants synthetic. Don't know about coolant.

 

[airmech827]

I too have 2012 Sonic 1.4L turbo. Synthetic is what I use and yes the orange coolant. I believe it is DexCool 50/50.

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

 

[gnonne]

I buy full synthetic oil at Wal-mart for $17 for 5 quarts. Change it every 4-5K, never had an internal engine problem in any car.

Coolant needs to be Dex-cool.

 

[shorebreeze]

They told me at the auto parts store Chevy recommends only synthetic oil and the orange coolant for my sonic, any using anything else?

Full synthetic absolutely; the turbo is a stressor and you want the oil in its original condition for as long as possible. The one time an oil change shop screwed up and put regular in and I didn't catch it for over 1,000 miles until I noticed the percentage wear meter dropping faster than normal has, I think, caused me trouble in the form of mild to moderate symptoms of carbonized gunk in the PCV system. I cleaned out the PCV valve three times in a year but the symptoms -- moderately rough idling and poorer fuel economy -- finally seem to have mostly stopped 18 months later. Pre-incident, I was using Mobil 1, mainly the 0w-30 but a couple of times in summer the 5w-30. I've switched to Amsoil Signature 5w-30; close to the pour point of a Mobil 0w-30 (i.e. more tolerant of bitter cold than other 5w oils), but a better NOACK rating (i.e. lower volatility) than any competing 5w-30, almost more like a 10w-30. The only other possible culprit I can think of is my cooling fan, which killed the resistor pack on the low and medium settings resulting in it constantly alternating between high and off in city driving in warmer weather; maybe the more variable temperatures in the engine from the on-off cooling contributed to carbon build-up in the PCV system, and it was several months before I got to the bottom of that too because of duff advice from mechanics who were trying to get me to replace the compressor.

The orange/red coolant is of course GM's Dexcool and there it's easier to stick with it. It no longer dissolves seals like it did 20 years ago and changing to another type requires a really thorough flushing of the coolant system.

By the way, on the topic of coolant, make sure your radiator overflow tank isn't leaking. Mine cracked, resulting in a slow coolant leak, and I have to say I wouldn't be surprised if that slowly dripping coolant might have corroded the resister pack on the fan. The aftermarket Dornan one seems to be better made than the OEM one, which I think is more brittle.