Do You Wait For The Oil Change Reminder In Your GM?

[Black02Silverado]

On my 02 Silverado it is a once a year oil change and the OLM usually gets reset during that time frame since I put about 12k miles on it a year. I do UOA's and they come back fine running AMSOIL.

 

Now for the 2011 Acadia, the OLM goes down to 5% and the odometer is showing 5k miles driven. No matter what type of driving when it gets down to 5% the mileage is at 5k. I change the oil then since all of my UOA's for this vehicle and the 3.6l engine that is in it shows the oil is at the end of it's useful life and needs to be changed. I'm not as lucky as other Acadia owners that can go longer. Seems out driving style and conditions just put a beating on the oil.

 

A friend of ours has a 2011 Chevy Traverse and I just changed the oil on it at 8k miles with the OLM showing 20% and the UOA came back good. Their driving style is a ton of open back country roads since they live 15 miles out of town. All vehicles get AMSOIL

[georg]

I change the oil when the OLM gets down to about 10% and it usually works out to about every seven months. UOA shows some life left in the oil at this 10%.

 

It uses about a litre in the 9k km oil change interval, so I never have to top up the oil between oil changes. When I change the oil I put in 4.3 l which brings the oil level to Max on the dipstick and at the end of the oil change interval, the level is down to Min on the dipstick.

 

I plan on keeping the truck for a total of between 17 and 20 years. I don't expect to ever have to work on the engine.The 4.3 is pretty bullet proof, which is more than one can say of some of its larger brethren with AFM or the Castech heads.

Edited October 28, 2015 by georg

[Eddie 70]

No. I do not wait to be told by my truck when to change oil and filter. I change it every 5000 miles, when the odometer rolls over another 5000, the oil and filter get changed. Every 10000 miles, I change the air filter. Fluids are checked monthly. All lubrication is done on an annual basis (I drive less than 12000 miles a year).

 

Same here. I change oil every 5000 miles, rotate the tires every 10000 and air filter every 20000. All even numbers and way easier to keep up with than 3000 miles. I wind up changing the oil about every 2 months. Rotating tires about twice a year and changing air filter every 18 months or so.

[Texas Red]

Absolutely not....3000-4000 miles for each change. Right now I am at 335k on the original drivetrain.

[Tattooo]

Absolutely not....3000-4000 miles for each change. Right now I am at 335k on the original drivetrain.

335k is amazing

[Texas Red]

I am happy but I have heard of someone hitting 415, so I am now like Kramer on Seinfeld when he was testing out the new car on empty....

[Front Runner]

I usually change it around 5-6000 miles which is between 20-35% on the OLM.

[richmond2000]

twice a year OR when it is one litre down and have always used dexos approved oil in it

2007 Avalanche with a 5.3L AFM engine 198000 KMS

 

[Jsdirt]

GM can't build a ball joint that can make it past 40k up here in the northeast ... and they expect me to follow their oil change recommendations? NO THANKS!

 

 

Last time, I ran the truck with Amsoil Signature Series, towing cars & trucks quite often, to past 0% (was at zero for a couple months). Went 14 months & just under 10k miles. Oil analysis showed elevated levels of iron and aluminum. Oil was still good, and air filter was doing it's job. On conventional oil, the engine probably would've been finished. Going to change it a bit sooner now, but not sure that will help anything since the TBN was still well within specs.

 

I ignore the oil life monitor. Computers and electronics on these things today can't change the laws of physics.

[SpecRacerDriver]

I wait until it is close to 5% left then have it changed. I did this with my 2003 1500 Sierra and it was still going strong at 130k when I sold it. It did have the start up tick that a lot of GM V8s get as they get older. My buddy's 2009 Chevy 2500 developed this also. He found out that it is a broken exhaust bolt. He just replaced the drivers side header and gasket and no more tick. Do not use GM bolts or they will break again. Get new bolts from NAPA. He said the exhaust leak will also cause incorrect O2 sensor reading and cause the engine to run rich. Guess that is why the exhaust pipe was black on the old 2003. Wish I had know that was the problem, might have gotten better gas mileage.

[hubbycap]

Hello y'all! It's been a while.

 

The manual on my '07 GMT900 didn't recommend a mileage interval for oil changes, but recommended following the OLM. For me, that translates to about 9000 miles, give or take a couple of hundred. Most of my driving is 2 20-minute commute trips per day so the engine gets up to operating temp for 90% of my cycles.

 

The 3000-mile interval rule extends back to the '50s to a time when oil filters were optional if available at all. The additive package in oil of the '50s was limited to detergent and many owners did not even elect to pay extra for that. With no filtration, a 3000-mile flush was a about right.

 

Even the ordinary (non-synthetic) oil of today is nearly 1/2 (synthetic) additives and oil filters are even used on lawn mowers. A 3000-mile interval seems a little fastidious considering the strides made in lubricant technology. My last Silverado was a '95 that I purchased in '98 with 170,000 on the clock. I put another 200,000 on it and can't remember changing the oil at less than 10,000, mostly in the mid-teens and the cheapest oil and filter I could buy. I recommissioned the truck to garbage scowl status for a few years and eventually sold it w/363,000 miles w/out any internal engine or transmission work. It served the 3rd owner until about 450,000 when it was totaled.

 

I may be on the slacker side of maintenance but frankly, in my experience the life of the engine hasn't proven itself to be the yardstick for the useful life of most vehicles. Yes there are taxis and delivery vehicles that rack up the miles but I generally find that I wear out the interior and the suspension has gotten tired long before a modern engine becomes a problem. And a 300,000-mile vehicle that has had 20 oil changes isn't worth a dime less than one that has had 100 changes.

 

But you do have an extra $1600 (80 x $20) that you didn't spend on oil.

[okfoz]

Hello y'all! It's been a while.

 

The manual on my '07 GMT900 didn't recommend a mileage interval for oil changes, but recommended following the OLM. For me, that translates to about 9000 miles, give or take a couple of hundred. Most of my driving is 2 20-minute commute trips per day so the engine gets up to operating temp for 90% of my cycles.

 

The 3000-mile interval rule extends back to the '50s to a time when oil filters were optional if available at all. The additive package in oil of the '50s was limited to detergent and many owners did not even elect to pay extra for that. With no filtration, a 3000-mile flush was a about right.

 

Even the ordinary (non-synthetic) oil of today is nearly 1/2 (synthetic) additives and oil filters are even used on lawn mowers. A 3000-mile interval seems a little fastidious considering the strides made in lubricant technology. My last Silverado was a '95 that I purchased in '98 with 170,000 on the clock. I put another 200,000 on it and can't remember changing the oil at less than 10,000, mostly in the mid-teens and the cheapest oil and filter I could buy. I recommissioned the truck to garbage scowl status for a few years and eventually sold it w/363,000 miles w/out any internal engine or transmission work. It served the 3rd owner until about 450,000 when it was totaled.

 

I may be on the slacker side of maintenance but frankly, in my experience the life of the engine hasn't proven itself to be the yardstick for the useful life of most vehicles. Yes there are taxis and delivery vehicles that rack up the miles but I generally find that I wear out the interior and the suspension has gotten tired long before a modern engine becomes a problem. And a 300,000-mile vehicle that has had 20 oil changes isn't worth a dime less than one that has had 100 changes.

 

But you do have an extra $1600 (80 x $20) that you didn't spend on oil.

 

 

The heck of it is, you can replace suspension bushings and pieces, and get a new interior for a whole lot less than buying a new truck. I know it is a completely different anamal, but I am in the process of replacing all of the front suspension, Lower Control arms, shocks, springs, struts, sway bar end links and some other pieces on a 2002 Lesabre, I have $400 into the parts, and it is just about everything for the car.

 

Obviously a full sized truck or SUV would be more expensive, but even if I spent $2000 it would be less than 3 car payments and I would have an entirely new driving truck.

 

The only down side is obviously letting my wife drive it and have her total it out.

 

A guy I work with that has a 1995 or 1996 Full size Chevy truck and it has more than 350,000 miles on the original engine, trans, it does not use any oil between oil changes. He changes oil religiously at 4,000 miles He just replaced the Radiator and the water pump for the first time.

Edited October 29, 2015 by okfoz

[Tattooo]

Man 350k is amazing

[Jsdirt]

Doubt I'll see that out of mine! Only at 81k now. The body will be gone before the engine ... MAYBE ...

[hubbycap]

 

"The heck of it is, you can replace suspension bushings and pieces, and get a new interior for a whole lot less than buying a new truck. I know it is a completely different anamal, but I am in the process of replacing all of the front suspension, Lower Control arms, shocks, springs, struts, sway bar end links and some other pieces on a 2002 Lesabre, I have $400 into the parts, and it is just about everything for the car.

 

Obviously a full sized truck or SUV would be more expensive, but even if I spent $2000 it would be less than 3 car payments and I would have an entirely new driving truck.

 

The only down side is obviously letting my wife drive it and have her total it out.

 

A guy I work with that has a 1995 or 1996 Full size Chevy truck and it has more than 350,000 miles on the original engine, trans, it does not use any oil between oil changes. He changes oil religiously at 4,000 miles He just replaced the Radiator and the water pump for the first time."

 

----------------------

 

You and your coworker are men after my own heart. But as much as I love to get 10+ years out of a vehicle, even I fall prey to Detroit engineers and eventually succomb to the innovattion of new toys and designs. I have a 2005 Honda CRV that is towed by my RV, the 2015 model gets 10 MPG better fuel economy. Not a huge consideration for something that is towed and not running but if it were a daily driver that would be a substantial update that refurbishing could not accomplish.

 

A few years ago I read a Consumer's Report article that detailed an extensive study of the benefits of different oils and change frequencies. It was a scientificly controlled monitoring of NYC taxi cabs,encompasing several categories of synthetic and regular oils changed over a wide range of schedules using multiple vehicles in each category. All engine wear surfaces were mic-ed and recorded during routine rebuilds and indicated wear differences were deemed inconsequential for regimes of both oil and accross a broad range of oil and filter changes.

 

As for your friend's '95 Chevy truck, my '95 also had the original (and un-rebuilt) engine and tranny and was still running fine right up until the moment it was totaled. Maybe it was only 10 miles shy of spinning a bearing LOL but the fact still remains that poor driving was the demise of that vehicle not undermaintaining.

 

My real point is that uber maintaining a vehicle doesn't necessarily translate into real-world returns on the investment. The most fastidious health enthusiast can still be hit by a bus. While jogging! LOL

 

Cheers

Edited November 1, 2015 by txab