Oil Changes

[04-silver]

Reading thru this forum for a while now and I've found that most of the people here, including myself change their oil before 5000 k's/3000 mi's. An extra 100 bucks or so a year is better than paying 2000, seven or eight years from now.

 

What I am thinking/wondering is, now that the GM's have an hour meter, would it not be better to change the oil at X amount of hours instead of distance?

 

Big trucks, heavy equipment and planes all seem to do oils and maintenance by the hours.

 

In the winter there may not be as much dust but vehicles certainly do idle more, in Canada anyway.

 

Heres my food for thought I'd like to make, bare with me and for the sake of an agrument lets just go with these numbers.

 

-One person may travel 200 klms to and from work every day at say 2.5 hours. Said person would reach 4000 klms at 50 hours.

 

-Second person may only drive 40 klms to and from work but takes this person 1.5 hours due to lights stop signs etc. This person would reach 4000 klms at 150 hours!

 

Any thoughts/comments other than I may be getting too anal about oil changing.........

 

John

[Mighty HD]

Wow, and I thought I was strange, being a weirdo about changing my oil every 2000 by the bible. I even run Mobil 1 ...lol

 

 

At least there's two of us that keep tight about oil changes.

[Valsport]

I think a by-the-hour interval would make sense. It's just kind of a PITA to check the hour meter every so often.

[ManyCamaroz]

Heres is my 2 cents worth!

 

The OM states to change oil every 7000-7500 miles unless driven in severe duty conditions. 3000-3500 in severe duty conditions.

 

In your opinion

What is severe duty conditions?

What is normal driving conditions?

 

My vehicle is operated just like my motorcycle. Depends on my attitude for that particular time. Don't get me wrong here, I'm not some lead footed moron.

 

I've alway's used a good quality grade oil (Castrol in cars, trucks, tractors, boats) and now use synthetic in my Harley.

 

My wife has a '97 Cadillac Eldorado with the 300 hp Northstar. It has an oil life sensor and the onboard computer monitors oil temp and driving conditions (hard or easy) to determine oil life. At 5000 miles there is still approx. 25-30% oil life. The "Change Oil Soon" light comes on at 20% to give time to have it changed.

 

A 4 Wheel Drive should have it's tires rotated at 5000 mile intervals to ensure even wear. I rotate my tires in the X rotation at even intervals (50k,60k for instance) and front to rear at odd intervals (55k, 65k). This way each tire sees every corner of your vehicle.

 

Soooo, I change my oil and rotate my tires every 5k miles. I'm sure I'll get flamed for this! But I've never had a problem and have been doing this for years. I drove a K5 Blazer before they were cool, and anyone decided they wanted to call them SUV's. Hell, I was in my late 20's and called it a party wagon, war wagon, mini bus, whatever...

[04-silver]

I know, or aleast it seems that most everyone in this forum do change their oil regularly, whether it be 3000/5000/7500 Klms or miles, its always determined by Klms or miles.

 

Like I said earlier

Big trucks, heavy equipment and planes all seem to do oils and maintenance by the hours.

Now that there is an hour clock in the trucks, to me it seems better to change by running time.

For the past 3 weeks or so my Company truck (gas) has been running/idling for 6 to 10 hours a day, now that its colder outside and I've probably put no more than 50 klms per day on it.

 

Anyway just wanted to hear others opinions or thoughts (not many so far) about distance or time for oil changes.

 

 

John

 

PS-anyone elses job/work slow down this time of year............

[millerwd]

I go by the "oil life %"

With all the parameters that are used to compute this figure I'm changing between 20-25%.

[Black02Silverado]

That is some good food for thought.

[USA1Fan]

I know, or aleast it seems that most everyone in this forum do change their oil  regularly, whether it be 3000/5000/7500  Klms or miles, its always determined by Klms or miles.

 

Like I said earlier

Big trucks, heavy equipment and planes all seem to do oils and maintenance by the hours.

Now that there is an hour clock in the trucks, to me it seems better to change by running time.

For the past 3 weeks or so my Company truck (gas) has been running/idling for 6 to 10 hours a day, now that its colder outside and I've probably put no more than 50 klms per day on it.

 

Anyway just wanted to hear others opinions or thoughts (not many so far) about distance or time for oil changes.

 

 

John

 

PS-anyone elses job/work slow down this time of year............

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

 

 

 

I go by the "oil life %"

With all the parameters that  are used  to compute this figure I'm  changing between 20-25%.

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

 

I agree with millerwd.

 

Also, going strictly by hours isn't really much better than going strictly by mileage, is it? If you think about it, you could drive 5000 hours in dusty conditions while lugging the heck out of it, then drive the next 5000 hours purely on the highway.

 

This is why I go by the oil life monitor instead. The system is still estimating, but it at least attempts to take into account the way the engine has been driven over the time since the last oil change, and I'd guess that also includes any idle time (to address one of your reasons for using engine hours over miles).

 

Only my $.02 though, and most dealership service departments tell you that using the oil life system is crazy, to change every 3k instead. I figure they're out to make a living like the next guy..

[357mag]

I generally change my truck oil about 5000 or so. I live in the desert, so I don't idle much. OTOH, I have a 92 Poncho with over 200,000 miles on a Goodwrench that I changed oil every 8000 or so. Granted this was mostly hwy miles, but in my experience, as long as the motor gets to and stays at operating temp for a time, I see no reason to change oil any sooner than 5000 miles. your results may vary.

Tim sends

[04-silver]

Seems like some of you are going by the Oil Life Monitor System, that I really don't trust or have faith in.

 

Anyway good to hear others opinons........I still like the hours tho,.........

 

John

[Weller]

04-silver, I like your thinking about the hour meter, but I've got a couple thoughts. Hour meters are used on big trucks, locomotives, ect, because they sit overnight with the engine running. It would be impossible to measure the use when it's just sitting. With your situation with the 2 people driving city and highway, those are two extremely different driving situations. City driving is a lot harder on your engine than highway driving is.

I just check my oil everytime I get gas. When it gets dark, I change it. Usually around 4000 or so.

There's my .02

[Wingnut]

I change the oil when the light comes on, with regular old Castrol.

 

On the 92, I change it every 4 or 5 months regardless of mileage.

 

I've done it like this on every vehicle I've owned, and never popped a motor.

 

Well...I've never popped a motor due to bad oil.

[lesmore49]

Reading thru this forum for a while now and I've found that most of the people here, including myself change their oil before 5000 k's/3000 mi's.  An extra 100 bucks or so a year is better than paying 2000, seven or eight years from now.

 

What I am thinking/wondering is, now that the GM's have an hour meter, would it not be better to change the oil at X amount of hours instead of distance? 

 

Big trucks, heavy equipment and planes all seem to do oils and  maintenance by the hours.

 

In the winter there may not be as much dust but vehicles certainly do idle more, in Canada anyway.

 

Heres my food for thought I'd like to make, bare with me and for the sake of an agrument lets just go with these numbers.

 

-One person may travel 200 klms to and from work every day at say 2.5 hours. Said person would reach 4000 klms at 50 hours.

 

-Second person may only drive 40 klms to and from work but takes this person 1.5 hours due to lights stop signs etc. This person would reach 4000 klms at 150 hours!

 

Any thoughts/comments other than I may be getting too anal about oil changing.........

 

John

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

I think you are on to something there.

I am also from the Canadian Prairies which as you know shares a similar climate with northern states like Montana, the Dakotas, northern Minnesota, etc. In the winter when temperatures are below freezing for weeks at a time, cold starts are constant and many people once they start their vehicles let them idle for a long time. Winter driving (more so than summer driving) in big cities usually translates to bumper to bumper, gridlock.

So there are a lot of factors that translate into more severe conditions . I do follow the GM severe conditions schedule all the time, but I find that I probably end up changing my oil, in the winter at 3500 km (2000 mile) intervals, rather than 5000km.

 

In the summer when I do a lot of highway driving I stretch the oil changes out to 5000 km (3000 miles), but I never go to the 7,500 km (whatever the recommended high way schedule is) that GM recommends.

I figure using premium quality, reg. (not synthetic) oil, changed often, is cheap insurance towards the long term durability of your engine.

So, in my log winded way, I agree with you and think it would be a good idea to change oil more often, than the factory recommends, in a northern climate to compensate for the harsh, cold conditions that our vehicles must endure.

The change by hours is a good thing, but, correct me if I'm wrong, don't only the 2500HD/3500/3500HD pick up line have those gauges as std. equipt.? Not available on the 1500 pick ups, Astro/Safari mid size vans or full size 1500/2500/3500 vans?

 

I think GM should install the engine hour gauge, the Trans. temp. gauge and a tachometer on all their vehicles-as above- as they are all promoted as trailer towers/commercial use vehicles. I know , when towing with my Astro, I have often wished for a tach and trans. temp gauge. I would of popped extra for these gauges, when I bought the van, which was ordered new from the factory.

[1st new GMC]

Here's how I decide when to change my oil. Every time I fill up with gas (every 7 to 10 days with the new truck), I check my oil level. When the oil starts to look "unclean", I'll change it that weekend,or as soon as it's possible.

 

I've always done it this way on everything I've ever owned that had an engine. I also keep a little note book, or "log" book that I write down the mileage and date, which oil weight and brand name of the oil.

 

I'll switch to full synthetic oil when my 1st oil change is due.

 

BTW, my new '05 Sierra K1500 work truck came with the hour meter, but I was told that the trans temp gauge only comes on the Allison equipped trucks. I'm going to try and find a source for the tranny temp gauge kits, as I'd love to have one in my dash.