Oil Change - Duramax

[TPN]

Is there a difference in mileage between oil changes for diesel compared to gas ??  My onboard DIC shows a useful oil life of 10,000 miles, yet the dealers/service stations say 3,000 to 5,000.  Based on cost of the diesel oil changes, I'd prefer the 10,000 mile change, but I want to do what's best for the long term interest of the vehicle, not the dealer/service stations.

 

With some of the gas vehicles I've had, the dealer "recommended" change was 3,000 miles, yet when we leased a car with all the services provided, they backed off to 7,000 miles.

 

Also, how often should tires be rotated, again to extend the life of the tires, not necessarily the service stations profitability.

[Charlie in TX]

My DIC on my 6.0 is showing a usefull life of about 6k mls. Apperantly the engineers and PHDs at GM think your diesel will go further. I tend to agree. There is no way I will replace the oil in my truck at the 3000 ml mark recomended by Jiffy Lub, ect. They only want more of my money in their pocket, not whats best for me. Look, your computer monitors your trucks temp, load, rpm, hours ect and calculates oil life. Jiffy Lub has no way of knowing how you use your truck. If it was my truck, I would go to the 7k mark if the DIC is telling you 10k.

 

Tire rotation. I would do it at the 7k mark also.

 

PS The DIC oil monitoring is no substitute for good oil and filter. When it calculates oil life it assumes quallity oil and filter.

[Dmax_nani]

Good quality oem filter and oil is a very cheap insurance.  

I change oil every 4-5,000 miles and 10,000 miles for tire rotation.

 

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[mhraracing]

I would have to agree with Dmax_nani......4 to 5k for your oil change....I have owned/operated a few Quick lubes...and its the cheapest insurance you can give to your 40k investment. If you dont plan on keeping it for a long time them extend your milage...but if you are a keeper ...then spend the extra $$.

 

Me...I change my 6.0 at 3000 mile religously..... I have seen many of oil changes in my life and pulled apart alot of engines......I detest black oil - which leads to sludge.....you could eat off my oil valley - A Clean engine is a happy engine !!!!!....especially for 1.09 a quart ??? - Cheap if you ask me ???

 

Spoken like a true oil salesman ??  

[Charlie in TX]

Dmax and mhra, you both disagree with me and the engineers-PHDs at GM. I will ask you a question. Have eather of you seen an engine fail from the oil being changed at 10k ml interval?

 

I have seen engines go 150,000 mls with no oil changes. I have seen Power Strokes go 350,000 mls with 5 oil changes. In both cases the truck falls apart around the motor. I have never seen an engine fail due to oil failure. Have you ever seen an engine fail due to oil failure? I have asked this question many times, no one has ever said yes. It surely happens but it is very rare.

[maggot]

OK, you bought a 30K$ truck and are willing to run the oil 10,000 miles because of cost. That is why I never buy a used vehicle. My truck will be a year old next month, at 17,000 miles I have 11 oil changes. Black oil is crap oil. Why does it turn black? Carbon. What is the hardest material? Diamond. Where does diamonds come from? Carbon. No filter can catch it all.

 

Charlie inTX. I have seen a few motors fail due to oil. This was years ago in my hot rodding days early 80s. Since then I have not done much motor building and stuff like that but it can and does happen.

[t-76y2kss]

TPN great topic.I would go with the owners manual recommendation.Modern oil and filters are far superior than years past.3000 mile changes are a waste of money,personally I think its all marketing by oil companies.Just imagine if you convince people to change twice as often=double your profits. MAGGOT you have changed more than I have at 46,000 miles with my 8.1. I change when DIC tells me to,I have more faith in computer monitoring,GM engineers than 1960s service schedules.

[Charlie in TX]

... I have seen a few motors fail due to oil. This was years ago in my hot rodding days early 80s.

I said engine fail because oil failed. Thats not the same as oil pump failed, or the oil leaked out, or the filter came unscrewed and then bearings lost oil. I am talking about the oil lost its lubricating abilities causing an engine failure.

[maggot]

Hey that computer stuff is just code. It does not sample your oil. It does not know if it is full of dirt. Look here,  I changed my oil and I never have  reset that thing from day one. Well 500 miles into my fresh oil  the change oil light came on. That tells me that that thing does not look at the oil it is just computer code. It is not testing your oil.  So with that said, can that thing really tell you what condition your oil is in?  I do not trust it.

 

Do whatever you want with your truck.You bought it it is yours. Mine is mine. I will change my oil like I do and  have been for 20 years. I am happy, My motor is clean.  I like changing my oil and drinking a beer. I like lubing my truck and getting greasey. 10$ couple hours out of the wifes reach is fine with me. It is too cheap of insurance for me to not do it this way.

[mhraracing]

Here....Here....Maggot..  !!

 

Charlie......Its your truck....drive it and treat it however you like ! If you like to change your oil at 10k - 15k or even 150,000 miles the so be it !! - and Im sure you have no regrets when you trade or sell your truck either ???

 

I have personally changed the oil on a 1995 Chevy Lumina w/ 46k miles on it....with nary an oil change. It still had OEM filter and oil in it....well....what do you think the oil filter looked like  ????? Any ideas ???  The filter was FULL of black sludge and weighed probably 3 pounds...and in the oil pan...well...when I pulled the drainplug....nothing came out ??? So I stuck a screw driver in the hole ...the bottom of the pan was full of sludge....it blocked the drainhole  !!!  I scraped out as much of the sludge as possible..and even had one of my techs jump up on the lift and pump new oil in the engine while we scaped through the hole....we finally got oil to come through. We let it drain as much as possible...put a new filter on it and filled with new oil...now a 4 1/2 quart car now only took 1 and 3/4s quarts to fill it ???  So you tell me if that is good for the engine. - Yes to your point the engine started and ran.....but for how long ???  I do not know..the customer never came back with that car ???

 

I know that the "oil" does not wear out....its the contaminants suspended in the oil that do the damage. If you think that todays oil fiters will filter out all the particles in the oil...over 150,000 miles then please tell me what brand you use???  

 

Im not trying to start a b*tch session...I am just stating my opinion....If you dont want to spend the 10 or 25 bucks(Dmax) on your engine and I do ??? Then so be it !

 

 

:thumb:

[TPN]

Why do you suppose the DIC indicates a useful life of 10,000 miles if 3,000 or 5,000 would be more appropriate . . . . especially where service providers/dealers do profit considerably on service?? Wouldn't it make more sense for the DIC to show either 3,000 or 5,000 if indeed that mileage were more appropriate??

 

I'm not looking at running the oil to the point of possibly damaging the motor, but on the other hand, I'm not into spending time & money where it need not be spent. I understand the "inexpensive" insurance, but at 3,000 miles (or 5,000), are you throwing away good oil, as well as money & time??

[maggot]

The only way to know exactly is run some oil tests. I did and I know how my truck does. There is no way I can run my oil to 5000 miles. I have tests that show how my truck does. I can go into the whole thing if you like to disprove running oil over 3000 miles in my truck. All I can say is run some tests, find your vehicle's trend. Run your truck to 5000 miles and have a sample tested. Then you will know for sure.

 

 

Like I said before I do not trust the computer code. It is bogus and false. I think it was put there as a last chance of defense for the people who would other wise run it until it pukes. Hey if you trust the engineers who put out a knocking motor and is proud of it , than fine. Heck it may be a great thing and I may be an nut, but I am an nut with a clean motor.

[clk7711]

I'm not looking at running the oil to the point of possibly damaging the motor, but on the other hand, I'm not into spending time & money where it need not be spent. I understand the "inexpensive" insurance, but at 3,000 miles (or 5,000), are you throwing away good oil, as well as money & time??

Are you sampling your oil? I have sent in a sample of mine with about 3800 miles on the oil and the results came back very clean and said " oil is satisfactory for continued use" but I changed it anyway.

 

If the oil is tested it wouldn't bother me in the least on extended oil drains, but testing would have to be done for my peace of mind. Hign silicon (dirt) levels can destroy a motor pretty quick.

 

We have 11 duramax pickups at work and I send out all the samples. After about 10,000 miles they all come back clean after 4,000 on the oil. They seem to have real good airboxes.

 

Anyways, if your going for extended drain intervals, sampling is critical.

 

[t-76y2kss]

Maggot I dont trust gm completely,thats why I sucessfully sued them about my knocking oil-swilling 8.1.I agree anyone running 150,000 miles between changes is extreme oil probably looked like roof cement.However 1500miles changes  are a bit extreme also it cant hurt anything just a waste of money better this than the other extreme.Ive ran 3 new vehicles to 200,000 mile range with 4500-6000 change intrevals 0 problems.Too each his own afterall its yours.My brother has an f-150 with 290,000 14 oil changes  ???

[Black02Silverado]

May I jump in with my .02?

 

Extended drains are the way of the future, think of it this way technology has change to the point in just the last 5 years let alone 15. Oil has come a long way. Synthetic is a superior product over regular Dino.  If you run extended, synthetic is what you want to be using, why? Because it is made to last and not a natural product that has a ton of additives in it to help it last.

 

Also if you run extended drains the use of a bypass oil filter system really works well. I have a video of a Mack engine that ran 409K on one oil change, they did regular oil analysis and filter changes. The video goes into the tear down of the engine and explain all the parts and wear items. The engine had minimal wear and was still serviceable.

 

Making an engine last is just more than oil changes as we all know. Running a quality Air Filter and making sure the engine isn't sucking air in around any other opening, ie PCV valve or other vacuum port, is just as important.

 

Sending oil out to be checked is a great tool for the extended drains. It gives you a piece of mind and lets you know what's going on in the engine. Helps stop problems before they become major ones.

 

Now we are all kids in adult bodies, do what you want to do. If you like to change your oil every 3k, great just remember to use a good quality oil and filter and keep up with all the other filter changes as well.

 

If you like to extend your oil changes by all means then do, just remember that oil analysis is a great tool to keeping things in perspective.

 

I have read on here where a few have over 400K on their trucks with great results and that is using dino oil. Now add up the cost over that amount of time and the amount of oil, do a little math and extend the drain interval add in the more expensive synthetic, or better yet no oil change but filter changes and oil analysis and in the long run it is cheaper to go that route.  OK OK maybe not by much but it is cheaper, not to mention your not down under the vehicle as often, ( I do believe the one individual was changing his oil once a week at 6K miles a week) take into account that 16qt system and that is ton of oil.

 

"Life is short play hard"  Nike.   You know what? I just read over this post and now I'm wondering just what it was that I was trying to say, oh heck i'm not changing it and posting it anyway, I need to build up my posts numbers.

 

If anyone is interested in a little reading material, check out this forum and click on the used oil analysis reports. There are some interesting results. Some even using Wally Worlds oil and filters. Interesting reading on oils