How often do you change your oil? Do you do it by the book?

[dudleykid]

I recently became acknowledged about the myth of the 3,000 mile oil change on newer vehicles with advanced oil. I own a 2006 silverado 2500 v8 6L WT and I change my oil every 5k miles with Mobil synthetic 5w-30. I cannot seem to find the exact information within my car manual or my Haynes/Chilton manual for the recommended interval between oil changes. Is there anywhere I can look up how often I can change my oil with the specific engine of within my truck? I have heard some oils can go 10k+ miles on some vehicles. I'd love to do less oil changes, but don't want to endanger my engine since oil changes are so quick though I'd love to save money too! Where can I find this exact information or do you have any other suggestions? Thanks in advance!

[kstruckcountry]

If you want to know for sure, for the unique engine in your vehicle, the best way is an oil analysis. You take a sample and send it to a lab that runs tests, then returns all the info about the oil to you. There are a lot of different things you can see in a report, from water/fuel/insolubles in the oil, to flash point and additive content.

 

I send a sample each oil change to Blackstone Labs, and they have recommended a 10,000 mile oil change interval on my 5.3. I was changing my oil every 5,000 miles before, so even with the cost of the analysis I come out ahead since I end up doing half the maintenance of before, and I have the added benefit of keeping an eye on wear metals in my oil.

[davester]

I'm not sure about your specific truck, but my '04 Sierra 3500 tracks how you drive [lots of stops/starts vs lots of highway driving, heavy acceleration, lots of idling, etc] to compute how much life the oil has left. Does your truck have that?

[Chevor]

I go by oil samples.

[SouthernSilveradoGuy85]

5,000 for conventional, 7,500 for synthetic blend and 10,000 for full synthetic.

 

This is for all city driving so you can technically go an extra 1-2,000 if you do a lot of interstate driving but I still go by those #s so it's no guess work or hoping. Of course this is on a vehicle that is driven daily or at least 2-3 times a week so it's used regularly. For something that's driven once a week or less then I say about 6 months personally no matter the miles.

[sdeeter19555]

The GM OLM lights up about 7500 miles for my 6.0l 2500...it's a non-contact instrument based completely on engine parameters, not oil chemistry. So GM must feel 7500 miles is safe and/or conservative for their purposes.

 

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[sahls01gmc]

 

I send a sample each oil change to Blackstone Labs, and they have recommended a 10,000 mile oil change interval on my 5.3. I was changing my oil every 5,000 miles before, so even with the cost of the analysis I come out ahead since I end up doing half the maintenance of before, and I have the added benefit of keeping an eye on wear metals in my oil.

Just out of curiosity, do they offer any guarantee for allowing you to go 10,000 miles in between oil changes? Being 10 years old I know your truck doesn't have any remaining GM warranty, but I wonder what would happen should you see a failure and it's linked to your oil change intervals. But then again, they are the professionals....

[Silverado4x4]

I go by the OLM when to change the oil always have since they started putting them in GM vehicles. I think doing a oil analysis is just way overboard and a waste of money. I would never go 10,000 miles on a oil change no matter what oil I had in there and what the oil analysis said. Just go by the OLM when it tells you to change it.

[Black02Silverado]

I have yet to see an owners manual that didn't state the frequency of the vehicles oil change. It should be in yours. I know my 02 states to follow the OLM and if it doesn't indicate to change the oil in one year time frame then the oil should be changed. So double check your owners manual.

 

If you want to go extended oil change then accomplishing an oil analysis is the way to go with what ever brand of oil you choose to run. That will tell you just how long you can go with specific brand of oil.

[kstruckcountry]

Just out of curiosity, do they offer any guarantee for allowing you to go 10,000 miles in between oil changes? Being 10 years old I know your truck doesn't have any remaining GM warranty, but I wonder what would happen should you see a failure and it's linked to your oil change intervals. But then again, they are the professionals....

The oil analysis is a guarantee in itself, it makes it easy to keep track of what exactly is going on in the engine. My motor doesn't even use a quart of oil on a 10,000 mile interval, and I run a higher capacity filter, so it's not really all that extreme for synthetic oil. I have plenty of additive left and the oil still even looks clean.

[KMGZ400]

I go about 8k miles on Mobil 1 in my Cruze, and the OLM usually is about 15 to 20 percent at that point

[Cowpie]

Just out of curiosity, do they offer any guarantee for allowing you to go 10,000 miles in between oil changes? Being 10 years old I know your truck doesn't have any remaining GM warranty, but I wonder what would happen should you see a failure and it's linked to your oil change intervals. But then again, they are the professionals....

 

 

It should really be no different than with the commercial heavy engines. For instance, Detroit Diesel recommends 15,000 miles / 300 hrs on their 12.7L Series 60. I use oil samples to determine that my comfort zone is at 25,000 / 500 hrs. I have a lengthy track record of samples on the motor. The OEM never had a problem with this. Once one digs down into the paperwork of lube manuals and such, one can usually find that an OEM will allow longer intervals, if backed up by oil analysis to prove the oil is still serviceable. And regarding the OLM thing, that is based on the lowest quality oil that barely comes in under the wire as meeting the approved specifications laid out by GM. If one is using a higher quality oil, like one of the name brand full synthetics, the OLM is just a novelty as far as determining if the oil should be changed. Clearly, any quality full synthetic is going to outperform the basic dexos1 minimum standard oil.

 

But, everyone has to live within their own comfort level. If one feels like changing oil at 2000 miles, who am I to give a rip? It is their vehicle. If it helps them to sleep better at night, far out. Changing oil "too soon" and used oil is not a waste. It is recycled or used for a myriad of other purposes. That is, unless the persons is just dumping it down the sewer drain. In which case, they should be shot. More people waste gobs of money on stupid stuff with no beneficial purpose than the cost of an oil change.

 

Oil analysis probably is a something that most folks do not need to do. It does provide some interesting information though, and can be used to head off a problem sometimes. I don't do regular oil samples on my pickup, but once in a while I do. I get my oil sample kits and analysis free from my oil supplier for my commercial stuff, so there is no cost for me to do them.

Edited July 9, 2015 by Cowpie

[1950chevy]

Every 5000 KM (3100 miles) or so, full synthetic.

Sure more than I need to but my last truck had over 550,000km (342,000 miles) on it when I sold it and it never burnt a drop of oil.

If winter is coming I may change it early before the 5000km, if the temperature drops below 5C.

[sdeeter19555]

 

 

It should really be no different than with the commercial heavy engines. For instance, Detroit Diesel recommends 15,000 miles / 300 hrs on their 12.7L Series 60. I use oil samples to determine that my comfort zone is at 25,000 / 500 hrs. I have a lengthy track record of samples on the motor. The OEM never had a problem with this. Once one digs down into the paperwork of lube manuals and such, one can usually find that an OEM will allow longer intervals, if backed up by oil analysis to prove the oil is still serviceable. And regarding the OLM thing, that is based on the lowest quality oil that barely comes in under the wire as meeting the approved specifications laid out by GM. If one is using a higher quality oil, like one of the name brand full synthetics, the OLM is just a novelty as far as determining if the oil should be changed. Clearly, any quality full synthetic is going to outperform the basic dexos1 minimum standard oil.

 

But, everyone has to live within their own comfort level. If one feels like changing oil at 2000 miles, who am I to give a rip? It is their vehicle. If it helps them to sleep better at night, far out. Changing oil "too soon" and used oil is not a waste. It is recycled or used for a myriad of other purposes. That is, unless the persons is just dumping it down the sewer drain. In which case, they should be shot. More people waste gobs of money on stupid stuff with no beneficial purpose than the cost of an oil change.

 

Oil analysis probably is a something that most folks do not need to do. It does provide some interesting information though, and can be used to head off a problem sometimes. I don't do regular oil samples on my pickup, but once in a while I do. I get my oil sample kits and analysis free from my oil supplier for my commercial stuff, so there is no cost for me to do them.

After running and analyzing a modern oil and a quality synthetic in the same engine, I see no reason to say a synthetic is significantly better than a good conventional in this day and age. Maybe in the 70s when synthetics first hit the market, but oil quality has came leaps an bounds since then...I analyzed conventional oil at nearly 45k miles, and it was still suitable for use.

 

And my comment on the OLM was more to the point that the OLM is conservative, even compared to a conventional oil use. Running modern oil to 7k miles isn't stressing it much.

 

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[Cowpie]

That is getting pretty much true. Conventional oils have come long way. And a lot has to do with the additive package as part of what a motor oil is. People tend to waste a lot of time worrying about the base oil being a conventional, Grp III synthetic, Grp IV synthetic, etc and really don't take the time to look at how the additive package in the oil is. Since the add pack makes up to around 20% of what a motor oil is, yes, it can make a huge difference in the oil performance. Base oil is clear. The color one sees in a quart of motor oil is from the additive package.

 

Now we have oil being made from natural gas to add even more to the game. Actually, it is been done for a long time, it is just that now Pennzoil has taken it to a major level in that just about all of their top line stuff, the base oil is made from natural gas. Group IV PAO synthetics are also made from natural gas. Many folks don't know that. Actually, it is made primarily from ethylene gas, which is derived from natural gas. Group III synthetic is severely refined crude, a major step above regular conventional base oil.

 

But in a nutshell, they all come from earth derived carbon chain sources. Cook it up right, blend in a great additive package, and you have a quality oil. I actually prefer a Group III and Group IV synthetic combination. Both of those groups bring something special to the game and a blend of them along with a great add pack is the cat's meow, for sure.

Edited July 14, 2015 by Cowpie