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When to change oil on my new Tahoe

Randy M

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Randy M Enthusiast

Randy M

Posted
Posted

I'm right under 1000 miles. Should I go synthetic? Dealer said to wait for the free oil change at $3K. Don't know if I should wait that long :D

durado Enthusiast

durado

Posted
Posted

Randy, I had the same question on my 03 suburban. I decided to just wait until the oil monitor light went on, then I changed to Mobil 1. No problems what so ever. I don't really see any need to change early. They don't even recommend a short interval for changing the initial oil from factory.

03Bluerado Enthusiast

03Bluerado

Posted
Posted
I'm right under 1000 miles. Should I go synthetic? Dealer said to wait for the free oil change at $3K. Don't know if I should wait that long :D

Don't listen to your dealer, I am sorry but I bought my truck thru a dealer that actually had a clue and I still knew more about the product than the whole sales team combined...sometimes I wonder if they even care... Anyways, change it...NOW! IF you do it yourself you will see why, check out all the crap on the magnet!

Here is how I broke in my truck...

 

Drove off the lot with 7 miles, drove easily on the 20 mile trip home, switching between 4th and 5th gear, varying the RPM's, went home, let it cool. Went out and did some half to three quarter throttle passes in 2nd and 3rd, making sure not to put a heavy load on the engine. Drove normally untill 100 miles, drained the factory oil (lotsa stuff on that magnet) changed with a factory filter and Valvoline 5w-30. The next 1000 miles were easy miles with one 350 mile road trip with a bike in the back, I did not use cruise untill around 600 miles. At 1100 miles the oil was drained again, along with front and rear diffs, 5 speed, and transfer case. All were replaced with Mobil 1 except the trans which I used GM syncrhomesh, which is basically a synthetic anyways.

I have 25K on the truck now, it does not use a drop of oil, it does not knock, it makes great power and is one of the smoothest, most quiet engines I have had. It now gets fresh mobil 1 w/ filter about every 6-7k, but my truck spends most of its time in 5th gear at 65mphs for hours at a time, very little city driving. Your conditions may vary.

Mort Enthusiast

Mort

Posted
Posted

I waited till 3000 Miles but have still not changed to synthetic. You can wait till the oil monitor comes on as well which is what GM recommends. Amsoil recommends adding their flush product before you change the oil and add sythetic for the first time. Not sure if Mobil 1 recommends that or not but it can't hurt.

 

Some people still recommend changing at 600 miles then 1000 miles then every 3000 miles which I think is a little excessive but they also expect to own their vehicles for a long time and expect long engine life. Take into consideration how long you intend to own your truck, the number of miles that you expect it to see and the conditions that it will be driven in. A little oil may be good insurance.

 

Jim :D

Lance Link Enthusiast

Lance Link

Posted
Posted

I changed the oil in the Z-71 at 1,000 miles and from then on at 3,000 mile intervals. Always used Castrol 10/30 non-synthetic and NAPA oil filters. Truck is run pretty hard at all times- certainly not babied. Currently at 106,000 miles and does not use a drop of oil, never broken down, and runs as strong as ever. :D

JBZ71 Enthusiast

JBZ71

Posted
Posted

My .02...changed oil to M1 at 1500 miles,changed again at 3000,again at 6k,then went Royal Purple at 10,000...Will change every 6 k from now on...RP 5w30 and ac delco filters every 3 k.....Using the same schedule for the wife's Impala... :D

gave20 Senior Enthusiast

gave20

Posted
Posted

I changed mine at 3K and had little fuzz on the magnet. The OLM said 46% and the oil looked a golden brown, slightly used,...far better then the oil that came out the Civic I changed right before the truck. I'll use the OLM from now on.

Machine Enthusiast

Machine

Posted
Posted
hmmmm :D

:thumbs: Yeah, everyone has their own method. Don't sweat the details. The dino oil you have right now is fine. Heck, dino oil for the rest of your Tahoe's life would be fine. Alot of people swear by Synthetic's - I'm one of them, but i don't run straight from the dealer to have my oil changed. I wait for the first 3K miles to go by and then i make the switch. After the initial switch, changing the oil at every 5K with synthetic has been working great.

mhraracing Enthusiast

mhraracing

Posted
Posted

I changed the oil in the wifes new Tahoe @ 1200 miles.

A Little bit of shavings on the drain plug....but nothing out of the ordinary. I put in coventional oil.... plan on changing it again @ 3000k with dino. Then @ 6000 plan on making the switch to Mobile 1 - then every 3 to 4 k after that.

 

Did the same with mt 02 HD - w/ 24k on it - doesn't burn any oil.

 

my .02.

 

D

  • 2 weeks later...
Valsport Enthusiast

Valsport

Posted
Posted

If you were to switch from dino to synthetic, I'd wait until at least 3000 miles. On most of my trucks I run dino until 8,000 miles before switching to Royal Purple, with 1000, 3000 mile drain intervals while using conventional. Stick with the AC Delco filters, they are very good quality and not too expensive. Also, don't overlook your rear diff. It comes with synthetic fluid from the factory, but I'd change it at 1K-3K miles after you buy the truck and put in a quality oil like Royal Purple, Mobil 1 or Amsoil.

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