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Oil Change Indicator And Mobil 1 Synthetic

vxaxv17

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vxaxv17 Enthusiast

vxaxv17

Posted
Posted

So for the past couple years, I have been changing my oil when the oil life indicator says to. It averages about 3200 miles before it comes on. The last oil change I did, I switched to mobil 1 synthetic. Before the switch, I was using regular 5w30. Now I've had the Mobil1 in for about 3400 miles and the oil life indicator came on yesterday telling me to change the oil. I realize that the oil itself can last longer than 3400 miles but im curious what others do in this situation. Should I just reset the meter and let it go another 3k miles or so? The oil looks ok on the stick when i check the level, but I've never used this synthetic before. I really dont want to spend the extra cash on the more expensive oil just to change it out every 3k like the regular oil. What do others do?

 

Thanks.

Norseman Senior Enthusiast

Norseman

Posted
Posted
So for the past couple years, I have been changing my oil when the oil life indicator says to. It averages about 3200 miles before it comes on. The last oil change I did, I switched to mobil 1 synthetic. Before the switch, I was using regular 5w30. Now I've had the Mobil1 in for about 3400 miles and the oil life indicator came on yesterday telling me to change the oil. I realize that the oil itself can last longer than 3400 miles but im curious what others do in this situation. Should I just reset the meter and let it go another 3k miles or so? The oil looks ok on the stick when i check the level, but I've never used this synthetic before. I really dont want to spend the extra cash on the more expensive oil just to change it out every 3k like the regular oil. What do others do?

 

Thanks.

 

Let it go for another 2k miles. Then when it's time to change it switch to PennZoil Platinum and save some cash. You will not get anybetter protection from Mobil 1 just a lighter wallet.

mini1 Enthusiast

mini1

Posted
Posted

Let it go for 2-3k miles more, unless you drive the truck hard and tow lots of heavy stuff. I would not switch to PennZoil. Their synthetics are not the best going. Mobil 1 is better and Amsoil is even better.

vxaxv17 Enthusiast

vxaxv17

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Driving conditions are not too tough. I have not towed anything but have done some mild offroading. I'll let it go another couple thousand before I give ita change. Thanks for the thoughts guys.

cmoore74 Enthusiast

cmoore74

Posted
Posted

Seems there is no such thing as an oil related discussion without it becoming a brand war.

 

I'm surprised your OLM is switching on at around 3k miles. Mine usually goes to about 5k-6k miles before getting towards 10%.

 

Even with another 2k miles you might be changing that oil early. I too have restled with this question and I debated a used oil analysis to tell me when the oil is good to, but it costs more than changing the oil frequently. A good quality synthetic should be able to go 6k miles with ease. IMO if you go double your OLM (seems that's 6k-7k miles for you) with Mobil1 you should be OK. Most manufacturers now recommend 5k mile intervals with conventional oil.

vxaxv17 Enthusiast

vxaxv17

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Everyone has their opinions on brand. I am not concerned with that, just looking to hear what others do in similar situations. I always thought 3k miles was a bit premature for the change oil light to come on but I followed it anyway. It was less of an issue when i was using conventional oil. The thing that really bothers me is that I usually have to add a quart just before the light comes on around 3k miles. 1qt in 3k miles seems a bit excessive. Im not sure if the oil consumption is somehow triggering the olm prematurely. I guess I should look into replacing my pcv valve...

SLPR_04 Enthusiast

SLPR_04

Posted
Posted

I myself usually changed my oil out every 4k miles. I never bought into the market hype about the 3k miles oil changes. If you were doing a bunch of towing or lived in the desert I could understand the every 3k miles oil changes. But if I pull the dipstick at 3k miles and see the oil looking like I just put it in(same color and roughly the same consistency), I'd let it ride another 500 or 1k miles and check again. That is just my take on it. Now that I just recently changed over to synthetic. I will be changing the oilever 5k miles.

 

Now as far as the OLM is concerned, I believe it works off of number of revolutions on the motor in between OLM resets. I am more than likely wrong on this, but I could have sworn I read somewhere that is how it works.

gratefulparrot187 Enthusiast

gratefulparrot187

Posted
Posted

I use mobil 1 in my truck and I always change it at 3,000 miles, give or take a few. The reason the oil light that comes on is so people don't forget about the oil changes. Even though the oils are lasting longer nowadays you should still change it at about 3-4k just so the engine has nice fresh oil in it.

03blackburb Enthusiast

03blackburb

Posted
Posted

GM designed the system to not remind you when to change but WHEN to change. You guys really crack me up about changing oil every 3k miles.

Mobil 1 full syn will go much longer and still provide protection to your motor.

04silverado1500 Enthusiast

04silverado1500

Posted
Posted

while your oil can go that long maybe and still provide protection is it worth doing this and possibly not getting the best protection. yes some cars can go 15k on an oil change (bmw) andi am perfectly fine with that. but our trucks have big engines and hold only 6 qts (mine does) those bmws and mercedes often times take around 10 qts. now im not saying our trucks cant go more then 3k on synthetic i think they can but i see no real point in going over 5k. its cheap insurance i have no problem dishing out 70 bucks every 10k miles instead of 35 bucks this is nothing compared to the value of our trucks. also the last oil filter i put on said do not exceed 3k miles with that filter. i want to say that was purolator. also not all ssynthetics are created eqaul. example penzoil is not as good as amsoil. i have never seen anything but problems from penzoil and fram filters and thats backed by tests online. anyways not trying to start a war just my thoughts feel free to comment

  • 3 weeks later...
saffy Enthusiast

saffy

Posted
Posted

First, I'm gonna touch on the brand thing. A good portion of those brands come from the same refineries. There is a small handful of oil refineries scattered across North America, where I imagine most people on here are located, and there are dozens of brands. Trust me, Im in the middle of nowhere getting ready to suck bitumen out of the ground right now, which will later become high quality synthetic crude.

 

And I have never read a single good thing, test-wise, about Amsoil... the only positive things I've read about it were in articles written by dealers or employees of their parent company.

 

From what I've read, and experienced in my 6L, is that the oil CAN last longer however the filters are still designed for 3k miles. I've spoken to people who change their filter when the light comes on, and let the oil continue running for another 3k+. Personally, I change whenever the light comes on which seems to vary a lot (and seems very overdue right now) but it usually averages 4500 miles or more.

 

Don't worry too much about your oil. Synthetics are all the same; but your filter is the real first-line defense.

summerwind Enthusiast

summerwind

Posted
Posted

i use to be hardcore on the "change at 3K" thing........with the old carburated engines i believe this was true due to the fuel wash the cylinders got when cold starting and the excess gas that would wash the oil from the top end away and cause the most wear and tear.

 

when i got my '00 rado, the mechanic told me that these fuel injected engines delivered the precise amount of gas at cold or anytime the engine was started and would last much longer than the previous carbed engines.

at 251K miles now and still going strong, i firmly believe that oil changes at 3K are a thing of the past.

the '00 has seen Mobil 1 since day one and has been changed at 5-7K throughout it's life, with an occasional change that happened at 11-14K.................no ill effects whatsoever.

 

on the new truck i just bought, the dealer recommends oil changes at 5K with regular Mobil oil.

07Graystone Enthusiast

07Graystone

Posted
Posted

I'm suprised your OLM comes on at 3,200 - 3,400 miles. The OLM on my truck indicates 64% remaining at 3,780 mi, which divides out to an approx 10,500 oil change interval. I plan to follow the OLM also.

dsmazz Enthusiast

dsmazz

Posted
Posted
I'm suprised your OLM comes on at 3,200 - 3,400 miles. The OLM on my truck indicates 64% remaining at 3,780 mi, which divides out to an approx 10,500 oil change interval. I plan to follow the OLM also.

 

Ah, but his is an '02; your's an '07. I think therein lies the difference. Look at the maintenance schedule in the '07 owner's manual. There's no reference to oil change intervals based on mileage, but on the DIC message or before ten months. My '01 Sierra's oil change indicator would come on around 3,000 miles like clockwork. My '07 Sierra's is yet to come on. I changed the oil at 3000, but did not reset. I now have 6800 and still no indication, although remaining oil usage is getting into the 30% area according to the DIC.

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