I have an '06 LBZ. My first diesel, how often do you change oil in a diesel. I got it changed 3k mi ago and the computer says I am at 70%.

Thank you

just follow the computer

I believe it ranges from 7,500 - 10,000 miles when the computer will tell you to change it

Had a long talk with my local service manager about this when I bought my truck back in March 2005. He told me not to go to Synthetic Oil until after the first oil change and change the oil according to what the DIC tells you. My first oil change was at 9500 miles. The DIC said I had 4% left. I have seen the DIC tell me that the oil needed changing in as few as 6500 miles when towing my 5th wheel and as long as 9700 miles with normal Hwy driving. You can reset your engine oil life counter on the LLYs by using the DIC to pull up the oil life display and then pressing the return button (button with the arrow) until it says "oil life reset". Not sure if the LBZ is the same. This should be done whenever the oil is changed. Hope this helps.

if the truck doesnt have steering wheel controls and manual DIC conrol does the change oil still flash on the information center?

Just my 2cents. I don't trust the Dealer or the DIC, as I see it they are out to sell you a new one. I change mine every 3,000 miles with Valvoline Premium Blue. I did my first change at 1000 miles and I have used it ever since with no issues. I tow light loads and I live in Phoenix with high temps and heavy traffic. I would never push above 5,000 miles without a by pass filter regardless of where I lived though. I look at it as cheap insurance, ever price a DMax long block? Again like I said before "just my 2 cents".

:iamwithst what's another 30 minutes out of your life on the weekends, especially when a new d-max could cost you 20k! I would use rotella 15-40 or delo 15-40, but again thats my opinion.

my dealer told me every 3,000 miles AND they only charge me $9.95 per change for as long as I own the vehicle or if they go out of busness first!

every 3k miles is way to excessive in my opinion, this isn't a gas engine

Not sure if the LBZ is the same. This should be done whenever the oil is changed. Hope this helps.

LBZs work the same way.

I agree. Every 3,000 is just wasting good oil.

Just my 2cents. I don't trust the Dealer or the DIC, as I see it they are out to sell you a new one. I change mine every 3,000 miles with Valvoline Premium Blue. I did my first change at 1000 miles and I have used it ever since with no issues. I tow light loads and I live in Phoenix with high temps and heavy traffic. I would never push above 5,000 miles without a by pass filter regardless of where I lived though. I look at it as cheap insurance, ever price a DMax long block? Again like I said before "just my 2 cents".So you think it is the oil companies that are the honest ones then?

Somewhere between 7.5 and 10k is fine.

Dmax/GM has a reputation to live up to and if it was thought that there was a shortened life by using the manufactures suggested change interval they would be held accountable. It is not uncommon to see 200k+ out of a factory engine regardless of drain interval. Also, all of the oil analysis that I have seen done on Dmaxs at the recommended interval have not shown anything to give concern.

Do you want to service your vehicle or drive it?

Delvac 1 every 10,000 miles or if a lot of towing I go by the DIC. Third Dmax and still to buy my first long block. 3,000 miles is what we did back in the 1950's. Oil has come a long way since then.

Oil is cheap, when it's dirty, it's out! And for me, it's between, 3-4000K mi.

I agree. Every 3,000 is just wasting good oil.
yea that seems to be alot of wasteage, someone in the oil forum was saying the oil life is pre-set to come on at or around 10,000 miles and you can set it to come on whenever you want, i thought it monitered the hours ect.???

I change my oil every 2800 miles or so. I got free oil changes when i bought my truck, so i figured i would change the oil more often because i'm not sure how good the oil is that they put in. I want to switch to amsoil 15w40 full sythetic, is it safe to do so at about 8000 miles?

All these opions and no one has hit one of the big reasons why you don't need to change your oil as frequently in a diesel. Diesel fuel has a lubrication quality to it. So when you get a LITTLE diesel fuel in your oil its, not as big of a concern as in a gas engine. I personally do it at 5,000 reguardless of DIC. oil is cheap, as already stated and theres nothing wrong with an early oil change on anything. If you look at GM's recomended service on other trucks and then look at the mileage they've traveled, I don't see a problem with there recomended interval. I mean TRUCKS with over 350,000 miles, still running strong and no major work! Chevy has built a reputation for quality, long lasting engines. I guess thats my $.02
Todd

I run Mobil 1 Delvac and change it every 5k just to be on the safe side

Forget the oil life monitor--way too many loopholes/flaws to be considered anywhere near accurate.Scheduled oil analysis is the smart way to go,combined with a little common sense of checking things yourself.

Looking at all the opinions and it looks like no one can agree on when to change the oil. So it looks like what ever you decide on, will be OK, as long as you just change the oil at some point in time. I think the old saying of every 3 months or 3000 miles is out the window in these days and time. I just traded a 2001 Duramax that had 80,000 on it and I changed oil every 5,000 miles and it never used a drop of oil between changes, but I think if I would have changed it at 8,000 or 10,000 it would have still been good. I'll go with the DIC on this one. Just my .02 worth.

I'm on my second dmax no issues by following the recommended intervales.
First oil change @ 1,000miles, then I follow the DIC. (8k on average for me, really short around town runs, only 2miles to work!) I believe it monitors hours, rpms, temps etc.. to come up with oil life. For those of you changing oil @ 3k run an oil analysis and the oil will be like testing new oil.
Try BlackStone Labs for oil testing.

Will it be safe to switch to Amsoil 15w40 full synthetic at 8000 miles?

With my 02 lb7 and 05 lly I changed the oil every 5000 miles. I used Penz oil 15/40 and never had a problem with my trucks. The dic on the 05 says 40% left when I change it at 5000 miles but for it has not hurt my two motors by using the Penz 15/40.SatchMaxLubbock, Tx

why you would ever change oil with only 3k on it is beyond me. On a 500 hp farm tractor gettinhg the crap worked out of it the interval is 350 hours, these trucks are coasting most of the time running very little heat or boost. We dont run that long but we go 200 hrs and have never had an oil related problem. I will go by the dic in the truck

i been doing every 3,000 but i am gonna start to let it go lil bit longer.... they told me 25,000 for tranny serviceif towing with it a lot and 30,000k for reg service.... question.. what is the DIC???

DIC = Driver Information Center

aka the messages that display where the milage usually is.

It is true that oil formulation has come a long ways in a short amount of time. And yeah its true that diesel fuel has oil in it. But its also true that the internal loads on a diesel engine is much higher than that of a gas engine. When the loads are higher on an engine, its very important to keep the oil fresh. Im sticking to 3500 - 4000 miles a change.

The DIC is a good way to monitor oil performance. Large fleets often use gallons or liters of fuel burnt rather than miles or hours. to tell them exactly what the oil has had to do. Heavy load = more fuel burnt, change interval comes up more often. Your Dic is replicating that somewhat. I follow my DIC but usually change it between15 - 20%. There is no need to be changing any more often. And no GM isn't trying to blow up your engine

I change mine every 6000 miles i just figure 5 quarts 3000 miles 10 quarts 6000 miles kind of stupid but it works for me though i did do the first one at 3000

Sent my oil into blackstone with 5.5K on the oil. They said I could probably extend it to 6K. The 6K sample looked good and they said to try for 6.4K. They said the average Duramax sample they get (running Delo 400) is about 6,700 miles.

Good to know. I'm glad someone has finally posted numbers. You are the first person I have seen willing to post numbers on oil samples.
Anyone one else want to give numbers for different oils?
Thanks a bunch aziator!
Todd
Sent my oil into blackstone with 5.5K on the oil. They said I could probably extend it to 6K. The 6K sample looked good and they said to try for 6.4K. They said the average Duramax sample they get (running Delo 400) is about 6,700 miles.

No problem, I would be more than happy to post the actual reports but I would need to blackout a few personal things first.

Guess my memory was off a little , the first sample had about 4300 miles on it and a little over 11,000 on the truck (first full oil run after 2 break in oil changes). This is what the guys at blackstone had to say about the sample (I took it while on extended vacation/PCS in the military hence the statement about shelf life)

"It has been awhile since this oil was pulled from the engine, but we find there really isn't a shelf life on oil samples, though if left to sit for a couple years, the metals tend to migrate to the bottom of the sample. Wear in your oil read at average levels and we see no signs of any lingering wear-in. This Delo oil is doing a nice job at rings and bearings so you could consider more oil use miles for the next sample. No harmful contaminants found in the oil. Our average oil sample from this type engine has 6,400 miles on it. You could try 6,000 miles on the oil run next sample."

My next sample is listed in the photo below. It actually has both samples listed. If you go to the blackstone website there is a key there on how to read the numbers and what they mean. Most of the high numbers are from break-in from what I understood. I hope this helps.