I really don't want to do it but I was curious as to how accurate the change oil light is. If it comes on does that mean it has to be really bad or just right. Currently I change it every 7,500. Just another dumb question to be answered.

Never gave the change oil light a thought relative to it's intended function. Change oil and filter at approx 5K intervals. When light comes on, get out the owners manual and re-read how to kill it and kill it. Think it is black box driven and uses a combo of miles driven and whether they are long or short haul. A good reminder if owner doesn't keep track of miles between changes and assists in removing the dunderhead factor.

i wait til the oil lite comes on...reset it...then i drive it til the oil lite reappears...then i proceed to change my oil...the motor clatters anyway...

You have to change the oil in these engines? I wondered why that light kept coming on!

Tom






















:joke:

Ha, Ha, :funnypost . I was just curious. I had a 99 5.3 before and my sister in law had a 00 Monte Carlo and the oil light would come on before 3,000 miles. It would even tell you when to change the air filter. And it seemed like it was very accurate. Of coarse I'm still going to do it by mileage. Just seeing if others do. :ro)

Oh yeah, just having some fun. I usually go 6000 miles....if the light came on before that, then it got done earlier. Resetting it can be fun...my foot doesnt move that fast!

Tom

I use the oil change system. I do not do much towing with my truck,mainly some city driving and highway miles. Run a search on Oil Life System. There is a very good explanation on how it works.

I change every 5K because I drive in a dusty environment. I am sure the oil is not anywhere near "worn out". If I ever go to a by-pass filter, I will then change the oil based on the computer display or 10K, whichever comes first.

A GM engineer recently posted a detailed description on how it works on BobistheOilGuy web site. It is based on rpm, not miles. The base computation is then modified for other external factors, such as operating temp, cuise speed, etc. GM has found a very strong relationship between RPM and consumption of the oil antiwear properties. They do have a safety factor built into to formula.

Have settled on the 5k routine. Has been good for my comfort level.

May I suggest that you drain by hours. Driving from New York to LA isn't as hard on the truck as driving from home to work, givin the same miles. See what kind of correlation you have between engine hours and Oil life % on the next drain. I would guess that you'll have about 350+ hours before the light comes on.

In our heavy equipment we use standard oil in most of it. However, there are a couple of motors that use the Delvac-1. Our drains are 250 hours on standard oil and 400 hours on Synthetic.


.........side note: I think any good dino oil will go 500 hours. What should be of concern is the dirt in the oil. You want a good oil, something that has good properties~ie--> good additive package. However, the slickest & best oil in the world is almost useless with "micron" dust. Most oil filters remove between 60 to (maybe) 20 microns, that's it. I think what you're looking for is something along the lines of 5, if possible. ------ just guessing here.... I think an oil could last a lifetime if additives were added very 200 hours and the partical count was keep low and remained below 2.78 microns.

May I suggest that you drain by hours. Driving from New York to LA isn't as hard on the truck as driving from home to work, givin the same miles. See what kind of correlation you have between engine hours and Oil life % on the next drain. I would guess that you'll have about 350+ hours before the light comes on.

In our heavy equipment we use standard oil in most of it. However, there are a couple of motors that use the Delvac-1. Our drains are 250 hours on standard oil and 400 hours on Synthetic.


.........side note: I think any good dino oil will go 500 hours. What should be of concern is the dirt in the oil. You want a good oil, something that has good properties~ie--> good additive package. However, the slickest & best oil in the world is almost useless with "micron" dust. Most oil filters remove between 60 to (maybe) 20 microns, that's it. I think what you're looking for is something along the lines of 5, if possible. ------ just guessing here.... I think an oil could last a lifetime if additives were added very 200 hours and the partical count was keep low and remained below 2.78 microns.



I am with you, go by the actual hours. The oil life will flash change oil at about 250 hours. For the people who are running downloader, boxes, etc. you should not go by the DIC, due the ECU does not know how much fuel is being dumped in the cylinders. The program is based on stock fuel and timing rates.......I do believe oil is cheap compared to repairs, I do OCI about 125 hours due to the fact that I do run with a downloader and a box set to kill most of the time. It is harder to wear out an engine with clean oil in it.;)

on a more serious note, my truck only gets to go about 6kmiles a year..i change it every 6 mos at around 3k..later

I am with you, go by the actual hours. The oil life will flash change oil at about 250 hours. For the people who are running downloader, boxes, etc. you should not go by the DIC, due the ECU does not know how much fuel is being dumped in the cylinders. The program is based on stock fuel and timing rates.......I do believe oil is cheap compared to repairs, I do OCI about 125 hours due to the fact that I do run with a downloader and a box set to kill most of the time. It is harder to wear out an engine with clean oil in it.;)
Thats interesting to know that. Even that I don't have any computer mods.

on a more serious note, my truck only gets to go about 6kmiles a year..i change it every 6 mos at around 3k..later
6,000 a year! You must do alot of short trips. I thought I was bad only putting on about 9,000 a year.

Kurt, if 9k is all that you put on it....go syn adn drain once a year. er...as long as you have over 20k miles on it.

There was a nice discussion on this over at www.bobistheoilguy.com. A lot of thought was put into this system, and it works very well. Most people can not get the "I have to change my oil at 3000 miles!!!!" out of their head. The oil companies and lube stops have drilled it into our brains. Truth is, oil formulations have come a long way since the 70's, and "this isn't your fathers oil". I have changed my oil, (Delvac 1300 15W40) at 7500 miles, sent in an analysis to Blackstone, and found the oil was no where near worn out. But oil is cheap, (now) people are fearful and paranoid, so the "I gotta change my oil every xxxx miles" persists.

Me, I am going with the oil life monitor on my wifes car, a Malibu with 2.2L Ecotec engine, with Amsoil 5W30 in the crankcase, and now that my Dmax is broken in, I am going with oil life monitor from now on.

By the way, mine first came on at 10,175 on it's third oil change.

For you low mileage guys, my philosophy is to change more often. Cold startups lead to increased acids in the oil that really shorten the non-harmful life of the oil.

If you low mileage people are just summer tow rigs, You may want to consider putting fresh oil in before the truck goes to sleep for long periods of time (winter). If your 6000 miles are put on in the course of a few months, I would change once at the end of the season.

My $0.02.

Personally, I am on the 7500k change interval (after getting through the 2k, 6k changes on dino oil, switching to delvac-1 at 10K). I rack on ~35K miles per year though.

No I never wait for that idiot light to come on I change oil every 5K miles without fail or 6 months whichever comes first. Good luck.................SWH...