When to get an oil change?

[Firefighter]

I did my first at 1500 miles then my next one will be at 5000. Then I do 5000 mile intervals using Synthetic oil. I like Valvoline SynPower.

This has been working for me for the last 25 years and over 600,000 miles spread out over 4 or 5 Chevy's. The highest one got to 225,000 when I sold it and it didn't burn a drop of oil and started with the slightest bump of the key.

[Sftshldr]

I just changed my oil (added Mobil 1) and my differential fluid with gear guard and limited slip additive from GM. Then did the figure eights forward and reverse to ensure the differential clutch packs get lubed up right.

I drove my car very spiritedly for the first 250 miles ... exceeded 4K rpms repeatedly and triple digits on the interstate during the first 150 miles. Both sides of the PCV system are covered, dirty and clean. Catch Can @ 33 miles and Air Oil separator @ 92. So when 1000 miles rolled around I changed the oil and differential fluid. Glad I did with the metal particles I found. Now that the crud is mostly out of the engine I will change again at 3K miles, but there after will be using the OLM. My car ... my choice.

[solteroblues]

Originally Posted by Dtrimpi87

Well you go ahead and go 10k miles between oil changes. Wouldnt catch me doin it.

Bell is right. You're going off of conventional oil guidelines, not synthetic. The old 3k is so far off nowadays, you're wasting money. 1500 is good for that first one, but even then it's probably not necessary.

I'm a mechanical engineer, and about 18 years ago I interned at a paper plant (in the maintenance department) while in college. We had a guest speaker come in and tell us about his company that consulted for Jaguar when Ford took them over. He said they studied oil for several years, and how most of the (then) newer conventional oils were virtually like new even around 4-5k miles. He said it was dumb to replace the oil every 3k miles unless you drive in a really dusty environment, or don't let the engine warm up enough to burn off any accumulated moisture because of all of the additives they put there to prevent early breakdown. And with the "new" synthetic oil, you should replace every 5-7k miles. That was nearly 20 years ago. We're now seeing manufacturer's recommend oil changes every 7500 miles or more, including Toyota and Hyundai.

[Glen e]

OK let me put a twist on it. I am retired and love to mod my car but I drive very little - Literally to the bait store and back (LOL) and ALL stop and go. No interstate.

So how much TIME should elapse before I make my first change?

I'm thinking 3 months?

[rockrau]

I from the "Let the engine break in" school.Chevy assembles engines with compounds and lubes and such.The oil life monitor is a well engineered device.My car came factory filled with Mobil-1(very low friction oil).I waited till oil life was about 20%(8000 mi).I'm not smarter than the GM engineers.My car has 17,000+ miles,4 track days(road course)and uses NO oil!

[Ryanbabz71]

I have done 2 oil changes in 1500 miles. (Appx 1 year) 1st at 500 and second at 1500. Cheap Insurance


Ryan

[dcrook23]

Sftshldr, just sent you a PM. I'd like you to expand on your <2000 mile maintenance steps you reviewed/performed. I have roughly 1600 in <2 months and certainly like to roll it around the highway and local streets and am wondering if I need to monitor more closely some of my other under hood components.

[SGDM]

I change oil at 8000 miles, Mobil 1, recommended by the manufacturer. I went to 10,000 and sent in a sample for analysis, just wanted to see what they had to say. Oil was at about 90% life, time to change. I did this at 11,000 and 24,000 miles and I drive the car hard.

[Mouse6.2]

Originally Posted by Glen e

OK let me put a twist on it. I am retired and love to mod my car but I drive very little - Literally to the bait store and back (LOL) and ALL stop and go. No interstate.

So how much TIME should elapse before I make my first change?

I'm thinking 3 months?

If you are using synthetic I would say every six months would be fine. Just curious as to how many miles do you put in it in those 3 months?

[Angrybird 12]

I have a 5,000 mile or 50% on the oil life monitor, whichever comes first. And I feel that is being conservative.