Oil Changes

[Visago]

Royal Purple full synthetic here...every 7,000 miles with a high mileage premium oil filter. Believe the filter is Mobil-1.

[suplex]

I posted something earlier, and in the interest of fairness I would like to tell you how many miles I have on my car.

I bought it on 04/29/2011, and driving 3 miles home from work today (01/16/2014) it hit 5,790 miles.

So if I waited for 5k miles, I would only have had ONE oil change so far. I change it every April, which will make April of 2014 my Third Oil Change.

I do use Synthetic, and believe it or not, my Camaro is my daily driver (it's just that work is only 3 miles away).

I have enjoyed reading just about every post on this topic though, I have wondered about a lot of the things being discusses. Thank you all for your input.

[delta6]

Originally Posted by suplex

I posted something earlier, and in the interest of fairness I would like to tell you how many miles I have on my car.

I bought it on 04/29/2011, and driving 3 miles home from work today (01/16/2014) it hit 5,790 miles.

So if I waited for 5k miles, I would only have had ONE oil change so far. I change it every April, which will make April of 2014 my Third Oil Change.

I do use Synthetic, and believe it or not, my Camaro is my daily driver (it's just that work is only 3 miles away).

I have enjoyed reading just about every post on this topic though, I have wondered about a lot of the things being discusses. Thank you all for your input.

that's why it's ideal that if you don't reach 3-5k in a year, change your oil at least once a year...twice would be nice.

[v6sonoma]

One thing to remember is that just because the oil is still good doesn't mean you shouldn't still check it every so often between changes. All engines consume a little oil. Some more than others. So although the newer oils are capable of last far longer you can still run dangerously low if you don't keep an eye on it and top it off should it need it.

Personally I change it every 2,500 miles. I'd rather keep fresh oil in it then save a few bucks. I also prefer Royal Purple but there are many other high quality synthetics.

[axis]

Originally Posted by yellowrs

If you using Mobile one every 5K miles should be fine unless you driving the car really hard.
On my Toyota P/U I have 170k miles and change the oil every 5-6k.
Never had ANY! issues with engine.
I would recommend changing your differential and transmission fluid as well on a regular basis.

That's like saying I ALWAYS fill up with gas when my gauge gets to a quarter tank and i've NEVER run out of gas. I guess no one should let their gas gauge get less than a quarter tank. You've never had issue because you're changing your oil WELL within the lifespan of the oil you're using. I'd bet you still wouldn't have had an issue if you had increased that to 7.5-10k miles between changes.

Originally Posted by JCunningham

my oil Amsoil signature series is rated for 25,000 miles Amsoil filter 15,000. or one year. I change it every year. I put 6k on it this year. but car is new so its been changed 3 times in the 1st 1500

This.

Mobile 1 along with most, if not all good synthetics, is good for well over 10k miles. That doesn't mean it should be standard that everyone change their oil every 10k miles, but it does tell you that your engine won't seize up if you go 3001 miles on your synthetic oil. It's HIGHLY dependent on how you drive and what mods you have. If you're drag or road racing your car A LOT, you'll want to change your oil a lot more often. If you're DD'ing, you're good for 7.5k+. Anything sooner than that and you're just throwing money in the Walmart oil barrel. It amazes me how people will say that todays cars are technologically superior to cars from the 60's and 70's, yet they refuse to understand how oils can be.

[HollyVenus]

I was just told by mine every 5K they use full synthetics now in these.

[suplex]

I've even heard that changing oil too frequently can actually be bad for your engine. I wish I could remember the reason I was told this though.

[Titan]

In all my cars I change the oil after the first thousand miles. This is simply for peace of mind. After that it depends on the vehicle. My company car gets full synthetic every 10,000 miles. My Silverado's get an oil change at every 5,000 Miles and My Camaro gets one every 3,000 miles. The truck and Camaro done more frequently in terms of mileage for two reasons, one is because they are mine and I like to take care of my stuff and the second reason is for maintenance records. I like to get top dollar for my cars when I sell them and people often are more willing to pay that when you can show them you have documented your efforts to take good care of your vehicle. My company car is driven VERY hard and very often it stands up fine to the 10K mile maintenance schedule that is set forth by my employer. I am sure my cars would stand up fine to that schedule, but I would not want to see that interval if I was buying a car.

[Mvp_Me]

When i had turbo cars i did full synthetic oil changes every 3k. with my camaro i have 3 more free oil changes left but i let them do it every 4-5k miles and they use a synthetic blend.
After my free oil changes are up ill keep changing it myself every 4-5k miles.

[mailclerk]

Originally Posted by JTruckenbrod

This is the first car that I have owned that tells me what % life my oil is at. I just hit 3000 miles on my car and it is still showing greater than 40% oil life.

Here's the question: Do you change your oil based on what the car is telling you % wise or just go by the mileage, IE every 3k, 5k, etc. miles?

JTruckerbrod,

In both my GM cars I intend to go by what the OLM tells me unless one year go without an oil change. The way yours looks like yous will give you your indication to change oil at around 6K. For myself that's fine as these days oil is expensive especially if one decides to use synthetic version instead of typical dino. I'd just continue to wait for another 3K and observe carefully when the OLM tells you it's time as I do.

Mail Clerk

[CamaroRyan]

Originally Posted by Austin45

I usually change my around 20% which is around 4500 miles for me. GM engineered a complex algorithm that takes into account many factors such as how quickly you accelerate and so on to determine oil life, so I use that instead of the "Come waste your money every 3k miles!"

I personally dont beleave in the "oil life" %

It ALWAYS reaches 9-10% when I hit the 5K mark.

Personally i do a full synthetic and filter change every 5K.

[BowlingSS]

RP and K&N filter every 5K.

Bill

[Mvp_Me]

since we are on oil talk how is RP for the LLT?
when it comes to RP its like 50/50. some hate it and others love it.... they say it breaks down a lot faster than other brands so you have to change it early(3k).

[SuzanneClerkin]

Hi JTruckenBrod, you should change your engine oil based on the oil life percentage indicator. - The Pennzoil Team