Oil Change Frequency?
 

Considering the cost of changing 10 quarts of synthetic oil - debating when to change my oil next. I last changed it in May 2020, about 2K miles ago...

Oil minder is showing 25% life left.... Not sure if this is based on mileage or engine hours, I'm debating if it would make sense to change it when I wake it up from the winter hibernation (hopefully in Mar/Apr 2021) or do I let it go until at least 5K miles

Had an 88 Iroc Convertible for prior to this (had just put 500 miles/year on it) but changed the oil just every other year with synthetic blend

I recognize it's "cheap" insurance vs engine wear, but just curious what most people here do.

changed in the 30 to 40% range. oil will degrade even while sitting so you can change it and not drive another mile for a year and your oil life monitor will still go down.

Just follow the life monitor unless you track, in which case, factor the track hours into the oil life and change early.

And change the oil every year if you don't rack up enough miles.

I do autocross and a few track days so I change at 50% oil life at home, and take it to the dealer at 0%.

Oil is (relatively) cheap, engines are not, don't skimp on something so basic... If in doubt, change it out... I plan to do mine at 2,500 to 3,000 mile intervals at best... I changed mine at 505 miles and 1,500 miles (along with my differential fluid) , I'm currently at 3,100 miles and will likely change it at 4,000 miles (I'll change the Diff again at 7,500 miles with the next oil change)... $105 oil change or a $15,000 engine...

i change mine every 2-2.5k miles. i use ethanol except in the winter when the car is sitting. 93 only, i changed it every 5k miles. i change it at years end and also in the spring.

edit: i put 10-12k mi a year on the car. no dd, no winter use.

If this car runs on full synthetic, then why not just change at 7,500 miles or every year? My Raptor has twin turbos and runs synthetic blend and Ford changes it every 7,500 miles or once every six months. A ZL1 I would imagine requires more changes than our NA motors without FI. Tracking the car would definitely cook the oil more than daily highway pulls and $15k would get me a built LT4. ��

The GM OLM is quite smart and considered one of the best in the industry. It's not just time or mileage based but also based on driving habits (Engine run time, Engine RPM, Coolant Temp, Outside Air Temp, etc...) as well as upper limits on both mileage and time.

There was an excellent write-up about all that goes into it which I am trying to locate, but no luck finding thus far :bonk:

I go by the oil life monitor in all my vehicles. There are engineers that develop the synthetic oil and the oil life system in the vehicles. I don't know their job better then they do, so why would I not follow it? I change it out when the oil life monitor reads 20% (or) 1 year... Many times on all my vehicles I don't drive them enough in one year to get the oil life monitor down that low.

I change my oil when the oil monitor says 10 to 15 percent because I don’t drive my ZL1 daily. It gets driven 2 to 3 times a week and sometimes not that much if the weather is crappy! It really depends on your mileage and or time between oil changes.

On the flip side though you're negating one of the benefits of the modern full synthetic oil (and it's cost), longer drain intervals. And to that end, oil doesn't magically degrade because it was parked for a winter, or because OLM reads 0%.
Very opinionated subject though everyone seems to have their belief system.

3,000 miles or so

First, understand what oil you actually need and can use. The dexos2 0W-40 is much more expensive and not necessary if you don't track the car. If you drive on the street only, and don't constantly wind the motor out as if you were on the track, you can run 5W-30 dexos1 oil. For THAT oil, I personally use the Costco (Kirkland) 5W-30 dexos1 oil that comes two five quart jugs to a box for $30 along with a Mobil1 filter. WalMart branded oil is also available as 5W-30 dexos1. Check with your local dealership as well since they are likely using the 5W-30 dexos1 oil by default if they do the oil change (that's what they use for the complimentary service visit most of the time).

Second, here are other useful times to change the oil:

- After the odometer hits 500 miles
- After the odometer hits 1500 miles
- When the minder indicates to do so
- After a full year of time since the previous oil change
- Either immediately before storing the car, or as part of taking it out of storage

Oil changes are part of owning and maintaining the vehicle just like gas, registration, and insurance are - do them right and the car will hold up well.

I am in the situation where I only drive at most 3000 miles per year but the OLM says it’s time again to change again. I’ll change it when it gets to zero, but I will swear that oil still looks like new.