reefer_roids

alright. recently i read through my 2010 cobalt ss tc owner's manual. under the section with oil changes and oil life reset etc, it states that once an oil change has been completed they recommend that you reset the oil life reset button and wait till it says "change oil soon." I personally have never waited until it said this, in fact, i have always changed the oil after 3 months, due to the fact that i do not drive the cobalt over 3k miles in 3 months.
So, my question is should i actually wait until it says change oil soon? From reading the owner's manual, it states that the car can detect when it is needed, but how accurate is this statement? keep in mind my car does not get driven hard 95% of the time, and i live Florida.

car gods, i need your expertise here. please and thank you!!

iToastie

iTrader: (4)

It's more of a guideline for people who don't know what they're doing....

Keep changing every 3k-5k

ECaulk

iTrader: (6)

Get a used oil analysis that is the only way to honestly know.

Staged07SS

iTrader: (25)

Changing a synthetic oil every 3k is a waste of money....

Shoot for every 5k.

06cobalt racer

iTrader: (11)

i go between 8-10k miles between changes

user 72239

iTrader: (4)

Its more of a guide for people who dont take their car seriously. I change my oil ever 6 months or 6000 miles, whatever comes first. and i sent a oil analysis in to Blackstone. They said I could run it longer if i want but i feel more comfortable with 6 months or 6000 miles. I run Mobil 1 5w-30 High mileage.

EMAC X 61

iTrader: (1)

i change mine every year when i pull it out for the summer. i only put about 1,000 miles on a year though!

nobody2u

The owners manual says until the oil life says to OR every 3000 miles, whatever comes first.

emiller

The oil life monitor adjusts itself based on your driving conditions. Drive it hard or lots of short drives it lowers the intervals, cruise on the interstate for hours it increases them. I don't believe it adjusts for time though so if you only drive it a few miles a month it might not compensate for that. These monitors aren't new or something only gm has. If you still don't trust it then submit your oil for analysis and see what they say.

riceburner

iTrader: (66)

i just do it at the 50% mark

Staged07SS

iTrader: (25)

Again, changing synthetic oil every 3k is a waste of time/money.

You have to understand that the owners manual was not written just for the SS/SC or SS/TC.

The base model cars came with non synthetic oil from the factory. In that case, then yes, every 3k is correct.

But the SS/SC & SS/TC are factory filled with synthetic oil which is good for at least 5k if not more.

nhanson

iTrader: (1)

I just do it when it super dark.

Gravey

One important thing to note is that the Oil Life Monitor is based on driving conditions, milage, temperature and other variables that it uses to estimate when it thinks it SHOULD be changed. It has no actual sensor that checks the quality of the oil.

m33pm33p

Which means its totally inaccurate, proven by my ***** to the wall driving for 10k km's and still saying 50% oil life. Yea no thanks.

emiller

What is your assumption based on? Did you actually have your oil analyzed.

Pitbull2o08

iTrader: (2)

So the oil life monitor is also calibrated for conventional oil and not just synthetic, correct?

emiller

Its calibrated for the recommended oil. Synthetic for the cars that require it. Conventional for the cars that use that.

redcobalt07

iTrader: (18)

I have multiple cars that are each driven around 5000 miles a year so I change my oil about once a year for each car.

tamadrummer

I have done A LOT of research on this. The GM oil life monitor system is a very complex computer program. A lot of engineers that are a lot smart than most people have designed this system to run off of a proven algorithm (I think I read a while back that they have put millions upon millions of miles of testing into it) that takes into account the outside temp, engine temp, throttle position, fuel consumption, as well as many other factors to come up with a system to tell you when to change the oil. I trust this system with my car, and I trust the system with the other vehicles I maintain (my parents' 2009 Outlook that easily gets 20k miles a year driving from Lincoln back to Detroit on a regular basis, 2013 Silverado 2500HD Duramax (previously a 2002 Duramax - also follows the compute for oil changes) that regularly tows a 18k lb trailer and my girlfriend's 2012 Cruze ECO MT). It has never proven us wrong. Like I said, GM pays engineers to make sure these systems tell you when to change the oil when you need to change the oil. They would not make a system that destroys your engine. They don't want to get sued and pay to replace engines during their 100,000 mile warranties or later, if they find that these oil life monitoring systems are faulty. If that happened on a large enough scale, they would be forced to recall and replace A LOT of engines. It's just not in GM's best interest to design a system that is going to destroy your engine. They don't want to lose customers (at least not anymore - this isn't the 80's ).

http://assets.cobaltnitra.com/teams/...145efa6b30.pdf

mike1coolguy88

i work for gm there infact has been flaws in the oil life monitor, look at the equinox and traverse, and same paltform models all have recall to reprogram the ecm that has updates to shorten oil life monitor intervals due to excevise engine repairs and oil consumption issues

tamadrummer

Ah yes, I should have mentioned that. My parents' Outlook did have a reprogram. But, that was pretty early in that vehicle's life. I would hope that Cobalts would have the kinks worked out of them after eight years of being out.

I should also note that about half of my family works or has worked for GM (and Chrysler :/), ranging from assembly line workers to engineers.

I still change my oil early sometimes. Before a long trip if my percentage is low or before I did my SCCA races, for example.

ECaulk

iTrader: (6)

I think the only way to find out is someone who is stock needs to perform a UOA using the oil life monitor.

I'm far from stock so I'm out

tamadrummer

I've thought about doing it, but I'm lazy and it costs $25.

ECaulk

iTrader: (6)

After my next oil change I'm going to

blackbird

The used oil analysis (UOA) at a reputable testing lab like Blackstone is essentially the only way an owner can tell how well their oil and filter are performing for their driving conditions. With that said and has been explained before and in this thread, GM's oil life monitor is very advanced and has a proven track record. I run a good synthetic and have no problem running the interval it recommends which usually falls around 10-12k mile changes (almost all my drives the engine and oil get up to full temp and I do a lot of highway driving).

I don't have any recent used oil analysis reports I can post for the Cobalt, but just food for thought I did have one I just got back for my new 2013, direct injector, 2.0L turbocharged Focus ST. Ford has a new intelligent oil life monitor system like GM that tracks drive cycles, coolant and oil temp, engine load, rpms, run time, mileage, etc. and on my car I was curious to see how the factory fill would perform following Ford's guidance. With my driving the change oil soon message came on just after 10k miles and about six months of driving.

I sent a sample into Blackstone labs and except for slightly elevated metal content common with all new engine, even ones with more frequent oil changes when new, the report came back that the mileage was just about perfect and the TBN (total base number, i.e. amount of detergent and acid-neutralizing additives left) was showing the oil was getting close to end of life but still not used up. And that is on semi-synthetic oil. With a high quality full synthetic you can likely go much, much further than most people realize.

Asking automotive forums on the internet as to when your oil needs changed is going to get tons of opinions that are just that, opinions, most often without scientific reasoning to back it up. By all means change it earlier if you don't mind the environmental impact and added expense but you should be perfectly safe following GM's guidelines in the owner's and service manuals if you use an oil that meets or exceeds their specs and follow the oil life monitor.

Want to read up more on oil you can try the oil forums but be advised you'll find some smart people but also a lot of opinions. It's best for general knowledge, to see how new oils are performing in general and to read other people's testing reports to see how different engines and oils are doing under different driving conditions. Want to know what your car is doing, internal engine health and how your oil is performing? Have it tested and then you'll also have some real answers.