you know that because they want to make money off you, right?

My first two were at 5000 and 10,000kms. Tons of life left. Switched to Amsoil and will let the next one go down to between 10-20%. But yeah I trust it.

 

I love all these guys that say they "trust" the oil life meter in one breath, then in the next they say they change their oil anyways with 10, 20, even 30% left on the meter. Since when do you know better then the factory?, do you think the mechanics are sitting around filling out your oil change notices?, it's the secretary doing the monthly bulk mailing. If you want to listen to her advice on car maintainance go right ahead! LOL. I know I am not overly eager to spend, atleast in the SS/SC, @ $100 for a synthetic oil change unless it's time, and if synthetic doesn't give you extended oil life then what does it do?, there has to be some benefit. Stop listing to your dads advice on when to get your oil changed, and RFM, those old school rules don't apply to new cars anymore.

 

What a stupid statement.

I find it hard to believe that when my car rolls over 200XXX Kms that the engine will be in just as good of shape if I changed my Oil every 7500km instead of 5000km... It's common sense to know that the less dirt, grime and viscosity breakdown there is, the better and longer your engine will perform in the future. You obiviously haven't rebuilt a tired engine before.

I don't trust it, as it's really just a meter which counts down from your last reset position... it doesn't read the oil at all. It's called a stupidmeter, for people who forget that changing their oil on a regular basis stops the onset of that massive smoke cloud coming out of the tailpipe.

I find it funny that people ask if this meter should be followed by the letter... what would everyone do without technology?

 

yea b/c dealerships makes tons of oil changes HAHAAHAHHAHA

funniest thing ive read in awhile

 

wow--I said the same thing about your reply. I guess you don't know anything about business.

Obvioulsy dealerships do not make much on AN INDIVIDUAL oil change. I never suggested they did--that was you BTW

But start talking about a large volume of customers coming in for an oil change at 3000 miles (5,000kms) and it will add up. Change it up to 5000 miles and their profit shrinks. Even the chepaest service adds to the bottom line.

And by getting you in the door they will try to up sell you stuff. Like the infamous throttlebody cleaning ect.

Bottom line is a dealer or oil change chain will swear on the 3000 mile (5000km) oil change to try to get you back as often as possible. And they would rather get your money then the local Oil chain <insert name here>

Does this make any sense to you now?

 

Really? ,well when I go to work each day I am surrounded by 17,000 cars on 150 acres, and that does not include the other @ 5,000 stored off site. I think I may have some idea what I am talking about.

This is true, and that is why the oil meter is there, to monitor the oil before it breaks down. By 200,000km's you will have spent over $2000 more then you needed to by changing your oil when you think it should be.

Have you ever lapped a valve by hand?, do you know what lapping a valve means?, have you ever picked the pieces of a broken oil ring out of the piston they melted into? Did you ever ride your bike home with a rebuild kit for a flathead Ford in your backpack?Please don't you tell me what I have not done.

If it was really just a meter then we would all be getting our oil changed at the same mileage, if anybody followed it that is, but that is not what happening so what does that tell you?... maybe it does read the oil after all

We would get our oil changed twice as often as we need to, at no benefit to the car, and spend twice as much as we need to do it.

 

I'm a Mechanic by trade.
I Love my SS.
It never sees more than 5000kms before oil changes.
It costs me $100 each oil change.
That Sux.

I don't know why I'm writing in short sentences.

 

I change my oil when it reaches about 50% on the meter. It's probably overkill, but I'd rather put a little more money in that way than deal with any problems down the road.

 

Thats about where i do it too, just to be safe as well.....!

 

Wow, 17,000 cars and that make you an expert at what now?

When does how many cars you are surrounded by make any point of reference to what we are talking about right now?

The fact of the matter is, you say that it people are changing their oil too often... I say we'll see you at 200,000kms, if your engine ever gets there.

If it does read the actual breakdown of the oil then HOW COME I CAN RESET THE METER MYSELF? It's a countdown clock, that's all it is.

As far as everyone changing the oil at the same time, I think this thread proves that everyone varies their oil change based on what they deem to be the maximum amount of time they want to run with old sludge in the oil pan.

Oh and by the way, I have a friend on who's 89 Daytona 2.5L Turbo I am replacing the Headgasket, on sunday... Previous owner changed the oil once a year. Once I have that head off I'll show you what old oil does to cylinder walls.

 

With that many cars you get to see just about anything and everything people do to cars, and some things you haven't thought of. Every seen what oil looks like after 35,000Km's never having been changed? OOOOooo... (shudder) Don't trust the monitor then, maybe it does just count down, but I trust the oil at $100 an oil change to do something more the $40 oil. For that price it better!. There has to be some reason to put synthetic in.........maybe it's all just a marketing deal with mobil 1 and the whole synthetic thing is BS, yeah thats it.

 

First of all, this is a repost.

One of the better points I saw in the last post about trusting the oil life gauge was, why would they spend all that money on a oil life system built for our cars if we were not to trust it?

 

Maybe cause the warrenty work due to a blown engine with no oil, has far more cost in the big picture than just installing something via the factory.....Just a thought!

You gotta admit there are some stupid ass ppl out there that dont change their oil regularly..

 

I just can't imangine that gm thought, hmm, we're not doing so hot already, whats another way to ruin our image....I've got it, lets add an oil life gauge that lies, that way when someone's engine blows, we can make money on it!

Thats if they don't end up going with an import....

 

Many motorists today are confused.

For several years General Motors, BMW and Mercedes-Benz have been installing monitors on their dashboards that light up to indicate when its time to change oil. GM monitors have frequently allowed motorists to drive 5,000 miles and as much as 7,000 miles or more before signaling that it's time to change oil. The Mercedes-Benz service system indicates 10,000-20,000-mile oil change intervals.

Naturally, this flies in the face of the 3,000-mile drain recommendation.

What's a Car Owner to Do?
Petroleum oil companies have insisted their oil needs to be changed every 3,000 miles, even for vehicles with the dashboard light. But the world's largest automaker, General Motors, states that oil change intervals should not be based on miles driven, but rather on driving style. In a feature story titled, "Supersize Me! GM moves to extend drain intervals," (May 2004 Lubes N Greases, vol. 10 issue 5), David McFall unveils the latest move in GM's strategic plan to cut loose drain intervals.

The GM solution is for motorists to depend on its patented Oil Life System (OLS). The owner's manuals in today's GM fleet no longer make specific mileage recommendations. Instead, the GM Oil Life System analyzes the engine's operational data including temperature, revolutions, speed, to calculate the rate of engine oil degradation and determine when an oil is nearing the end of its life. At this point a message on the dashboard signals that it is time to change oil.

Each OLS computer model is engine-specific because GM believes each engine behaves differently under the various driving situations and conditions. For this reason GM is on record as stating there can be no standard oil change interval. Both cars and driving styles vary. The OLS allegedly calculates all factors pertaining to the engine and the driver and thereby makes its oil change recommendations.

GM senior project engineer Robert Stockwell has been studying analyzed oil samples from vehicles with OLS.

"In all cases where the OLS signaled for an oil change it was before the oil was worn out," according to Stockwell. "Many of these samples were from vehicles with greater than 10,000 miles on the oil, a few with more than 14,000 miles and at least one with 16,000 miles. These intervals were recorded in vehicles using regular mineral oil. Synthetic oil gets even longer oil change intervals."



Hope this helps..............!!

 

I think I can agree on that.

 

Wonderful!!

 

interesting article....I'd love to read more into that

I think from what I have read it's something that will be debated for awhile.

I wonder if we can agree on something though; for the very first oil change is it a good idea to get that done following the 5000KM(3000Mile) rule?

 

I've reset it before when it was at 75% and it didn't go back to 75%... I'm not sure if I agree with that article, even though it's there clean and clear.

 

Thats because it doesn't have anything to "test" the oil to see if it has broken down or not. If you reset the oil life monitor it 'assumes' you have changed the oil. From the article by 'kissmySS' , "GM Oil Life System analyzes the engine's operational data including temperature, revolutions, speed, to calculate the rate of engine oil degradation and determine when an oil is nearing the end of its life." key words.... "caluculate the rate of engine oil degradation" It DOESN'T say anything about having a sensor to "test" the oil. just my take on it.

BTW, I change my oil every 3,000mi - 4,000mi topps ...but then again.. i don't run synthetic either

 

Exactly, that was my original point.

 

Thats another good way to look at it for sure.....not saying i agree/disagree with the article just sometimes nice to hear it from the horses mouth (GM).......

I change mine every 5000 no matter what......

 

I use my Balt as a daily driver and rage on it all the time...so I don't really go by the gauge...usually just change the oil at 3k miles and that way I don't have to worry about it...

 

I did my first oil change at 1,500 miles and will do the rest at about 5K or so.
They have oils out now that can go 15,000 miles befor you need to change it.

In my truck I go 25,000 miles. Yes I said 25,000 not 2,500.

But then agen it has a 14L turbo I6 desel and it holds 6 gallons of oil to!..

You think the oil change on the SS is bad. My truck is about 500.00 to have it changed.

Later

 

Well I took my car in for it's first oil change at like 50% oil life left and was told right to my face by the mechanic which is a buddy of mine, not to bring it in till the oil life is near 0% because it's a waste of his time and my money because it really doesn't need to be changed before then. I talked to my step-dad about it and he's a class A mechanic and he said that the oil life meter is reliable and to go by it. Not to mention I did call GM headquarters in Oshawa to confirm this and they told me to use the oil life meter in the car because it was designed for that matter. I find it hard to believe that GM and it's dealerships would lie to us about that since they would want us to buy another car from them. Now maybe someone can educate me on oils a lil but our SS/SC are running synthetic oil, i've been told by mechanic this **** does not break down, i know mechanic who said they don't change the oil because synthenic does not break down, they just change the filter and add a litre when they do.