Too funny:
"I change mu oil as recommended by the DIC except I do it at 8% to 50% of what the engineers suggest". What is it about Corvette owners with no technical education that makes them smarter than the best, most experienced and knowledgeable engineers that GM can hire? I really would love to hear the qualifications of those that think they are smarter than those who spend their lives determining such things.

 

You mean we have to change the oil in these things? J/K

 

Good one!

 

Now the next question.. What brand of oil? The below advertisement was listed on this forum. Castrol Edge 8 xs better than Mobil 1?

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-c...-x-better.html

 

I use Mobil 1 in everything I drive. Don't really care about all the oil ads out there. As Talon90 posted earlier, the Vette is warrantied with Mobil 1, so why worry about using anything else. What oil brand people use is more of a personal preference thing than anything else.

As far as oil changes go, once per year for me. Don't drive that many miles. And if you have OnStar, their monthly email will let you know when it has been a years time since your oil life monitor was reset.

I keep all the maintenance records for all my vehicles setup in Excel spreadsheets, so it is very easy to keep track of everything.

 

Those would be the same brilliant enginers who gave us the oil-gulping 2001 engines, Dead Battery Syndrome, delaminating tops, etc?
They are very good, they aren't perfect.

Also, the OLI does not account for driving in dusty conditions which happens to me sometimes.

I should have mentioned that I usually get the oil change when the car is at the dealer for something else like Fall/Spring tire swapout, etc. The change is done by their Corvette tech and price is very reasonable.

 

Since you asked, in my prior life I was in the oil change business. I and a partner owned and operated the Jiffy Lubes and Quaker State Q Lubes throughout Northern California. For the record, I refused to sell any additives and would terminate any employee who would dare sell unnecessary services.

I subscribed to the theory of "responsible" maintenance and as such would always recommend the manufactures service intervals. During that period of time (mid 90's) the severe service intervals, in the owner’s manual, were 3K miles for an oil change.

I have personally been somewhat skeptical about "extended" periods of time between oil changes for the following reasons. The oil does not break down over time, what does happen is the additive pack, such as the viscosity extenders loose their effectiveness. Add to this, the oil becomes contaminated as a result of the EGR technology's closed system. And then there is my personal favorite “calculated obsolescence”.

So here's my bottom line, we serviced on average 1500 cars per day and I would occasionally data sort our customers by mileage. When I pulled up all vehicles with more that 200K miles they ALL literally had one thing in common, their oil was changed every 3K miles. These were your basic Ford's and Chevy's delivery vans, airport shuttles etc.

I certainly keep an eye on my DIC however; I lean towards more frequent oil changes in all my cars. Always have and always will

 

The Vette is warrantied with any oil that meets GM 4718M. There are about a half dozen oils that meet that spec and you can use any of them. GM does not recommend Mobil1 oil over any other oil. They put it in at the factory and they inform the owner to that fact in the owners manual and on the oil fill cap. That is not a recommendation, just information.

 

I would suggest checking out bobistheoilguy.com for a lot of great information on oils. As with anything else, everyone has their own opinion. I personally found that Mobil 1 5W-30 made my LS1 in my Camaro sound like a sewing machine so I read a lot over at the oil site and switched to German Castrol 0W-30 and have never looked back but I honestly think any of the oils that meet the GM standard are OK to use and you should still get 150,000 miles plus as long as you change it while there is still protectants in teh oil.

I also advise folks who are really into finding out how their oil/internal engine is doing is to have your oil tested. Blackstone labs has a free sample kit that you can order and a basic oil analysis only costs 22 bucks. If you want to know if you can go more miles on your oil get the TBN test as well. Here are the results of an oil test I recently had done .

 

Oil analysis to me seems like a waste of money. It only tells you what occured after the fact. So specs are off, what do you do, change the oil again? In my regular cars and collector cars I change the oil & filter approx every 1,000 to 1,500 miles, or once a year which ever comes first. I change the oil in my C-5 & C-6 once a year as they rarely get more than 2,000 to 2,500 miles a year. Changing once a year gets rid of any contaminates, dilution, or condensation. In nearly 50 years of driving I have never had a wear or oil related problem in any car. Changing oil frequently is inexpensive and good insurance (idgas about any of the "green" crap)

 

Everyone has their own opinion but I disagree. The above report shows my oil after 14 months in the car. It tells me right away that my oil did not pick up any condensation as referenced by the fact that there is not even any trace water in my oil. This tells me with my yearly mileage I can 2 years on the same oil. To me that alone was worth the 36 bucks.

 

Any sooner is a waste of money, Considering the price of synthetics.

 

We have got to get people out of the dark ages on this.

Been posting this stuff for years now.....





Mobil 1 Test Results
http://neptune.spacebears.com/cars/stories/mobil1.html

"what have we learned so far? Here are a few points to ponder, based on our experience with the Mobil 1 phase.


Getting just one oil analysis only tells a tiny piece of the picture. It essentially would serve only as a pass/fail mechanism; without a trend to monitor, the most interesting parts of the analysis would be impossible to see.
Total base number is a moving target. There are multiple methods for testing it, which makes comparisons between laboratories worthless, and none of the methods have repeatability rates worth getting excited about. While TBN is worth considering as part of the larger picture, as a singular measure it is too flawed to rely on.
Engine wear actually decreases as oil ages. This has also been substantiated in testing conducted by Ford Motor Co. and ConocoPhillips, and reported in SAE Technical Paper 2003-01-3119. What this means is that compulsive oil changers are actually causing more engine wear than the people who let their engine's oil get some age on it.
Topping up the crankcase is a critical component of extended oil change intervals, and frequent filter changes are most likely the key to extreme-length intervals. The cumulative effect of even minor top-ups, let alone a filter change, substantially increases the longevity of the oil.
Based on the results we've got here, we'd recommend 8,000 miles between oil changes on an engine that uses no oil at all, perhaps 10,000 miles on an engine that uses some oil, and 15,000 miles or beyond with a filter change every 5,000 miles. This, of course, isn't any kind of guarantee, and you must evaluate for yourself what your engine requires. One thing we're pretty sure about though: 3,000-mile intervals is a huge waste of resources."


GM Oil Life System & Simplified Maintenance
Frequently Asked Questions
http://www.gm.com/corporate/responsi..._qa_040104.jsp

GM engineers have been studying oil life for decades and they've learned that oil tends to degrade in a predictable pattern.



GM Engineer States that Oil Change Intervals Average 8,500 Miles with Oil Life Monitors...........

http://www.performancemotoroil.com/G..._Monitors.html

Typical drain intervals with General Motors’ Oil Life System, the onboard computer algorithm that tells drivers when it’s time to change their motor oil, are 8,500 miles, versus 5,000 for GM’s competitors, a GM executive told last week’s World Tribology Congress. Drain intervals over 30,000 miles are achievable with minor engine modifications and appropriate oil quality.

“We cannot say exactly when it will happen, but drain intervals will be lengthened,” James A. Spearot, director of GM’s Chemical & Environmental Sciences Laboratory in Warren, Mich



Personal test done by a BMW owner with data sheet...

How often do you change your oil? Maybe too often... | ted serbinski
http://tedserbinski.com/2006/04/03/h...aybe_too_often

"The verdict, for those who don’t care to look at all those numbers: After 15,600 of my abuse, there was nothing wrong with the oil."



NY Taxi experiment........

Consumer Reports Article
The surprising truth about motor oils
July 1996, pp 10-13
http://www.moneybluebook.com/article....oilchange.php

On the basis of our test results, we think that the commonly recommended 3,000-mile oil-change interval is conservative. For "normal" service, 7,500-mile intervals (or the recommendation in your owner's manual) should be fine.

 

I put maybe 5,000 or 6,000 at the most per year so I change oil once a year which is the minimum and it hasn't gone below 75% on Oil Life monitor.

 

I change mine every 5,000 whether it needs it or not. I actually just had it changed today, and the guy at the dealer put a sticker on it to be due 5K from now. He must have saw my oil change history and caught on.

If I followed the DIC, I'd be changing every 10K or more. I just can't see driving that far without changing the oil. I may be throwing money away, but I can sleep better because of it.

 

Same here! 50%

 

Every November regardless of mileage.

 

X 3 Of course a lot depends on how the car is driven, in really Dusty/Dirty or racing conditions, Change it a lot more frequently !!! Oil is cheap compared to the price of an engine!!!

 

But you should change the oil one time per year no matter what.

 

I had my first oil change at 2,800 miles -- hell I didn't even go past 4,000 rmps unil 1,500 miles. I plan on changing the oil when my DIC is at half mast or 50%