Watchie

My car says I have 29% of my oil life left, but the calendar has just reached one year since the last change. While I know this is in the big scheme of things a small expense, I'd still be interested in reading opinions as to whether an oil change is "required."

CHJ In Virginia

I change oil at 35-40% on the readout. That is about 16 months driving for me. Drive the Vette several times a week so I go by DIC reading rather than the yearly specification in the owners manual.

Watchie

Interesting. Why the change if the oil has so much "life" left?

Not So Fast

I do it yearly because I want to Just gives me a warm fuzzy feelin.
NSF

NmtMev

I mentioned this in a thread over in the c7 forums, everybody kinda mis understood what I said. I would pay the $30 and do an Oil Analysis on your next change. Oil may have a lot of life left in it. Or it would be like WTF this oil counter is stupid.... That way future oil changes can extend a little longer and save you some $$

NmtMev

And I mean that by "a lot longer after the computer tells you 0%"

jft69z

How many miles since the last change?

Watchie

All of about 6000.

owc6

The C6 does not take calendar time into account, so no matter what your DIC says, at one year you should change your oil.

If you don't drive your car between oil changes, I suppose it makes little or no difference. If you drive it even a little bit, then by-products of that driving, degrade the oil.

At this point, warranty is not an issue, even remotely for any C6, so will your car melt in on itself if left for two years between oil changes? No, but it's cheap to change the oil, and those of you who don't drive your cars enough to get to the end of the oil life in a year or two via OLM already have the most expensive Corvette/mile.

cadyshac

Same for me.

Vette_DD

That's what I started doing after my mileage dropped off from 12K miles a year to 4K a year.

Watchie

I live in Houston, and play golf with a number of oil guys, including a couple that specialize in auto lubricants. While they do say there is some degrading over time and with any use, with the modern synthetics they laugh and say it just isn't necessary. Indeed, they point to the shift in modern cars to the DIC approach, as opposed to using mileage or a calendar.

All that said with all my cars I have been religious about changing oil no less than once a year. I am just wondering why...

Welker1

I change mine when it gets below 35% or at the 1 year mark (since the last change), which ever comes first

Bruze

How in the world did the human race survive the first hundred years of driving autos without computers telling us when to change the oil?

OregonMike

Probably because our dads drilled it into our heads that oil needs changed every 3,000 miles and it's hard to wrap ones head around over a year and over 10,000 miles maybe :dunno

Bruze

Yes. They've stretched it out over the years, thanks to better oils and cleaner running engines (I assume). In an earlier life I changed O&F every 2,000 miles.

The OP posted that he has 6,000 on his oil. I would change it, I don't care what the computer or calendar says. Even my trucks, which are just transportation and I trade in when they get 30-40k miles on them, get new oil at 6,000. TBH, I don't even know what is recommended.

jrose7004

I change at 1 year or 10% whichever is first.

Vette_DD

Most of us knew how to count to 3,000.

owc6

I'm still trying to figure out how the human race survived the first 75 years before seat belt usage became the norm.

Bruze

Or "the law," as it's been here in NYS for around 20(?) years. I got pulled over and ticketed for not wearing one in 2001 from a runt deputy that nobody likes and is thankfully retired now.