I just turned 14,000 on my c6 and have been changing the oil around every 3,000 with Mobil 1 I have a friend who is a dealer for AMSOIL and bought a case of the 25,000 mile oil and their filter. Best thing is that I got it at his cost. My question is should I go the 25,000 miles???????? Or change it around 10,000. If I go the 25,000 what will GM have to say if I have a part failure due to some oil related issue. I know that AMSOIL is a supporting vendor and any feed back would be helpful.

 

GM may never really know, even if they did an oil analysis (and that's a big 'if') they still might not be able to detect it.
The key to going the distance with a quality long life synthetic such as Amsoil is to change at least the filter (and adding back in the little bit of lost oil) every 3k - 5k miles as well.
I would probably sooner just stick with the Mobil 1 and change it (and the AC Delco) filter more often, oil still gets dirty over time regardless of how resistant it is to 'break down'.
Some don't even believe in using any synthetic at all in LSX type engines but I'm not one of them.

 

My advice is to trust the DIC.

 

Oil analysis is the only true way to know how an oil is doing in the vehicle. You wouldn't be out too much additonal money to go ahead and switch to Amsoil and maybe increase the milage in increments with some testing to back it up. I would take your current oil and have it baselined, so get a testing pack now and take the sample at change, then run the Amsoil up to some milage(maybe 7500 miles to 10K miles) and then change and sample it. That should get you a good idea of where you oil is at with your driving style. I think Amsoil 5W-40 Euro syn is some of the best oil on the market. It isn't rated to 25K miles, but at 10K samples, it has shown remarkable results and stability.

Todd

 

Why not just use Mobil 1 Extended Performance. It's cheaper and you can change it at 10 or 15k.

 

Mobil 1 Extended Performance

 

While you car's still on warranty, follow the Generals instructions on oil specs and change intertvals.

If there is an engine problem that -might- be oil related, you stand a real good chance of getting in a finger pointing contest between Amsoil and GM if you don't follow the Generals instructions.

The risk of ever actually facing that problem is pretty small, the expense and inconvenience if you ever do are high.

It's not like the C6 requires frequent oil changes, why screw around with the change interval based on what som boutique oil company claims?

 

Burnt,
As an Independent AMSOIL Dealer, I'm the forum vendor whose link appears to the left (though this link takes a person to the Corporate AMSOIL website, the link is tagged so the sale is credited to my dealership and hence benefits my raceteam and this forum).

I'll give you my opinions to your questions.

As suggested above, with a car under warranty, I suggest you follow the owner's manual requirements, which is to change the oil when indicated by the oil life monitoring system, or at least annually. I suggest this because in the rare chance you have an engine related failure, you won't have to get into a legal hassle with Chevy on whether you met the owner's manual requirements and hence whether they will warranty your claim. However, for the more adventurous, AMSOIL does have their own warranty which you can read about here:
AMSOIL Warranty
But, if you read this you will see that AMSOIL will cover lubricant related failure. What I don't want to see is a customer get stuck between GM saying they aren't going to warranty the failure due to owner not following owner's manual requirements, and AMSOIL saying the failure is not lubrication related (e.g. balancer falls off).

AMSOIL also requires you to follow their oil change interval guidelines which can be found here:
AMSOIL Product Drain Interval Chart
If you take a look at this, you will see the AMSOIL SAE Synthetic 5w30 is rated for 25k miles or 1 year for normal use, or 15k or 1 year for severe service. Given how most of us use our cars, severe service guidelines are probably applicable. GM states that the average oil life monitoring system on their cars averages 8,500-9,500 miles. My wife sees almost exactly that in her Chevy Trailblazer which is using the least expensive AMSOIL XL Synthetic 5w30.

Given that you will likely get about 9,000 miles per the oil life monitor (or 1 year) and that is what GM says to use as a guide, I personally feel that is good enough and suggest you use that until your car is out of warranty.

The AMSOIL SDF Oil Filters were rated for six months or 12,500 miles of use. However, this month AMSOIL came out with a new line of filters developed with the assistance of Wix and Donaldson that is rated for a full one year or 25,000 miles:
AMSOIL Ea Oil Filter
(correct part number for the LS1/LS2/LS6 is EAO32)
So, if you are using this filter, you really don't need to change the filter any more often than the oil.

For those interested in trying AMSOIL and buying at Dealer cost, while benefiting the forum, please ask me about the AMSOIL Preferred Customer Program.

 

If you worry about warranty issues, the Mobil 1 EP is not rated 4718M. I use the 5w-30 Amsoil which is rated 4718M.

 

What is the regular mobil 1 syn rated? It's factory filled. I know that Amsoil is better but is it worth the extra cost?

 

The original Mobil 1 (not the extended version) does meet GM Standard 4718M, not surprisingly as it is factory fill.

 

I have always been told longer lasting oils are great but if you don't change the filter it is a waste you must change the filter they don't last that long.

 

Most filters are not rated for extended drain intervals. But if you use a factory recommended filter and follow the oil life monitoring system, you are following the owner's manual requirements.

However, as mentioned above, AMSOIL has come out with a new line of filters that is rated for longer than the oil life monitoring system, the EA line of filters.

 

The AMSOIL SDF Oil Filters were rated for six months or 12,500 miles of use.


I understand that oil breaks down over time, but why would a filter need to be changed at six months?

 

An oil filter "fills up" with particles over the course of time. In a normal paper or cellulose based filter, as the area inside the filter becomes filled with particles, there is less and less area for the oil to flow through. At some point, the filter will go into bypass when the differential pressure across it is high enough. At that point, your filter is doing no filtering.

 

Some interesting information thanks Subdriver

 

You're welcome.

I see you are from Millington. I was stationed in Millington from Oct 02 to Mar 05. Wonder if we traded waves.

 

Subdriver, have you ever gone to www.bobistheoilguy.com website?

Lots of good info there. Enough to get you confused if you stay to long.

OBTW You were on subs? I was surface from 71-87. You in the canoe club then?

Merry Christmas

 

I have spent more hours than I care to remember reading all the used and virgin oil analysis reports on that site. I am a member, but a silent one.

Still on subs. 18 years and counting. In the process of rolling back onto sea duty up here in the Puget Sound.

 

So you got in when I got out. My hand salute to you and all our military members active duty or not. We Will Not Forget.