vette_guy_2020

When do you take in your vette in for an oil change? *My console says something like "Remaining Oil Life 23%"

I'm wondering if I should schedule an oil change when the % goes down to 15-20%. *Or if should I let it go down to 0-5% with a possible overrun of 200 miles to be most cost-effective. *

How do you normally time the oil change in your vette?

JVM225

I don't put all that much mileage on mine so I change the oil in the Spring and again in the fall.
I do it myself and buy the oil in WalMart so doing it twice a year is not cost prohibitive.
Different schools of thoughts on this, but many think that you need to change the oil frequently regardless of how little mileage you put on it to avoid contaminents building up.
I change the oil in my GTO and both of the motors on my boat too twice a year regardless of low mileage/hours to avoid this problem.
Again though: I do it myself so there are no issues with scheduling or concerns about cost for labor.
If I were scheduling with someone else or paying for their labor I might look at it differently.

vette_guy_2020

My Vette has a controlled electronic statistical gauge for that. I'd like to get feedback on my original question from other Vette owners who use this electronic statistical gauge as a basis for scheduling service....

Stan MI

I'm not sure but I think all C5's have it......

If thats all you are going to use it would be best if it was a daily driver. I don't believe parked/storage time is taken into consideration in the calculations used for the useful percentage left in the oil. I am by far and away no expert so I'm sure others will chime in.

Be aware oil threads can get nasty !!!

ROC OUT

vette guy,

Your profile is not filled in so I don't know what year car you have. If you do a search in the C6 tech section, you will find plenty of information on this subject, including different schools of thought on when oil should be changed. Some have even sent samples of their old oil to Blackstone to have it analyzed to determine if mileage and/or time in use adversely affects the life of the oil. Be forewarned though, this is a hotly debated topic and those with opinions are not easily swayed. As for the actual oil change, many like me change their own oil as it is not difficult to do and eliminates the risk of dealership or lube shop messing up our cars.

Good luck

capevettes

All the C5 and C6 Corvettes have an "oil life monitor". I just change my oil in my Z06 every 3,000 miles. Many feel that the monitor is so accurate that they use it as a guide. You are probably fine letting it get to 25%. I just prefer to do it by the mileage and early. Overkill I'm sure, but I'm the same with the polish regimen.

c6vetteinhouston

it will display on the DIC to change oil soon.

0Killrwheels@Autogeek

Mobil One and GM Gold filter .... annually. Last time I did it the car had less than 1000 miles since last change ! (blame it on my kids, car just sits now)

JVM225

Thanks, that was kind of my point. I guess I didn't make it clear.

vette_guy_2020

Thanks! I think this is the best answer to my question. Sounds like the vette is preprogrammed with a control limit that will notify the operator when the oil life remaining % becomes statistically significant.

I recently took my vette on a short road trip and when I returned the oil life remaining had only decreased by 1-2%. Therefore, I'm going to guess that the DIC will display the notification when oil life remaining hits 10%. This is just a guess of course since this will be my first oil change. Does anyone here know the oil life remaining % that will trigger the notification?

Chevy Cust Svc

I would be happy to look into when the notification will appear. In order to do so, I will need the last eight of your VIN. Feel free to contact me privately. Thank you in advance.

Tricia, Chevrolet Customer Service.

vette_guy_2020

Hi Tricia - I sent you a followup PM. Thanks!

taahring1

i usually plan on getting it changed every 4500-5000 miles, i dont think the percent gauge in my car is accurate because it seems to be set for a 100% life to last 10000 miles...and i just dont see that working out well

vette_guy_2020

Ok - my oil indicator is down to "13% oil life remaining" and the "oil change" indicator hasn't come on yet. I guess I'll run the oil down to 10% to see if 10% is the trigger for the "oil change" indicator....

vette_guy_2020

The oil gauge is now down to 9% and the change oil indicator hasn't come on. I guess 5% will be the next milestone to watch for.

If the oil change light doesn't come on at 5% then I'm not going to worry about waiting for the light anymore.

Based on what I've observed 5% oil life should be good for a few hundred miles so this should give me sufficient lead time to get the oil changed before oil life remaining is 0%.

I think waiting for 5% remaining oil life may be the most efficient use of resources. I don't want to change my oil more than necessary but I don't want to change my oil any less than necessary.....

FloridaGrandSport

The motor won't blow up if you don't change the oil at exactly 0%. If you drive less than 6-7k a year, just change it annually and you won't run into something while watching the oil life monitor on the DIC.

vette_guy_2020

A previous poster postulated that the vette's oil change indicator may be configured to light up at 10K miles.

% oil life remaining is 9% for my vette and my vette currently has 7726 miles. For the previous poster's theory to hold true my mileage would need to be around 9100.

Therefore, if appears that the vette uses additional factors to determine the oil life remaining. Maybe amount of time since last oil change is factored in as well?

I wonder if the vette has a sensor that evaluates the actual quality of oil in order to report the actual % oil life remaining? I doubt this is the case since mileage factored with time since last oil change should probably provide a reliable estimate most of the time....

taahring1

not sure =\ the last 3 oil changes ive changed it at right around 50% life which was 5200, 4700, and 4800 miles apart, dont remember the exact percent life left just know it was between 45-50% and each one was nearly to the day 4 months apart

vette_guy_2020

Why would you change the oil if the system says it has 50% oil life remaining? That seems kind of wasteful.

Do you feel that the oil life monitor is flawed or do you feel that the oil degrades to half its quality at 50% and could therefore lead to more wear and tear on the engine?

oh1vette

If I'm not mistaken, I thought the oil life was based on a more sophisticated algorithm than just mileage.

Have read it takes into account additional variables such as how hard the engine is used, WOT, RPMs, etc...