I'm not sure if there are many people who haven't seen this, but it will definately be a help to those who think changing your oil every 3k miles is a GOOD thing. A guy in the general tech section was convinced he was doing his engine a favor by changing the oil every 2,500-3,000 miles. I think this has come up on the LSx tech before but there seems to be alot of new members posting here and those who havent seen this will be just as surprised as I was.

All tests have been done on a stock 2002 LS1 powered Camaro Z28

Mobil 1 study: http://neptune.spacebears.com/cars/s.../oil-life.html
Amsoil study: http://neptune.spacebears.com/cars/stories/amsoil.html
Honepage: http://neptune.spacebears.com/index.html

This oil analysis study of major synthetic oil brands shows conclusively that it is better for an engine to leave synthetic oils (at least Mobil 1 and Amsoil) in the engine for at least 6-9k miles while periodically topping-off the oil and changing the filter around 4-5k miles.

This would also be a great thing to add to the sticky about engine specs. It will save people alot of money anually.

 

:well guess what ive determined.........im gonna keep doing what i have been doing......i find it kinda strange that other people on this board who "regurally" change their oil around 3000 miles have not chimed in their opinion yet ....or that this post has only 15 people that have read this......maybe people are getting tired of oil life analyis statements i know i sure as hell am.....but thanks anyway for your tiresome work. and im sure if some more people read this thread they will also thank you

 

I'm still going to change my oil every 2000 miles.

 

Most people haven't used syn oil much or ever. The rule of thumb has always been 3 month or 3000 mile. I just started useing syn. since I bought my first ls-1 and have not decided if I will change my habbit or not. Thanks for taking the time.

 

Extended intervals between oil changes is part of the benefit of using synth in the first place. 3mo/3k miles is all marketing from when dino oil wasn't as advanced as it is today and they didn't have synth oils to use. If you're using synth, you can toss all that out the window and stop handing out your money to oil companies.

Just MHO.

 

You would probably crap yourself if you owned a BMW. Services are recommended and only covered under warranty approximately every 15K miles. It's been 15K miles recommended service intervals for 8 years now, and I've taken apart alot of beemer engines with over 100K miles on them only to find them clean inside. No sludge, no wear, nothing!!

The new engines have more to do with oil longevity than the oils themselves. The crankcase ventilation systems are better, the engines are tighter, they run very high coolant temps, the beemers hold 9 quarts of oil, and the fueling is spot on the money. All of this increases oil life.

I still wouldn't go 15K miles on some convenience store dino oil though.

 

My father's Maserati reccomended the FIRST oil change in no shorter than 6k. Talk about a tightly spun motor.. that thing revs faster than any sport bike i've ever rode and redlines at 7.8k rpm

 

I havent gone less than 7K miles btw changes since new. The car comes with syn from the factory.

I have kept syn in there as well. Its also in my other cars. Why? Because technology is advanced for a reason.

Why keep hold of old ways when new ways are better? hmmm? Just because you did it for so long, doesnt make it right.. not anymore.

If you are using dino oil, sure, by all means, change often. If you are not, then let the damn oil do its job properly.

My dads a mechanic.. He has been one since he was about 10.. He is 64 now. I think.. anyways, he, unlike many his age, also embraces the new ways. Go longer btw changes? FINE. DONE. Use additives? Why not?

As for our little light in the car that tells us when to change the oil. I feel that its there for a reason. It doesnt always do it at the same time either. Sometimes its about 7K miles others about 9500+ and one time even a whopping 13K. I am at 81K+ miles since new. The car has had 0 time at a shop. No issues whatso ever. Car runs and drives like new. Starts up like new. Why? Did I baby it? Heck no. It gets run hard. so why is it still running and not giving me any troubles? Because its HEALTHY.
Plain and simple.

 

3k for me... But still... Like they said, the amount of particles doubled at 3k.

I'll throw it in the stickey. I'd like them to add it to the Top line up...

 

I still will stick to the 3~4K mile interval too. It's nice to know I could let it go a little longer if need be. But, I'm going to rack this one up to a false sense of security that might cost me an extra $100/year in the long run.

 

I change the Mobil 1 / filter every 5K mi.

 

3k oil change intervals were essential back in the day, mostly due to carburetors. Carbs just couldn't control fuel mixtures any where near as well as fuel injection/engine management can.

This resulted in raw fuel getting past the rings and contaminating the oil, especially when the choke was on. On a modern engine in good condition, 5k on dino, 10k on genuine synth isn't out of line.
.

 

I dont feel like reading all that, but I'll bite. What does it say about filters? Still change those every 3K?

 

Their final conclusion was change the oil every 9k with filter change halfway or at 3.5-4k

 

Pround user of GC..but any good syn is going to be good more than 3k under normal stuff. Just a way that oil people get more money imagine if every body waited 6k for oil changes(assuming people change there oil many don't)