Wanting some opinions about changing the oil... I have aways changed oil at 3k miles. My hhr is close to 3k and is at 71% oil life left. I do much highway driving so am thinnking that is the reason its reading oil is still good ie no stop and go driving. I think I am going to be changing it at 3k anyway but wanted to know if any others had an opinion or proof on what is better to do. Also I hear synthetic is much better... If I run synthetic should change the oil less like at 5k miles? 5w30 iss what is recomended for the 2.2 engine correct? Lastly I always use Castrol but am thinking of moving to Mobile 1. Any advice or thoughts???

 

I follow what the DIC says, mostly and I use Mobil1. My last oil change was at 7000 mile+ interval and DIC still had 47% life mostly highway. Changing the oil and filter yourself is relatively easy.

 

If this is the first oil change you can do it when the DIC reads 0%. Or I changed mine in the cobalt when it reached 50% (the first time) then every time after that I would change around 30 - 35%. ((One other thing I do is when the meter reaches around the 60% mark I change out the oil filter only. Just something I do )) I change mine then cause I dont put that many miles on the car every year. And by the time I hit that % it's going on about 10 to 11 months. The owner manual says if you go a whole calender year with out it reaching 0% you should change it.

And Mobil 1 is a VERY good oil. Some folks have good luck with Royal Purple brand also.

 

Something I learned about Royal Purple, now this is purely on my own expierence, just a heads up. I had a bad expierence with Royal Purple and a previous car that I purchased new. When I hit 3500 miles on my previous I switched over to Royal Purple 10w30 Synthetic oil and ran it from there. Always changed it every 5000 miles after that, well after awhile I noticed less and less oil coming out of the oil pan so I started monitoring it quite frequent. I was losing roughly 1/2 a quart every month or so, I had ZERO leaks and no smoke, so where the hell was the oil going? After awhile it got worse so I had it inspected and this is what the tech told me, It's not the first time that he has heard about this with Royal Purple, what happened is the rings didn't properly seat and therefor it was oil blowback, meaning it was exiting the exhaust pipe. I didn't have any issues till I started using Royal Purple, he said it was most likely the cause because he had heard this issue with other Royal Purple users. I stick to Mobile 1, I'm very hesitant to use Royal Purple anymore, granted I've heard others have good results with it.

 

This topic has been discussed many times. Here are a couple that you may want to review:

About the Oil Life in the DIC:

https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/show...ghlight=mobil1

About Oil Filters and Mobil1:

https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/show...ghlight=mobil1

More about Mobil1:

https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/show...ghlight=mobil1

And finally, comparing regular and synthetic oils:

https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/show...ghlight=mobil1

 

Follow the DIC. Numerous people (including myself) have changed it when it states to do so and had the oil tested. It comes back fine and some look like they could reset the DIC and run a second interval (not recommended BTW) and still be safe.

Running "old school" of the 3K changes is only wasting your money IMO. But do as you please, it's your car.

 

Mine is still at 40% but I'm getting ready to do a 5000 mile trip, so I'm changing the oil early. I'd rather do that then trust it to some unknown shop on the other end of the country. Otherwise, changing by the DIC numbers is the proper way to do it.

 

I did my oil change when DIC say 1st one 11000 2nd 19000.When I had about 2500 miles on the service advisor told I should oil change in 500 miles.I told him I would change it when DIC says and that they own engine till get 100000 warrety run out and should believe in their product The saving are good to.Went to changing oil every month to 2 in 7 months.I have 2007 LS

 

At $140 a barrel I will follow the DIC. Any thing else is a waste of oil.

 

I changed to 15,000 mile synthetic at 2000 miles. I have 3400 now, and On-Star has just informed me that my next oil service is at 11,800 miles.

Cool....

Cajun