The idea behind changing oil at 3000 mile intervals is to keep the engine clean internally. You could always run the oil as far as you wanted to, but eventually you will find that internally the engine builds up sludge, causing wear and restricting oil passages. Unless the "new" oils don't let this happen.

 

Modern oils, especially snythetic, don't "sludge" like older oils did. That is when the old 3/3000 idea came to play. Even then I did not follow those guidelines. Think about it, when was the last time you hear of an oil related failure on a motor? SOme of my customers have really pushed the original oil in some of our cars. I have had recruiters run 25K+ on the original oil. Yet those cars still run to 60K+ with no issues at all before we sell them. (granted I would not recommend this ).

If you must change your oil every 3K, then you have a friend with the oil companies. Is it needed? Have your own oil analysis run, and let facts about your own oil show you how it is not needed.

It's a dead horse issue. The oil companies get enough of my money for gas, I'll be damned if I'm going to give them more for un-needed oil changes.

 

There's been a lot of discussion about this on the board since day one. Modern detergent, multi-viscosity oils have a predictable wear cycle. GM has patented the OLMS algorithm after many years and many millions of dollars in testing. Oil doesn't start to "sludge" until it actually loses all detergent capabilities and has become saturated with particles. The OLMS system actually gives a conservative warning to prevent sludge buildup and total loss of engine-protecting components.

 

+1

3000 miles is ridiculous for oil changes. My wife's previous Isuzu Rodeo had 100k on it and did not burn any oil when we sold it. Never changed the oil less then 7000K The ,money saved more then "lowered" the fossil fuel costs over the life of the car.

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by shaginwgn
... Easiest way to reset it, turn key to Run(dont start) position and tap gas pedal 3 times within 5 seconds. The DIC (Digital Information Center) will say oil life reset.

Quote:
Originally Posted by hhrcrafty
...With the ignition key on, press the gas pedal to the floor 5 times in 3 seconds to reset the system.

Can we all agree ... Easiest way to reset it, turn key to Run(dont start) position and tap gas pedal 15 times within 1 second?


i know it's reset when i pump the gas so much that my leg starts to cramp

 

on my turbo i changed it often becuase i drove the car hard and had a piece of mind. but i had a truck a while back for a few years and i never changed it, i just put oil in as it needed it. truck is still running today with the guy who bought it. i have no problem changing this oil when the car sais too. the longer in between the better.