To lower power train warranty expense.

 

First let me appoligize if I'm reviving a thread that everyone wanted to just die. However after reading all the posts I have yet to determain if people feel that it's best to change at 3k-5k or when the DIC says so.
I bought my 07 HHR from my dad who lives in Fla and he was old school and changed the oil every 5k with Mobil1... I was told not to change the oil until the DIC gets down to 1% or there abouts.. I changed the oil 3 months ago with Mobil1, have only put 2k miles on the car since the change and that's because I work 7 miles away from home.
The question that comes to mind is, the old standard was 3-5k miles OR in 3 months... So how does that 3 months come into play with the DIC..?

 

It's your money, your car, so do what you like. But the OLM is very accurate and can be followed with no worries. Each driving style/circumstance is different. What ever you do, don't let it sit in the crankcase longer than 12 months to remove moisture, reguardless of mileage.

 

I would have to agree that the OLI seems pretty accurate. I drive soley in town/city and my OLI is already showing 71% after less then 1500 miles. At this rate I will have to change it between 4k and 5k. If I drove mostly highway I would expect more life out of it. Like the numbers seen by others. I have only had the car for less then 3k miles so take my input with a grain of salt on this.

 

I have gone as much as 11,000 before oil changes (Mobile 1) and my OLI has never gotten down to 10% prior to the oil change. I usually hit 7000-10,000 miles between oil changes. I do lots of highway driving.

 

Luck you

 

Maybe this can help

GM Oil Life System
The Ecotec designers said the engine utilizes an oil life system that reduces the frequency of oil changes.
The system, which notifies the driver of needed oil changes on the dashboard display, uses an algorithm that tracks engine revolutions and temperature and predicts oil life based on these parameters and driver use.


GM engineers report that with their Oil Life System, the average GM vehicle typically needs oil changes half as often as the 3,000-mile recommendation. Based on driving 15,000 miles per year, this could mean between two to three fewer oil changes annually.


As many of you who perform oil changes know, more than 97% of GM vehicles sold in U.S. are equipped with this Oil Life System. GM reports that there are more than 31 million GM vehicles on U.S. roads that are equipped with the system.

GM’s Ecotec oil system eliminates the need to be under the vehicle to perform oil changes.
For those who are changing the oil on these engines, the Ecotec’s oil system design incorporates a cast-in oil filter housing, which eliminates the need to be under the vehicle to perform oil changes and eliminates throwaway oil filter cans that retain used oil.


Engineers said that synthetic oil is recommended for this engine.

 

We bought our HHR last spring and put a tad over 11,000 miles on it in that time. I was ready to change the oil at the 5000 mile mark but the dealer. who had tossed in a free oil change certificate when we bought it, said I should wait till the oil life indicator was down closer to 1% so I waited.

The oil that was drained out of the engine looked just like the new oil they put in. It was not discolored at all like in the engines of old. My best guess is it had not broken down much, if at all, in the time it was in the engine.

It used to be that anyone who did oil changes would put a sticker on your windshield indicating the mileage that you should do the next one, my daughter has her oil changed at Wal-Mart and they don’t even do that anymore even though she has a Neon SXT that does not have a oil life indicator.

 

Not even to R&R the drain plug ?

I must be doing it wrong.