Oil companys reccomend an oil change every 3000 miles. I about about 500 miles over the 3000 mile mark. My change oil light hasnt came on yet and my oil level isnt low or incredibly dirty. How often should i change my oil?
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Oil companys reccomend an oil change every 3000 miles. I about about 500 miles over the 3000 mile mark. My change oil light hasnt came on yet and my oil level isnt low or incredibly dirty. How often should i change my oil?
I do it at 3000 almost everytime but i think that's a little excessive. You could get away with 4000 intervals.
I wait until the change oil light comes on
how long is your average drive?
If short, go short. if long, go long.
What kind of oil are you using?
Well how accurate is the oil change light? or the percentage?
mine ends up suggesting 3000 mile OCI's yet my average drive is 1 mile.
I end up changing it around 2000 miles with synthetic.
I have sent my oil to Blackstone labs after doing the oil change, they reported back there was still life left in the oil with approximately 10K miles on the oil. Ams oil full synthetic and ams oil filter. I was leaving it till the oil change message started to come on. Working out to only be a annual procedure.
I feel if depends on how you drive, where you drive, what types of conditions your drive consists, what kind of oil/filter you use etc. Personally I try to stick to 3,000 mile intervals. I like clean internals in my engine. The engines I work on that have consistent oil changes at around 5,000 or more for 50-100K miles are caked up and gunky inside.
Is there life left in the oil? I'm sure there is.. are you getting deposits and crud building up in the engine....well yes..that is possible too.
Just to throw my two cents out, even though I pretty much agree with everyone’s posts so far. The catch is the ideal time to change oil is a moving target that most of us are just guessing at. Just some of the factors are your driving habits, health of your engine, quality of the oil, and the condtion of your oil filter. My GPs oil life monitor will consistently have me changing my oil at roughly 8k-9k miles. Even though GM's OLM system is proven I never go that long on oil. One reason is that the longer you go the more you depend on a $5 oil filter not going into bypass and letting crap run unchecked through your engine.
All this said, the short answer to your question is change the oil (and oil filter) about every 5k miles with a brand name 5W-30 oil.
I use Amsoil in both my cars. The GTP will get it more often, usually around the 3k mile mark or if the oil is looking dark by then. The Regal is the daily driver. I'll check it about every thousand miles for level and color. As long as its not getting too dark it's good to let it run for a while longer. Remember, regardless of the oil life monitor, oil can only suspend so many particles of soot and dirt before it can no longer do so. It'll still lubricate, but it will no longer keep the engine clean.
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