I know this is repitive but....
 

I still have one overarching question.

I just switched to Mobil 1 10w-30 synthetic oil from regular Quaker State 10w-30 dino oil. I've read multiple posts on the forum relating to this topic but I'm still wondering what would be a good interval to now change my new oil?

I'm thinking 9,000-10,000 miles would be good instead of 3,000. I do mainly highway driving, and I have the 3800 series II with 78k miles on it.

You opinions would be helpful!

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I may be over doing it, but I use synthetic and change it every 5K miles.

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I still try to get mine done every 3500 miles or so. But at the same time i have some fudge room there to.

And i dont feel near as bad if im not on the exact mile for this.

i might be doing it as over kill but the price of the oil is cheap in comparison to the price of the motor.

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I was talking to my son about switching to synthetic (he runs synthetic in his ricemobile, don't tell him Icalled itthat, LOL). He said if it's had regular oil ran through it for as many miles as mine has (110k now, had 108K when I got it two months ago), that it could cause leaks. He said something about the regular oil leaves deposits behindin the seals and gaskets, and the synthetic will "wash" them away, eventually leading to leaks. That's what he was taught in school anyway. Anyone here know anything about that? Any truth to it?
He told me to use Castrol GTX in mine. Have an oil change coming up in less than 1K, so I have to decide soon.

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Your son is correct, but the reason is synthetic oil has smaller molecules and will find a place to leak, Cars with 100K already have a place to leak normally. Castrol GTX is a good oil and you wont have any problem with it if you change it every 3K-5K.

Roodman03SS, while synthetic oil is far superior oil you still have to contend with dirt so changing atleast the filter every 3-5K is the least you can do, But there is no doubt in my mind that synthetic oil will lube your engine up to 10K no problem.

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The Previous Owner of my Monte used Mobil-1 in it exclusively. He said he'd go to places that offered Oil Change Deals and bring his own oil in with him and ask them to use what he brought instead of whatever they'd use and charge him the full price for the Oil Change. There were papers showing he changed the Mobil-1 at 75 Hundred -to- 8-Thousand mile intervals.

Since the Engine seems to be running quite well and the Plug Read looked just perfect ... I'm going to start Changing the Oil at 5,000 Mile intervals or less ... maybe 4,000 ... Oil and Filter.

When I do ... what do I do with the "Oil Life Monitoring" Feataure that can be accessed and set by pressing a few buttons on the elaborate Radio System. Do you get to select the Milage that you want to be reminded at ... or does the Computer have a sensor that's tripped by the Oils P-H ... what is it? Pressure related; possibly?

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not sure about the oil system monitoring.... but as for changing the oil, it all depends on the motor condition... basicly i would check the oil at 3,000 and if it looks clean then check every 1k or so... the main factor on oil live when dealing with synthetic is the filter. the filter will wear out before the oil ever degrades... and if the filter isnt pulling the deposits out... then you have a prob.

the discription on how the synthetic works is dead on. and its not that the synthetic is really smaller, but that dino oil is a mix of diff sizes... say your want siz B oil synthetic will all be B size particals where dino will be mostly B but has A size and C size mixed in. so there will be some much smaller and some much larger... it is these larger ones along with deposits that atack the seals and form acumulation in the motor.

personally i use castrol syntec 5-30 and change about 4 k i usedto do the take the oil thing to someone and even did the walmart upgrade to synthetic... but using their crapy oil filters hurt the life of the oil... right now i use a AC delco fliter and havent had issues.

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06MC, I see that Castrol makes a high milage oil. Would that be the better one to use?
Thanks for the info.

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GM just removed Castrol GTX from their approved oil list.
Please see my post I just did concerning the ONLY 6 synthetic oils approved by GM. I've been changing my oil every 12,000 miles on the Mobil 1 extended performance oil, and changing the filter every 6,000 miles with a tire rotattion. But because of my new findings, I'm switching to regular Mobil 1 5w30, and changing it every 5-6,000 miles, depending on what the DIC says my oil life is.
My Solstice GXP owners manual recommends changing the oil per DIC, or every 5,000 miles, along with a tire rotation.

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Wow, thanks guys for the info!

Judging from your responses I've decided that I will change the oil every 9k miles, and change the filter at 4,500 miles just to be safe. I think I've also convinced my dad to switch to synthetic in his MC so we now have two more converts roaming around the streets lol:D

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I don't know much about "high milage oil" but my guess would be more additives and thats not good, the more additives the worst the oil is in my opinion. I would stick to Castrol GTX in whatever wt. you have been using.

GM just removed Castrol GTX from their approved oil list.
They are back on the list My guess was to hawk mobil they dropped castrol but they are back so no warranty issues. Castrol and Valvaline are the only dino oils I would use. But they don't even come close to synthetic. Just not practical or cost effective in some cases.

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To be honest I have no idea what's in it now. The GM dealership changed the oil when I bought it (bought used). It just has a sticker in the window saying "GM parts" and when the next oil change is due which was in 3K. No warranty left on mine anyway, so that part isn't an issue, I just want to use the best I can in it.

Also while I was waiting for them to change my defective cat, I heard one of the service guys on the phone. Evidently the person on the other line was asking about the oil life monitor. He told them that just because it said you could go longer on the oil change than 3K, thattheyrecommend it still be changed at3K because they've seen what it looks like inside even with the monitor. My mom just bought an '08 truck and the salesperson at another GM dealership told her to go by the monitor. Supposedly the monitor goes off of the rpm's and such from what I understand. Ot course that's with regular oil, not synthetics.

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CONVERTS LMAO!!!!!!!!! man we sounf DIRTY LOL

actually the thing i do is change at the same as if it was the fossil oil. i just try to make it stay clean or at least try it

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Synthetic oil is the best dustybird3 hands down, Just not cost effective in a daily driver. Unless you have mickeys money[sm=smiley20.gif]

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my money LMAO!!!!!!!! Man i wish i had money.
but now you have me curious, why is it not cost effective in a daily driver?

the cost part of it is defently not fun to pay for but if you like your car and wan tto keep it around it is worth it. That monte is the car that my daughter will get when she grads from school (if she makes it) but she dont know this yet :-p

so with this said i want to keep it around and in good shape if i can. If it sales then i will have to find something else that she likes and that i can agree to buy.

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Actually, I don't drive that much so I'm not too concerned about the cost, but I don't want leaks (don't have any now). I've done a lot of driving this past month only because my son got an MIP and lost his license for 30 days (got it back yesterday, yea), I had to take him to work on the other side of town. My studio is on my property so I just walk to work, the whole 25 feet, LOL. I just want it to last, I have no intentions of ever parting with it (it was love at first sight, LOL)

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So. I guess, if the Previous Owner oiled this car with Mobil-1 then it's a good idea to continue with the Synthetic because the Synthetic is vastly superior to just regular oil. What is the most advantageous interval for changing the Synthetic.
Before, with the Honda, we'd take it ti Jiffy Jube and they'd put a sticker on the windshield and send you a reminder card when it was time for a change. How do you determine when the Synthetic Oil has had its time and is ready for a change.

There's some kind of Monitor in my Monte that is supposed to do this but I don't know if it was ever reset or got reset recently when I had to have my Check Engine Light reset at the AutoZone.

Can you program the Oil Life Monitor for different Brands and Types of oil? Will it know what you put it and determine the next change interval for you?

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If that's what they were running, that's what I'd stay with. I wanted to change mine over but since I'm reasonably sure mine was not on Mobil 1, I guess I won't for fear of leaks.
I do not think you can program the monitor for different oils. You should reset it when you change oil and it's "supposed to" know when your oil, whatever kind, is getting weak. My monitor is reset through the radio.

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My Oil Life Monitor is also programmed through the Radio, along with functions for the doors and entry options. I'd like to get it so that when I use the Clicker to Unlock the car ... the passenger side door gets unlocked too. I've tried the many options and the Pass. side door stays locked ... so, I surmise that getting that door to unlock automatically isn't going to happen.

I've been reading-up on the Oil Life Monitor. I think it operates on a Miles or Time (which ever comes first) to remind you to change the Oil. I really don't think there's any true sensor sampling the quality of the Oil. What I'd like to have is an Oil Pressure Gauge and a Low-Oil Level Kill. But, since I'm going to check the Oil everytime I gas-up and always before taking-off for a trip of any length ... the Low Level Sensor might me overkill.

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I have to click mine twice to get the pass door unlocked.

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06MC
titleAndStar(65,0,0,false,",")Super Member


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Posts: 65
Joined: 9/25/2007
Status: online Here's my thoughts on the subject I use Royal purple in my Camaro @ $8 a qt. I also use Castrol in my daily drivers @ $2 a qt. I change my oil in my daily drivers @ 3-5K if i were to use a synthetic I would change the oil every 10K with a filter change @ 5K. So with a $5 oil filter my oil changes cost me $45 with a extra qt. and filter @ 5K add $13 for a total of $58 for synthetic. With dino @ $15 every 5K thats $30 every 10K. So in conclusion $30 every 10K for dino, or $58 every 10K for synthetic. I don't see the savings that the AMSOIL guy is talking about.

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93 Z28 (Not stock)
97 Grand Prix GT (Kinda stock)
06 Monte Carlo (Stock so far) [align=right]
(in reply to SpaceRider[/align]Like I have said before synthetic is a far better oil, It doesnt brake down near as fast as dino but I can change my dino almost 4-1 for the same $$$, and if you drive over 25K a year it's just not cost effective. I personally have never had a oil related engine problem in 30yrs of driving and have owned 39 vehicles, mostly because I change my oil every 3-5K. I usally keep a vehicle 10+ years and I have had no problem getting 250-300K before the rest of the car is shot. Again Mick this is just my opinion. And if money wasnt a factor I would use synthetic