I have a 2001 LS Monte with 29,900 Miles!! It has been elderly owned. I recently had it serviced ( by the Chevy dealer) I needed a evap valve, I got an oil change, Transmission fluid change, Radiator flush and brake fluid flush.Basically all my fluids changed ( preventative maintenance) my car was and still is in EXCELLENT shape. I am just the kind of person that really takes care of my car!!
I was told I might consider synthetic oil But something about leaving oil in my engine for 7500 miles is a bit unsettling.For one thing I drive this 01 about 500 miles a month.

( I have a 03 LS) with 67,000 I drive daily. I just could not resist this 01 because it is so nice...............
so, just how often should I change my oil on my 01? since I drive an average of 500 mi a month does this mean go a whole year with out a oil change??? also what about a product called Lucas synthetic blend.. any comments are appreciated....

 

My rule of thumb with conventional oil is change it between 3000-5000 miles. The 3400 you have in your Monte is based off the older 3100 design. Like any design, it has it's issues, but for the most part, it is a solid engine.

My '94 Grand Am had a 3100. I bought it with like 80,000 something miles back in '03, sold it with 215,000 late in 2012 and it still ran GREAT! Oil was changed every 3K-5K with convention oil and a new filter each time. I also changed the trans fluid/filter every 100,000 miles. Last I heard, current owner has been happy and has not had to put a dime into it.

Synthetic is supposed to gain you more miles between changes. I can't speak from experience, so I won't. All my fleet is conventional and it seems to be serving well.

 

Thanks Jason!!! have you gotten your car back yet??? FYI.. I have the Mobile conventional oil in the 01 and the same in the 03 accept they shorted me a quart on the 03 and put the quart they shorted me on with a product called Lucas full synthetic good idea?? should I swap to synthetic?? I religiously watch my fluid levels and would not be used to only changing my oil every 7500 mi. ( that would take a year on the 01 and about 6 months on the 03...)

 

Sadly, no The shop had me stop by for the 3rd time last Thursday, and still problems
But, thanks for asking

That 1 quart of Lucas they dropped in won't cause any damage. As far as should you go synthetic or not, my honest opinion, stay with conventional unless:
- You see a cost benefit to synthetic based on going longer oil change intervals (but you should really change your oil once a year regardless of mileage).
- You expect to run the engine hotter, such as by boosting it with a super or turbo charger. The engine could benefit from the properties in synthetic.

As I mentioned, I have never cut over to synthetic in any of my cars. My 3k-5k oil change intervals on conventional has served me very well.

Some claim once you switch to synthetic you can't go back to conventional. To the best of my knowledge, that is opinion based. Switching between the fluids will yield no damage to the engine. Think about the countless numbers of used cars out there. 99% of people have no idea what type of oil was used when they bought their used car. They go to manufacturer recommendation or what they feel is comfortable.

But honestly, I feel it's best to pick one and stay with it.

I "might" consider going synthetic in the summer cars because:
- Going on the 3k-5k rule, during the summer, I normally put about 6-7K on the Monte.
- Summer is the hottest months of the year, it may benefit from an oil more forgiving to hot temps.

Outside of those thoughts, I have no plans at the moment to go synthetic.

 

I am personally a firm believer in Synthetic fluids and it's all I will put in any of my cars. I bought my Monte new and have run Mobil 1 full synthetic in it since 3,000 miles...been changing it every 7,000-10,000 miles (a few were less than that, just because I had it up for other maintenance and did it at the same time). I drive 3,000 miles month, so I generally change my oil about every 3 months. My Monte has 186K on it now and runs like new.

There is no issue with you switching to synthetic and changing once a year in your 01.

I personally don't think synthetic oils cost all that much more in the grand scream of things, and as you already know, they last longer anyway. Plus they provider better protection on cold start ups and in high heat...not to mention, they keep the internals of your engine cleaner, even at extended drain intervals.

Even in the few cases I've let it slip to 10,000 miles in between changes, the oil itself is still a golden brown color...most conventional would be black sludge if you waited 10,000 miles...and you would be building up nasty stuff inside your engine. If you are going to stick with conventional, I agree with Jason, about every 5,000 miles is a good change interval.

 

A synthetic oil user has spoken

Thanks Michael. I've kinda been waiting on someone who actually used synthetic to chime in. Since I've never ran synthetic, I can only state what I've read about it, not any experience.

I think the biggest key is knowing what oil you have and how many miles you can put on it. I honestly have not priced synthetic vs conventional, but as stated, the cost may not be significant when factoring the oil change interval differences. I guess you would have to calculate your oil changes to a per mile cost.

 

I'm running synthetic in the 2013 Camaro, and I'm switching the Monte over to synthetic now that I have the supercharger on it. Since my supercharger is oil fed, I want a synthetic fed into it.

Something else that I did. Instead of putting 10w-30 in, I would switch it down to 5w-30 so the start-up weight was a little better. GM actually made the switch to recommend 5w (I think around 2003?), so I knew I wasn't harming anything.

 

thanks for the info I am inclined to try synthetic now what brand??Mobile one?

 

Mobil 1 is a good brand. I started using Pennzoil Platinum as it was doing better in tests vs Mobil 1 recently.

Just make sure whatever synthetic that you use has the DEXOS certification.

 

I tried a full syn when I first bought my LTZ and due to the better viscosity properties, I started getting some blowby on some seals, so I changed to a part syn and have not noticed anymore oil around seals.