I'm changing every 4000 miles for the 05 and I run Mobil 1.

 

I'm part of the new synthetic craze that goes for longer oil changes and runs nothing but Mobil 1 Full Synthetic. I do mainly hwy mileage and drive about 110-120 miles a day. I've owned my car since new, and have always taken excellent care of it. (I do more than oil changes, I maintain the whole care, and all of its drivetrain).

As for the oil life monitors, I think the ones in the new cars are actually pretty good. They use a lot of factors to determine the interval to change and they do vary depending on your driving habbits.

I used to change every 7500 miles on my 03 Cavalier, Then I got the Monte and went for the same rule, but follow the oil life monitor more so. I tend to change every 7,000-9,000 miles now. I'm sure some jaws might drop at that. But my oil is always a golden brown color when I change it. Also, if you look in my engine with a flash light, its nothing but clean metal, no sludge or oil build up. (thank you synthetics).

As far as the filters, I always use a good quality filter, and i've never had a bad experience using the filter for the entire oil change interval.

My personal opinion (and I think my real life testing proves it) is that 3,000 miles oil changes are a thing of the past. Oil is better now days, and synthetics are a whole new animal.

I'm at 141,000 miles using my described oil changes with Synthetic and my engine is clean, and runs like new, and burns no oil.

 

Synthetics huh..

I wonder if using that would help with the ticking sound that my engine makes for the first 30 seconds or so when it's cold..
The ticking is also why I don't go much beyond 3000 miles, for fear I might hurt something in the engine.

Quote:
i have 1998 z34 and i change my oil pretty much every month i always keep fresh oil in mine but thats just me

I gotta say that changing the oil out once a month is pretty much overkill.. But it won't harm it if it's done that often though.. I don't know much about the 3.8 but from what I've heard, the 3.4L V6s that GM used are notorious for "ticking" when cold. It has to do with how the engine was made.

 

The 3400 is basically a big bore 3100. The cold weather tick is old news. All the 3100's I've worked on and 3400's have it. It's not ridiculously loud, but you can hear it and as it warms up, it goes away. Nothing to worry about. My '94 Grand Am has had it all the life I've owned it (over 207K and oil changes every 3K-5K with conventional).

NOW, my wife's Grand Am had one REAL loud valve/lifter when it was cold, at least that what my friends and I believed it to be (cause was specifically believed to be a stuck lifter). To avoid ripping the engine apart, tried to poor man's method. Dropped a bottle of Motor Honey in, about a day later, no more issue. Next oil change, it started again, so, dropped another bottle of Motor Honey and it stopped. I think it was after the 3rd oil change and use of Motor Honey the noise finally stopped all together!! She drove it I think another 20K-30K noise free and then we sold it (only because we got a deal we could not turn down on an '05 Impala with a 3400).

Basically, using the cold weather valve tick as a reason to change your oil at 3K or less miles is really not worth while in my book. It's just something in how the engine is designed (or I've heard a LOT of them with the same problem and never knew it).

 

I'm glad to hear that "The_Maniac". The "Motor Honey" your referring to- is that that "No Smoke" stuff that is really thick? Also, the ticking is only audible when your near the engine with the hood up. Temperature isn't much of a factor, because it will still do it if it's 30 degrees or 100+ degrees. I'm super easy on her when she's cold just to be on the safe side as well. Excessive heat (Texas climate as well as humidity) concerns me sometimes, hence the slightly above 3k oil change in my car. I have one of those ScanGauge monitors on her, since my car doesn't have the DIC display. I probably could go to 4,000-5,000 with no problems, but I like to play it safe. The ticking isn't the only reason, but the only other thing I can think of is MPG. It drops from 28 Hwy to about 25 Hwy. In the city, it goes from 23-24 down to 21 or so if I wait to long. Since the ticking is an "engine feature" that leaves MPG. Also I think the car's emissions go up, but I don't know if that's as much of a factor as it used to be.

This little guy saves me money on gas, monitors engine sensors, etc.
https://montecarloforum.com/forum/me...volts-7385.jpg

 

My monte every 3000mi w/conventional oil KN filter....I dont drive her hard..Made to cruize, I think ive kicked her in passing gear 5 times in 3 yrs..BUT i do use Seafoam twice per yr 1/2 in gas tank,1/2 down intake...Cleans her out...but never in the crankcase...

 

The tick is there when the engine is cold (and cold is relative to being "just started"). If the outside temp is really cold you may hear it a little more. And if you listen around the top of the engine, the sound seems to originate around all the valves.

If you have a valve that sounds REALLY loud, you may have what I mentioned with my wife's old car. When I say really loud, you hear it when the hood is down, if you listen around the engine, you can easily determine which head it's on and about where on the head it's at. And the one my wife's car had would fade away after it had about 5 minutes to warm up (a few oil changes with the "Motor Honey" eventually fixed it for good, and I will admit, even *I* am amazed it worked).

As for the "Motor Honey", that's a brand name behind an oil additive. It's much like what you mentioned, a thick product (typically marketed to "eliminate smoke"). Adding it once won't hurt anything, but based on what you mentioned, I don't think it will change a thing. Sounds like your car is running typical for a 3400. If you're curious how normal that is, find other 3100/3400 engines (go to a used car dealership and have them start a couple, I bet you'll find it's REALLY common). Again, my '94 Grand Am's 3100 has the same tick, been there for YEARS and the car runs great and has surpassed my original expectations when I bought it.

BTW - I think even the manufacturer recommends you take care with a cold engine (especially when temps are near or below freezing). Starting a car that is in freezing temps and immediately driving off is what tends to promote pre-mature breaking of parts (the cold makes things brittle). A friend of mine used to work in the I.T. department for a transmission shop and their sales guys LOVED winter because of people breaking their transmissions by driving while they were freezing.

Sorry for the long reply... Just trying to give as much input as possible.

 

My monte has that little puff when you start her cold...needs valve seals, ive gotta set of SS 305 HIPO heads i bought a few yrs ago..but I figured my milage would go down a bit..I dont know what the 80s SS version gets/got for milage???

 

As far as gas mileage goes, synthetics will help your mileage more than conventional, and since synthetics don't break down as fast as conventional, you can extend the drain interval, and your mileage will not go down.

 

It bugs me that ide have to spend 60+ bucks onna oil change...doesnt seem worth it too me.I race my 08 stang and i change it every 1000 mi. w/semi synthetic..ide be more worried out that engine than i would the monte...