10k OCI oil recommendation for 3800?

[OdinsRage]

I have a Chevy with a 3800 series 2 (56k miles). I know these engines are relatively easy on oil, I was wondering if a 10k oci was possible.

Problem is, my daily commute is 7 miles round trip! I do take a 30-60 minute highway drive once a week though. Is there any oil that might make 10k?

 

[TheOilWizard]

I have a Chevy with a 3800 series 2 (56k miles). I know these engines are relatively easy on oil, I was wondering if a 10k oci was possible.

Problem is, my daily commute is 7 miles round trip! I do take a 30-60 minute highway drive once a week though. Is there any oil that might make 10k?

I would just follow the manufacture recommendation, but an UOA is really the only way to know if you can extend the interval.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

The premium synthetics (M1, PP, PUP, Edge, etc) should be able to handle a 10k OCI on the 3800.

If your car has the OLM, just follow its suggestions.

 

[DriveHard]

I have a Chevy with a 3800 series 2 (56k miles). I know these engines are relatively easy on oil, I was wondering if a 10k oci was possible.

Problem is, my daily commute is 7 miles round trip! I do take a 30-60 minute highway drive once a week though. Is there any oil that might make 10k?

That is only ~4000 miles per year. I would do at least yearly changes.

 

[JavierH19]

With that kind of short tripping no it'd be stretching it. Change it once a year.

 

[nascarnation]

The premium synthetics (M1, PP, PUP, Edge, etc) should be able to handle a 10k OCI on the 3800.

If your car has the OLM, just follow its suggestions.

I like this approach. And the current Dexos "syns" are a lot better than what that engine was validated on 20+ years ago which was API SJ.

 

[b_b]

I had a series 3 and the olm usually went of at 7500 miles. when I was driving a lot I would change it then, later on when doing majority in town and short tripping I changed to every 5k miles. it also had many more miles then too and would burn about a quart every 5k.

 

[OdinsRage]

Considering my low mileage, would there be any downside to just using conventional and changing yearly or 4-5k?

 

[wpod]

M1 0W-40 euro oil.

 

[Rhymingmechanic]

I don't claim it's wise or right, but here's what I've done on my 2001 Silverado 5.3 for a decade-plus. For most of that time, I had a 4-mile commute each way with a long highway trip maybe once per year. My winter temps are milder than yours.

• Mobil 1 5w-30 and 0w-40 in a 4:2 or 5:1 ratio. (Recently, whatever 5-40 or 0-40 I find on closeout instead of Mobil 1 0-40.)
• Reset the OLM the first time it trips, then change the oil next time. With my driving, that worked out to 5-6000 miles and about 15 months per oil change.

Back in the salad days, at 49k, I did a UOA on an 8-month/7200 mile run of M1 5-30, with about 50/50 short city commutes and highway trips. The results were pretty much in line with Blackstone's universal averages at the time. TBN was 4.5.

 

[Patman]

Considering my low mileage, would there be any downside to just using conventional and changing yearly or 4-5k?

IMO conventional oils are somewhat obsolete since there are a lot of synthetics that are priced so reasonably (Kirkland, Supertech, Amazon Basics, QSFS and QSUP)

 

[OdinsRage]

IMO conventional oils are somewhat obsolete since there are a lot of synthetics that are priced so reasonably (Kirkland, Supertech, Amazon Basics, QSFS and QSUP)

That’s a good point. I am kind of intrigued at the above suggestion of 0w40 however.

I have some edge 5w30 on hand and just order some Blackstone kits, maybe I’ll test after a year and go from there

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Considering my low mileage, would there be any downside to just using conventional and changing yearly or 4-5k?

no downside to that at all, but you can often get synthetic on sale for not much more or even the same price as conventional

If you have an OLM, make sure you reset it, even if you change the oil before the light comes on.