6000+ miles on Havoline 5W30 and counting....

[Vortec_4300]

Phew!

I just turned over 6,000 miles since my last oil change with Havoline 5W30 and a 3 oz. maintenance dose of Auto-RX.

I'm all nerves, you see - this is the first time I have ever taken an OCI out this long, as I was a habitual 3K miles oil change interval fanatic like many others around here.

But I'm going to give the GM OLM a shot, and this is why I am doing this.

The oil looks good - a little dirty, but still a deep golden color and no oil lost since the initial fill. I'll be sure and get a UOA when the OLM does go off, but given my proclivity for highway driving, the last time it went off was for 18K miles!! YIKES!!

 

[KieferS]

Man- i would never wait that long for an OCI. I don't care if it still lubricates- it gets dirty and looses detergents and viscosity. I don't know why every one on here changes at 5k on 1 dollar oil, its just not smart imo. i wouildn't wait past 6k even on synthetic. i even change my blends on 3k.

 

[Vortec_4300]

The word on the street is that GM's OLM is really what it is cracked up to be.

My understanding is that the OLM is calibrated for regular, SM-rated dino oil. Since Havoline is one of the brands that seems to show consistently good results across a range of engines, I decided to continue using it for this purpose.

My theory is this - as long as I am vigilant about monitoring the oil level and "appearance" I should be OK until well into this OCI. The engine does not seem to use any oil at all, and in some respects I wish that it would, so that I could confidently know that I was adding some additional top-off oil over the interval.

I'm willing to give the OLM a shot this time - as long as I am careful, if the results fromn this batch of oil don't reflect very well on the OLM's ability to deliver on its promises, then there is probably no harm done. But if it does prove the viability of the OLM, then I can be confident in letting that system dictate appropriate OCIs moving forward.

I guess that I am trying to say that I don't see too much risk in trying it out one time, with careful monitoring.

 

[BUBBA0420]

Well Vortec it's your money. I would definetly
get an oil analysis now to see how it's holding
up. Is GM paying you to test there OLM ?? KieferS: I am with you Clean oil is happy
Oil

 

[surfstar]

quote:

---

Originally posted by KieferS:
Man- i would never wait that long for an OCI. I don't care if it still lubricates- it gets dirty and looses detergents and viscosity. I don't know why every one on here changes at 5k on 1 dollar oil, its just not smart imo. i wouildn't wait past 6k even on synthetic. i even change my blends on 3k.

---

No one on here has ever had an oil related failure that was caused by regular or extended OCIs. Parts may have failed causing a loss of lubrication, but it wasn't due to the oil.

Car manufacturers have been recommending longer OCIs for decades. My '93 Mazda calls for 3750 severe/7500 normal service. Oil has come a long way since 1993 even.

This oil change I'm going 5k+ on FREE oil

 

[KieferS]

my jetta says every 3k. its a 97. It's jsut not a big deal, it's cheap insurance. oil with less miles has more detergent- better cleaning properties and it just helps me sleep better at night. I wish i was brave as you guys- can't do it.

 

[surfstar]

It comes with time. Some people are relieved to change to longer OCIs - you mean I crawl under the car less often and save money? ...others like their 3k OCI, no matter what.


Vortec_4300 I'd UOA it at 7500 miles or something. I couldn't go over 10k on dino oil. Although your sump is probably as big as both my cars'.

 

[bar1]

The German GM's (Opel) with OLM, requires oil with GM-LL-A-025. So far I've only seen synthetic oil with that spec.

 

[Vortec_4300]

Actually, my 4.3l V6 takes only 5 quarts, so the sump isn't that big.

I'm gonna UOA it at 7500 just because it sounds like a good idea. No sense in prolonging the agony to my engine if there is a problem with degraded oil.

 

[Cutehumor]

I've been doing 5k oci with dino on my sunfire for the past 3 years. engine hasn't missed a beat. I guess you guys didn't see the pontiac grand prix thread where the guy had 300k miles with 5k oci with havoline.

 

[Drivebelt]

quote:

---

Man- i would never wait that long for an OCI. I don't care if it still lubricates- it gets dirty and looses detergents and viscosity. I don't know why every one on here changes at 5k on 1 dollar oil, its just not smart imo. i wouildn't wait past 6k even on synthetic. i even change my blends on 3k.

---

You have to understand the huge jump in motor oil quality that has happened in the last 10 years with the jump from Group I base oils to Group II hydrocracked basestocks. This wasn’t a minor or incremental jump in quality like what we saw from the previous new designations … SF-SG-SH-SJ…….etc. The move to Grp II basestocks (mostly about 1996-2001) represented a revolution in oil quality. These newer Grp II oils are more like synthetics than they are like the old Grp I solvent refined oils. The latest designation SM with its strict NOACK of 15% pretty well represents the final transition to Grp II basestocks here in North America.

I used to be a 3K/ 6 month oil changer myself, and if we were still using the old Grp I basestocks, my OCI might be a little longer than that -- but not much. If I was given 2 choices of free oil changes, 3K miles Grp I versus 6K miles Grp II, I would take the Grp II -- even at twice the OCI of the Grp I. These new Grp II’s are that good. They put up wear numbers as good as synthetics at even twice the distance of the old Grp I’s. The new 3000 mile oil change with the new SM oils is really now at least a 5000 mile oil change.

 

[JHZR2]

UOA it and dont worry. My father ran 7500 mi OCIs on dino for the first 160k of his car's life. Now we run syn for >10k mi OCIs. All UOAs look great and weve never had any issues.

IIRC, there are a number of UOAs showing longer drains and LC are OK performance wise.

keep cool!

JMH

 

[mechtech]

Over 200,000 miles, you could save around 20 oil changes with those longer intervals.
I just couldn't do it, however.
Can't resist... have to change oil....

 

[rjundi]

quote:

---

Originally posted by KieferS:
my jetta says every 3k. its a 97. It's jsut not a big deal, it's cheap insurance. oil with less miles has more detergent- better cleaning properties and it just helps me sleep better at night. I wish i was brave as you guys- can't do it.

---

On the 1998 VW Golf they moved the interval to every 10k miles. I helped my friend who changed at this schedule and he kept the car till 150k miles running issue free with engine. Amazingly sold last summer for $4k and purchased for $10k with 40k. A few repairs between like coil and a few sensors but decent service life with minimal cost.

 

[Triple_Se7en]

I smell some GM lawsuits coming in the next several years.

First & last owners of new GM vehicles know better -- that being to disregard the outlandish miles they suggest for your OCI.

If you plan on keeping the vehicle like I do .. ie... 15-20 years/250K.... change your dino oil every 3-5K. Paying 20-25K for the vehicle -- then penny-pinching over an additional $25 yearly to protect it properly is mind-boggling to me.

 

[KieferS]

I don't even plan on keeping this car for long- i could probably just shove some M1 extended preformance for the next two years, and change the oil before i sell it- im sure the engine won't look bad at all after the change. my mom on her 89 camry drove 150k with out a single oil change, all she did was buy oil as it was burned off- and this is on old group I or what ever oil-not the fancy 'SM' we have today. Not even a single airfilter was changed, the only thing i can ever remember her having changed is the spark plug- which we were told was stuck in the cylinder and that it may break if it were to be taken out. She bought me the wrench she saw the mechanic using at 11 years old, and told me to get the spark plug out when we got back home. I took it out in one piece. The car ran fine when we sold it.at around 190k. Now i have a car 17 years newer, and im changing the oil every 3k- it seems rediculous now that i think of it- but its just this part of me- it bugs me- i can't even drive my car, i seem like im letting her down for all the service she has given me. So for my peace of mind- i just change it at 3kvor every 6 months.

 

[jsharp]

Have we seen any bad UOA's yet where the OLM was followed and the oil had problems without some other factor like a leaking intake?

 

[adam123]

I would think the OLM would be reliable. GM wouldn;t want to have another large consumer base hounding at its doors with more problems.

 

[Gary Allan]

Vortec

Have you by any chance kept track of your fuel usage? The reason I'm asking is that another member is testing out TooSlick's OCI formula vs. the OLM on his vehicle. He allegedly keeps pretty good fuel consumption records. Now I don't necessarily assume that you keep fuel records (you may) ..but if you've got a fairly stable mpg ..then it should add another rough data point in seeing how TS's formula works out.

 

[psudaytona]

My OCI right now is very complex

I changed my oil in Dec, put in 4 qts of supertech. Well I have a leak in one of the front seals on the engine(its somewhat slow) and since then I have put 3.25qts in to top up

1 Quart Valvoline
1 Quart GTX
1 Quart ST High high mileage
and .25 quart of Havoline.

All this over 5000 miles give or take a hundred. Pretty much lose 1qt per 1000-1200 miles due to the dripping as the engine doesnt burn any it seems. Hehe, its like having a constant oil change.