am i wrong or right

[scout777]

have friend with 03 chev trailblazer with oil monitor. he uses conventional oil. he let it go down to 3 per cent. he said that in miles, it was 14000 miles. i said that 14000 miles was way to many for the type of oil he is using. he said gm would not have put the monitor in if the oil would not last for 14000 miles.i could be wrong but i have never known conventional oil to last that long no matter how easy you drive. i talking about the additive package. can it last that long if you drive easy?
or could he be headed for trouble.

 

[zrxkawboy]

I would never run 14k on a dino oil.

 

[daman]

IMO i would not run a conventional oil that long,no way,your right IMO,that would be a decent haul for some synthetics!!,tell your friend he's nuts!!!

 

[daman]

IN my owners manual for our '03 van it says even if OLM does
not go off in a year you still need to change your oil out.

 

[Jeffdc5]

i would only go that long on dino in car with a high capacity oil pan like mercesdes cars that hold 9 quarts

 

[JHZR2]

the OLM in my saab 9-3 is calibrated for up to 18k miles, or two years. However it uses a special spec oil.

Unless is engine is specced for a GM-LL-025-A syn oil, it wasnt set up for 14k mile OCIs.

JMH

 

[MGregoir]

If it was all light highway miles cruising I could see doing it. I know someone driving a Cobalt entirely in city driving who ran their OLM out to 6300 miles.

I drove 1200 miles last weekend and my current oil fill has about 3500 miles on it right now, and making all those highway miles at operating temperature and driving with a light foot and almost entirely highway for multi-hour runs, I haven't started to change the oil's color yet.

 

[Triple_Se7en]

I would bet that friend has no intentions of being the last owner of that vehicle.

 

[bar1]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
the OLM in my saab 9-3 is calibrated for up to 18k miles, or two years. However it uses a special spec oil.

Unless is engine is specced for a GM-LL-025-A syn oil, it wasnt set up for 14k mile OCIs.

JMH

OT: Opel (GM) is also calibrated like that. I have an Astra 1.8 and I drove 15k miles (1 year, 10 months) before the OLM reminder turned on.

I would not drive 14k miles on conventional oil.

 

[Merkava_4]

Originally Posted By: scout777
I have a friend with an '03 Chevy Trailblazer with an oil life monitor. He uses conventional oil. He let it go down to 3 per cent. He said that in miles, it was up to 14,000 miles.


Your friend is the very reason why there's automotive salvage yards.

 

[ARB1977]

Originally Posted By: scout777
have friend with 03 chev trailblazer with oil monitor. he uses conventional oil. he let it go down to 3 per cent. he said that in miles, it was 14000 miles. i said that 14000 miles was way to many for the type of oil he is using. he said gm would not have put the monitor in if the oil would not last for 14000 miles.i could be wrong but i have never known conventional oil to last that long no matter how easy you drive. i talking about the additive package. can it last that long if you drive easy?
or could he be headed for trouble.



Tell your friend if he keeps this up he'll be looking for another vehicle in the near future.

 

[steve20]

doesn't the oil pan on the TBZR 6 cyl hold almost 8 quarts?

 

[Eddie]

I had a neighbor who bought new a Ford station wagon in ~ 1980 (V8 351?). He never changed the oil after the dealer free one and only added when the low oil light blinked, He did do a filter change once a year or so. That car ran to 80,000 + miles before he lost a con-rod (didn't see the oil light until too late). Even though I do an oil/filter change at 6K and UOAs, I wonder if we go overboard with our hobbies. O-Yes he was a skinflint on buying oil too so he only bought whatever Dino was on sale when he needed to add. Maybe the trailblazer will only run 150,000 miles if he follows the OLM instead of 300,000 if he changes every 7,000 miles?

 

[PT1]

Originally Posted By: Eddie
Maybe the trailblazer will only run 150,000 miles if he follows the OLM instead of 300,000 if he changes every 7,000 miles?


Probably true. Since most people consider a car "used up" at 100,000 miles he will feel good about it. Never realizing he will pay for 3 vehicles instead of extending the life of one to 250-300k. His wallet will feel the difference. Most people never consider the depreciation schedule of an automobile when making buy-new or repair-keep decisions. They believe it is ok to lose $5,000 the day you drive it off the lot new but shudder at the thought of replacing a transmission at 150k for $3500 in a vehicle that is mechanically very sound and will give them another 3-4 years service. Very typical. Spend $3000 on premium wheels and skimp on maintenence. If he looked at cost per mile over time he would be changing that oil and keeping vehicles longer. No doubt about it.

 

[PT1]

Originally Posted By: scout777
have friend with 03 chev trailblazer with oil monitor. he uses conventional oil. he let it go down to 3 per cent. he said that in miles, it was 14000 miles. i said that 14000 miles was way to many for the type of oil he is using. he said gm would not have put the monitor in if the oil would not last for 14000 miles.i could be wrong but i have never known conventional oil to last that long no matter how easy you drive. i talking about the additive package. can it last that long if you drive easy?
or could he be headed for trouble.




Next time offer to change his oil for free at 14,000 and send in the old oil for a UOA. SHould be real interesting reading on here for sure.

 

[QuadDriver]

My 06 jetta diesel says change the oil every 10K. period. change it 10K. and its a diesel.

I change it every 8k and what comes out looks like used diesel oil - black and smelly. but I figure vw knows what they are talking about.

also the oil is only available offshore - costs me $7+/qt by the time I get it here.

short answer: if the gizmos say to do something, do something.

otherwise save your money for expensive luxuries. Like gas.