Thanks for the OLM post Tree Hugger...
Can GM's Oil Service Light be trusted?
- Thread starter Islandvic
- Start date
- Status
If the Northstar OLM calculated how much oil it leaked and consumed then no telling how far you could go with top up. Sorry, not being smart, but we have a 95 STS. Couldn't resist.
GM needs to fix a few issues to follow the olm religiously.
I don't change the oil 2x/yr because on average its only averages 5k miles a year. That would put the OCI at 6mo/2500 miles.
I'm switching to M1 at next change (June).
Its in service date was June 2000, so to make it easy I have just been using OCI's every June.
Thanks for all the input guys!
Really appreciated!
by haley10:
If the Northstar OLM calculated how much oil it leaked and consumed then no telling how far you could go with top up. Sorry, not being smart, but we have a 95 STS. Couldn't resist.
GM needs to fix a few issues to follow the olm religiously.
LOL! I think that is funny! I have had 4 cadillacs with NS engines. Two of them had to be replaced, one three times. Your statements are correct. I like the power, but they have been the most unreliable, expensive to repair, problem prone engines I've ever owned. They are very nice, however.
If the Northstar OLM calculated how much oil it leaked and consumed then no telling how far you could go with top up. Sorry, not being smart, but we have a 95 STS. Couldn't resist.
GM needs to fix a few issues to follow the olm religiously.
LOL! I think that is funny! I have had 4 cadillacs with NS engines. Two of them had to be replaced, one three times. Your statements are correct. I like the power, but they have been the most unreliable, expensive to repair, problem prone engines I've ever owned. They are very nice, however.
Actually, a fairly strong argument can be made that too frequent oil changes will reduce oxygen sensor and cat converter life, which in turn, causes conditions to develop in the engine which can reduce its life.
An oil change certainly isn't without its own set of risks either.
Depends on how equal you think all oils are created. It also depends on how long you would like to own the vechile?
I think it is silly that in some cases the oil indicator light will allow up to 17,000 miles to pass on some vechiles before it comes on! It does not know if you have Mobil 1 Extended Performance or Walmart cheapest oil!
I do not trust algorythms to predict an oils protection propertys with as many variable as oil has.It is simply useing cycles and temps. fuel usage etc.... to predict when the oil needs to be changed. I think we can all agree that 17,000 miles on Walmarts oil is distinctly different the 17,000 miles on Amsoil or M1!
I think it is silly that in some cases the oil indicator light will allow up to 17,000 miles to pass on some vechiles before it comes on! It does not know if you have Mobil 1 Extended Performance or Walmart cheapest oil!
I do not trust algorythms to predict an oils protection propertys with as many variable as oil has.It is simply useing cycles and temps. fuel usage etc.... to predict when the oil needs to be changed. I think we can all agree that 17,000 miles on Walmarts oil is distinctly different the 17,000 miles on Amsoil or M1!
Patman
Staff member
But you'll never see the OLM allow a 17k interval on any car that originally specifies conventional oil. In fact you probably wouldn't see it on cars specifying synthetic either, such as the Corvette. The Corvette's OLM will never go longer than 15k, as that's it's absolute maximum.
It looks like Schwartz and Smolenski put a lot of effort into coming up with a reasonable methodology. Their work and the OLM certainly has more sound work behind it than does any simple minded months/miles routine.
Personally I like a little bit of extra safety factor in my maintenance, so I have been running mostly group III oils in our 2002 Olds and run till the OLM says about 20% life left. Oil analysis has always shown that the oil still has plenty of life left in it. Typically this results in 5,000-6,000 mile OCIs. I really do not doubt that any good GF-3/GF-4 oil would also still be usable at that point.
Count me as an OLM believer who likes to have a little extra margin for error
.
John
Personally I like a little bit of extra safety factor in my maintenance, so I have been running mostly group III oils in our 2002 Olds and run till the OLM says about 20% life left. Oil analysis has always shown that the oil still has plenty of life left in it. Typically this results in 5,000-6,000 mile OCIs. I really do not doubt that any good GF-3/GF-4 oil would also still be usable at that point.
Count me as an OLM believer who likes to have a little extra margin for error
John
- Status