My wife has a 2006 Chevrolet Impala V-6. I have always used Pennzoil YB 5-W-30, changing at 4000 miles. This time I decided to use the Oil Life Monitor. She got 7000 miles on the oil and the monitor said 21% oil life remaining. I couldn't stand it any longer so I changed the oil. Now I'm confused I can't decide whether to continue with 4000 miles or use the OLM. Just for info the vehicle has 80,000 miles on it and she drives about 15 miles to work. Any advice would be appreciated.
I used my OLM for the first time
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Personally I would change it at 5K. PYB is good oil but I would not push it to 7K.
Originally Posted By: Johnny
Personally I would change it at 5K. PYB is good oil but I would not push it to 7K.
Blasphemy!
Personally I would change it at 5K. PYB is good oil but I would not push it to 7K.
Blasphemy!
"Now I'm confused I can't decide whether to continue with 4000 miles or use the OLM"
YOU MUST OBEY THE LAW
(Remember, OnStar is watching ....)
YOU MUST OBEY THE LAW
(Remember, OnStar is watching ....)
I hope Johnny's not trying to get you to buy the Pennzoil YB more frequently.
I don't see a problem using the OLM, however Johnny knows a lot about pennzoil products, so his word is something to be recon with.... I don't have the luxury of a OLM, my car has a maintenance light that is set to mileage 7500 to be exact (02 Honda Accord) I do use that when using conventional oils.
If I owned an Impala I would use the OLM, and choose an oil that would stand up to the OEM specs for the OLM, maybe asking the forum what they think... However I'm not trying to get you to change brands of oil, nor to a synthetic.
If I owned an Impala I would use the OLM, and choose an oil that would stand up to the OEM specs for the OLM, maybe asking the forum what they think... However I'm not trying to get you to change brands of oil, nor to a synthetic.
Originally Posted By: GROUCHO MARX
Originally Posted By: Johnny
Personally I would change it at 5K. PYB is good oil but I would not push it to 7K.
Blasphemy!
FWIW, I tend to agree with Johnny here. I went 6100 miles on an Honda oil (MC5K) and filter for ~10 months with OLM @ 30% on a 3.0L Honda. I just couldn't go any further and be confident, actually thought it was a tad excessive. The oil MC5K is supposed to be, as the name implies a 5K oil.
This time though I'm using QS Horsepower and a Pure One to ~5-10% or one year and I'm more confident.
OTOH, many well respected posters here say GM and Honda OLM's are very good (accurate), and to follow the OLM, no matter the oil(dino or syn). Your car, your comfort level, your call.
Originally Posted By: Johnny
Personally I would change it at 5K. PYB is good oil but I would not push it to 7K.
Blasphemy!
FWIW, I tend to agree with Johnny here. I went 6100 miles on an Honda oil (MC5K) and filter for ~10 months with OLM @ 30% on a 3.0L Honda. I just couldn't go any further and be confident, actually thought it was a tad excessive. The oil MC5K is supposed to be, as the name implies a 5K oil.
This time though I'm using QS Horsepower and a Pure One to ~5-10% or one year and I'm more confident.
OTOH, many well respected posters here say GM and Honda OLM's are very good (accurate), and to follow the OLM, no matter the oil(dino or syn). Your car, your comfort level, your call.
Originally Posted By: Papa Bear
"Now I'm confused I can't decide whether to continue with 4000 miles or use the OLM"
YOU MUST OBEY THE LAW
(Remember, OnStar is watching ....)
No kidding. The Cobalt is a low-use vehicle so I changed the oil based on the "no longer than a year" recommendation in the manual since I was nowhere near the mileage needed to trip the OLM. The last On-Star report I received before the oil change refused to give me an estimated life left because the system felt it was too long since the last change. Big brother is watching.....
And for the record, I changed the oil within the recommended interval despite whatBig BrotherOn-Star thinks and I have the documentation to prove it.
"Now I'm confused I can't decide whether to continue with 4000 miles or use the OLM"
YOU MUST OBEY THE LAW
(Remember, OnStar is watching ....)
No kidding. The Cobalt is a low-use vehicle so I changed the oil based on the "no longer than a year" recommendation in the manual since I was nowhere near the mileage needed to trip the OLM. The last On-Star report I received before the oil change refused to give me an estimated life left because the system felt it was too long since the last change. Big brother is watching.....
And for the record, I changed the oil within the recommended interval despite what
My brother has this same 06 impala. I feel bad for the car. He doesn't even open the hood at all, and he does not get the oil changed until the OLM reaches 0.
This is nearly 10k miles on bulk dino from the chevy dealer.
I borrowed the car last summer for a trip to Virginia, and of course I checked the oil and fluids before making the trip.
Sure enough the oil was black as tar at about 7500 miles into an oil change.
Its just too long for this type of oil.
I'm a 4500-5000 type of guy myself on regular dino.
This is nearly 10k miles on bulk dino from the chevy dealer.
I borrowed the car last summer for a trip to Virginia, and of course I checked the oil and fluids before making the trip.
Sure enough the oil was black as tar at about 7500 miles into an oil change.
Its just too long for this type of oil.
I'm a 4500-5000 type of guy myself on regular dino.
why not get an uoa then decide?
Originally Posted By: GROUCHO MARX
Originally Posted By: Johnny
Personally I would change it at 5K. PYB is good oil but I would not push it to 7K.
Blasphemy!
Nothing to do with the brand, I just do not go past 5K on any brand dino oil, period. Anything above that is synthetic for me. Just the way I am.
Originally Posted By: Johnny
Personally I would change it at 5K. PYB is good oil but I would not push it to 7K.
Blasphemy!
Nothing to do with the brand, I just do not go past 5K on any brand dino oil, period. Anything above that is synthetic for me. Just the way I am.
People had scoffed when I mentioned this before, but my general rule of thumb is 5000 on any name brand dino, and 7500 on any N.B. syn...
It has kept me comfortable and served me well through the years.
It has kept me comfortable and served me well through the years.
I will be the one alone here, I will run 7500 on my Accord with dino and never worry about it... as far as color it looks no worse at 7500 as it does at 5k. Before I got into the above 7500 range is what I was talking about above... I will say when running cheap $1 quart on sale oils such as Havoline (not knocking it) I have been know to cut the OCI to 6k.
I've just performed my first OCI using Mobil 1 synthetic at 6006 miles using the built in OLM. It's a little hard to get use too myself but using the synthetic oil I like (M1) going to 6K oil changes is fine with me.
With the right oil you feel comfortable using you can trust the OLM.
Durango
With the right oil you feel comfortable using you can trust the OLM.
Durango
Go with timed intervals of three, four or six months, depending on the miles you drive. I rather count down to a date than watch miles tick away and wonder how many more I want to go.
With my '06 Impala, I am now going strictly by the OLM for oil changes. For the first 45K miles, I changed the oil every 3-4K miles with conventional oil and ACDelco filters. I just finally decided that if GM is confident enough in the OLM for warranty purposes, it is good enough to use period.
The car now gets Purolator PureONE filters and synthetic oil. I am just about 5,000 miles into a fill of Castrol Edge. The OLM says there is 30% remaining, which means I should get about 2,000 miles more out of the Castrol Edge before needing to change it. I can live with a 7-8K mile OCI on this car, and it seems perfectly reasonable using the PureONE filter and a good synthetic oil.
Just to satisfy my curiosity, I may get a UOA on the Castrol Edge when it gets drained just to see what it looks like. The engine runs great on it, so it will probably get Castrol Edge again at the next change.
The car now gets Purolator PureONE filters and synthetic oil. I am just about 5,000 miles into a fill of Castrol Edge. The OLM says there is 30% remaining, which means I should get about 2,000 miles more out of the Castrol Edge before needing to change it. I can live with a 7-8K mile OCI on this car, and it seems perfectly reasonable using the PureONE filter and a good synthetic oil.
Just to satisfy my curiosity, I may get a UOA on the Castrol Edge when it gets drained just to see what it looks like. The engine runs great on it, so it will probably get Castrol Edge again at the next change.
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