I'm going to follow my OLM!!

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Hello Bitog,

Well I think it's finally happened. With all of the education I've obtained being on this site about better engine oils and cleaner running engines and the huge oil sump in my Pontiac G8-GT (8.8 quarts) 6.0L L-76 V8, I think it's finally time to fully disregard my 3 month/3,000 mile upbringing and believe in the OLM. Actually I've been slowly weening off of the 3,000 mile rule. The current oil in the G8 has about 5,500 miles on it and I think I'm still around 40% oil life but I'll be going on a pretty long trip at the end of this week so I plan on getting the oil changed over to synthetic on Wednesday at the dealer. The OLM is actually calibrated for use with dino so the synthetic will be my mileage buffer.

At least my dealer offers 1/2 price oil changes so the wallet won't be hit too hard with the synthetic switchover.

Ed B.
 
I'd rather check the oil way-with my dipstick.
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I use a mix of both OLM and checking the oil often....
 
I'm going to follow my OLM on my new Hondas. The Ody sees a lot of city driving and it was down to 10% at 5500 miles. But my Fit, which gets pretty much all highway, is only showing 60% at 5,500. Hasn't lost a drop of oil, either.
 
The Buick, with 3 months/3780 miles on the clock, is reporting 58% oil life left. If it drops by 13% a month, which is normal, I'd still have 19% left if I shot for 3 more months.

Scary to me with dino in the engine. I'll probably change at 5 months, which will be about 5500 miles. After that, the NAPA syn I scored on sale will, I think, carry me through the blink-and-you'll-miss-it winter until April, 7 months and ~6300 miles.
 
you need to change the oil now!!! Ge the break-in oil out of the crank and some fresh stuff in. Also, I am assuming you are using Mobil-1 or some other full-syn oil? I would not go over 6k on dino oil. Finally, be sure to CHECK THE OIL...you might find that the motor burns off oil when you go soooo long on an OCI. That is why recently on the G6 GXP, I decided to change at 5k.
 
I was suspiscious of my OLM when I first got one in my 04 Avalanche. All the UOA's on this board and 3 of my own with the OLM run down to zero showed me the OLM was very conservative, and the oil could have gone significantly longer.

I agree with a few short OCI's at the beginning of an engine's life, probably for the first 12k miles or so in my own uneducated opinion.

After that, you can use the GM OLM with great confidence. It is probably the most sophisticated one on the market.
 
FastSUV,

No worries, I actually did the first oil change with around 1,200 miles on the clock. So that 5,500 miles or so was on fresh oil. I've also been checking the oil at regular intervals. Hasn't burned any to date. I will doublecheck with the dealer concerning which synthetic they use but I'm assuming it is Mobil-1 since they sell vehicles there which use Mobil-1 as factory fill.

Ed B.
 
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It's tough to wait a long time to do an OC, but some good synth oil in there will console you. As you said too, synth is an ideal "buffer".
 
Don't assume the dealer uses Mobil 1 in the L-series engine just because the factory does. GM uses M1 as a factory fill because it's free, or nearly so. Mobil provides it because it's good marketing. The dealer will put in what you ask for, but if you don't specify, they will probably use what they can get for the cheapest price.

My manual with the LS1 calls for annual changes if the OLM doesn't go off. Yours may be the same. I'm going by that guidance now, and changing out around 3-4k miles. It was hard not to do at least semi-annual changes on my baby at first. Used to use M1, but switched to GC three or so years ago. Both are good oils.

Good luck with the car!
 
Speaking of oci`s,my gf and I went out to eat tonight and they have some old nostalgic signs and stuff,and they had one that says Kendall Oil-The 2000 Mile Oil. I wonder how old that sign was?????
 
Originally Posted By: Benzadmiral
The Buick, with 3 months/3780 miles on the clock, is reporting 58% oil life left. If it drops by 13% a month, which is normal, I'd still have 19% left if I shot for 3 more months.

Scary to me with dino in the engine. I'll probably change at 5 months, which will be about 5500 miles. After that, the NAPA syn I scored on sale will, I think, carry me through the blink-and-you'll-miss-it winter until April, 7 months and ~6300 miles.

At last fill in my 03 Century I put in M1 EP 5w30 with an M1 filter (Advanced Auto $29.99 deal). Its at 8,500mi and the OLM hasn't kicked on yet. However the vehicle sees only HWY miles (8K in 5 months). I'll probably run it out to 10k regardless of the OLM as that's the most I'm comfortable with.
 
I followed the OLM in our '04 Envoy. After 11,700 miles, the seven quarts of Mobil 1 held up very well. Wear was excellent.
 
Just wanted to give an update on this one and also ask for some opinions. As a refresher I have a Pontiac G8GT with the 6.0L L76 V8 under the hood. It holds 8.8 quarts of oil. I've noticed that I have about 4700 miles on the oil and yet the OLM is showing 75%. The first 1,000 miles or so was a road trip up to Canada so it was pure highway. But the rest has just been a mix of a 15 minute drive to work/home and weekend driving. If I extrapolate those numbers, the OLM would say I would finally need to change the oil when it has 18,000 miles on the oil. Does this seem to be just a wee bit optomistic?

Ed B.
 
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The only oil I am aware of that can go that long would be Amsoil (Redline if you're not worried about warranty). It is possible that due to the large sump (I have a G8 as well) that the oil life on this car may last longer than cars with smaller sumps.

Anyone know if larger sumps allow for longer OCIs?
 
The percentage will change faster or slower based on usage of the motor, and the environment it is used in. Winter, Higher RPMS (WOT), idling. All those plus more will make the OLM go down quicker. I suppose that under ideal conditions i.e. hwy driving, min idling, granny driving maybe the OLM would allow an 18K OCI but I doubt it. I get antsy at 10K in my 3800 with M1EP 5w30 and M101 filter. Noticed you went with M1 what brand filter did you use?
 
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