Long time lurker, first time poster.

[John09Williams]

Hello all, I am kind of new here. I love the site and have already learned a lot. I am interested in the education opinions of the BITOG regulars on what oil I should look at using.

I have had my 2006 Pontiac G6 GTP since it was new. I have always used M1 5w30, and a Wix or Napa Gold filter. The engine has never missed a beat and still runs perfectly at 72,000 miles. It is a 3.9 L V-6 engine that is essentially the same as a 5.3 L in a fullsize GM truck/Suburban, minus 2 cylinders.

The owners manual says to use an oil that meets GM6094M standard, and a 5w30 under normal conditions. A 0W-30(or synthetic 5w30) is recommended for temperatures below -20 F. I live in southern Texas so the car never sees anything below +20 F.

Oil change intervals are supposed to be whenever the oil life calculator on the dash tells me 0%. It usually ends up being around 6-7K miles.

My driving habits are good I think. I usually let the car warm up for at least 30 sec or a minute when its warm, and at least 1-2 min when cold. Beyond that, I try to not rev past 2K rpm until it is fully warmed up.

I use the car as a daily driver and occasionally auto-cross. I drive moderately on the street, only occasionally I let it rip at WOT.

So what would the experts here recommend to me? I love this car it has treated me quite well and I don't want to let it die slowly if I can do anything at all.

Thanks!

John

 

[rewote500]

I'm not an expert but I would keep doing what you are doing now....

 

[HTSS_TR]

Oil life monitor in a Pontiac G6 is calibrated with dino oil, M1 is a very synthetic oil and with 6-7k miles OCI you're are more than protected. If you want to do oil change whenever the OLM counts down to zero, you could use any synthetic oil on sale, sometimes a year you can buy Pennzoil Platinum or Valvoline Synpower for less than $2/qt after rebate.

 

[tomcat27]

I dont see any reason to stray away from the M1 5w30 that you have been using - unless you want to chase after the latest "deal" on oil. I dont know if the 3.9 underwent the same redesign as the 3.5 to eliminate coolant running thru the intake and hence the Dexcool gasket probs - but other than changing your Dexcool every 3-4 years I think that you are on the path to long vehical life. your oil life monitor is actually very "smart" altho it is programmed for dino oil - so you have a huge margin of extra comfort when you use synthetic.

 

[hate2work]

John, it sounds like you've been doing a pretty good job, keep it up

And

to BITOG

 

[CROWNVIC4LIFE]

Originally Posted By: hate2work

John, it sounds like you've been doing a pretty good job, keep it up

And

to BITOG

+1

 

[tig1]

Welcome to BITOG!!!
The M1 5-30 will serve you well for as long as you wish to keep the car. You can easily step up to 10,000 mile OCIs as I have done for 32 years with M1 oils.

 

[Johnny]

Hello John Williams from TX.

to BITOG.

I agree 100% with all of the above. Continue doing what your doing now.

 

[Nyquist]

I use Mobil 1 in my wife's car. It's pretty stout stuff. As said above, no real reason to change at this point.

 

[wavinwayne]

Originally Posted By: Johnny
Hello John Williams from TX.

to BITOG.

I agree 100% with all of the above. Continue doing what your doing now.


+1. Carry on.

 

[John09Williams]

Thanks everyone! I actually just changed the oil this time with Penzoil Platinum 5w30 and a Purolator PureOne filter. I like the grippy paint on the PureOne and they are the same price here as the Wix/NG, and I read that they are one of the best filters. I got PP cheaper than M1 and have read on here that the UOA's show it to be as good or better than M1. I plan on doing an analysis on this oil after the car tells me to change, then moving to longer intervals (if I can) from there.

 

[ThirdeYe]

M1 or PP would serve you fine and I think you're doing a good job of taking care of it. PureONE filters are excellent and they're my first choice. The GTP is a nice car.

Welcome to the site!