Oil change interval

[WWoodsjr]

Im a retired 80 year old senior citizen. Im curious as to what time interval for oil change on my 17 Silverado 5.3. My truck only gets driven about 1500 miles a year, its a 17 with 10500 miles on it, Do I need to change it every 6 months, yearly or what interval? I use top of the line synthetic Mobil 1 in it. Ive been doing it every 5 months but its getting harder & harder to do. I have a hard time too with the idea of some kid stripping out my drain plug or leaving the filter loose at an oil change place. Thanks for the help

 

[I<3oil]

A year should be fine for those conditions

 

[Sayjac]

With yearly miles information and quality synthetic oil used, second the once-a-year oci recommendation.

 

[userfriendly]

Many dealerships have no appointment drive through oil change lanes nowadays.
You can watch, drink free coffee or kick tires in the show room while your truck is being serviced.
Watch out for sales staff stalking the waiting room. One every 8 minutes or less is the average.

 

[JavierH19]

Definitely use something that'll last a lot longer so you change less frequently so you don't hurt yourself, It's not worth it. Or you can go to the dealer although you'd expect them to charge just 50 bucks which is already a lot but some chevy dealers charge close to 200.

The ford dealer is oddly the better place to go to take your chevy for oil changes. But if you want to do them yourself but just not as often you can do that. I'm doing about 9-10k on my 2021 with the 6.2 since I switched it to a euro rated oil that's meant for longer intervals which is also thicker and I don't fear. The prior interval was 6-7k. Besides these trucks have bigger sumps than before.

If I were you I'd use Mobil 1 extended protection or Castrol extended protection either in 5w-30. I would not be afraid to push either of those 20k rated oils to 6k in 3 years but I wouldn't do more than. Trust me oil doesn't go bad anywhere near as quickly as you think anymore. Oils today are nothing like they were before in terms of oxidation and acidity resistance. Back then oil sucked and you had to change it twice a year but not anymore. There's no reason to change oil every 750 miles or 6 months unless it's an e85 power making machine that is only meant for racing. There have been reports posted here with oil being used lightly throughout a few years and they weren't close to beginning to go bad and they weren't even the better kind either just standard.

 

[JeffKeryk]

If you are near the South SF Bay Area, I will service your pickup for you.

 

[oil pan 4]

If you're only doing 1,500 miles per year yeah change it every 1 to 2 years.
If you use one of those synthetic media oil filters, don't even bother changing it.

 

[BrendanC]

at that mileage, i would change it once every spring. get all of the winter idle time out.

 

[thastinger]

Im a retired 80 year old senior citizen. Im curious as to what time interval for oil change on my 17 Silverado 5.3. My truck only gets driven about 1500 miles a year, its a 17 with 10500 miles on it, Do I need to change it every 6 months, yearly or what interval? I use top of the line synthetic Mobil 1 in it. Ive been doing it every 5 months but its getting harder & harder to do. I have a hard time too with the idea of some kid stripping out my drain plug or leaving the filter loose at an oil change place. Thanks for the help

Once a year is fine for you, overkill probably. If it stays in a garage it is for sure overkill.

 

[JohnnyJohnson]

Well I think you could get away very easily with an 18 month OIC just like I've gone to on my 2006 Duramax! You're using quality products I would have no qualms about it.

 

[Patrick0525]

My wife’s garage kept Lexus ES350 gets a 3-4K mi synthetic oil change annually and a synthetic filter change every 2yrs. Ideally early spring. A used oil analysis has normal levels of wear metals and the absence of fuel dilution. Currently at 61k.

My recommendation is to use a Batteryminder de-sulfurnator connected by an enternal 12v SAE cable for a no hood opening trickle charge.

 

[Joenpb]

Oil starts to oxidize after a year, so I would change the oil & filter annually using a good synthetic.

 

[kschachn]

Oil starts to oxidize after a year, so I would change the oil & filter annually using a good synthetic.

Only after a year? What causes it to do that?

 

[userfriendly]

Well I think you could get away very easily with an 18 month OIC just like I've gone to on my 2006 Duramax! You're using quality products I would have no qualms about it.

True, that will save the thread starter 7 oil changes by the time he turns 100.
By then the truck will be 27 years old and have 30,000 miles on it.
The tires will age out long before they wear out, along with belts and hoses.
Better grab a spare TCM and ECM while you’re at it just in case.

 

[userfriendly]

Only after a year? What causes it to do that?

Bacteria?

 

[Joenpb]

Only after a year? What causes it to do that?

Intake oxygen.

 

[Titan]

Intake oxygen.

I think the hint was that there is no "timer" on oxidation. It begins the moment oxygen first interacts with the oil, and continues at some %, changing slightly as the oil is heated/cooled/contaminated/sheared. The "slope of oxidation" is probably not linear due to all the variables involved, and this slope also depends upon the initial buffering capacity as well as how that changes during a use interval.

 

[Joenpb]

OCIs for me are to preserve the vehicle, not the oil. Everyone makes their own decision on that, and being conservative (changing more often) is not the worst thing that can happen to a vehicle.

 

[Crusher]

WWoodsjr
IMO, you're never gonna wear out your vehicle.
I would never change it again.
I'm sure you've got better things to do
Good Luck!

 

[vavavroom]

Unless the trucks gets only driven short distances I'd also say annual oil changes are fine.

Get a $70 oil extractor so you don't have to mess with the drain plug and drain pan. You still have to go diving for the filter, though.