Oil Changes

[4x4Crew]

Got a quick and probably silly question for you guys. I have a 2008 Silverado and was wondering how often to change the oil? In the past I always did the 3,000 mile change but on this vehicle it has the oil life monitor. Am I suppsed to follow that? Would it be ok to use fully synthetic oil as well?

[ewarz]

The people that built the truck know best. Follow your oil life monitor, and yeah, you can go fully synthetic. Usually synthetic oil will go longer than 5,000 miles too.

[4x4Crew]

The people that built the truck know best. Follow your oil life monitor, and yeah, you can go fully synthetic. Usually synthetic oil will go longer than 5,000 miles too.

Thanks for the reply. If I follow the oil life monitor will it make a difference if I have fully synthetic oil? The truck wasn't built I bet with using fully synthetic oil in mind.

[tlperry68]

The oil life monitor system is based off of mathmatacal algorathims to tell you when its time to change the oil. Factors include driving habbits, towing and temperature. The system does not actually sense oil properties so it does not know the difference between synthetic or conventional.

[4x4Crew]

The oil life monitor system is based off of mathmatacal algorathims to tell you when its time to change the oil. Factors include driving habbits, towing and temperature. The system does not actually sense oil properties so it does not know the difference between synthetic or conventional.

Thanks for the helpful info. So you guys say I should definetly follow the oil life monitor then correct?

[Akula682]

Pick what oil you are going to use for the life of your truck, then for...

Conventional oil, at 5k miles change it and TAKE a sample and send it in to be analyzed by Pro's and follow what they recommend.

Synthetic oil, same thing but wait until you get to 10k miles before you change it.

Getting your oil checked by a good Used Oil Analysis company will save you lots of money over the life of your vehicle.

I used BlackStone Labs when I had my F150 and my 98 Hummer, with my driving I could change my oil every 10k miles on my F150 and about 7.5k on the Hummer… I stood by the 10k on the F150 and knocked down the Hummer to 5k simply because it was an easier number to remember and I did redline the Hummer quite a bit when off roading.

http://www.blackstone-labs.com/

I use regular Shell Rotella T for my LMM and go by the computer, which is about every 7k - 8k miles in between changes.
Don’t listen to people who tell you "you have to change your oil every 3k miles" it is a waste of money and a waste of good oil. That mentality is from 30 years ago and older... back then the oil and engines were (by today’s standards) Junk. Oil can last for a very long time in your engine as long as you don’t red line it all the time.

[Pete95Sierra]

I agree, I had ben following the 3k rule but I think im going to go a bit longer now. I checked my oil the other day on my jeep at over 4k and it still looks good. at 3k it looked only slightly used. i think im going to change it to 5k

[Akula682]

I agree, I had ben following the 3k rule but I think im going to go a bit longer now. I checked my oil the other day on my jeep at over 4k and it still looks good. at 3k it looked only slightly used. i think im going to change it to 5k

LOL you sound like a buddy of mine.
You can’t tell if oil is still good or not by looking at it or feeling it. It’s just that simple. Just because the oil is darker it doesn’t mean that it’s not still good. Most of that color is oxidation, and just picking up the left over oil that is still in the engine. That’s why people need to spend $20 or so bucks and get a Used Oil Analysis you’ll save more than that in your first year of oil changes. With my new truck I will go by the computer since its still under warranty and I don’t want to do anything to void it. As soon as the warranty is up I will be getting a UOA and changing the oil accordingly.

In 93 when I bought my new Ranger the owners manual said to change the oil every 7500 miles, since then every car/truck that I have had said the same thing, (except the Hummer, they just copied the military maintance books for it and it was set at 3k miles)
I picked the nice round numbers to stick with because it’s easier to remember… change it on the 5 and on the 0.

[Pete95Sierra]

My decision is actually based more on what I have heard recently than the color of my oil. I was just surprised cuz with my chevy it was pretty dark at 3k and now the Jeep wasnt even close. I read a thing the other day that these new oils dont really break in till the 2-3k mark anyway so you will be fine going for 5k. I may look into one of those oil check things tho. how often do you have to do them?

[sdavis2702]

Good info in this thread.