'08 Suburban - oil change...and other maintenance

[Allen]

This is the first GM vehicle I've had in 25 years. It's an '08 Surburban 1500 LT with the 5.3L V8. I've gotten the "change oil soon" indicator at ~7500 miles. So far, I love the car. Is there anything "special" I need to know about changing the oil on this thing...has anything really changed over the years? I plan to drive the front up on ramps, pull the drain plug & drain the oil, change the plug washer & replace the plug, change the filter, add 6 qts. of 5-30 regular oil, reset the indicator, and be done.

As with this oil change, I plan to do 'most' of the maintenance myself...I find that taking a car to the dealer for service usually causes as many problems as it fixes. Is there a website that has DIY procedures for brakes, fluids, etc.? I've looked at the "write-up" section on here and didn't find much.

Also, are there any specific "probelm areas" that I need to watch for on this car...any problems that seem to be common to all recent suburbans...or 5.3L V8s?

[04sierracrewcab]

That sounds about right.!
Im not sure if its nessary to replace the plug however.

And why did you wait for 7500 miles? lol

[Allen]

I guess I miss typed...I will be replacing the existing drain plug washer with a new one. 7500 miles is fine...if there wasn't a "change oil soon" indicator to tell you when to change the oil...I'm sure the manual would say 7500 miles. Some people will say more often, but I guarantee you....there are a 1000 other things that will go wrong before anything related to the oil being changed at 7500 mile intervals instead of 5000.