Oil Change Question

Hey guys, Just was wondering what you do to keep track of your next oil change. The DIC is nowhere near accurate, my car is due for one right about now, and the DIC says I still have 65% oil life left. I still do it the old fashioned way, every 2500-3000 miles with Valvoline Max life 10w30 and a WIX or ACDelco filter.

My guestin is if anyone knows where I can order some sort of a plastic holder with two sided tape in order to affix it perminantly to the upper left hand corner of my windshield. My dad had a couple he got fron Cenex a long long time ago. He used one on my mom's new SUV and gave the other to my gf when she bought her car. Since then I have been everywhere looking. People either give me a bunch of one time use stickers or they give me a dazed and confused look and say "what is it you actually want?"

Anyone? I think dealers may have used to have these things too, but nowdays with digital oil life guages I think they may have discontinued production. Thanks for any help!!!

I'll say that my "oil life system" is pathetic. I can go like 5,000 miles and the oil will be black as night and it will never come on, i'll change it, and wont reset it and it finally come on be the next oil change, which is 10,000 miles haha.

just for the record, when you mentioned AC delco filters, thats what i use now. i heard fram filters suck, on my car the drain back vavle must have been a defect, the engine would knock and rattle terrible when it first started up, dont now with the AC delco filter

I believe the 3000 mile oil change interval is overkill. Most OBD-II cars that are running well don't need it changed that often. The only thing that happens is oil gets dirty. If you're a leadfoot, drive in dirty/dusty conditions or race, then a more frequent oil change interval (like 3000 miles) may be warranted. Most people can stretch that to 5000 miles or more, with no adverse effects. The 3000 mile interval was used back when cars still had carburetors, and a lot of raw fuel was getting in the oil at cold start. Machining tolerances were much looser in those days too. Just my :2cents: .

I just use the reusable stickers. I open my door and put one where the latch is. It's out of sight to people, and when I change oil, I just take a pencil, erase the old number, and write the new one.

good idea, Know of anywhere I can order some GM ones or, better yet, ones with a pontiac logo on them?

I change mine every 5000 and use Havoline 10W30 and a Fram filter. The next one is due at 335,000. According to Blackstone Labs, even after 5000 miles the oil is still ok. Every 5000 miles is easy for me to remember but I still use a dry erase board because I change oil in 5 cars, a motorcycle, tractor, lawn mower and two generators. Now I just need a good use for all this used oil.

Have a shop? Get an oil burning heater. We give all of ours to a friend that gladly takes it.

Now I just need a good use for all this used oil.

Green? :uhoh: Recycle. :grinyes: I drop all of my old motor oil off at any of the local Lube N Go shops. No charge.

Green? :uhoh: Recycle. :grinyes: I drop all of my old motor oil off at any of the local Lube N Go shops. No charge.
At least you're environmentally conscious:grinyes: I know of people who still dump their used oil in a "vacant back lot". I even offered to take the oil from them to recycle as I use old 5 gallon plastic containers that housed frying oil from my local pizza establishment. I even asked one of them why they still did it and get this, they figured the oil came from the ground so they were "recycling" it by putting it back! Seriously, that was their answer. :lol: :banghead:
Back to the original question. I use a plastic "document holder" that attaches to my sun visor. It can hold my registration and insurance card. It is slightly larger than an insurance card. Whenever I change my oil or air filter, I rip off the part of the package that you can record mileage and other info ( most A C Delco packages have this.) I then place that in the plastic holder that goes on my sun visor. I got mine and a few extras for all my vehicles from my insurance agent. It has their advertising logo on it and they give them out free. Maybe you can check with your insurance agent and see if they offer such free promotional item.

I use https://www.mygmlink.com/main/US/en/gm/home to log all of my oil changes, repairs, and/or critical events/problems that are related to my 2 GM vehicles.

While I don't know if mygmlink can email-remind me on next oil change interval, I only have 2 cars to manage and I can remember the schedule easily as I change oil/filter every ~3000 miles. It is about 6-weeks to 2 months on our primary car (01 GT). My wife's SUV is driven less and I change hers every other time.

My brand choice for oil/filer is the SuperTech from Walmart. It used to cost me $4.xx on 5-qt oil and $2 for the filter. Now they are close to $7.xx and $3. The full-synthetic oil is only $13.xx for 5-qt... What a bargain and the filter looks better quality-made than AC/Delco!

My brand choice for oil/filer is the SuperTech from Walmart. It used to cost me $4.xx on 5-qt oil and $2 for the filter. Now they are close to $7.xx and $3. The full-synthetic oil is only $13.xx for 5-qt... What a bargain and the filter looks better quality-made than AC/Delco!
Remember looks can be deceiving, it's what's inside that counts. I've always used A C Delcos and never had a problem . Here is a link to a study done on oil filters. Some of the results are surprising, Frams did not do so well, and the Delcos did very well:http://minimopar.knizefamily.net/oilfilterstudy.html .I'd specially be wary if those Supertechs were manufactured in China, given the quality and media attention that has come from there recently.

.I'd specially be wary if those Supertechs were manufactured in China SuperTech is "Product of USA". The old design (2-yr ago) SuperTech ST4437A is "identical" to the current ACDelco OEM filter (other than outside shell label) and I suspect that they were produced by the same manufacturer here in the states. I buy the ST3980 filters since 2005 and the current SuperTec filters are of different design.

I be interested to know who makes SuperTech for Walmart.

Richtazz is right, the newer OBD-II engines can go much longer than the old carburated ones. I run synthetic and change it when the DIC tells me to. Never a problem.

greetings to all,

there is much discussion on this topic which is good as discussion leads to knowledge. i want to preface this in teling you that i am am employed with a very large wordwide heavy duty(truck,busses,mining,off road,sea tranportation) filter manufacturer; in the upper tech/sales management; with that being said i state the following.

the oil monitor came into vogue about the same time that dealers began the marketing of free oil changes for life of the car, as long as you owned that car.
they will not cahnge the oil for you before their given cycle (7k, 15K) depending on the make and model.

these cars we operate cost us in excess of $20k. it seems imprudent to forgo an inexpensive oil change that will only add to the life of the auto. do you not agree? this may mean one or two extra oil changes based on 3k/4k miles interval in one year.

i also would like to address the fellow who is doing oil analysis. that is commendable. what is the cost of that compared to an extra oil change.
yes thay gave him a good report, but the tbn(total base number i.e. the additive package) was depleted, regardless of the other readings. at this point the degradation of the oil is greatly accelerated.
if i recall his engine had a very large sump for its size. more oil more life.
oil analysis also does not tell you how much more usefulness there is left in the filter, before it plugged and goes into by pass mode. similarly you cannot tell how much brake lining you have left until you pull a wheel.

there is also a file on the web where someone cut open a slew of oil filters. you cannot determine the actual capacity, efficiency of a filter(air, fuel, oil, hydraulic) without iso/ sae testing standards done on a proper filter testing stand. particle count, removal of a given size particle, filter life before going into by pass mode, etc., etc.

i have no axe to grind as our products are not sold in any retail outlets, pep,autozone, walmart etc.

on a side note i believe some engines(automotive) are having sludge build up issues with these high mileage oil change intervals.

i pass on this information so you may make an informed decision concerning the care and upkeep of your automobile.

there is much more information i can relate, but i feel i have filled up enough space already.

regards and all enjoy the balance of the weekend,
fish96
P.S. this is posted by me in another forum. REGARDS FISH96

I run synthetic and change it when the DIC tells me to. Never a problem.
One issue I have found with that is you usually end up changing the synthetic way before the time it needs to. Most oil life monitors don't actually test the oil but rather use a mathematical model to calculate oil life with also taking into consideration other factors such as crankcase temp, moisture, and combustion chamber events , rather than the actual condition of the oil in the crankcase. I've noticed because of this my oil life monitor drops down quicker in the winter months for obvious reasons. If we were to follow the recommendations of the oil life monitor then we would be changing the synthetic while it was still in good condition. I usually use a 10 to 12,000 mile change interval so I will reset my monitor 3 or 4 times while the synthetic is in my engine and that will usually work out to the preset timeframe I had set for the synthetic. There was an interesting thread/debate on this site earlier this year concerning automakers lengthening the change interval recommendations:http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=687663

Fish96, I don't know if I'm the fellow you are referring to about the oil analysis, even though I did mention it and I don't see any other reference to an analysis in this thread. If so maybe you misread my comment. I change oil every 5000 miles regardless but do ocassional analysis just to see what the wear figures are and other pertinent data.
I do take used oil to be recycled but don't think it would be cost effecient to buy one of the new oil fired heaters for my small shop. I have entertained that idea though. Most places don't like to take more than 5 gallons at a time, and now I have about 15 in the barn.