Oil change frequency over 100k miles

[06 H3]

Every time I went to the dealer they always put the sticker for the next oil change with 5000 mile intervals. Right after hitting 100k miles the interval has been changed to every 3000 miles. Is this necessary?

 

[Scarsman]

I would say it's probably more the person filing out the sticker. 3000 miles is the old school interval. Or maybe that's their way of trying to increase revenue.

Sent from my C771 using Tapatalk

 

[06 H3]

Possibly...I was just asking because they never did a 3000mile interval until 100k

 

[alrock]

I used to change my oil around 7000-7500 miles but now I seem to get P0017 errors if I go that long (camshaft position sensor, may be caused by dirty oil). I'm now changing around 5000-6000 miles. Have 120,000 on it now. I did also do a flush of sorts when in Moab - I put a cleaner in with the oil that promised to help reduce buildup or sludge - and ran that for the week and changed the oil again. Granted, it didn't run much that week as it spent more time parked, on a flat bed or on a lift, but it seemed to have helped a bit.

 

[f5moab]

About 20% remaining on indicator (per Onstar since I no longer have a tech 2) or if I was headed out for a long trip, I might jump a bit earlier.

 

[MaxPF]

What oil do you use? My suggestion is to do an oil analysis at 5000 miles and see how everything looks. If it looks good, go to 7500 and repeat. If the engine is in good shape (no excessive blowby) and you are using a quality oil, 7500 or more should not be an issue.

 

[evldave]

I used to change my oil around 7000-7500 miles but now I seem to get P0017 errors if I go that long (camshaft position sensor, may be caused by dirty oil). I'm now changing around 5000-6000 miles. Have 120,000 on it now. I did also do a flush of sorts when in Moab - I put a cleaner in with the oil that promised to help reduce buildup or sludge - and ran that for the week and changed the oil again. Granted, it didn't run much that week as it spent more time parked, on a flat bed or on a lift, but it seemed to have helped a bit.

I use this P0017 is my new 'change oil soon' indicator

 

[ArtHummer]

If you using regular oil then you need to change it 3K miles. If you are using synthetic oils then you should be good for 5K to 8K miles. Also wile back Mobil one had a synthetic oil that was good for 30K miles, but the problem was that people used to put this oil and then forget about it for 30k miles without checking the oil level, and with engines that had a little oil leak people where burning their engines when the level was dropping to low.
The best practice for engines with over 100k is to use sicker oil. Is to use a bit thicker "cold start" rating oil. The if the recommended one for H3 is 5W-30, after 100k you can go with 10W-30.

 

[08H3]

About 20% remaining on indicator (per Onstar since I no longer have a tech 2) or if I was headed out for a long trip, I might jump a bit earlier.

f5-- I may be remembering incorrectly, but I thought I remembered you saying at one point when oil discussions came up before that you relied on the OL monitor. Are you suggesting that can rely on that up to 100K, then after 100K, you change at 80%? Or, (more likely), am I remembering incorrectly? As another question to anyone out there have you been able to setup a Scangauge II to read the oil life? I can't get mine too, and not really sure if it's supported.

 

[MaxPF]

If you using regular oil then you need to change it 3K miles. If you are using synthetic oils then you should be good for 5K to 8K miles. Also wile back Mobil one had a synthetic oil that was good for 30K miles, but the problem was that people used to put this oil and then forget about it for 30k miles without checking the oil level, and with engines that had a little oil leak people where burning their engines when the level was dropping to low.
The best practice for engines with over 100k is to use sicker oil. Is to use a bit thicker "cold start" rating oil. The if the recommended one for H3 is 5W-30, after 100k you can go with 10W-30.

Any modern oil can easily go 5000-7500 miles, and often more. Synthetics can go for over 10k. Without an oil analysis you have no way of knowing exactly how long you can go with a given oil. Regardless, filters should be changed every 5000-7500 miles. Changing any oil at 3000 miles is a complete waste of money.

I see no reason to use a thicker oil as the engine ages, but every reason to use the rated viscosity. Most engine wear occurs during cold starts, so a thinner-when-cold oil will pump faster. I use 0w-30 in gas engines rated for Xw-30 oils. All 0w-30 oils are fully synthetic. Not bogus group III "synthetics" like most big-name oils, but true group IV PAO synthetic oils. It has to be, because the amount of Viscosity Index Improvers required to make cheaper base oils into 0w-30 would shear down too rapidly, and the oils would be out of spec before you hit the 5K mark. 0w-30 has the same hot viscosity as 5w-30 or 10w-30, but the viscosity during the critical cold start is significantly lower which gets the oil to the critical parts faster.

 

[f5moab]

f5-- I may be remembering incorrectly, but I thought I remembered you saying at one point when oil discussions came up before that you relied on the OL monitor. Are you suggesting that can rely on that up to 100K, then after 100K, you change at 80%? Or, (more likely), am I remembering incorrectly? As another question to anyone out there have you been able to setup a Scangauge II to read the oil life? I can't get mine too, and not really sure if it's supported.

I'll clarify this, when my oil life hits 20% or less, I start accumulating the oil and filter. Might take a few weeks, and can take a week before the dealer does the actual change, so in some cases the oil life will be down to around 10, but once it hit 3. And that is oil life remaining; not oil life used. Now if I'm at 30 percent and headed out of town on a 2-week vacation, yes, I will jump early and get it changed so that I don't have to worry about it while on vacation. Has happened only once or twice.

I could never get my scangauge to read OL, but when I was at GM I used a Tech 2 to read oil life remaining (on a tech 2 it actually reads oil life used). Now, I rely on Onstar to let me know the OL remaining percentage.

This is true whether or not you use synthetic or good old dino oil. Just remember you must use the spec required by GM for the reading to be accurate. The OL system is based on this spec so if you use oil that does not meet the spec, the oil may actually require a change prior to the reading on the OL system. If you use a spec greater (such as synthetic) then it can actually run longer than on the gauge. Also, if you use a foam filter vs. the spec'ed out paper filter, your engine will have more dirt inside so the OL system is not longer that accurate. The system has to assume you have the same sealed intake system, it does not monitor dirt intake.

Regardless if you use the system or not, you have to remember that the oil sold today is not like the oil gramps used. The improvement of just old fashioned dino oil in the past fifteen years is astronomical. Most of those oils now use synthetic adatives for longevity. For those who insist oil must be changed at 3K, I say prove it. Get an oil analysis performed by a firm like Blackstone. I have done that myself on my vehicles and never had any oil sample come back as bad. And we did it at GM all the time; although we used an in house oil analysis team.

And in all my years, I have never heard of increasing the cold temp viscosity of the oil as mileage increases. Even old engines need that oil to flow up into the heads as fast as possible on cold startups. I have heard of increasing the hot temp viscosity as engines get higher mileage, but never have seen any evidence form the engineering community that it actually does something to help the engine. I would love to see some empirical evidence.

 

[alrock]

I stopped using Onstar so I have to rely on mileage (or oil analysis). I just rely on mileage and, if necessary, that P0017 code. I sometimes use common sense too but that's been in short supply for me as of late.

 

[f5moab]

Alrock, when the indicator comes on you probably have about 300 miles before a change is needed, and even then I would bet the oil is still good. But if you don't know the OL, it is best to be safe than sorry.

 

[alrock]

I've never waited for the indicator to come on; in fact, I've never seen it. I've had oil change intervals that have gone over 8000 miles without that oil life indicator showing up so who knows how long it could go. When I got the Onstar reports I think I was nearing 20% a few times but I never hit it.

Looking back at a few emails, generally Onstar was suggesting I could go about 10,000 miles between oil changes.

 

[06 H3]

thanks for all the input guys. I am about 3200 on the oil now. I will change it a few days before moab and will probably be at about 4000 miles on the oil and will do a test on it.

 

[06 H3]

as for oil, the dealer switched from mobil 1 to pennzoil high mileage right after 100k miles...not sure I like that seeing I havent heard the best stuff about pennzoil.

 

[MaxPF]

If you browse the BITOG forums, especially the "Used Oil Analysis - Gasoline" sub-forum where people post up their UOA's, you will be astonished at how long modern oils can be run. Like F5 has said, motor oil technology (gas and diesel) has come a long way in the last 2-3 decades.

 

[MaxPF]

as for oil, the dealer switched from mobil 1 to pennzoil high mileage right after 100k miles...not sure I like that seeing I havent heard the best stuff about pennzoil.

It's your truck. Tell them what you want in the crankcase. Or go elsewhere. Or change it your self (best bang for the buck there).

 

[ArtHummer]

changing oil in the dealer is a waist of money IMO... Mobil1 is about 40$ for 6quatrs plus 5$ filter. All comes up to 45$... How much to they charge in the dealership now days??? about 100$

 

[jakesz28]

Not that I recommend it but our sunfire has 142,000 miles on it. Today I had the oil changed. It was 17 months and 15,000 miles since the last oil change. I have added some oil in that time. But since I needed to get a tire repaired I thought I better get the oil and filter changed.

This is a true story.

 

[4speedfunk]

My 2008 H3 just turned 37,000 and I'm on my fourth Fram filter/Mobile 1 combo.

I'm also on my fourth front axle.

This is a true story, too.

 

[jakesz28]

I didn't realize that thing was that low on miles when you did the axle swap. I may start my axle swap after Moab. Did you put together that front hub kit? I need to get serious on gathering parts. I finally broke down the wife. She was nervous about me cutting it up. She's still trying to get me to trade in the sunfire on a wrangler. I think that's her way of trying to talk me out of it.

 

[DJinCO]

I am a firm believer in having the fluids tested, if for no other reason to see if the is unusual wear or contaminants.

My H3 has 142K miles and purrs like a kitten. For the first 120K miles it was fed a steady diet of standard GM Goodwrench 5W30. The original owner worked at the dealership, so the fluids were regularly changed for no charge.

I ran a few months of Rotella T6 10W30 to clean out the oil passages. Then I changed to Pennzoil Ultra 5W30, and have just switched to a BioSyn Renewable Lube 5W30.

I say run what you want. Change your oil at a consistent interval and be happy!

 

[TheGunnyRet]

At 100k I would do a compression test and compare it to the OEM Specs, if it’s low then you evidently have wear issues. GM requires "Dexos1" additive in the oils put into GM Vehicle. I attached the list of "Authorized Oils" The weight numbers are for your different weather conditions and tolerances within the engine. your 5w is when it is cold and 30 is at tempareture. Switching to 10w30 won't help. If you really want to decrease engine wear is to use a Pre-Luber or Pre-Oiler, I used them on some of my previous turbocharged vehicles. I would go to a full synthetic same weight 5w30 and go with a good oil filter or even a synthetic filter if your switching from a none-synthetic.