[Don B]

I had an interesting conversation with GM customer service yesterday, I was curious what their take would be on oil changes. I have 3100 miles on my last change and the DIC reads 77%. After asking which one they recommend a person should go by I was put on hold for a good four or five minutes, then she comes back and tells me to never go by mileage, the DIC will tell you when to change it. I will say most of the 3100 miles is highway driving and when I do a long trip, even if it's 5000 miles I don't change the oil until I get home.

 

[GARYD]

Get a UOA right away. That will tell you how long you can go between changes and it will tell you if you have a fuel in oil problem like some people are having, me included.

I normally use to change my oil every 5k to 6k miles with syn oil. On the Terrain I'm changing at 3k miles because I have a very bad fuel in oil problem. Hopefully that problem will be fixed and I can go back to 5/6k changes. Forget the DIC. JMO

 

[tjpc]

Do you have a listing of GM approved oil analysis companies?

 

[GARYD]

This is the one I used. A little more expensive then the labs I have been using.

ISO 17025 Accredited Testing Lab

Analysts, Inc.
2450 Hassell Rd.
Hoffman Estates, Il. 60195
800/222-0071

 

[sumr616]

GM swears by the oil life monitor, but it doesn't seem natural or safe to me to go 12,000 miles without an oil change. Especially with the issues people have been having with debris in oil from break-in/fuel in oil/start-up noise....me included. I'll be sticking with my usual 5000 mile oil changes.

If you mean that you're mileage is currently at 3100 and you haven't had an oil change yet, I'd recommend you go ahead and do one now. Seems that the first oil change should be done way sooner, rather than later.

Gary - I assume you suspect your problem is with the HPFP? Am I right? And how do you go about having them test that/take that seriously? My local dealer kind of blew me off on that when I suggested it.

 

[Don B]

GM swears by the oil life monitor, but it doesn't seem natural or safe to me to go 12,000 miles without an oil change. Especially with the issues people have been having with debris in oil from break-in/fuel in oil/start-up noise....me included. I'll be sticking with my usual 5000 mile oil changes.

If you mean that you're mileage is currently at 3100 and you haven't had an oil change yet, I'd recommend you go ahead and do one now. Seems that the first oil change should be done way sooner, rather than later.

I did my first oil change at 1800 miles, I'm now at 5100.

 

[GARYD]

sumr616, the HPFP is what the dealer thinks it is, so they updated the engine/transmission control module. I won't know if that worked for another 3 months/3k miles when I take another UOA.

I also had a problem with the CD always starting on track 1 when I restart the engine. They updated that also, but it's still doing the same thing.

I haven't heard voices yet, but personally I think my car is possessed. > :angryfire:

 

[APCassidy]

Sumr616,

I wouldn't say GMC swears by it. That being said, I am of the opinion that if GM is going to install a monitor in my car that tells me the useful life of the oil, and I abide by it, then any problems that may come around where oil change frequency is an issue then GM won't have a leg to stand on (IMO) if that type of monitor is installed in the vehicle.

I *will* say that it depends on your service advisor. My service advisor has already mentioned to me that she doesn't recommend me going longer than 5k on my oil changes. I don't want to compare apples to oranges, but I have a Mercedes as well and the PRINTED service manual that comes with that car shows the service (including oil changes) interval at 13k. I fully intend on going by the tool/monitor that GMC has installed in my 2011 Terrain and NOT by mileage when going in for oil changes **for the most part**. I've had/having enough issues with my 4cy 2011 Terrain SLT that it may not make it in my possession to the next oil change so it may be a moot point, but that's my take on it.

I don't think you're saying there is a hard and fast rule, and I'm sure I'm stating the obvious (it depends) to 95% of the users of this forum. I mean our tires have air pressure tagged on them, the dash has a RPM meter on it and my bank tells me how much money I have to play with. All of these things are in place to keep you within threshholds. *IF* I find something in GMC material that tells me my Terrain needs to go in at 1k, 3k, 10k or whatever number and it varies significantly than what my car is telling me real time, I'm going to have to have a conversation about a monitor that is uselessly installed in my car or why documentation differs from the DIC.

Adam P. Cassidy

 

[Chevrolet Customer Svc]

I had an interesting conversation with GM customer service yesterday, I was curious what their take would be on oil changes. I have 3100 miles on my last change and the DIC reads 77%. After asking which one they recommend a person should go by I was put on hold for a good four or five minutes, then she comes back and tells me to never go by mileage, the DIC will tell you when to change it. I will say most of the 3100 miles is highway driving and when I do a long trip, even if it's 5000 miles I don't change the oil until I get home.

Do you have a case with customer assistance? I would be happy to look into this with your case number. Please feel free to contact me with more information. Thank you.

Tricia, GM Customer Service.

 

[GARYD]

APCassidy, GM says a lot of things that are not correct - especially on a new vehicle. Real world operation is not the same thing as testing machines - close, but not something I want to put unquestionable trust in. Someone posted here that GM is re-evaluating the OLM. All along the assembly line things change, but do not get put in the owners manual.

I don't care what the OLM says, I will never go past 6k miles between oil changes - period.
Or 3k with dino oil.

Ask 5 mechanics a question and you will probable get 3 to 4 different answers - and all will be different then the owners manual.
Oil is the life blood of an engine. The cost (especially if you change your own oil) is very cheap insurance for a longer running engine.
I trust an UOA a lot more then I will ever trust a dealer/mfg.

 

[APCassidy]

Gary,

No argument here, but just like the Navigation system has an update for things jacked up with it (had that installed), and the MPG reading has an update for reading low or high (had that one installed too) then it should be easy enough to rectify the oil life monitor reading to simply read the number of miles traveled and decrease the percentage that way. However, since that's not the case it's telling me GMC believe it should measure oil life using some other algorithm - have at it. To be truthful, I don't use it much, I check it out when I flip through the tire pressure amounts on cold days and long drives. I'm with you that oil is important to the life of the engine, but I'm also of the mindset that my car isn't the same as my dad's car and oil isn't the same as my dad's oil. I'm not young buck, I'm 38, and college educated with an intellectual job. I give everyone the allowance to practice what they would like to. I'm just trying to say essentially what you say as well (everyone will have a different answer) which is the one thing that i was correcting SUmr616 about when she indicated that GM swore by XXXXX. Just like every company, their employees differ in the communicated "word" when it comes to anything. The only opinion that matters is what the lawyers say in the end

Adam

 

[43sbest]

Gary,

No argument here, but just like the Navigation system has an update for things jacked up with it (had that installed), and the MPG reading has an update for reading low or high (had that one installed too) then it should be easy enough to rectify the oil life monitor reading to simply read the number of miles traveled and decrease the percentage that way. However, since that's not the case it's telling me GMC believe it should measure oil life using some other algorithm - have at it. To be truthful, I don't use it much, I check it out when I flip through the tire pressure amounts on cold days and long drives. I'm with you that oil is important to the life of the engine, but I'm also of the mindset that my car isn't the same as my dad's car and oil isn't the same as my dad's oil. I'm not young buck, I'm 38, and college educated with an intellectual job. I give everyone the allowance to practice what they would like to. I'm just trying to say essentially what you say as well (everyone will have a different answer) which is the one thing that i was correcting SUmr616 about when she indicated that GM swore by XXXXX. Just like every company, their employees differ in the communicated "word" when it comes to anything. The only opinion that matters is what the lawyers say in the end

Adam

What is the bulletin number for the MPG reading?

 

[APCassidy]

My apology, I thought I included that in my post but I did not. That is PI0370. It's a reprogram of the PCM.

Adam

 

[43sbest]

My apology, I thought I included that in my post but I did not. That is PI0370. It's a reprogram of the PCM.

Adam

Thanks; much appreciated.

 

[sumr616]

I'm just trying to say essentially what you say as well (everyone will have a different answer) which is the one thing that i was correcting SUmr616 about when she indicated that GM swore by XXXXX.

I needed to be corrected?? Don't think so. I spent a lot of time sitting in the service center lobby this summer. The entire summer, there was a poster in that lobby advertising that you can go 12k before your oil changes, Equinox included. So....exactly how was my statement incorrect?

I'm assuming you would consider me a "young buck", at the age of 24, and based off of that judgment, I'm also assuming that you think I have even less credibility regarding engine care/maintenance just because I'm a woman. I also have a college degree, and work an intellectual job, as do you. But, again, why does that matter?

I'm at least smart enough to know that the phrase "with age comes wisdom" is not always true.

 

[GARYD]

Wow, 12k miles between oil changes. Unbelievable. I don't care how much oil has improved, I would never wait that long. Hopefully the poster indicated synthetic oil and not dino oil for that interval.
I'm a syn oil believer (for almost 30 years) and would never go back to dino oil because of all the added benefits and cost savings it give me.
I am also a Amsoil dealer and they have a 25K/1 year syn oil. I won't even use it. My rule of thumb on syn oil is 6k to 8k changes depending on driving habits. Now with my problem with fuel in my oil, I've been changing at 3k miles until I get some help from GM.

I'm 67 and still looking for more wisdom. With old age also comes "Can't teach an old dog new tricks". ;D

I think AP means "young buck-ette" :facepalm:

 

[sumr616]

Hopefully the poster indicated synthetic oil and not dino oil for that interval.

I actually don't think it made any distinction on that.

Old age only brings more experiences, the smart people learn from them. That's the hard part.

 

[Chevrolet Customer Svc]

I would would agree that your best bet would be to go by the recommendations in your owner's manuals. If you have further questions, please feel free to contact me directly. Thank you.

Tricia, GM Customer Service.

 

[Zequinox]

I guess my dealership doesn't trust the oil monitoring system either, since they slapped a sticker on the glass recommending the next oil change at a 5,000 mile interval...

 

[RIT333]

I guess my dealership doesn't trust the oil monitoring system either, since they slapped a sticker on the glass recommending the next oil change at a 5,000 mile interval...

Mine preferred a larger "revenue stream" - his sticker said 3K for the next oil change. When I told him about the suggested time recommended by the OLM, he back-pedeled and said a conclusive "Duh".