This topic will forever be my favorite topic on internet vehicle forums.

 

GM gives you a powertrain warranty. They expect you to follow the OLM and bring it to the dealership for an oil change. Why would they not tell you to bring it in every 3k miles for an oil change to 1. protect the engine with very clean oil all the time, and 2. have you pay for more oil changes? If anything, the OLM is conservative. So general rule of thumb, is change it every 7k miles or less depending on what you're doing. The OLM is most likely trust worthy. I've seen videos of cars with 20k miles on the original oil, and granted you should never do that, but besides being dirty af and more than likely had some more wear, they were running fine. So going slightly over the "Perfect" oil change interval probably won't make much difference in the long run either. Idk. It's just not that serious imo.

Definitely run a full bottle of seafoam in the crank case though. Keeps the engine clean. That's my strange method @SyN

 

You know something funny? My OLM based interval is between 5-7k miles too. Really coincidental how that works out... I'd imagine the new ones are also just as good.

 

 

Jr is not your Shade Tree Mechanic - trying to convince You to run the Oil he uses.
He is a Certified Lubrication Specialist - with many years of experience.

Yes there are many still whom will think they will know more then he - but that's ok - opinions are like you know what!
Some might not agree with Jr’s thoughts & results - which does Not make his findings wrong.

Anyway- for those always infatuated with the lubrication of your expensive investment - give his videos a watch.

The Motor Oil Geek

As a Certified Lubrication Specialist with over 20 years experience, The Motor Oil Geek channel delivers real data about motor oils from an expert perspective instead of speculation. Twice each month I will upload a new video that either analyzes a new oil, dyno tests an oil, reveals the details...

www.youtube.com

 

Yes, I have been watching all his YouTube videos. He knows his stuff.

Also, for all of the doubters, check out Dave's auto repair videos. He has plenty of them showing the absolutely devastating effects of extended oil change interval inside the engine.

As others have pointed out, you do you, after all, it's your truck. You make the call.

Me, because I don't want to buy another truck and it has a turbo, my oil changes are between 3000 & 5000 miles maximum. It is fantastic that the very first thing after the oil filter is the tube that oils the turbo but turbos like clean oil.

Bottom line is, it costs about the same to change the oil as it does to test the oil. So I will change it.

I have also seen inside an engine that I bought new and ran it 100,000 miles and I changed the oil every 5k. I simply couldn't believe how much sludgy crap was inside the engine. I also used the name brand full synthetic oil from new. It didn't matter.

I changed the oil and filter at 100k and added a quart of diesel fuel to the fresh oil & let it idle for 15 minutes. Oil came out as black as coal. Did it a second time too. Oil still came out dirty but was much better than the first time. Then ran it for a day with cheap full synthetic in it and drained it again. It was pretty darn clean looking. We got over 230k on that car before we sold it.

So even using high quality full synthetic oil from new and changing it every 5k still left sludgy junk inside engine. CHANGE YOUR OIL ! LOL

 

I'm not here to debate Lake's qualifications or agenda, I've watched a few of his videos and my biggest issue with his content is that he repeats "science, not speculation" as his mantra but in the same video has actually made statements based purely on speculation and not facts/science. I'm skeptical of any self-proclaimed experts that make hypocritical or contradictory statements. I'm not discarding or disputing the facts that he presents that are backed up by data/science and transparency, however I'm also not going to blindly accept that everything he says is gospel unless he can prove it. Case in point, he made a blanket statement that mfr OCIs are too long and oil is past EOL if you follow their recommended intervals. No data to back it up, it was an off-the-cuff answer when he was asked this question. In the same video he spoke about how useful/important UOA is to track how your engine is wearing (and he even has his own UOA company). As someone that has done UOA and follows the OLM I can say that my science/data trumps his opinion. I would've much rather he tell people how they can test for themselves if their OCI is too long or not than to just make a blanket statement that is easy to disprove, something that is antithetical to what he claims to be about.

Skepticism in the science community is a good thing, this shouldn't be taken as me not liking him or throwing shade due to a difference of opinion but rather doing what folks should do and be skeptical/ask questions/test for yourself if someone makes a statement without backing it up with proof.

 

In diesel drax we trust 🦅🌿

 

I switched over to Amsoil signature 0-30 @ 5,000 miles. The engine feels and sounds so much smoother. Also same 22-23# of oil pressure @ idle. Amsoil also warranties your engine.

 

There it is. There it is!

 

Aaaaaand it's a waste of money.

 

how about 5w-40 in the summer and 5w-30 in the winter. Dexos approved of course. i like/use castrol full syn. 🛢🛢🛢

 

To what end? Both will flow the same when cold, the difference is that the 5w30 will have less viscosity once up to temperature and ambient temp doesn't play a huge role here as normal operating temp for oil is well above ambient.

 

COL2AZ

Being in AZ, the 5W40 is probably better given the high temps in the desert.

 

you ever put the 40 in it? im in NV so i was interested in this lol

 

FYI, seems the GM OLM is fairly reliable as it takes into account much more than just mileage.

 

Also you can find a list of every Dexos 1 approved oil here:

Site Maintenance

 

No. Sometimes it gets cold in the winter, even in the desert. So, the 5W40 seems to be the best bet.

 

I just got my 2018 Colorado this month, but prior to that I had a 2000 Express 1500 and after 100K miles I switched to Royal Purple 5w-30 which is Dexos rated. I switched when the lifters started ticking and the tick went away and I drove it another 100K without any problems. Those Vortec V6s were great motors. I plan to do the same with this V6 Colorado.

 

Sounds like a good plan, but keep in mind that this thread is about 3rd gen trucks and you have a 2nd gen.

 

+1 on the Royal Purple 5w-30; I used it in my gen2 and it is currently in my gen3. On another thread here I saw it also was also the least volatile of DEXOS approved oils, which may also slightly abate the DI inflicted carbon buildup as well.

I dunno if it has any effect on the L3B, but the/a 'fix' for the problems plaguing the V8s is to change out the stock 0w-40 oil to a 5w-30 or 40.

 

+1 on the Royal Purple 5w-30; I used it in my gen2 and it is currently in my gen3. On another thread here I saw it also was also the least volatile of DEXOS approved oils, which may also slightly abate the DI inflicted carbon buildup as well.

I dunno if it has any effect on the L3B, but the/a 'fix' for the problems plaguing the V8s is to change out the stock 0w-40 oil to a 5w-30 or 40.

The V8s use a 0w20.