Best Time to Change Oil?

[WGRG3]

When is the best time to change the oil? We have a new L300 with 1500 miles on it and I am inclined to change the oil every 3000 miles. The manual says to change the oil when the oil light comes on. But that could be anywhere from 3000 miles, to 8000 miles! Should I trust the oil light, or go with the every 3000 miles? Thanks!

 

[Tim G]

Is there an actual light that tells you time to service the oil or is it just the idiot light? If an idiot light those don't come on till your almost 3 qts low um yeap time to get that oil changed then. lol

All kidding aside. Depends on the type of driving your
doing. Mostly highway or stop start city driving?

I change mine every 5k but i also use mobil 1 synthetic. If you are using conventional oil I would do it every 3k just to be on the safe side.

Also the nice thing about saturns is they have a spin on filter for tranny fluid so if you feel so inclined have that drained and changed every 25k you will avoid problems down the road.

Here are some links with info about oil and filters.

http://people.msoe.edu/~yoderw/oilfilterstudy/oilfilterstudy.html

http://www.pepboys.com/learning_center/car_care/articles/synth_conven.html

http://www.corrosionvci.com/motoroil_faq.htm

http://www.1st-in-synthetics.com/amsoil/motoroil.htm

Some of the oil links are vendor specific but you'll gain an good understanding.

Hope this helps

Tim

 

[Oppie]

My preference is to change it in weather when it isn't raining. I hate lying in a puddle in the driveway. Seriously though, I check the dipstick occasionally for level and color. I change it when I can't see the dipstick through the oil film. This roughly agrees with the 'change oil' light.

Oppie
'01 lw300

 

[richard hornsby]

Agreed. As a matter of habit, and because the S seiries are notorius for burning oil, I check my oil about every or every other fill up while I'm at the gas station. It only takes a minute to do, and can save a world of hurt.

I don't have a light, but I notice that the oil is "dirty" enough to be changed about every 3000 miles. If I don't remember the exact mileage, the dipstick seems to be a pretty accurate indicator.

 

[Steve Barker]

3000 miles. After all, who's in control? You or the car?

 

[Steve Barker]

OH, and By the Way. It doesn't matter what kind of liquid gold snake oil you pour in there, it still gets dirty. Still needs to be changed at 3000.

 

[WGRG3]

Yes the L300 has a time to change the oil light. The Manual says that it will come on when the oil has lost it's effectivness. That is all well, and good but some people say it does not come on until you get to 7500 miles! That just seems way to high to me, so I do not think I can trust the light to tell me something like that. And for some people it might take them an entire year to get to 7500 miles, and by then it might be too late. I always went with 3 months, or 3000 miles so I guess II will stick with that. And what will happen if your " Change Oil LIght" is defective, and it never comes on???

 

[blah blah]

e oil light. The Manual says that it
will come on when the oil has lost it's effectivness. That is all well, and good but some people say it does not come on until you get to 7500 miles! That just seems way to high to me, so I do not think I can trust the light to tell me something like that. And for some people it might take them an entire year to get to 7500 miles, and by then it might be too late. I always went with 3 months, or 3000 miles so I guess II will stick with that. And what will happen if your " Change Oil LIght" is defective, and it never comes on???

Oil can last past 3000miles, more so if its synthetic but I wouldnt trust "any" oil filter to last past 4000 miles. There is nothing to tell you when and if the filter is being bypassed.

 

[Dana Rohleder]

You certainly aren't going to have a problem if you change it every 3000. What I was told about the oil sensor is that it actually counts engine revolutions, so if you do a lot of sitting at lights, it is still counting. So, it may come on after 4-5k mi. if you do a lot of city driving. If you do a lot of flat highway driving, the overdrive drops your RPM's/mile (easy on the engine), and you may get the light at 7k mi. What you may want to do is purposely NOT reset the light at your first oil change, and then see when the light comes on. I did this once or twice and it came on once at 5k and another at 6k.

I personally feel that with modern engines with overdrive and fuel injection/computers (carbs and older FI systems could spit a lot of unburned gas into the oil), oil changes at 3000 miles is overkill. If you are trying to make your engine last 600,000, drive like a maniac, do mostly city driving (same thing), do a lot of towing, then you should probably stay closer to 3k oils changes. Saturn will usually throw the analyzer on the engine to look for any malfunction codes, so they may pick up a problem when it is still small. However, if you drive sanely in mild temperatures, why not go with the light? It won't void your warranty and you will save $$.

Dana

 

[clutch]

When is the best time to change the oil? We have a new L300 with 1500 miles on it and I am inclined to change the oil every 3000 miles. The manual says to change the oil when the oil light comes on. But that could be anywhere from 3000 miles, to 8000 miles! Should I trust the oil light, or go with the every 3000 miles? Thanks!

It depends on how long you are planning to keep it. My last vehical went 234,000 miles and I did oil change every 3000 with some lapses.

If you are going to trade it off before 100K miles then use the light and be happy. If not, 3K miles.

JMHO

Wes

2001 SL1 44,444 miles purchased 11/03 with 31,800 on odo.

 

[clutch]

If you do
a lot of flat highway driving, the overdrive drops your RPM's/mile (easy on the engine), and you may get the light at 7k mi

I do 35 miles each way down a highway in a rural area. 32 miles highway and 3 miles city at 10:30 PM/ 7:00 AM so traffic is not stop and go. The light came on at 5500 miles. It was the middle of a northern michigan winter.

Oil is cheap, rebuilds at DIY rates will blow away any savings on extending oil changes from 3K miles.

For example 200K miles will require 66 oil changes at 3000 mile intervals. The local quick change will cost you $1866.00 over the life of car assuming 200K miles. Going 6000 miles between changes would cost 933. A shop putting in an engine will cost you 2500+ Not worth the possible 933 savings. If you change your own oil using a 4 dollar filter and 6 bucks worth of oil then you are talking 666.00 at 3K vs 333.00 at 6K if you change it your self.

Change your own oil and change it often.

W

 

[M. Butkus]

My wife's 2002 A6 Audi come with free maintenance. They change the oil every 10K and use Mobil 1. 25K and we're on our second oil change.

I buy the synthetic and change it 7000 to 7500. The oil is just getting dirty then. Did that in my two jeeps and Subaru Outback. Never used oil and sold the cars with 60 - 90K on them.

 

[Philip Nasadowski]

Change your own oil and change it often.

I'd also use synthetics. Ok, I have a Harley, where oil is like religion (seriously), but still, in any car, I'd use synthetics, which I do in my bike, too. Maybe that extra bit won't be needed, but when you're stuck in traffic on a 90+ degree day with the temperature gauge climbing up up up and nowhere to pull over and cool off, it's nice to know your oil isn't going to give up on you.

Oh yeah, I'm anal about Mobil One. It's the ONLY thing that goes into my bike.

 

[C. E. White]

In the past I have been a 3000 mile oil change guy, but I have to wonder why. Oil is far better now than in 1970. Engines are better now than in 1970. My Sister who never changes oil until her Honda's indicator says to change the oil has never had an engine problem of any kind. Her old Pinto got the oil changed whenever I embarrassed her into doing so (often in the 10,000 mile range). That car never had an engine problem either (was towed to the junk yard with a blown transmission at around 200k). I have a sneaking suspicion that I have spent literally thousands of dollars on unnecessary oil changes over the last 35 years (I am 51). I'd love to see one shred of evidence that changing oil at 300 miles instead of 7500 miles extends the life of an engine by 10%, or 20%, or whatever. All I ever see are statements like " I changed my oil every 3000 miles and I drove my car for 256,000 miles." Guess what, statement like this are meaningless. I know more than a few people (like my sister), who don't seem to care about oil changes who have driven their cars 256,000+ miles as well. The only semi scientific and mostly unbiased studies I have seen seem to indicate 3000 mile oil changes are a waste of money.

For my Saturn Vue, I have sort of decided to trust the
light. My strategy is to change the oil when the light
indicates, or at the first convenient time after 6000 miles, which every comes first. I am using Mobil 1 (probably a waste of money) as insurance. So far the oil has looked fine when I changed it - I have done so twice - once at 3000 miles (old habits die hard), and again at 9,300 miles (light never did come on, I just got to 6,000+ miles and it was a good day to change oil). I am at 14,000 miles and the oil looks good on the stick. None has been used.

Regards,

Ed White

 

[richard hornsby]

You may have a point. 3K might be a little shy for typical vehicles. My understanding of changing the oil has to do not only with it being dirty, but perhaps more importantly that over time the oil's ability to actually lubricate the moving parts breaks down. Synthetics like Mobil 1 have a much higher tolerance to breaking down.

This is why often in racing conditions synthetics are used over conventional oils. The engines are run much much harder than any (normal) street car, and the extreme conditions cause the molecular structure of conventional oils to literally be torn apart.

Call the guys from 'Car talk' hacks if you will, but they tend to say 5K is about right. Here is their take in response to one of those "my wife says A and I say B" on when to change the oil:

+++++++++++++
....with the improvements in oils, engines (and the problems of used oil disposal), we changed our recommendation [from 3,000] to every 5,000 miles.

....[every] 5,000 [miles] may be too often, but we think it's a good estimate. The dealer would obviously like you to change it more often because for every oil change, he gets ... what? Paid!

Ray: And the manufacturers would like you to think that you can wait longer between changes because they're mostly concerned about getting you through the warranty period. Plus, the promise of less maintenance appeals to potential buyers of these cars.

Tom: And neither one of these parties is wrong. One is just being extra-cautious, and the other is being perfectly reasonable. Since we lean a little toward the cautious side in this regard, we recommend an oil change every 5,000 miles.

Ray: But remember, even 5,000 miles is just an estimate, Richard. So once you've discussed this with Deborah, you should still do what any red-blooded American male would do: Whatever your wife says.
+++++++++++++

-rj
98SL2

 

[C. E. White]

http://service.gm.com/gmtechlink/images/issues/may03/TLMay03e.html#story1

 

[clutch]

I'd also use synthetics. Ok, I have a Harley, where oil is like religion (seriously), but still, in any car, I'd use synthetics, which I do in my bike, too. Maybe that extra bit won't be needed, but when you're stuck in traffic on a 90+ degree day with the temperature gauge climbing up up up and nowhere to pull over and cool off, it's nice to know your oil isn't going to give up on you.

I live in Northern Michigan, I seldom get stuck in traffic and 90 degree days are not the norm. Now having a 20+ grand harley, I think I might just baby it. Hope you get a lot of enjoyment out of the bike..

Oh yeah, I'm anal about Mobil One. It's the ONLY thing that goes into my bike.

I don't see synthetics being so great over freqent oil changes but everone pays his or her's money and takes their chances.

Riding a bike isn't the safest thing in the world either or in my case a bicycle at times. Freedom is to pick your poison and live with the outcome.

If synthetics came down a bit more in price like 50%, I would likely give them a whirl.

Wes

 

[WGRG3]

Thanks, for all the reponses to this question, but now I am totally confused. Some of you said yes 3,000 is a good time to change the oil and others say to wait until 5,000-7,5000 and still others seem to have waited till their oil turned to Sludge! I think I will go with the 3,000 miles for the first change because I always heard that it is a good idea to get rid of the first oil as soon as possible because during the manufaturing process some metal might flake off and migrate into the oil system. And this could cause premeture wear, and tear on your Engine. So I will go with 3,000 for the first oil change but now I have no idea what to do after that!! LOL!! Thanks again for all the good suggestions!

 

[Jonnie Santos]

....sorry I didn't catch your ordinal post. I think the best is to follow the user manual. There's always a ton of info most of us overlook by just throwing the thing in the glove box. If your model Saturn includes a change oil lamp on the dash that would be the easiest. Otherwise a common standard is 3 months or 3,000 miles, which ever comes first. I only drive about 2,000 miles in 3 months in my 97SL2, and so I just watch my odometer and change at 2,000 mile intervals, ex: 84,000, 86,000, 88,000 miles etc. For contrast I will tell you I can't remember the last time I changed the oil in my old Isuzu truck I use for trips to Home Depot or to the dump. And embarrassingly I have let the level get so low the low pressure lamp would come on when came to a stop. It's 20 years old and won't die, although I think it won't pass smog this year and I may end up replacing or getting rid of it. I'll do a better job with the oil changes if I get a replacement pickup and maybe keep it 30 years! (grin)

 

[blah blah]

Thanks, for all the reponses to this question, but now I am totally confused. Some of you said yes 3,000 is a good time to change the oil and others say to wait until 5,000-7,5000 and still others seem to have waited till their oil turned to Sludge! I think I will go with the 3,000 miles for the first change because I always heard that it is a good idea to get rid of the first oil as soon as possible because during the manufaturing process some metal might flake off and migrate into the oil system. And this could cause premeture wear, and tear on your Engine. So I will go with 3,000 for the first oil change but now I have no idea what to do after that!! LOL!! Thanks again for all the good suggestions!

First oil changes should be 500 miles and the rpms should be kept low along with loading the engine. 3000 miles isnt so much the limit on the oil anymore but it still pretty much is for the """filter""". Plus you can tell by the varnish on a dipstick as to how frequent the oil changes have been. I stay away from cars with anything more than a tinge to it especially with low miles. Not that it cant be cleaned off there but thats not the only place I look.

Typical Rebuilt and Blueprinted engines will usually follow this pattern below and its seldom ever practiced on new cars because well...Its the general public.

(use conventional oil for breakin)
-Priming and starting, half hour to an hour of running at 2000 rpm with some flogging.
-Pull plug, drain oil, inspect for large materials. Pull filter and do the same. (1/2 to 1 hour running) ((use mild loading of the engine for the first 500 miles. Keep the rpms down, no towing))
-Run 500 miles, change oil and filter. (500 miles total)
-2500 miles, change oil and filter. (3000 miles total)
-3000 miles, change oil and filter. (6000 miles total)
-3000 miles, change oil and filter. (9000 mile mark, valves and rings are seated, switch to synthetic if so desired.)
-3000-4000 miles, etc etc...