Oil Change for a 2001 Buick Century

I just purchased a 2001 Buick Century and it states in the manual that I do not need to change the oil until the 'Change Oil Light" comes on which could be up to 10,000 miles. Is OK or should I change every 3000 miles? I live Dallas, Texas which not too dusty but I wanted to get opinion on how often I should change the oil from some experts out there.

Thank you

Reply to
jarl
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The experts at GM aren't good enough for you?

I suggest you read:

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You'll get a lot of advice on this subject from the various experts that haunt the internet. You could just do a Google Groups search and see the arguments for and against 3000 mile oil changes. I think in the end it comes down to:

For: It's cheap insurance Against: You are wasting money based on 1950's thinking.

My advise -> follow the oil life monitor recommendation but be sure to use good quality API certified oil of the correct grade and viscosity. If you want to be extra careful, use Mobil 1 of the porper viscosity.

Ed

Reply to
C. E. White

It won't ever go 10k miles. The most I have ever seen is about 5k that was 90% hiway driving and the least was about 3500 that was all city driving.

I trust the oil life monitor on mine and have had three with this function since my '90 Olds. All three are still running with no engine issues.

Steve B.

Reply to
Steve B.

These lights take a guess based on the sort of driving you've been doing, and how much of it -- they don't actually measure chemical properties of the oil. But the manufacturers think enough of the guess to stand behind it for warranty purposes, so I suppose it's alright. It's certainly got to be a better guess than "three thousand for severe service, five [or six or whatever] otherwise."

As I understand it, if the computer decides your usage has qualified as severe, the light will come on somewhere not too far beyond the proverbial three thou anyway. At the opposite extreme, if you've been doing mostly easy driving under good conditions, getting things good and warmed up but not really overly hot and so forth, it'll save you some time and money by allowing an extended drain interval.

Anybody know what fleet managers think of these things nowadays? Do they just yank the car into the garage at intervals regardless of how it's been used, or wait for the user to squawk about the light, or what?

As for Dallas (or wherever), I wouldn't flatly state that that's either better or worse from a car maintenance standpoint. It depends a lot on whether you get tied up in rush-hour stop-and-go traffic or have a free-flowing reverse commute or what.

I would certainly consider changing the air filter a bit more often than strictly necessary, since city air is often pretty grim in ways that are hard to see with the naked eye. This isn't as big a deal in modern cars -- they actually measure how much air is flowing downstream of the filter, and/or how much oxygen is in the exhaust, as part of the engine control loop, and thus automatically compensate for less air making it through the filter. (Pre-computer cars just took a guess and as the filter got dirtier the mixture would get richer.) But you're still losing performance if the thing is dirty.

For city drivign, mind your brake wear as well. And if your vehicle calls for a transmisson-fluid change interval, consider whether you've done a lot of stop-and-go driving there too. Cheers,

--Joe

Reply to
Ad absurdum per aspera

I follow the oil life monitor because it's actually a conservative guess at when your oil needs changed (mine comes on at about 4000 to 6000 miles). Even on my 1990 truck, which does not have an oil life montor, I use 4000 to 4500 miles as an oil change interval and am having no problems with 190,000 miles on the clock.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% There are two classes of pedestrians in these days of reckless motor traffic - the quick and the dead. ~ Lord Dewar 1933 ~

Climbing into a hot car is like buckling on a pistol. It is the great equalizer. ~ Henry G. Felsen 1964 ~

Reply to
Rich B

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I change oil in my 01 century every 5000 miles just because it is easy to rember. The oil change light has never come on. Ernie

Reply to
ernests131

You should use an engine lube that can do the job for 10,000 miles - if its lable claims to give you that, prove it by an oil analysis.

Reply to
rudyxhiebert

IMO the GM oil life monitor is a pretty good system.

If you want a little more safety margin, upgrade your oil from the basic stuff to a full synthetic or even a good synthetic blend.

If you want to talk oils, check out

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Reply to
John Horner

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