Oil change

I have a 2003 Vue (4 cylinder). Saturn recommends chaning the oil based on the oil change light. I changed my Vue's oil at 3000 miles (not becasue of the light - old habit), again at around 9000 miles (still no light - It was just a good day to change oil) and again at around 14,000 miles (still no light - I was getting ready for a long trip). After every change the oil looked fine. I am guessing my driving style is compatible with the "normal" serivce interval. The maximum oil change intervl for a Vue is 7500 miles. I've just never actually waited that long but not becasue I don't trust the light, it just seemed that other factors made an early oil change seem to be the right thing to do.

There are several GM web sites that give an explanation (sales pitch?) for the oil change monitor -

From "A computer chip in the Powertrain Control Module is loaded with a certain number of engine revolution counts. The count for each engine/vehicle combination is determined by testing. As the engine runs, each revolution is subtracted from the remaining count in the oil life monitor. When the count reaches zero, the instrument panel light comes on. But, here?s the clever part.

"When the various input sensors detect that the engine is running under either cold or hot conditions, it subtracts extra counts (penalties)for each engine revolution. So, the conditions that cause the oil to "wear out" make the counter run down faster."

Regards,

Ed White

Nope, you haven't missed anything. IIRC, the light is based on camshaft revolutions. 3K is on the low side of the average interval that you should change your oil at. Anymore I keep hearing just change it somewhere between 3 and 6K. Engines are better designed and so are the oils. Changing it at 3K (as opposed to 6K or before the light comes on) doesn't hurt anything.

I change mine every three 3K because a) I burn about a quart every 3K and b) I keep an eye on the color of the oil and at 3K it is about the right time. I personally don't want to force a 7 year old, but otherwise very healthy, engine to run on dirty oil, even if the oil does have some life left.

-rj

98SL2

...how many miles?

All I found was a

I like the supposed engineering behind the Oil Life Monitor - but old habits die hard. I did do my first change early because the monitor came on at

2,466, and the car was manufactured 4 months before I bought it, and 7 months before the monitor came on, so the oil was getting old. But even when I bought the car at the dealership and was told of the "Oil Life" feature, those in sales told me "confidentially, we still like the 3 mos. / 3,000 miles rule of thumb ourselves..."

Warren

They particularly like it if you pay them to do the oil change.

Ed

Point well made Ed! That is an angle I didn't think of because I change my own...

Yes, I would imagine they'd very much like to take your money every 3,000 miles! Imagine that! lol :-)

To respond via e-mail, simply take the, "REMOVEXX" out of my return e-mail address.

:) Yes, I, too, am one of those "fools" that "wastes" my money on oil changes every 4000 miles. Even stupider, I pay life insurance, auto and medical insurance premiums! You'd have a *really* great time taking my money! :)

Suppose you came with a "life meter" that told you how long you would last...Would you still by life insurance?

I think that the people who actually design and build vehicles know that Americans have been conditioned to change oil to often. GM is doing a good thing by trying to reduce the amount of lubricating oil that is wasted by unecessary oil changes. For most of my life, I have been a 3000 mile oil change guy (in fact I still am for my two trucks). However, I am very confident that this is completely uneccsarry for most people. I have the following reasons for thinking this:

1) My Father - he has never been a 3000 mile oil change guy. He is a "change it when convenient guy". In the last 40+ years he has never had a single engine problem. 2) My older sister - she is "why should I change oil person." Her current Honda has an odometer driven oil change reminder. She rarely if ever has me change the oil before it turns red- every 7500 miles. And until recently I feel she definitely qualified for severe service (lots of short trips). Her current Honda has just passed 100,000 miles. Engine runs great, no oil consumption. She was even worse about changing oil in a VW Jetta she owned. Engine ran great when she sold it with 140,000 miles. 3) Our farm tractors - I have always changed them based on engine hours (really jsut a rev counter). Two of the three current tractors call for oil changes every 150 hours. 150 hours is roughly equivalent to 5000 miles. The two tractors with the 150 hour oil change requirements both have over 5000 hours on the engine (one has over 6000 hours). 5000 hours is roughly equivalent to 175,000 miles. Now the tractors don't do a lot of "short trips" but most of the hours have been at very high loads in hot weather. Neither tractors has ever had any sort of engine problem. 4) A local mechanic I trust said people are wasting money chaging oil every 3000 miles. He thinks 5000 miles is more than adequate. However, he'll change your oil whenever you ask him to do it. 5) European engines usually have much longer oil change intrvals than US engines, even in cases where the engines are mecahnically the same.

I think GM is doing a good thing by providing the oil chage monitor. It is really just a rev counter that modifies the rev count to adjust for more severe than "normal" conditions. For people that don't maintian their cars, it might encourage them to do a better job. For people that tend to change oil before it is necessary, it might give them the confidence to go a little longer between changes. I know it has done this for me. I have not yet managed to hold out till the light has come on, but I defintiely have far exceed the 3000 mile mark on my second and third oil changes for my 2003 Vue. I am at 17,000 miles now and have changed the oil three times. The first time was at around 1000 miles (I like to change the oil early on to see if there is anything in the filter).

Regards,

Ed White