Oil change question on 03 Chevy Trailblazer

'03 Chevy Trailblazer service manual says engine oil change light will come on automatically. Apparently they have system that keeps track of how often/long engine is run. Last time I bought new car is about 6 or 7 years ago, and this is new to me.

My immediate feel was you gotta be kidding. I hard for me to trust on these automated engine oil change stuff.

My question: for those who have similar vehicle or similar engine oil change warning system, care to share your story as far as engine oil change goes? Like, what is your average driving and how often engine change light comes on? Do you feel it's reliable eough?

Reply to
grunt100
Loading thread data ...

I know this may sound a little simple but many drivers out there follow a simple rule 3 months or 3000miles for oil and filter changes. I am not going to start waiting for a light to tell me when to change my oil when the

Reply to
Mbflash

True. Unfortunately, the industry quoted is the oil change industry.

Reply to
Stephen Bigelow

Reply to
stuart8181

I've used that strategy successfully in the past, but have too short a drive to work now.

Every 3-4 months gets a Hastings filter and 0W-30 synthetic.

Reply to
Stephen Bigelow

-snip-

That was my thought too when I bought my Impala a couple years ago. I'm a 3000mi/3 month person-- and I stuck to that for the first year and never saw the light.

Then I forgot and the light came on-- at 3200 miles. So now I trust it, though I have been known to check the sticker once in a while & see if I'm way past due by my own estimation. For us it has always come on in the 3-4000 mile range.

The car is driven daily about 25 miles city & highway. Rarely does it get driven in dusty conditions or for short trips.

Jim

Reply to
Jim Elbrecht

The Oil Life Monitor may require up to 12 months or 12,000 miles to indicate the need for an oil change. It is accurate and you can trust it. However, it cannot detect excessively dusty conditions. In such conditions the oil change interval should be shortened to 6,000 miles.

=46or more info, see

formatting link

Reply to
saeengineer

I have an 01 Tahoe with the same light. I change my oil at 3-3500 miles. After the first oil change at 3500 miles, the light came on at

4200 miles. I had assumed the light came on if the oil was truly dirty. Instead, it seems the computer uses a formula of rpm x engine heat and hours run to calculate the change interval. Since I hadn't reset the light, it came on at 4200 miles because the computer thought it was the same oil.

Now I just make sure I reset the light after each oil change. I haven't seen it since.

For what its worth, I trust the light. If anyone is wondering why they bother with a light, its because most people dont even check the oil, much less change it.

Reply to
Curly

Count me in on trusting the light as well. I still change my oil more often then required, but if I had a "regular" car I'd probably follow the light.

If you drive in really dusty conditions, you should change it more often as well as change it at LEAST once a year, light or not.

I would prefer if it was the system that showed a % of oil life left - BMW used to use LED's and IIRC, the Vette has a % oil life in the DIC. That way I could determine how my driving patterns were "using up" the oil - maybe I could extend my oil changes.

*My car is stored for 6 months of the year, and pretty much raced the other 6 months. 01 Trans Am. Nitrous. 50 drag strip passes. AutoX. Oil changed in the spring, before storage, and probably 2 changes in the summer. Extreme? Yes, but how often do YOU bounce your car off the rev limiter at the drag strip?
Reply to
Ray

All who responded, thank you for your input. Appreciated.

Reply to
grunt100

This is a repost. If I use synthetic oil, this engine oil change system wouldn't know whether it's synthetic or not, would it? What would folks do about it? Any thoughts?

Again, thanks to everyone for all inputs.

Reply to
grunt100

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.