Engine oil life indicator--reliable?

[gc2001]

Hello, I've got a 2003 Tahoe with 125k miles. It comes with the engine oil life indicator that gauges the oil life based on engine revolutions and temperature (it displays as a percentage).

Given the age of the truck, are these indicators still reliable, as long as they are reset after every oil change? I'd be curious to know if anyone with a similar age truck still opts to get oil changes on a mileage basis.

If the indicator is accurate, would that be a more conservative route maintenance-wise compared to just simply using mileage?

 

[OR VietVet]

I personally do not pay attention to them. A good quality filter and Mobil 1 synthetic oil every 5k miles or sooner if used hard like towing.

 

[B-train]

Agreed. Don't go by the oil life monitor. They are programmed to be good under ideal conditions and help with the cost of ownership automakers are required to disclose. Unless you only do 7500 miles of expressway driving, stick to 5k or less with a good quality oil and filter. Oil is cheap

 

[Marky Dissod]

NYC cabdrivers / livery drivers / chauffeurs NEVER let the oil life monitor hit 0%.
Of those who keep their vehicles after the initial lease is up (somewhat rare), they typically manage to keep their vehicles for at least 250,000 NYC (as in opposite-of-highway) miles.
300,000 miles is not uncommon, if the vehicle manages to last 9 years.

If mileage is mostly or all highway miles (NOT NYC), they'll change oil when the oil life monitor hits 17%.
If mileage is more highway than local, they'll change oil when oil life hits 20%.
If mileage is more local than highway, they'll change oil when oil life hits 25%.
If mileage is mostly all local miles (NYC, 5boros), they'll change oil when oil life hits 33%.

Also, NEVER heard of a single cabbie ever going 5,000 miles between oil changes.
Most I've ever heard is 4,000 miles between changes.
(At 150-200 miles a day, that oil change'll happen inside of a month.)

 

[iamdub]

Hello, I've got a 2003 Tahoe with 125k miles. It comes with the engine oil life indicator that gauges the oil life based on engine revolutions and temperature (it displays as a percentage).

Given the age of the truck, are these indicators still reliable, as long as they are reset after every oil change? I'd be curious to know if anyone with a similar age truck still opts to get oil changes on a mileage basis.

If the indicator is accurate, would that be a more conservative route maintenance-wise compared to just simply using mileage?

They use a lot of factors in addition to RPM and temperatures in determining the oil life. What they can't account for is the quality of oil used. Actually, there was a time where GM realized they were too conservative with them and had 'em reprogrammed because people were going for too long between oil changes.

IMO, they're still too conservative. My thoughts are to use synthetic oil so you know its protective properties are good beyond any reasonable interval you'd run it for and to change it to get the dirt out. Engines, the fuels they're fed and the environments they're operated in vary, so there is no perfect one-size-fits-all OCI (Oil Change Interval). I run synthetic meant for a diesel and it just starts to darken around 5K miles. I admit that it's really not dark at all, but I'm satisfied with 5K on the oil. To not feel guilty about "wasting oil", I drain it into a clean container and give it to my buddy to run in his Tahoe. Another reason I like a 5K OCI is that it's a good time to rotate the tires. So I put the Tahoe in the air once and do all of that the same time. Also, multiples of five are a really easy mileage to remember when checking the odometer. The "every 3K miles" thing is FAR outdated. These days, any quality oil, synthetic or not, should be good for at least 5K miles in just about any operating scenario you'd have. If you wanna stretch it out as long as possible, use synthetic and just monitor it to determine what works for you and your engine.

 

[gc2001]

Appreciate the replies. 5k or less with good oil seems to be the consensus here. I’d like to take this truck to 250-300k miles if I can. Generally, could the 5k OCI achieve that?

 

[blueinkd]

I normally do Mobil1 EP 5w30 and matching filter every 7500-8k miles. Have been doing this for 15+ years on all my vehicles. Have taken several past 300k miles. The tahoe has 325k and I have had it for over 5 years now. The new engine will get the same treatment. I drove a taxi while I was in college and I would run mobil1 EP on it as well, to keep from constant oil changes. I often went +10k miles on the oil and always came out dirty but never showing sings of breaking down. Surely I was abusing the oil life on it. Mobil1 Extended Performance is my go to or Penzoil Platinum.

 

[DirtDigler]

Question....
My ride sits a lot, I mean A LOT! It'll actually take years for me to hit 5000 miles. With full synthetic how often should the oil be replaced? 6 months?

 

[blueinkd]

Question....
My ride sits a lot, I mean A LOT! It'll actually take years for me to hit 5000 miles. With full synthetic how often should the oil be replaced? 6 months?

If I was u I would do yearly oil changes. I would probably also sleep better at 6-9 month intervals.

 

[Fless]

According to Blackstone on one of my used oil analyses, they stated that oil doesn't go bad sitting in the pan. Having said that, I'm with @iamdub with the 5K mile intervals. Mine takes a year or a year and a half to get there. It's just an easy odo reading to remember to do it.