MAC Posted June 22, 2008 Report Share Posted June 22, 2008 I strictly use the Oil Life Monitor. In fact, mine just expired so I'm changing my oil this weekend with full synthetic. Ah...Oh....synthetic vs. dino. Well, its been almost 10 months and 10,000 miles and I'm down to 3% on the OLM and I've added a quart or two. Some tell me I should use synthetic but I usually stay with 5W-30, my car just turned 90,000, shes just getting broke in. I've thought about trying 15W-40 Rotella or Delo but I'm not so sure the Northstar needs that. My older cars (70 Pontiac and 92 Bronco definetly get it). Jim I decided to try synthetic because I read it could help to renew the pan gasket and other seals. I must say the oil leaking has slowed considerable since trying synthetic. I'm not seeing oil on the ground like before. I also threw in two quarts of transmission fluid with stop leak. So, I'm not sure which one or both helped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BodybyFisher Posted June 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 22, 2008 Just to illustrate how SILLY the 3,000 mile oil change fallacy is, this is from a 1973 Chevy Monte Carlo owners manual. At that time, 35 years ago, it was 6,000 miles! Unless the car was driven under the following conditions, ONLY THEN at 2 months or 3,000 miles: Dusty conditions trailer pulling extensive idling short trip at FREEZING temps (engine NOT thoroughly warmed up) Pre-1995 - DTC codes OBD1 >> 1996 and newer - DTC codes OBD2 >> https://www.obd-codes.com/trouble_codes/gm/obd_codes.htm How to check for codes Caddyinfo How To Technical Archive >> http://www.caddyinfo.com/wordpress/cadillac-how-to-faq/ Cadillac History & Specifications Year by Year http://www.motorera.com/cadillac/index.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjtjwdad Posted June 25, 2008 Report Share Posted June 25, 2008 Just to illustrate how SILLY the 3,000 mile oil change fallacy is, this is from a 1973 Chevy Monte Carlo owners manual. At that time, 35 years ago, it was 6,000 miles! Unless the car was driven under the following conditions, ONLY THEN at 2 months or 3,000 miles: Dusty conditions trailer pulling extensive idling short trip at FREEZING temps (engine NOT thoroughly warmed up) My "Change Oil" Light came on today, 10 3/4 months an 9993 miles. First time I've ever done that, previously I did it down to 15%. Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimD Posted June 25, 2008 Report Share Posted June 25, 2008 My "Change Oil" Light came on today, 10 3/4 months an 9993 miles. First time I've ever done that, previously I did it down to 15%.You don't tell us what year model you have but I will assume it is a 2000+ model based on the 10,000 miles figure. The CHANGE ENGINE OIL message is displayed before the OLM increments down to 0% oil life remaining, so you could could safely wait at least another full tank of gas before changing the oil. One more believer starts to save a few dollars per year. Well done. Jim Drive your car. Use your cell phone. CHOOSE ONE ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan Olsson Posted June 25, 2008 Report Share Posted June 25, 2008 Hi I thought I just should shime in on this! The OLM should always be trusted. The ZDDP has been lowered to an amount of perhaps in worst cases 1/10 of what it was in the early 90's. So in respect ONLY to the ZDDP level in modern oils you should change at 90% just to be sure... The more appropriate solution is simply to use an oil with the right API service grade for your model year. I.e. in my -93 STS i used an oil from Texaco (10W-30) API service grade SG. In that one the ZDDP levels where the same as in the early 90's. The Guru strongly discouraged from using a newer "energy conserving oil" in an older Northstar engine just because they are low on ZDDP. He recommended using an engine oil suitable for BOTH gasoline and diesel engines (marked SG/CC for instance) or to spike the oil with EOS if you couldn't find a suitable oil. The API service grades are traditionally superseeding the older ones in every aspect. But thats only true when it comes down to current engine testing on current engines. Because of that a SL, SM etc. oil is not suitable when the engine is validated with an SG oil for instance.. The reconstruction of the Northstar engine with roller-cam followers etc made the use of an low-level ZDDP oil possible. Before that I suspect that they redesigned bearings and bearing materials when the ZDDP levels went lower... Ok...I better go find some cover.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjtjwdad Posted June 27, 2008 Report Share Posted June 27, 2008 My "Change Oil" Light came on today, 10 3/4 months an 9993 miles. First time I've ever done that, previously I did it down to 15%.You don't tell us what year model you have but I will assume it is a 2000+ model based on the 10,000 miles figure. The CHANGE ENGINE OIL message is displayed before the OLM increments down to 0% oil life remaining, so you could could safely wait at least another full tank of gas before changing the oil. One more believer starts to save a few dollars per year. Well done. Hi Jim, It a 2001 STS. My one concern after the fact is was how long is the oil filter good for? I was wondering if I should change that say evey 5000 - 7000 miles or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimD Posted June 27, 2008 Report Share Posted June 27, 2008 My "Change Oil" Light came on today, 10 3/4 months an 9993 miles. First time I've ever done that, previously I did it down to 15%.You don't tell us what year model you have but I will assume it is a 2000+ model based on the 10,000 miles figure. The CHANGE ENGINE OIL message is displayed before the OLM increments down to 0% oil life remaining, so you could could safely wait at least another full tank of gas before changing the oil. One more believer starts to save a few dollars per year. Well done. Hi Jim, It a 2001 STS. My one concern after the fact is was how long is the oil filter good for? I was wondering if I should change that say evey 5000 - 7000 miles or so. Not necessary. Jim Drive your car. Use your cell phone. CHOOSE ONE ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjtjwdad Posted June 27, 2008 Report Share Posted June 27, 2008 My "Change Oil" Light came on today, 10 3/4 months an 9993 miles. First time I've ever done that, previously I did it down to 15%.You don't tell us what year model you have but I will assume it is a 2000+ model based on the 10,000 miles figure. The CHANGE ENGINE OIL message is displayed before the OLM increments down to 0% oil life remaining, so you could could safely wait at least another full tank of gas before changing the oil. One more believer starts to save a few dollars per year. Well done. Hi Jim, It a 2001 STS. My one concern after the fact is was how long is the oil filter good for? I was wondering if I should change that say evey 5000 - 7000 miles or so. Not necessary. Thx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regis Posted June 29, 2008 Report Share Posted June 29, 2008 It's funny. I used to get frustrated with people stuck on the 3000/3 month mentality. I used to shake my head at them and think to myself, "These people seem intelligent enough... why don't they get it?". Then I had a moment of enlightenment. Is there anything in my life that I'm excessive about? Yes! My computer. It's my thing of excess. I have 7 fans including a custom 4" side fan that pushes 65cu ft/min that runs off a separate power source and has it's own shiny chrome toggle switch. Excessive? Of course it is and I'm well aware of that. But I was allowed this opportunity for excess because I had few responsibilities at the time. Currently I have many more responsibilities and more on the way so I will have fewer opportunities for my moments of excess. I think if anyone steps back for a moment to reflect the logic is clear. In summation, less responsibilities = more opportunities for excessive behavior and more responsibilities = less opportunities for excessive behavior. "Burns" rubber " I've never considered myself to be all that conservative, but it seems the more liberal some people get the more conservative I become. " Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texas Jim Posted June 30, 2008 Report Share Posted June 30, 2008 Regis, You are obsessive about fan and cooling. I am the same way about data loss. I have SIX hard drives on my home desktop. two 200 gig and four 300 gig. I back up C drive to E drive. E drive to D drive D drive to F drive... etc etc etc. I guess it is a sickness we have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regis Posted June 30, 2008 Report Share Posted June 30, 2008 Regis, You are obsessive about fan and cooling. I am the same way about data loss. I have SIX hard drives on my home desktop. two 200 gig and four 300 gig. I back up C drive to E drive. E drive to D drive D drive to F drive... etc etc etc. I guess it is a sickness we have. Absolutely! "Burns" rubber " I've never considered myself to be all that conservative, but it seems the more liberal some people get the more conservative I become. " Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.