[Emoto]

My SS spends like 5 months in heated storage during the winters here in New England. The problem is that the oil life indicator uses time as a function.

I just took my car out to work today, which is the fist real drive it has had since November, and the oil life is down to 31%. I changed it in June with high end Castrol full synthetic Dexos, and it only has 2691 miles on it since then!

How would you approach this? Obviously, oil is the lifeblood of any engine, so I don't want to take any chances. But the indicator will tell me it is done way before it really is, won't it? What are your thoughts?

[Glen e]

If you don't change it in the mileage interval, you should change it in a time interval. All major manufacturers Will tell you they want it out in a year, because condensation and particulates are held in the oil.

That being said , jugs of oil that are completely sealed and not opened, can sit on the shelf for years.

[Memphis SS]

Originally Posted by Glen e

If you don't change it in the mileage interval, you should change it in a time interval. All major manufacturers Will tell you they want it out in a year, because condensation and particulates are held in the oil.

That being said , jugs of oil that are completely sealed and not opened, can sit on the shelf for years.

I agree..+1

[Bobkd]

I would just change it now, then change it before you put it away for the winter, changing it once a year. Funny thing with my car, when I got it out last week my oil monitor still said 98%.

[matt fe2o3]

Glen speaks to the official line. Nobody is going to argue that for good reason. Modern cars have different lubricant consumers now and are more sensitive to contamination.

The main issues I see are suspension of the additive packs within the oil and condensation. Most of these can be overcome by running the engine a couple times a month over the course of the winter. If you do this the paper filtering should take care of moisture/water condensation - so if you are going to go miles, you might take a safe bet by simply swapping oil filters every spring.

In fairness these cars sit on lots for months and sometimes a year before sale and having a dealer change oil at same is not as likely as the prep guy resetting the oil life monitor -by a wide margin.

Personally - 2,600 miles on oil and then a winter sit - meh, I'd drive it to around 7,000 miles and change it. However - the party line is to follow the monitor - which by the way Chevrolet advises has a robust grace period built in.

[oneredry]

i'm in the same boat. However, I change mine right before storage (with maybe 20 miles on the fresh oil, right before I put it away) and don't change it again till around the same time a year later. LIke now, I'm at 55% when I broke it out of storage, i'm guessing it will be around 0% or so when I do it again in the fall. I normally put about 1200 to 2000 miles a year. Its 3 years old with 5600 miles if that tells you anything. yeah I need to drive it more..

[Emoto]

Originally Posted by Glen e

If you don't change it in the mileage interval, you should change it in a time interval. All major manufacturers Will tell you they want it out in a year, because condensation and particulates are held in the oil.

That being said , jugs of oil that are completely sealed and not opened, can sit on the shelf for years.

(not picking on Glen) So nobody makes any adjustment in change interval to account for storage?

Winter in New England is super dry, in terms of humidity in the air. The garage is heated with forced hot air, which also dries things out, so the oil isn't picking up lots of contaminants while sitting. Nor do I think that synth of this quality is eating the metal.

I drove it one time in 5 months, around the block, a couple of weeks ago. Not long enough to get rid of contaminants, but my drive today was about an hour and I am sure that everything got up to temp and any moisture, etc., was burned off. Likewise, this will happen on the way home. So, I am not one of those guys who (mistakenly) thinks it is a good idea to run a motor for 5 minutes periodically.

I will see what kind of miles it is at when the oil life indicator gets down to a very low %, but isn't good synthetic suppose to support extended oil change intervals?

[JeromeS13]

Originally Posted by oneredry

i'm in the same boat. However, I change mine right before storage (with maybe 20 miles on the fresh oil, right before I put it away) and don't change it again till around the same time a year later. LIke now, I'm at 55% when I broke it out of storage, i'm guessing it will be around 0% or so when I do it again in the fall. I normally put about 1200 to 2000 miles a year. Its 3 years old with 5600 miles if that tells you anything. yeah I need to drive it more..

I have the opposite mentality when it comes to mine. Mine sat in storage for nearly 14 months. I wanted to change the oil immediately AFTER removing it from storage. That way, the oil is freshest and provides the most protection and has the less amount of contamination while I'm actually driving it.

[Magnum922]

I change all my low millage cars once a year regardless of mileage. My 17 Camaro ss usually has 1500 miles, my 72 corvette usually has 200 miles.

[SPARTAN sui]

I'd trust the OLM. Yeah, it's going to be like $50-75 to change the oil, but time will breakdown oil that's sitting in an engine. Better safe than sorry!

[ctrlz]

Try UOA on the oil after storage and see what you get.
https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forum...ntervals_for_s

[DIYguy]

Both mileage and interval apply as Glen e said.
I change the oil (and filter of course) when the oil indicator hits 50%, or around 4000 miles, or 8-10 months, which ever comes first.

As for the rules that the ECU applies for the indicator-
The repair manual I have says that it is "based on a calibrated amount of time".
Elsewhere it explicitly states that "the oil change interval is not based on mileage but on engine revolutions and engine operating temperature".
That makes more sense actually and is closer to what I have read elsewhere and observed in practice.
But certainly it is some undisclosed combination of both factors.

We find that the GM oil indicators are in general rather "optimistic" (too long).
It is cheap engine insurance to change the oil at more frequent intervals IMHO.

And don't forget that the brake fluid and coolant should be changed every so often too, regardless of mileage.
FWIW......

[Stex]

How much did your ride cost? How much does oil cost?

I try to maintain Every 5,000 ( Syn.) (may be over kill for some but oil is cheap) and no more than a year on my low use rides. I use the oil life only as a reminder. Gets down below 50% I start checking my mileage and going over my past driving. Was I towing in the heat? Running hard and lots of miles in the heat?

[DIYguy]

Originally Posted by Stex

How much did your ride cost? How much does oil cost?

Yes indeed, oil (even synthetic) is extremely cheap when compared to an overhaul.