What's your engine oil?

[petrified.rabbit]

if your running synthetic, you can easily wait until 10000 miles to change your oil. Even with conventional pushing 5000 is ok, if you do it in a good time frame (like < 3 months) and check its color etc..

[serega12]

Surprisingly for myself I put only around 2-3k on my full synthetic oil within last 5-6 months (I put close to 15k on my other car though)... Should I change it since it's been in there for almost half a year already? I'm thinking of doing it since this is the first oil change it had (now it has 5w-30 AMSOil in it)... and I'm thinking about changing it soon because of the time the oil has been in the engine, not because of miles. What is the recommended interval time wise?

[AveoGirl]

Usually if that was my case I'd change it, however some people push it up to 6K or 10K but thats too long by comparing it to 3K so I won't have to worry and a good peace of mind.

[petrified.rabbit]

My personal opinion is around 6 months. Moisture can build up in synthetic just like conventional. But if the time you drive it, you can get it up to operating temperature and send all the moisture vapor into the intake via the pcv system it will last longer..

Maybe someone who buys into it more will chime in.

[AMMsterz]

Ok you guys'll probably be barking at me for what I'm about to reveal, having only lately read quite a bit on oil change

Ok here's how it went: My Aveo 1.4 LT Sedan has gone through around 28600 mi... The first owner had the oil changed when it had roughly 21800 mi, missing an oil change session according to Chevy Service. Since I find the service at Chevy repeatedly unbearably slow, I've decided to have the oil change today at a friend's that does high-performance tuning, mods, repairs, drift & drag shows etc. They filled the engine with Bardahl Pulsar-G 20W-50. :O I imagine their reason would be due to the availability of the oil in the shop; they handle turbo-charged cars, especially for high-level drifting purposes. Additionally, the weather here in the Philippines is year-round tropical HOT! They've also changed the filter with an Australian brand meant for a variety of cars including a range of Chevy cars like the Aveo... It says it guarantees 96% filtering power or something?

Chevy Service informed that they use 5W-30, if I remember rightly -- the same recommended in the manual... If I'm not mistaken, the manual recommended 10W-40 for hot climates. I guess the only source that could give me some comfort would be this. Accordingly, on the same level with 5W-30, 20W-30 is suitable for hot climates... I've read elsewhere that long-term usability of the oil is better and that the car should handle better under heavier loads...

So, what say you?

[petrified.rabbit]

you will be ok, if the car is running ok. I would be weary of doing it again though.
The step to 10w-40 would be ok. but 20w-50 is quite a jump, how hot is your climate?

[AMMsterz]

Around 88 degrees F but with the humidity it get seriously hot! Temperatures have even exceeded 100 degrees!

[petrified.rabbit]

is that all the time?

[MetroMPG]

The engine doesn't "feel" the humidity the way people do. 88F is 88F - no humidex applies.

That's some thick oil you've got in there, I'd say.

[AMMsterz]

@petrified.rabbit: most of the days throughout the year it's like that yeah... Rainy seasons can cool down to approx. 75F...
@MetroMPG: Very thick, as I've checked... drove the car for like an hour and so far no probs... in fact, since the oil's new, albeit thick indeed, the drive feels somewhat better... I sure hope those guys at my friend's shop know what they were doing!