Just wonder when I should change the oil for the first time.

When and what kind of oil should we use for the first few changes?

I've read that during the break-in period that dino oil should be used and then switch to synthetic at some point.

Just looking for some advise, this is our first brand-new car.

Thanks in advance!

Just wonder when I should change the oil for the first time.

When and what kind of oil should we use for the first few changes?

I've read that during the break-in period that dino oil should be used and then switch to synthetic at some point.

Just looking for some advise, this is our first brand-new car.

Thanks in advance!
I plan on changing the oil on my GT at 1000 miles ( have 898 miles on it now). I'll be switching to Mobil One 5w/30w as per the recommendations in the schedule maintenance section of the manual.

I plan on changing the oil on my GT at 1000 miles ( have 898 miles on it now). I'll be switching to Mobil One 5w/30w as per the recommendations in the schedule maintenance section of the manual.

This is my plan as well. Actually, I have about the same mileage, too!!

Shouldn't be dino oil in there from the factory if the manual says Mobil 1 5W-30. That's the same as the LS2 in the GTO.

I usually put Castrol Syntec in mine... I have been using synthetic exclusively in my car. Mobil One is a good oil too.

However.... avoid that "Torque" stuff made by Quaker State like a plague... I don't like Penzoil either....

Shouldn't be dino oil in there from the factory if the manual says Mobil 1 5W-30. That's the same as the LS2 in the GTO.

The manual doesn't recommend Mobil 1 by name, just a 5w/30w oil that meets the GM standard GM6094M.

BTW - the manual ONLY recommends 5w/30w and nothing else (see page 9-9 of your manual).

i JUST hit over 1000 mile mark today...well actually the dealer did, i had them road test the car for an alignment....the wheel was puling slightly to the right....its all fixed..now....i am going to see what oil to change to....this car is supposed to tell you when the oil is to be changed but i dont know if i want to rely on that..

Ive used the www.mototuneusa.com way to break in a couple motors now with great success. I will probably do the same with this engine. As for oil I really like Royal Purple but will only run synthetic in it after 6000 miles unless it calls for it from the start.

I liked Royal Purple too until I learned that the engine takes almost 9 quarts of oil...

9 quarts times $8/quart of Royal Purple =$72 for oil alone......

Guess i'll be using Havoline, which my dad has used every 3,000 miles in his '93 Suburban with 250K miles and runnin strong...

I liked Royal Purple too until I learned that the engine takes almost 9 quarts of oil...

9 quarts times $8/quart of Royal Purple =$72 for oil alone......

Guess i'll be using Havoline, which my dad has used every 3,000 miles in his '93 Suburban with 250K miles and runnin strong...

Another awesome oil is Shell Rotella T 5W40 full synthetic. Its high zinc qty really reduces impact wear. Its not energy conserving either which is either good or bad depending on your fence post. Its sold by the gallon as well which is nice in a car that takes 9qts.
Oh no this has become that dreaded oil thread... LOL

Ok, I'll plan on changing it at 1000, then 5000 and continue with 5000 mile oil changes. I just have to figure out what I want to use. Costco has 6qts of Mobile 1 (5w/30) for $30.

We pick up the G8 tonight......getting excited!

this car is supposed to tell you when the oil is to be changed but i dont know if i want to rely on that..
I found this little tidbit somewhere on this board.

If you press and hold the 'ENTER' when you start your car the DIC will display a lot of information that you do not normally see. Some folks are referring to this as 'Engineering Mode'.

Anyway you will be able to see the percentage of oil life remaining somewhere in all that information.

haha. the oil life system is a GM only system that uses algorithms to calculate the viscosity of the oil and to predict the life remaining of the oil. You shouldnt have to go into any "engineering" mode to get there. This is a service offered by GM.

I guarantee you that if you follow that OLS (oil life system) your warranty will be valid even if your engine blows up. GM has vested so much money into it that they guarantee it. Also, GM is trying to get dealers onto the maintenance schedules that are in your manual (referred to simply as Maintenance I and Maintenance II.) Follow this and dont let the dealer tell you otherwise (he's trying to gouge you for what your worth!). :)

If these come with Mobil1 factory installed then your fill cap should blatantly say "Mobil 1" on it, as do all the CTS-Vs.

There is no longer such a thing as "break-in" oil in any modern engine. Despite this a first oil change at anywhere from 500-5000 miles (or within 6 months) won't hurt anything but your pocketbook. With almost double the oil capacity of most vehicles and at higher cost even on sale, using full synthetic reinforces the idea of strictly following the DIC recommendations to a t. In other words, after that first feel good change, never ever change the oil again until the DIC reads 0% life or close to it. Trust GM on this one, you are good for 100,000 miles regardless if the intervals jump to 7500-10000 miles, or light up at every 2000 miles. It all depends on your driving habits. 100 miles 1/4 at a time is harder on your car than a road trip of 10,000 miles.

Oh, and this suggestion, not for the engine necessarily, but for the hardening of the diff gears, is try to avoid WOT acceleration before 500 miles. That comes from a GM drivetrain engineer.

Oh, and this suggestion, not for the engine necessarily, but for the hardening of the diff gears, is try to avoid WOT acceleration before 500 miles. That comes from a GM drivetrain engineer.

Agreed. Break-in on these cars is really for the drivetrain. The engine is essentially broken in when it leaves the factory (they due a chassis dyno run and, if I recall correctly, may do an engine stant run) due to the moly rings they use seating so quickly. I change the oil at 1000 so that I know exactly what is in there. It is really more to make me feel better.

In the '70s, I think, Chrysler ran each and every Imperial on a test track for several hundred miles before shipment - and got in a ****load of trouble cause they did it with odometer cables disconnected.

If these come with Mobil1 factory installed then your fill cap should blatantly say "Mobil 1" on it, as do all the CTS-Vs.

There is no longer such a thing as "break-in" oil in any modern engine. Despite this a first oil change at anywhere from 500-5000 miles (or within 6 months) won't hurt anything but your pocketbook. With almost double the oil capacity of most vehicles and at higher cost even on sale, using full synthetic reinforces the idea of strictly following the DIC recommendations to a t. In other words, after that first feel good change, never ever change the oil again until the DIC reads 0% life or close to it. Trust GM on this one, you are good for 100,000 miles regardless if the intervals jump to 7500-10000 miles, or light up at every 2000 miles. It all depends on your driving habits. 100 miles 1/4 at a time is harder on your car than a road trip of 10,000 miles.

Oh, and this suggestion, not for the engine necessarily, but for the hardening of the diff gears, is try to avoid WOT acceleration before 500 miles. That comes from a GM drivetrain engineer.

Great thread and great info too. I was wondering since the G8 sees a dyno before it even leaves the factory does the engine even need a "break-in" period. Seems logical what you said here.

Btw all of my cars get Mobil 1 full synthetic. I've been satisfied with this oil since day one so my G8 will get the same treatment.

Drive it like you stole it but go easy on the brakes. Change oil at 500-1000 miles and again at 2000-3000 miles. (use Dino for the first 2 changes). Now use the DIC oil life monitor and switch to M1 from then on.

Change the tranny fluid at 10k miles then every 20-30k miles.

Change the tranny fluid at 10k miles then every 20-30k miles.

Waste of fluid, great chance of introducing dirt as you have to pull the bottom off the tranny to change. No auto trans I know of has a drain plug (or an easy fill point other than through the dipstick tube) or such a short recommended service intyerval. I have yet (knock on wood) to ever have had a single trans issue and this is with 150,000 on a SSSEi, 140,000 on a GTP, and 93,000 on current GTP without ever changing fluid once. (same on same cars regarding antifreeze)

BTW, rear diff is sealed for life with no scheduled maintenance.

BTW, rear diff is sealed for life with no scheduled maintenance.
Does that interfere with the possibility of changing the rear end gears to get a shorter ratio?

The below quote was taken from HERE (http://www.calsci.com/motorcycleinfo/Oils1.html)

In the late 1990s, Castrol started selling an oil made from Group III base oil and called it SynTec Full Synthetic. Mobil sued Castrol, asserting that this oil was not synthetic, but simply a highly refined petroleum oil, and therefore it was false advertising to call it synthetic. In 1999, Mobil lost their lawsuit. It was decided that the word "synthetic" was a marketing term and referred to properties, not to production methods or ingredients. Castrol continues to make SynTec out of Group III base oils, that is highly purified mineral oil with most all of the ****roach bits removed.
Shortly after Mobil lost their lawsuit, most oil companies started reformulating their synthetic oils to use Group III base stocks instead of PAOs or diester stocks as their primary component. Most of the "synthetic oil" you can buy today is actually mostly made of this highly-distilled and purified dino-juice called Group III oil. Group III base oils cost about half as much as the synthetics. By using a blend of mostly Group III oils and a smaller amount of "true" synthetics, the oil companies can produce a product that has nearly the same properties as the "true" synthetics, and nearly the same cost as the Group III oil. The much more expensive traditional synthetics are now available in their pure forms only in more expensive and harder to obtain oils. To the best of my knowledge, Delvac-1, AMSOil, Redline, and Motul 5100 are the only oils made from pure traditional synthetics.


Just thought ya'll might want to know this...

Does that interfere with the possibility of changing the rear end gears to get a shorter ratio?
No, it just means that it does not by GM standards require any service. If the outer case and bearing journals internal are the same among all three diffs then a "simple" swap of gears from either GXP rear could be accomplished. Even if those are different I am sure there are gearsets that'll fit, although depending on price and availability (such as where currently used) a complete rearend swap mimght be quicker. These are cecrtainly not quickchange 9-bolts.

I liked Royal Purple too until I learned that the engine takes almost 9 quarts of oil...

9 quarts times $8/quart of Royal Purple =$72 for oil alone......

Guess i'll be using Havoline, which my dad has used every 3,000 miles in his '93 Suburban with 250K miles and runnin strong...

Walmart sells Royal Purple here for about $6/qt

Would bring your total down to about $55 or so.

Still expensive but better than $72.

I'll have to check to see if our walmart has Royal Purple.

I would probably change at 600 miles(semi-synthetic) then at 3,000 miles(full-synthetic) then every 3,000-5,000 change the oil again...synthetic :burnout:

wasting money on oil. bah when will people learn.

chiefpontiac thats for reinstating what i already posted in another thread about oil and its properties in cars.

Here is something most people do not know. In the 80's loggers had trucks that ran 24 - 7 . the owners of the trucks would weld the caps on so people would not put in oil.

every 5 k miles like clockwork the only maintenance that was done was install a new oil filter. Then they would weight the oil pan and add new oil to even the weight out.

This was to save money for the owner operator. Believe it or not the trucks lasted just as long with this type of service as they did with entire replacement of the oil.

wasting money on oil. bah when will people learn.

chiefpontiac thats for reinstating what i already posted in another thread about oil and its properties in cars.

Here is something most people do not know. In the 80's loggers had trucks that ran 24 - 7 . the owners of the trucks would weld the caps on so people would not put in oil.

every 5 k miles like clockwork the only maintenance that was done was install a new oil filter. Then they would weight the oil pan and add new oil to even the weight out.

This was to save money for the owner operator. Believe it or not the trucks lasted just as long with this type of service as they did with entire replacement of the oil.


yeah but that was in the 80's and we have G8's!!

I would really like to find a definitive answer on this guys! All i want to know is when should the first oil change be and with what kind of oil????????!!!!!!!!!!!

wasting money on oil. bah when will people learn.

chiefpontiac thats for reinstating what i already posted in another thread about oil and its properties in cars.

Here is something most people do not know. In the 80's loggers had trucks that ran 24 - 7 . the owners of the trucks would weld the caps on so people would not put in oil.

every 5 k miles like clockwork the only maintenance that was done was install a new oil filter. Then they would weight the oil pan and add new oil to even the weight out.

This was to save money for the owner operator. Believe it or not the trucks lasted just as long with this type of service as they did with entire replacement of the oil.

You're also comparing energy conserving (car) oil to commercial (non energy conserving) oil. "diesel" oils have a ton of zinc and other additives that allow it to withstand many more miles and a lot more abuse.

This is why I run Shell Rotella T 5W40 in everything. It's a commercial oil and offers much better overall protection.

More info HERE (http://www.calsci.com/motorcycleinfo/Oils1.html)

yeah but that was in the 80's and we have G8's!!

I would really like to find a definitive answer on this guys! All i want to know is when should the first oil change be and with what kind of oil????????!!!!!!!!!!!

I am plan on swapping out my oil at the first 1k just as a precautionary measure. After that I am going to rely on what the DIC says. And change as it gets downs to 0-1%. I am going to be going with a full synthetic.

BTW, the "Great Oil Debate" will never be solved. LOL Every forum I have been on always has a million page thread with people arguing over oil.

Does anyone know:

1. What type of oil is in the engine on delivery (dino, blend, or full synthetic)?

2. Is there a recommended mileage point to switch to full synthetic?

Does anyone know:

1. What type of oil is in the engine on delivery (dino, blend, or full synthetic)?

2. Is there a recommended mileage point to switch to full synthetic?

You can switch to synthetic whenever you choose - there is no set mileage that you have to wait for to be able to switch.

Just had first oil change today at 1100 miles. When i got home i went into engineering mode to see if the oil life monitor was at 100%, it was stll at 85% the way it was when i went in for the oil change. How do i re-set the monitor??????????

Just had first oil change today at 1100 miles. When i got home i went into engineering mode to see if the oil life monitor was at 100%, it was stll at 85% the way it was when i went in for the oil change. How do i re-set the monitor??????????

Hold down the enter button (button on the left side of the steering wheel) while the oil life is displayed on the screen. This should reset it to 100%.

Thanks for the reply 914. However i get no response as far as the change is concerned. It does not change the 85% reading.

Thanks for the reply 914. However i get no response as far as the change is concerned. It does not change the 85% reading.

Oh, well that's how my truck works. My fiancee has the car. You can look it up in the owner's manual.

This is going to sound silly, but It. works (Trust Me - have I lied to you yet?)

Turn the key to ON with the engine not running, then press the accellerator pedal fully 3 times within 5 seconds. This will reset the Oil Life monitor.

For all of you who are laughing right now, check page 9-11 of the owners manual.

Thank you TomPierce. It worked.

Got my oil changed yesterday for the first time also. I tried the hold down enter button while on oil life, and no change. I relied on the trusty owners manual also. Sounded pretty strange to me, but it worked. And that's all that matters. Good heads up Tom.

Yep, the 3 pedal pushes is pretty much standard on GM. When we have a car come through the shop that we don't have instructions to reset the oil light - that works almost every time.

Also, we use Valvoline SynPower [full synthetic] in our G8. Or, we will once we get our first oil change. Does the myth run true that these bad boys take 11 quarts?

Right at 9 qts is what was on my invoice. I had the first one done by my mechanic. But from here on out I will be changing my own at half price.

Eeeh. That's still insane. I know the Crossfire takes 8. So much oil for a little car!

Right at 9 qts is what was on my invoice. I had the first one done by my mechanic. But from here on out I will be changing my own at half price.

The nice thing about my mechanic, is he gives me things like oil for cost, and just charges me labor. I can call him at 10am, and roll in there around noon (lunch), and he'll change my oil. I'm having it done this week. I'm going full synthetic and I'll run it for 10,000 miles, just like I do every car. When I pull the synth out after 10,000 miles, I'll have it tested. If its good, I'll go 12,000 miles, and step up from there. May actually see how well the oil life indicator does.

I don't have my manual here right now, but I thought I remembered reading in the quick start guide that you do the enter button trick, then in the regular manual, they tell you to do the gas pedal trick.

Sounds like the gas pedal is the right one.

When my sister and I both had a grand prix, I was driving 30 miles to work and she was driving two in town to work. Since the system uses more than just miles to give you a %, mine was about 7K and hers was about 3K.

I don't have my manual here right now, but I thought I remembered reading in the quick start guide that you do the enter button trick, then in the regular manual, they tell you to do the gas pedal trick.

Sounds like the gas pedal is the right one.

When my sister and I both had a grand prix, I was driving 30 miles to work and she was driving two in town to work. Since the system uses more than just miles to give you a %, mine was about 7K and hers was about 3K.

It's actually pretty comlicated. Number of starts, how long the engine runs, how hot the oil gets, what the load is, etc

A tidbit of info... http://autos.yahoo.com/articles/autos_content_landing_pages/586/the-3000-mile-oil-change-myth/;_ylc=X3oDMTE0cnVqb3Q4BF9TAzI3MTYxNDkEc2VjA2ZwLXRv ZGF5BHNsawMzMDAwLW9pbA--

I changed the oil on both of our G8’s after following the recommended break in procedure…Well, err…almost! My son took the GT to 120mph when under 500 miles before he realized it wasn't broken in, and can’t get any sleep over it ever since. LOL!

I gotta tell you though; that oil and every other oil a have ever changed on about a dozen new cars, was crappy! I would not even use that oil on a push mower if they gave it to me! LOL! The V-6 G8 had a noticeable knock on the first start of the day that disappeared after the first oil change.

I have never experienced any type of engine failure on any of my vehicles that had high or low mileage, including one I kept for 16 years and put 230k miles before I sold it. I just got tired of that one, I couldn’t wear it out! LOL!

I’ve used Mobil 1 on only one car, but cannot see the justification for normal driving. I can see it in racing or law enforcement since those engines may be required to idle\run for 8-12hrs straight. But at the end of the day after 3-5k miles, the condensation that builds up over night inside the oil pan has to be dumped. Yes, I know it’s supposed to burn off but…

Of course that’s just IMHO.

Oh yeah, I use Castrol GTX 5w30 but I suspect any good quality oil will do the trick as long as U stick to it and do it consistently.

Have fun and enjoy the G8, it’s a blast! LOL!

I still need to change my oil. It has less than 1000 miles.
The dealer installed Mobile One before selling it.

Would anyone recommend changing the oil as soon you get your new G8 ? Just because I wouldn't want to run that cheapo oil that the dealer puts in there. . . Any comments ?

Would anyone recommend changing the oil as soon you get your new G8 ? Just because I wouldn't want to run that cheap oil that the dealer puts in there. . . Any comments ?

The engine DOES need to wear in some and the cheaper oil can accomplish it faster, and economically it just makes more sense.

I know there are many schools of thought on this subject, some say the engine are already broken in at the factory, but why would the manufacturer(s) bother to recommend that U do?.

Moreover, in my personal experience i have seen a change in engine behavior in at least two new vehicles i bought, like better gas mileage as late as 50k-60k's.

Well, that's my story anyway, and I'm sticking to it!

Cheers! LOL!