Re: Oil Life
 

BPella, why do you use the heavier weight oils as opposed to 5W-30 or 10W-30 that is recommended for the 3800 engines. Please don't take this as criticism because you get over 150K out of you engines using your methods.

I can't answer for him.. but can speculate that its due to older engine tend to obviously have more wear, thus a heavier oil (thicker) would help seal the gaps from all the wear from years better and tend to cling on longer then thinner oil.

To my knowledge the # before W means the "weight".. which determines how thick the oil is in normal temp or cold.. and the last # 30 or 40 determines something along the line of viscocity and thickness at high temp ( or normal operating temp that the standard has set forth )

I change my every 2000 miles. I usually use 10w30 napa oil and a carquest filter.

plus another good thing about having your car up on a lift that often is you will most likely notice leaks or problems that much earlier.

So yep....thats LOF every 2000 miles

Why heavy Weight?
 

Drifter was partially correct, the heaver weight oil tends to leak less. But the main reason for the heavy oil is I live in Eastern Georgia. With temps in the 95+ all summer and me driving home in the highest heat and heavy traffic, I decided to run the higher viscosity oil. I have never added a oil cooler to any vehicle to help with the cooling so I just made this a habit. If I were up north, I would run a 10W-30 or 10W-40 since the temps are not as extreme.