ok my buddy bought a new 06 chevy silverado 2wd 4.3L V6 and you apparently only supposed to change the oil when the light comes on. the truck had 55 miles on it when he bought it. it now has about 25000 and i advised him to change the oil every 3000 he uses regular valvoline all climate 5w30 oil and the CHANGE ENGINE OIL light didnt come on till the truck hit 13500. so does this mean that chevy only wants the oil to be changed every 13000? to me this system seems very flawed and it seems like they will end up putting engines in vehicles very prematuraly because there is not a regular dino oil on the market that i would trust for 13000 miles...

 

Well the only suggestion I can offer is this. Idiot lights are for idiots.

Tell him to change his oil as often as he feels comfortable, and sell it in 5 years.

 

lol change it when your suppose to chevs must not last long for that reason dummys waiting for the oil light to come on

 

The GM Oil Minder system actually works fairly well- it takes into account start cycles, mileage driven, engine temperature when being driven, etc. and tells you when to change the oil. Does your friend drive a lot at steady speeds on the highway? If so, that could be why it didn't come on till 13,500 miles as highway driving isn't hard on oil at all.
When I had my Chevy(s) the change oil message usually appeared around 4500-5000 miles in normal city/highway driving, which is about where most companies, including Ford, tell you to change it now days. As I recall the owner's manual also said to change the oil at least annually whether the light comes on or not.

If it were my truck I'd talk to the dealer's service dept. and see what they think. While I wouldn't be changing my oil arbitrarily at 3000 miles, I wouldn't be going 13000+ miles on it either.
Could be the engine computer that controls the Oil Minder system needs a reflash or something...

 

In order to reset the oil monitor, you have to push the accelerator peddle 3 times with the ignition in the on position, but not running.

The oil life monitor can only go 10k miles before the light comes on. So odds are, someone forgot to reset the monitor on the last oil change or 2.

The engine oil life monitor is actually set conservatively, as oil tests have proven that the oil is not even close to being worn out even at the maximum 10k mile mark. That is what we go buy for oil changes, but common sence has to apply. Sometimes little kids or even adults can get into the vehicle and unknowingly reset the engine oil life monitor without knowing it. ex: if you have the radio on, and are tapping your foot to the music and hit the peddle.

 

I'd sell it in five years and buy a F150