How many people use the DIC to change there oil by and how many go still by just milage? How many people use a synthetic oil? When I have first owned any new vehicle I have always completed my first oil change at 1,000 miles just to get the initial manufacturing dirt and shavings out of the engine. Just wondering if it might make sence to drop the transmission oil early.

 

I use the DIC (this is my 2nd Chevy with this feature), and Mobil 1.

Transmission and 4wd gearbox on the mileage schedule. I don't use the 4wd very much, maybe twice a year.

 

I used Castrol Syntec 5w30 in my '00 Z-71 I just traded for my Silverado Hybrid. The truck had 135K on it. I changed to synthetic at 2500 miles the first time and then on the DIC thereafter and not one issue and the oil changed clean every time and never burned. I will do the same in this vehicle but the brand of oil is up in the air. The prius hybrid transmission was originally designed to be maintenance free but now they recommend changing the fluid at 100K. There is much less to wear in these EVT's than a conventional tranny but you have to suspect that they still get hot due to the MG's.

The grease in the 4WD goes stale from lack of use. Good idea to exercise it when you are not on dry pavement every couple of months...it will keep you from having an issue later.

 

I religiously change my oil in ALL my cars every 3000 miles period. I only use Mobil 1 synthetic or castrol synthetic (in one car) I change ALL my fluids in all cars every 2 years, trans, differential, brake fluid, power steering fluid, IOW ANY fluid that can be drained and refilled. Needless to say its overkill but if you buy one of my cars when I decide to sell it I am confident it wast treated correctly while I had it. My audi RS4 had the tiptronic and I took it in at its second birthday and told them to do the above and the dealer thought I was quite mad because they claim the trans in particular will go 100,000 miles on it fluid......no way would I rely on that. The tech at the audi dealer always asked (kidding) if he could have the oil he drained out of my car to use in his!

 

GM has never been a "preventive maintenance" manufacturer. Not like the Japanese cars. I wouldn't think of not doing the 15K/30K maintenance schedules on a Honda, Toyota, etc. but somehow I think most people have never taken their cars/trucks to GM dealerships for that type of service over the long haul. This will be my first. I did all the maintenance on my previous 2 GM products. But I bought the extended warranty on this one.

 

I changed it at 800 miles and then strictly by the DIC. I don't use synthetic on V6 or V8 engines unless they are boosted. I'm going to switch to 0W30 on this change (I bought the oil Sunday, just need to get it on the lift).
Having rebuilt a couple of autos and changed the tranny fluid hundreds of times when I worked at a gas station, I would never, ever, ever change the tranny fluid before 150,000 miles, unless it looked brown AND smelled bad on the dipstick. The worst thing you could do to the trans is break the transmission pan seal from the factory.
Now, I understand this trans is a new beast, but we have a trans temp gauge in the DIC, and my tranny never gets close to 200 degrees, well below the point where the trans fluid would start to break down. The cooling system on this trans is probably over-designed, so we benefit from GMs mistake (yes, I consider over-designing a mistake, I'm an engineer).
Time will tell, but at 35k miles and having gone through the Rocky Mountains twice and towed my boat a few times, the trans fluid looks like new and doesn't stink. I'll stick to my 150k rule-of-thumb unless we get evidence to the contrary.

 

Thanks for all the great comments. Jet 1 you maintain your vehicles like I maintain aircraft. As far as transmission fluid don't they just suck it out? Also do we have a transmission filter like what Allision put on the transmission for the Duramax?

 

You can change engine oil too soon. Factory fill has various friction and break in additives to aid the infancy of new engines. It also has extra flourescent dye for leak checking in the plant.

That said the OEM buys that oil by the rail car from the low cost supplier.

I find that 1500 to 2000 miles is the best to leave the factory fill in. Then a good synthetic from then on.

The trans is straight up mineral oil Dexron 6. You will pick up a little fuel economy with full synthetic. Good luck getting over 205 trans temp ever. Unless you drive it like you stole it over the hill at Bullhead City Az. With Mel's boat and more in tow. Have you seen the 5/8 oil cooler lines? The trans cooler is right behind the AC condensor. It is about half-and-half shared with the power electronics cooling. There is an old fashoned in-the-pan filter inside. You could use the drain plug and go straight to synthetic. No need to take the pan down for about 100,000 plus.

Transfer case is I believe Dex 6 as well.

Axles are full synthetic. You will want a 1000 miles or so before you tow at full 12,000 gross combined. My picture with the old Sea Ray and Escalade was 12,601 combined per Flying J scale. 2WD as shown.

 

I had the dealer look at what I thought was a coolant leak because the drips were pink in color. The didn't find anything. I became more descriptive and also found more drips (4 or 5) on the floor this morning so back to the dealer today. It turns out that they put these things together with a pink gasket cement that contains wax or parafen because it gets warm and melts, drips, and runs. When I should them, they laughed and said no one else every noticed it. Go figure.

 

being a pilot is why im obsessive! I don't know but I do know when they changed my trans wiring harness they didn't have the proper gaskets so i could assume from that a filter may have been involved as well, as they had to wait for parts to be shipped out. I call it cheap insurance whether its a GMC yukon or an L-39!