# 2012 Cruise Eco first oil change and oil analysis



## Jim Frye (Mar 16, 2011)

Thanks, good information. Mods, make this a sticky maybe, so others can find and add their UOAs to it?


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## JayZee (Jan 17, 2013)

This is fantastic. Thanks for the data. Are you a spirited driver or more relaxed?

Sent from my DROID RAZR using AutoGuide.Com Free App


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## Bohdan (Apr 28, 2012)

Looks like I will be having the oil done at around the 8,000 range this is great to know.:eusa_clap:


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## Rocco611 (Jan 19, 2013)

JayZee said:


> This is fantastic. Thanks for the data. Are you a spirited driver or more relaxed?
> 
> Sent from my DROID RAZR using AutoGuide.Com Free App


I drive it like I stole it ! lol. It is fun to drive, the turbo is spooled up pretty often in town and in heavy traffic. I drive it pretty easy on long highway trips in an attempt to get the best fuel economy.


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## spaycace (Feb 9, 2012)

*oil analysis ... what's it telling me?*

So ... these are numbers from the original oil that came in the car new and analyzed after ~6,500 miles ... but what was the change to that oil from when it was new? I'm not sure what this sample is proving with the oil. I'll be sending in a sample to Blackstone soon, along with un-used oil so I can compare "new" oil to what's been running in the engine for awhile so I can see how often it will need to be changed, but of course, I change the filter at every sampling! 

I'm also sending a sample from the same oil to another lab so I can compare the 2 labs' findings and will post analysis reports (once I figure out how for sure).


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

Bohdan said:


> Looks like I will be having the oil done at around the 8,000 range this is great to know.:eusa_clap:


Not so fast...

Oil life is based on a large number of factors, including but not limited to:

1. Trip duration. Consistently longer trips will result in higher oil life. 
2. Oil temperature. Notice the original poster lives in Central CA. You live in PA. You will run your engine much colder than he will, and you will likely have many instances where you will make short trips that don't even allow the car to reach operating temperatures in the winter. 

Just because one person tests their oil and it is recommended for "X" miles, doesn't mean you will be safe to do the same. It is highly advised that if you wish to squeeze more life out of your oil, that you send a sample in for testing. Otherwise, I would not recommend going past 6,000 miles on the factory fill or 8,000 miles on full synthetic.


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

Nice report, and on the factory fill too!


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## Ru5ty (Jun 20, 2012)

i wonder if there are places that test oil here? ive looked online but cant find anything


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## spacedout (Dec 7, 2010)

As cheap as the factory fill dexos 1 synthetic blend is($29.95 at my dealer) there is no reason to go that long on changes. I have not even went 5,000miles on mine.

I drive around 20,000miles a year, so at 4,000mile interval that's 5 oil changes per year or $150. If you can't afford that you should not have a new car. 

Owners manual says to follow the oil life monitor or change once per year, under extreme conditions to change every 7500miles.


EDIT: I should also say in the winter months I don't even go 3,000miles, I just have it changed once every three months. I idle allot, drive tons of city stop & go miles & worst I drive allot when the car doesn't fully warm up.


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

spacedout said:


> As cheap as the factory fill dexos 1 synthetic blend is($29.95 at my dealer) there is no reason to go that long on changes. I have not even went 5,000miles on mine.
> 
> I drive around 20,000miles a year, so at 4,000mile interval that's 5 oil changes per year or $150. If you can't afford that you should not have a new car.
> 
> ...


If I changed oil on your schedule I'd be changing oil every 1.5 months. I'll go 3 months/8000 miles on a full synthetic, thanks. Then again most of my driving is straight highway that lets the oil spend a long time at temperature. 

You have a great point that oil changes do depend on individual driving conditions. Change more often if a lot of cold starts and city driving, extend out the changes if few cold starts and mostly highway driving.

I thought normal conditions was 1x/year or at 25% oil life remaining. Please correct me if I'm wrong.


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## Rocco611 (Jan 19, 2013)

spaycace said:


> So ... these are numbers from the original oil that came in the car new and analyzed after ~6,500 miles ... but what was the change to that oil from when it was new? I'm not sure what this sample is proving with the oil. I'll be sending in a sample to Blackstone soon, along with un-used oil so I can compare "new" oil to what's been running in the engine for awhile so I can see how often it will need to be changed, but of course, I change the filter at every sampling!
> 
> I'm also sending a sample from the same oil to another lab so I can compare the 2 labs' findings and will post analysis reports (once I figure out how for sure).



sounds like quite an expense (testing two samples, then two labs) , but I see where you are coming from. see how good the oil is to begin with and see how much of the good stuff in the oil gets used up. this would tell you if the brand of oil you are using is capable of protecting your engine, then verify it at the end of the service interval. then check to see if there is consistancy between the labs. I looking forward to seeing your results.
I really just wanted to see if the factory oil would make it to the end of the manufacturers service interval and I also wanted to see how much metal was suspended in the oil during break in. I actually had planned on running it to around 8 to 10k as the service reminder said I had 30% oil life left. The oil was looking pretty dark so I decided I better change it. 
the original oil I assume meets the dexos1 standard, the oil I put it is the partsplus brand full synthetic that exceeds the dexos1 standard. I think I will be safe running the partsplus oil to 8k or beyond. I run partsplus dino oil in my harley to 5k, 2k over the reccomended change interval and it tests fine. Harley Davidson doesnt even have a standard for their oil other than "buy ours" . I put 15k on my Roadglide last year , if I had bought "Harley Davidson" oil and changed it every 3k it would have been quite an expense. I'm not into oil testing as much as I am into saving money. when oil testing can save money its a I think it is a great tool. 


As XtremeRevolution points out every situation if different and even mine will change as I get into the summer months. I purchased the car in October and its now January , pretty mild tempuratures. when summer gets here we have 100 plus days for weeks at a time. to be safe its best to test your oil if you plan on squeezing those last miles out of it.


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

I wouldn't go much past 8k miles, even on full synthetic. The results I had from a UOA on Quaker State Ultimate Durability 5w-30 (dexos1 approved) at 9200 miles on the sample were not good. The results on the same oil at 7k miles on the sample were pretty good. So we recommend changing with full syn about 7000-8000 miles or 25% on the OLM, whichever is first.


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## NYCruze2012 (Jan 16, 2012)

I have been using Mobil 1 and always change my oil at 30% on the OLM. This always works out right around 7000 miles for me. My commute is 150 miles/day. To work the first 50 miles is all highway, then the last 25 is local roads and vice versa on the return trip home. I'm not sure if I want to go over 7000, maybe even pushing it to 7500. Also I should note that I am one of those people who believe religiously in the 3000 miles on conventional dino oil. That is the era that I grew up in and always used Pennzoil. This is the first car that I've ever used synthetic on and still even that makes me very nervous to go that much mileage. My dealership charges $59.95 for Dexos1 and $79.95 for Mobil1 full synthetic. 

Sent from my Telefunken U47 Electronic Response Unit


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## Yates (Aug 24, 2012)

I changed my factory oil at 3500 mi and felt I was wasting good oil. I still feel the 1.4 is a tiny engine pulling a decent size load so I will probably never exceed the 5000 mi oil change that I have used on other rides over the years. Probably still wasting oil but the oil change only costs me $23.00 so at least I know there is good engine protection there.


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## Erastimus (Feb 9, 2012)

I am a retired petroleum engineer and have a second degree in computer science, so I can offer some advice. First, a question. (My wife's basic Cruze has the normally aspirated 1.8 liter Opel engine, so I don't know much about the Eco engine.) My daughter's VW EOS 2.0T engine has a coolant jacket that surrounds the turbo-charger bearing housing to keep the temperature of the engine oil that is routed to the bearing low as it does its job to lubricate the bearing. Also, at engine shutdown, some valves on the cooling system open up and a small pump starts - to set up a reverse coolant flow across the bearing housing for 5 minutes. This prevents the notorious "heat soak" on the little bit of oil that remains in the bearing housing at shutdown. This heat soak is what "cokes" the oil on the surface of the steel balls in the bearing. Over time, the flakes of coke work off the balls and contaminate the oil in the crankcase. This is why, before synthetic oils and without a coolant jacket on the turbo bearing housing, manufacturers always recommended frequent oil changes on turbo cars. So, my question is - does the turbo on the Cruze Eco engine have a coolant jacket? And better yet the reverse coolant flow circuit at engine shutdown?? If so, see my final comment below.

Next, I put on my computer science hat and would tell you to trust the algorithms that the teams of automotive engineers and their computer science/programming brothers on staff at GM have developed for the oil life monitoring system. Your Cruze has a computer system that is 100 times more powerful and sophisticated than the computers used for the moon landing shots. 

So, if your turbo has the above cooling system on the bearing jacket and you can bring yourself around to trusting the oil life monitor, change your oil when the monitor says to, keeping in mind that with mucho highway driving and little around town driving, the oil change light might not come on for 8000 miles. We all have to do our part to reduce our use of petroleum products in responsible ways and abandoning the long ago outdated 3000 mile oil change interval touted by our fathers and Jiffy Lube (still today), is a good thing for our planet.


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## DMC (Oct 22, 2012)

Erastimus said:


> I am a retired petroleum engineer and have a second degree in computer science, so I can offer some advice. First, a question. (My wife's basic Cruze has the normally aspirated 1.8 liter Opel engine, so I don't know much about the Eco engine.) My daughter's VW EOS 2.0T engine has a coolant jacket that surrounds the turbo-charger bearing housing to keep the temperature of the engine oil that is routed to the bearing low as it does its job to lubricate the bearing. Also, at engine shutdown, some valves on the cooling system open up and a small pump starts - to set up a reverse coolant flow across the bearing housing for 5 minutes. This prevents the notorious "heat soak" on the little bit of oil that remains in the bearing housing at shutdown. This heat soak is what "cokes" the oil on the surface of the steel balls in the bearing. Over time, the flakes of coke work off the balls and contaminate the oil in the crankcase. This is why, before synthetic oils and without a coolant jacket on the turbo bearing housing, manufacturers always recommended frequent oil changes on turbo cars. So, my question is - does the turbo on the Cruze Eco engine have a coolant jacket? And better yet the reverse coolant flow circuit at engine shutdown?? If so, see my final comment below.


The turbo is water-cooled, and there is cooling after shutdown - but there is not an electric pump to circulate coolant. I believe the PCM opens a valve or two somewhere to allow coolant to circulate using a thermo-siphon effect (there is a thread here somewhere that confirms that).


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## spacedout (Dec 7, 2010)

My dealer still puts the 3month 3,000mile oil change tag on the windshield. I'm sure some still follow that, I just laugh every time I see it.


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## NYCruze2012 (Jan 16, 2012)

spacedout said:


> My dealer still puts the 3month 3,000mile oil change tag on the windshield. I'm sure some still follow that, I just laugh every time I see it.


 As you said I seem to get that same sticker in my car as well but never understood why it was always wrong. 

Sent from my Telefunken U47 Electronic Response Unit


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

spacedout said:


> My dealer still puts the 3month 3,000mile oil change tag on the windshield. I'm sure some still follow that, I just laugh every time I see it.


I take mine out as soon as I get in to leave. I keep asking why they do that and the answer is that it's still in the manual to do this, even though they know the car can go a lot further.


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## Mick (Dec 31, 2011)

spacedout said:


> My dealer still puts the 3month 3,000mile oil change tag on the windshield. I'm sure some still follow that, I just laugh every time I see it.


That's only when it's coming out of your pocket. I get mine for free and they put something like 6000 miles.


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## DrVette (Dec 6, 2011)

What is the $cost of the oil analysis?


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

DrVette said:


> What is the $cost of the oil analysis?


$25 at Blackstone labs.

FWIW, after 8,000 (well, 7953) miles on Mobil-1 Extended Perfomance, they said my oil was good to go for at least another 2,000 miles.


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## DrVette (Dec 6, 2011)

Is Mobil-1 Ext. Performance same lifespan as Mobil-1 5w-30 with the Dexos1 spec?

$25 is a fair price, thanks.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

DrVette said:


> Is Mobil-1 Ext. Performance same life as Mobil-1 5w-30 ?


No. It's supposed to be good "up to 15,000 mile oil changes". I would never run it that long in a turbo motor. 

I used to change regular Mobil-1 at 7,500 miles in a 2.3 turbocharged Volvo I5. The oil analysis on that said that around 7000-8000 miles was the optimal change interval on that engine for how I drove. 

Not that that means anything compared to the Cruze's motor, but it was also a small, hard-working engine.


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## spacedout (Dec 7, 2010)

Mick said:


> That's only when it's coming out of your pocket. I get mine for free and they put something like 6000 miles.


I got a bunch of free oil changes as well(1 year or 15,000miles worth), They always put the 3month/3,000mile stickers on my car. 

Just had mine changed when I had the car in for antifreeze smell, was just shy of 3months & only about 2500miles. Being winter I idle a ton more than normal & also drive quite a few short trips without fully warming the car. I figured they already had the car so why waste my time coming back sometime in the next month? Still was $30 for the dexos change, totally worth it if you ask me.


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

DrVette said:


> Is Mobil-1 Ext. Performance same lifespan as Mobil-1 5w-30 with the Dexos1 spec?
> 
> $25 is a fair price, thanks.


Basically. It might provide more of a buffer just in case circumstances don't let the oil get changed on schedule.


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