Hi please help me decide on the brand and type of oil to use for all my future oil changes
1. What kind of vehicle you have
2003 Cadillac CTS 3.2L V6
2. What your owner's manual says
- Weight
5W-30 +60F (+16C) and colder
10W-30 0F (-18C) and warmer
- Certification
API - Starburst symbol
- Change intervals
The car is equipped with GM Oil Life System that calculated when to changed oil and filter based many different parameters. (It displays Engine Oil Life %)
3. Where you live
Vancouver, BC, Canada. the temps here never gets below 0F (-18C)
4. How you drive (easy? hard? fast? slow?)
pretty easy and slow most of the time, under 2500PRM
flooring it only once in a while.
5. What your daily drive is like (short trips? long trips? city? highway?)
I don't drive daily, when I do drive it's in City with heavy traffic, medium trips, sometimes long trips. Average 300mi/month (500km/month)
6. Whether your car has any known problems
165,000mi (255,000km) on the engine, changed the timing belt, water pump, fixed clogged PCV, replaced lots of seals. Fix pretty much every problem it had. Only thing I'm not sure about is oil pan seal and rear main seal, might be leaking slightly because oil pan is dirty but not dripping on the ground. I bought the car used with high mileage and have no idea what the previous owner might have used for oil
I do all the work myself, including oil changes, so the price or oil changing intervals are not really an issue.
my priorities are
1. Don't want to blow anymore seals
2. minimize engine wear
1. What kind of vehicle you have
2003 Cadillac CTS 3.2L V6
2. What your owner's manual says
- Weight
5W-30 +60F (+16C) and colder
10W-30 0F (-18C) and warmer
- Certification
API - Starburst symbol
- Change intervals
The car is equipped with GM Oil Life System that calculated when to changed oil and filter based many different parameters. (It displays Engine Oil Life %)
3. Where you live
Vancouver, BC, Canada. the temps here never gets below 0F (-18C)
4. How you drive (easy? hard? fast? slow?)
pretty easy and slow most of the time, under 2500PRM
flooring it only once in a while.
5. What your daily drive is like (short trips? long trips? city? highway?)
I don't drive daily, when I do drive it's in City with heavy traffic, medium trips, sometimes long trips. Average 300mi/month (500km/month)
6. Whether your car has any known problems
165,000mi (255,000km) on the engine, changed the timing belt, water pump, fixed clogged PCV, replaced lots of seals. Fix pretty much every problem it had. Only thing I'm not sure about is oil pan seal and rear main seal, might be leaking slightly because oil pan is dirty but not dripping on the ground. I bought the car used with high mileage and have no idea what the previous owner might have used for oil
I do all the work myself, including oil changes, so the price or oil changing intervals are not really an issue.
my priorities are
1. Don't want to blow anymore seals
2. minimize engine wear
Last edited: