Engine Oil Timer and Dino vs. Synthetic

peterjford · Jun 24, 2015

I have a 2006 Suburban with the 5.3L engine. I noticed that there is an Engine Oil Timer you can view via the buttons on the steering wheel. Currently it is at ~47%. Is that accurate, or should I go by mileage? It currently has 67k miles and was planning to change it at 70k. Once I change the oil will it reset by itself or do I have to do that with some magic combination of button presses?

My last question is the Dino vs. Synthetic oil question. I don't want to start a debate on which is better, but does the 5.3L like one more that the other?

I know that if you ask that question with Jeep owners you will likely start a flame war. All Jeeps either leak oil, or are about to start leaking oil. I use synthetic in my XJ (Cherokee) because I only drive it about 4k miles a year so I change it every 6 months. So far I have been able to keep ahead of the oil leaks. My wife's Rav4 doesn't leak oil, but it does seem to burn it (or it's hiding it somewhere). I have been told by other Toyota owners that the 2.4l engine does better with dino oil and it won't burn it as fast and synthetic I am about to switch back from synthetic to dino on it to see if it helps. I just want to know if there is any preference for the 5.3L engine.

Thanks in advance,

Peter J. Ford

Bonecollector · Jun 25, 2015

To reset oil life you need to turn the key forward to on then step on the gas pedal 3 times all the way to the floor within 10 seconds, I just turn the key step all the way to the floor release, all the way to the floor release etc, nice and easy, it should reset the oil life

I run the regular white bottle of castrol 5w30 in both my trucks, 5.3 likes it, my brother runs the synthetic castrol in his 06 Silverado 5.3, his truck likes it too, I run wix filters on them, best filters for cost

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