First Oil Change
 

I just finished the first oil change on my Z51 at 1,200 miles. This is my first dry sump vehicle but it went really smooth just following the procedure outlined in the manual. I purchased a set of Race Ramps RR-XT-2 two piece 67-inch service ramps to get the car up in the air. I measured using the yardstick method outlined on their website and it looked like I would have about an inch to spare but they just barely cleared. The inner edge of the flexible air dams just touched the ramp surface but they did clear. Any mods lowering the car and you would need the extenders but the 67 inch ones work saving 100 bucks or so if you are at stock height.

http://www.bmdmax.com/Stingray/Stingrayoil1.jpg

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The drain procedure was pretty simple, the car was warmed up so the oil drained very quickly. The drain plugs were 15MM and easy to deal with but the rear plug was easier to get to using a ratcheting box end versus a ratchet and socket.

http://www.bmdmax.com/Stingray/Stingrayoil11.jpg

http://www.bmdmax.com/Stingray/Stingrayoil17.jpg

My car came with the PF64 filter from the factory. I replaced it with the UPF48R which was dimensionally identical.

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Here is a shot of the oil filter head:

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There is very little hand clearance when reinstalling the oil filter so I did use a rubber strap wrench for the final tightening to ensure it was properly tightened.

http://www.bmdmax.com/Stingray/Stingrayoil28.jpg

I did a drain, flush and fill of the Dexcool for the Duramax too while waiting on the oil to drain out of the Vette. :)

http://www.bmdmax.com/Stingray/Stingrayoil21.jpg

All in all a pretty easy job once you get the car up in the air. I was glad to get that first change in to dump out any break in wear particles etc. The oil looked pretty good with nothing evident of excessive wear and I did save the first filter for inspection if anything ever comes up wrong with the engine. :w00t:

Good information, good pictures, beautiful car

Changed my base car yesterday at 5000 miles
Used std mobil 1 - about $35 at Advance Auto Parts
Used most of a quart the night before pre-filling/soaking the Mobil 1 M-113 filter
Drained, filter installed and took 6 .1 quarts to bring it to 90% of hash marks on stick.

http://www.bmdmax.com/Stingray/Stingrayoil11.jpg

Is the drain bolt just the front or the side too? I'm going to do an oil change to 5w50 this weekend and came across this thread hoping to learn more about the c7 oil change.

Also how is a dry sump oil change different from a regular oil change?

Thanks in advance, and great post. It's exactly what I needed to build confidence to do the oil change myself.

Great photos, thanks for posting them. Beautiful car too. I have a question, why are you guys changing your own oil instead of using the Chevrolet 2 year scheduled maintenance program where Chevy does it for free up to 2 years or 25000 miles? I prefer to change my own oil but since they have that program thats what i was going to do. Some insight on this would be appreciated. thanks

I assume, on the dry sump Z-51, one drain plug is for the small amount of oil in the sump, and the other is for the oil tank?

They don't want the free dents you get at the dealer, the conventional oil you often get at the dealer, sometimes they don't even change the filter, and they don't want to spend hours waiting for their car for a 30 minute job.

Exactly!! Don't forget the overfill issue too!

Yep, correct.

The dry sump car has two plugs versus just one drain plug for the standard oil pan. Just look it up in the owners manual as it will lay out the procedure for you.

Yes, and probably more reasons that I haven't even thought about.

If I use my preferred oil and filter and then have some type of engine issue will GM stand behind their warranty or balk on a fix because I didn't follow scheduled maintenance?

GM does not check if you've been naughty or nice when something breaks, unless it looks as if the oil is completely dirty or low level. They are not looking to screw you, in fact the dealer loves the work and is the approver of the fix. Changing more than the sched will never hurt you. Just keep your recepts of when you changed....

Hi guys. Just changed my first oil and filter at 1200 miles. Question: How do I reset the computer oil life to 100%? Keep saying 82%.