The video states that the OLM takes engine revolutions and oil temperature (High) into account. Nowhere do I read (hear)that short trip winter driving with LOW oil temperatures is also fed into the signal.
The BMW oil monitor also records the number of starts, for instance.
With those 2 signals, drivers in Southrmn California would be reasonably well proteted, but Aunt Minnie in Minnesota who parks outside could sludge up her engine before the minitor tells her to change oil.
As a working mechanic with 36 years experience, I would like to ask each individual engineer “what stupid design was yours?”
As far as gas filler necks. Put one on each side of the vehicle.
It would be interesting to see what percentage these OLM displays indicated on a number of different cars at the 3-5000 mile distance where many change their oil.
It seems to me that 15 or 20 years ago, there was an adapter for a canister that used a toilet paper roll for an oil filter. I haven’t seen this advertised for quite a while, so I assume it didn’t work out very well.
Perhaps one could use colored toilet paper to give an interesting tint to the oil if this accessory were added to the engine.
That was the FRANZ oil filter. It claimed you never had to change your oil. All you had to do was change the roll of toilet paper every 1000 miles and then add 1 quart of oil, the size of the canister. You were really changing your oil every 4000 miles if the crankcase was that size!
If the FRANZ oil filter had used corn cobs instead of toilet paper, there might have been a real savings.
A number of posters did compare the 3000 or 5000 miles with what the monitor said. In all cases there was considerable “remaining oil life” left at that time. One poster, I believe, went to 7000 miles to get to the 10% remaining oil life. The manufacturer printing the owner’s manual has to anticipate a worst case scenario for oil contamination, hence the reserve capacity in most cases.
Wasn’t it the filler tube that was implicated in a lot of these? Ford changed the design to locate it on the side of the car after this debacle.
Perhaps it could be summed up that it would be nicer if people weren’t aholes about it when filling up, and if people were more considerate of others in general. If a station is that full, I go to another one. I don’t let my car get lower than 1/4 tank, so I can pick and choose.
Standardizing the side the fill is on wouldn’t keep people from driving at the ‘wrong’ set of pumps from the other side. You’d have to put lanes in and one-way traffic, then you’d have to provide a way for people to get out if they filled up faster than the person in front of them, unless you only had one pump per lane.
Re. Docnick, I always put a locking cap on my cars that had a filler in the center. It was just the cap that locked, not the little door.
So if you wanted a higher quality filter, you just used Charmin instead of the cheap grocery store brand? My filter is two-ply and has aloe for softening 
Upon reading your question a second time, I realize that your complaint about the oil being at 5.5 quarts was because it wasn’t an even multiple, rather than the amount of oil in the pan. There are many reasons why this would be so, but all of them are either packaging issues or a mistake (or change) in the original capacity calculations. It could result from a different oil filter, a different oil pump, a change in the length of oil lines, the addition of an oil cooler because the engine was getting too hot, or a change in the baffling or size of the pan. Often, attempts to standardize components across product lines will result in this type of issue. It’s a good idea to carry a little extra oil in your trunk anyway, so a half a quart is better than none. Autos are complex to design, even though we’ve done it so many times. After the body design, drive train, cockpit, and suspension have been frozen, sometimes all that’s left is a little space here or there for the guys to get everything in.
Thats why they need to design the body around the engine, and not vice versa.
The Pinto design was pretty bad though -- the thing basically was using the rear bumper as the wall of the gas tank, combined with a fuel gauge system that could spark. This isn't some "where does it end?" thing like expecting a normal gas tank to be replaced with a racing fuel cell, it was really not a safe design. There weren't more fatalities just because people don't get rear ended all that often. Jeep? Well, SUVs just do not have the same safety standards as cars and people buying them should know this. Also I would guess there've been way more Jeeps sold the last 11 years than the Pintos with the design flaw.
Anyway.... this is pretty irrelevant to the current question. I think the OLM (Oil Life Monitoring) system is quite safe to follow. It accounts for short stops and cold starts that may cause condensation and junk to build up in the oil, it accounts for high engine load, high temperature, etc. that may "burn out" the oil faster than normal. I do not think it's a matter of GM, Mercedes, etc. trading off engine life for being able to claim fewer oil changes at all, between "tighter" engines, fuel injection, and PCV (Positive Crankcase Ventilation, which draws what "fumes" there are out of the crankcase and oil -- this has been around since the 60's though), and to a lesser extent better oils, oil can last far longer than it did back in the day. If you do have doubts look at your oil condition, I bet you will find it looks good. I can tell you, on my 1972 Fleetwood I would change at 3000 miles, the oil would look good and stay filled up to about 2000 miles, at about 2500 or so it'd be pretty dark and start burning it, by 3000 it was down a quart. My current car (2000 Buick Regal with the 3.8L) at 5000 the oil still looks squeaky clean, and I let it get to 8000 once or twice (extensive highway miles) and it was just starting to darken.Triedaq, “Just a little deuce coupe with a flathead mill”, huh?
Now we are talking about “real” cars.
Triedaq
No one hates bad engineering more than I do. But all engineering is a continuous compromise. We all know the “best” engine, “best” suspension, etc., but a car design is ruled by regulations (safety, EPA, DOT—a lot more of them than anyone thinks), finance, marketing, and litigation, THEN engineering. What separates good engineers from mediocrities is the ability to judiciously combine 15000 parts that weren’t his first choice into a good vehicle.
When I was growing up an engineer was respected and the car companies were run by people with engineering backgrounds, or at least production knowledge. Japanese companies still are. I quit auto engineering in 2000 as a corporate engineering manager because I was fed up with car companies who won’t allow the engineers to build good cars anymore. Every recall is the result of someone in engineering being over-ruled by an executive who knows nothing about cars or engineering.
Still, I bet not one person in a hundred can calculate the oil capacity of any engine, given the number of components involved.
Nowadays, I’m in aviation and all I hear are executives crying about the shortage of new engineers. Why would anyone (in the U.S.) choose engineering as a career?
ONe last word on the subject. The most successful country in the world right now is China. The Politburo that rules China has nine members, eight of whom are engineers. Cheers.
I want to see the results of compression tests and other analyses of the engine internals after 300K miles using OLM vs. something like a 4-5K mile change interval. I just happen to think that engineers think in terms of the first 100K miles - not the couple 100K miles that could come after that. There’s a difference between good enough for X and ideal for maximum longevity.
I will also admit to not being familiar with the “billions of iterations” of whatever database is referred to. Perhaps it can be clearly demonstrated that a 300K mile engine on an OLM and a 300K mile engine on 4-5K changes are identical. I tend to doubt it. I live in a disposable culture where the 2nd and 3rd hundred K are not really seriously thought about. I just don’t go along with it and do think about 300K or more rather than 100K.
[i]"Have you ever heard of a single engine failure where the owner had ALWAYS replaced the oil and filter when the OLM told them to change it, while using the recommended oil type, on a vehicle that hasn’t had modifications done to it?
Ever?
I’m waiting. "[/i]
All I can think of right now is the scene from the movie The Big Lebowski (Jeff Bridges, John Goodman). His completely beat up old 70-something Duster (I think) gets stolen and taken out for a joy ride. Its recovered by police & when Lebowski (Bridges) goes to pick it up he asks the cop, in an exasperated tone, “man, you got any promising leads?.” At which point the cop bust up laughing and, making fun of him assures him that they added extra detectives who are working in shifts - because it is so crucial to arrest the joy rider in his complete crap old car.
The reason it comes to mind is that this is the image I have of the mechanic standing over the car proclaiming the engine on its last legs. Get me the lab on the phone boys! We need an immediate engine autopsy to verify the cause of death! We also need a subpoena for all of those maintenance records!
Seriously. I lost an engine once. I said, “what happened?” The guy shrugged and said it seemed like something let go on bottom end. It went to the scrap yard. I don’t think they did the autopsy there either.
So what I’m wondering is where, exactly, one would get such information if it happened to be true.
Aside from that, I am one of those who does not like the OLM. But I don’t like it, not b/c I think it will lead to some catastrophic failure, but b/c I think it is not as good at keeping down wear & tear as a more frequent (4-5K) change interval.
I quit auto engineering in 2000 as a corporate engineering manager because I was fed up with car companies who won’t allow the engineers to build good cars anymore.
Reminds me about the Miata’s story. The original engineering team threatened to quit if corporate Mazda allowed to accountants to budget for a front wheel drive project.
Why would anyone (in the U.S.) choose engineering as a career?
One generation of engineers passing down their experience to another and some how social science got in the way. Young children are told what engineers CAN do without having their hands tied behind their back. UCLA is now charging higher tuition for engineering students, instilling the sense that it is a highly coveted career. I don’t think engineers are necessarily smarter, just more masochistic in selecting a pursue in life.
What got Ford in trouble were the internal memo’s that surfaced…
Ford knew about the potential problem…and basically said that it would cheaper to defend ourselves against lawsuits from people who were killed then to change the design.
Have companies changed their attitude since the Ford/Pinto debacle?? Maybe/Maybe Not.
But what has changed is the way internal communication is handled within the company. All communications of this nature are through their lawyers. If a VP discovers a problem like this they communicate it through the companies lawyers to senior management. And senior management responds through the company lawyers also. That way their communication can never be discovered by a defense lawyer since that communication is then considered privileged.