Donna, teh only thing I can add to the posts is to recommend changing the oil every 5000 miles regardlessof the oil monitor and to check it’s level regularly, but I do want to commend you for reading your owner’s manual and for monitoring your engine’s needs. If more people did that, there’d be a lot less need for us too be advising people about fried engines.
I tip my hat to you.
I will go against the crowd and suggest that you continue to use the OLM and change the oil ASAP when it reaches 20%. We’ve used the OLM in our Olds for 9 years and 130,000 miles and the car doesn’t burn oil yet. The car typically goes 7500 miles between oil changes.
But I will agree with the crowd that you should check the oil level every couple of weeks, and the tire pressure too. Do it on a Saturday or Sunday morning before you go anywhere.
Yeah, you’re right. Acura went from 80 to 70 in 500 miles… I don’t think our 08 did that.
In the dead of winter and short trips(majority <5 miles) in drop off lines for preschool I have dropped 10% in 500 miles. The previous summer on same oil going 1500 miles over two weeks of vacation driving it did not drop 10%. It finally did after 2000 miles.
I think it is far more accurate telling of likely oil condition than an arbitrary interval picked by folks like 5000 miles. I will stick with it.
Please note if you don’t drive a lot it does not know calendar time only running time. Honda/Acura recommeds a max of one year between oil changes.
I couldn’t put my finger on what was bothering me about these oil-life gauges until thinking about it a bit more:
Clearly these things take driving conditions into account when deciding you can drive 6000 miles between oil changes if you only do highway driving.
Local driving like you stole it may cause it to suggest to change the oil every 3000 miles. Like I said in my first post, the thing doesn’t have a inorganic analyzer built in - it does it by knowing about your driving conditions. Okay, fine.
This is what bothers me: How does that gauge adjust for dropping an acceptable amount, like a quart of oil over 3000 miles? Some cars drop less - some drop none. It is a variable it does not know about.
Say you only drive calmly and only drive highway miles. That thing could very well suggest you go for 6000 miles between oil changes.
That means you and your calm self may have dropped two quarts by the time you’re ready for an oil change. It has lulled you into a false sense of security.
After all, the oil light doesn’t really come on after one quart low. It may signal you at two quarts low but that’s probably too late.
Even with just one quart low, how does that algorithm determine that you can still go 6000 miles? Clearly the car wears differently with less oil in because that lesser amount of oil ages quicker.
I knew there was something that bothered me about this method but ^that’s it.
There’s no substitute for checking your own oil.
The owners manual for the vehicles that have these systems still say to check the oil. These are not intended to be a substitute for checking oil.
Well, that’s good because that thing’s guestimate is off by half an axle handle under the right conditions.
It is a little like putting a mirror on your car that has the blurb “Objects in mirror are closer than they appear” and then telling people that it isn’t a substitute for turning their heads to look behind them.
Why put a ‘mission critical’ feature on a car that you can’t rely on?
Also, I bet people still won’t check, though.
Why put a 'mission critical' feature on a car that you can't rely on?
In what way, shape, or form is an OLM even remotely “mission critical?”
It’s more a “nice to have” doo-dad that is intended as an aid to maintenance…so “optional” that there’s no way I’d pay to repair a malfunctioning one.
It certainly doen’t “ground” the car if malfunctioning, or make it manifestly unsafe to operate (i.e. the definition of “mission critical.”)
“Also, I bet people still won’t check, though.”
People that check their oil level will continue to do so, and people that do not check their oil level will continue not doing it.
The auto companies compared recorded engine data and compared it to real oil life measurements. By doing so, they discovered the appropriate parameters to monitor and how they related to engine oil life. This took years of research, and started for GM in the 1980s. They deployed it slowly, and now it is available on most, if not all, GM cars in the US. I don’t have any problem using it. When my daughter bought her 2012 Cruze LS, I discussed it with the salesman. He agreed that changing it when the remaining oil life is less than 20% is advisable, rather than waiting for 0%. IIRC, that is also what the owner’s manual said.
Okay, ‘mission critical’ is perhaps a bit strong - you’re right.
It isn’t a steering wheel or brake pedal, after all, but if you rely on this thing to decide when to change your oil, you’re likely the person too lazy to check your oil.
Many people are. They’ll get it changed so what’s the point of adding any, in their mind. A gadget like this lulls you into thinking all is fine. Your dash says your oil is still 60% good, after all.
So if you drop oil by the rate we all agree seems to be normal (1 qt every 3K) and you don’t check it, it may leave you stranded or cause it to do damage over time.
Just my opinion, perhaps, but if it isn’t something you can rely on and have to verify, there’s no point in having it.
My Acura does warn about low oil level. I have not got a clue on how this works. When my battery was low/weak it was one of many errant warning messages my car gave me. Thankfully a $100 battery solved it my electrical nightmare I thought I bought.
Well lo and behold, my Acura jumps down at 10% increments. You’d think they could have figured this out. Never realized it before.
my 2010 honda civic if i go by the guage on the dash it takes about 7000 miles to go to zero in 10% increments