2007 Cadillac Escalade C&D Long Term Review

[Jett Rink]

There is another thread in this section focusing on the long oil change intervals observed in the Car and Driver long term test of a BMW. If you check out the November 2007 issue, they evaluated the Cadillac Escalade. Here is the part related to oil:

We had a mystifying oil-change experience. The service intervals are determined electronically. The first alert came in mid-summer at 9,800 miles. The next came at 17,600 miles, and then, oddly, the third service wasn’t signaled until 18,700 miles later, at 36,200. We suspect the SUV’s electronics somehow got reset out of order. GM says an 18,700-mile gap between oil changes is “possible but not likely.”

First OCI was 9,800 miles
Second OCI was 7,800 miles
Third OIC was 18,700 miles
They mention doing a lot of towing in this test, too.

I’m assuming this uses the standard GM oil life monitoring system. It sounds like something went wrong here.

 

[Camu Mahubah]

Is the reset set by pushing the gas pedal to the floor? Somehow this Escalade was being accidentally reset.

 

[wapacz]

All recent ones I have seen have been reset on the steering wheel. I can see someone resetting it by accident and not telling any one thought. Who wants to be the guy that messed up a test. Thought this is contingent on them not looking at the oil life until it comes up saying that an oil change is needed.

 

[GMBoy]

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All recent ones I have seen have been reset on the steering wheel. I can see someone resetting it by accident and not telling any one thought. Who wants to be the guy that messed up a test. Thought this is contingent on them not looking at the oil life until it comes up saying that an oil change is needed.

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BINGO!

I read the same article and immediatley figured that this is what happened. Just as an FYI - all Escalades (and Tahoes/Yukons/Suburbans) leave our plant with 99% on the oil life monitor. I've been checking them - must be a BITOG sickness

 

[MrCritical]

If they have steering wheel radio controls they reset on the steering wheel. I think someone's playing with the reset.

Are they driving till the oil life monitor says "0"?

 

[01rangerxl]

What happens to these long term test vehicles after the fact? Do dealers get them and resell them, or does the manufacturer take them back and destroy them/put them back in the test rotation? It would be interesting to see how they hold up many years afterwards, assuming they are not destroyed. They probably have the absolute worst break in periods of any vehicle, not to mention things like the reset OLM happening.

 

[GMBoy]

Not sure about all vehicles, but I know for a fact that most go to auction.

 

[GMBoy]

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If they have steering wheel radio controls they reset on the steering wheel. I think someone's playing with the reset.

Are they driving till the oil life monitor says "0"?

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On the GMT900 trucks the oil reset and other trip functions are not on the steering wheel, but on the dash. But, they work like the other system so it's easy to reset by accident.

 

[bdcardinal]

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What happens to these long term test vehicles after the fact?

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i was reading an article about the team that ran Volvo S60Rs in the Speed World Challenge series. they got a couple cars from volvo and they all had receipts and business cards from magazine writers in them.

 

[Jett Rink]

Thanks for the insight, GM gurus. So you are saying it is not the oil life monitor, but that the driver is accidentally (presumably) resetting it. Since they drove about twice the expected level, it would seem they might have reset it when it indicated a change was due.

They mentioned doing quite a bit of towing (there is a picture of the trailer they used to haul a car). Now I don't know what oil they suggest, I'm guessing Mobil 1. 8,000 to 10,000 miles with this kind of towing seems like alot to me. Is there anyway that the oil life monitor "knows" it is in a towing situation?

I used to have a Honda. The oil life monitor was an old style counter that counted miles on the odometer. When it reached around 4,000 miles (I think), it would turn from green to yellow, indicating the need for service soon. I think at 5,000 miles, it turned red To reset it, you inserted your key well into a slot on the instrument cluster. You couldn't just "accidentally" reset this thing. My old BMW has a service reminder system that requires a tool to be inserted under the hood; you aren't going to accidentally reset that one, either.

Which brings me to this one on the Escalade. Now I have never driven one, so I don't know how this works. It would seem to me that you wouldn't want to engineer something that could be so easily reset as pushing some button on the steering wheel--if that is what is going on here. Can y'all elaborate on the procedure to reset this counter? Can someone not intimately familiar with the radio controls, just trying to find another station, reset this when fiddling with the buttons on the wheel? This sound like a system that might need more "idiot proofing" built in, more than just from trying to tune in another radio station.

Interestingly, they indicated in the test "Unscheduled oil additions: 0 quarts". I would have thought over 18,700 miles you might have had to add a quart or two.

 

[Win]

My GTO resets through the gas pedal. It could be reset accidentally, but I think it unlikely.

The car has 18,000 miles on it and the last OCI called for by the OLM was about 6.5K miles.

 

[benjamming]

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Interestingly, they indicated in the test "Unscheduled oil additions: 0 quarts". I would have thought over 18,700 miles you might have had to add a quart or two.

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Not if you don't check it which seems possible in this circumstance.

 

[Aldaris]

that engine probably looks horrid inside

 

[ThirdeYe]

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Thanks for the insight, GM gurus. So you are saying it is not the oil life monitor, but that the driver is accidentally (presumably) resetting it. Since they drove about twice the expected level, it would seem they might have reset it when it indicated a change was due.

They mentioned doing quite a bit of towing (there is a picture of the trailer they used to haul a car). Now I don't know what oil they suggest, I'm guessing Mobil 1. 8,000 to 10,000 miles with this kind of towing seems like alot to me. Is there anyway that the oil life monitor "knows" it is in a towing situation?

I used to have a Honda. The oil life monitor was an old style counter that counted miles on the odometer. When it reached around 4,000 miles (I think), it would turn from green to yellow, indicating the need for service soon. I think at 5,000 miles, it turned red To reset it, you inserted your key well into a slot on the instrument cluster. You couldn't just "accidentally" reset this thing. My old BMW has a service reminder system that requires a tool to be inserted under the hood; you aren't going to accidentally reset that one, either.

Which brings me to this one on the Escalade. Now I have never driven one, so I don't know how this works. It would seem to me that you wouldn't want to engineer something that could be so easily reset as pushing some button on the steering wheel--if that is what is going on here. Can y'all elaborate on the procedure to reset this counter? Can someone not intimately familiar with the radio controls, just trying to find another station, reset this when fiddling with the buttons on the wheel? This sound like a system that might need more "idiot proofing" built in, more than just from trying to tune in another radio station.

Interestingly, they indicated in the test "Unscheduled oil additions: 0 quarts". I would have thought over 18,700 miles you might have had to add a quart or two.

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My Acura (Honda) is like that too. Except, mine's a little light that comes on after 7,500 miles saying "Service Req'd." but I don't see how anyone could ever accidentally reset it. It's hidden behind the dashboard, on a little box tucked up above where your feet are that has a yellow button on it to reset the light, while the key is in the accessory position just hold it til it turns off.

 

[GMBoy]

To answer your questions: the Escalade is factory filled with Mobil 1, not sure what C&D used as their oil.

To reset the oil life you page thru the menu until you see the oil life display and then hold the botton that has a checkmark printed on it for about 5 seconds and it resets to 100%.

As for the OLM knowing that you are towing - yes it does if you use the tow/haul mode. Also, even if you don't use tow/haul the PCM can recognize the load via many parameters reported by sensors. It would notice the trans temp being higher, etc.

 

[Benzadmiral]

On my Buick Park Avenue you display the Oil Life Index using the "Gage [sic] Info" button on the dash, then press the "Reset" button just below it. I guess the tester could have hit the wrong button?

 

[Panzerman]

Do you ever look at those long term tests and maintence, alot of the higher end cars like MBs and BMWs get like one oil change in 30,000 miles. You would think they would be more observiant, in the routine car maintence. It seems like they just like to run them around till lights come on.

 

[Jim 5]

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Do you ever look at those long term tests and maintence, alot of the higher end cars like MBs and BMWs get like one oil change in 30,000 miles. You would think they would be more observiant, in the routine car maintence. It seems like they just like to run them around till lights come on.

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I agree. Furthermore, the people that drive those vehicles don't have to pay to maintain them. The vehicles are just overhead $ for the the magazine. So if the OLM tells them to go 15k miles on an oil change, they do. It's cheaper that way. The magazine turns the vehicle in to the manufacturer long before the warranty is up, so they can move on to the next shiny whiz-bang mobile.

These guys never drive a vehicle more than two years old, never spin a wrench, and never deal with the REAL long term consequences of poor maintenance.