GM OLM dead wrong

[BuickGN]

Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
Originally Posted By: FastSUV

People are gonna get confused if they can't rely on the OLM without having to top-off all the time (due to uber-long intervals).


I've had people tell me the same basic thing about the oil pressure warning lights and gauges that have been in cars for 80-odd years- that it should measure level in addition to pressure because people get confused.

My opinion: People that don't understand something as basic as the difference between oil level and oil pressure, or between oil level and oil life for that matter, deserve whatever damage they get from neglecting any one of those parameters. The light/gauge measures pressure, the DIPSTICK measures level, and the OLM measures life. Three parameters, three measuring instruments. All must be maintained.

Yes, I know I'm in the minority on that.







So true, my mother called and said the oil light is on but it's ok because it just came on. She thought it was low on oil but it had lost pressure from running out of oil.

 

[ekpolk]

Originally Posted By: FastSUV
. . .
Anyway, my g/f has been made aware of all the caveats and she has elected to have me change the oil for her everytime the OLM gets to 50% & then 0% using dino or blend.


Now this is getting strange. OK, I know it's a little trickier than opening the hood and pulling the stick once or twice, but whatever interval you're using, irrespective of where the OLM is, why not just reset the darned thing with each change, and then just look for one number??? Ironically (I think), the Toyota system is much more primitive, and turns the light on strictly based upon miles driven (target OCI is 5k miles). It takes me approx ten seconds to reset it after an oil change. As I recall from my Buick days years ago, the GM system is no harder to reset.

Originally Posted By: FastSUV
I had originally thought I'd use PP but if the oil will be changhed every 4-5k then she may as well use dino.


Gee, if you see this, why not rethink your condemnation of the OLM (which afterall, can't yank the dipstick itself and throw it at you...), and take advantage of what it does? All the safer if you're using synthetic, AND of course, checking your oil at an interval appropriate to the vehicle involved. That would have you pretty much 100% covered and worry free.

 

[FastSUV]

Originally Posted By: Junior
Originally Posted By: FastSUV
Originally Posted By: Junior
Originally Posted By: FastSUV
Originally Posted By: addyguy
When I started reading this thread, I was with those that said you g/f was silly for not being willing/able to check her oil.

But i do know how busy life can get, and so, for a lot of mundane things, you have to find what works for you.

If your g/f has years of 'experience' in doing the 3k/3 month quick lube thing, and that works for her, she should go back to it and concentrate on the more important things in life.

So she spends a bit extra on OC's. Big deal. Lots more important things to worry about, these days.


And that would be fine if the OLM gave you an option to choose between following the OLM OR choosing it to just warn you on a pre-determined interval. ARE YOU LISTENING GM???? Change the system to allow for either.



OMG! If you are going to ignore the OLM, is it really that hard to write down and remember the last time the oil was changed? How did we ever manage before OLMs?

"To sit back hoping that someday, someway, someone will make things right is to go on feeding the crocodile, hoping he will eat you last--but eat you he will." - President Reagan


Junior...you are being to hard on me again LOL. It is not that hard for me to write it down...I am speaking for those who are not as enlightened or enthusiastic about oil & cars as you & I.

People are gonna get confused if they can't rely on the OLM without having to top-off all the time (due to uber-long intervals)and as a result they have to start writing down their intervaqls and defying the factory OLM. Even that guy above said his GM letter (probably from the dealership though) was in conflict with the OLM.


I'm not a proponent of making everything idiot proof. I favor education and personal responsibility. I'm not personally attacking you.


Oh I know that...again we agree in part anyway..I am an oil checker & a conservative advocate of personal responsibility myself. But I am open-minded enough to have this discussion with my g/f who is not a car person and see her point of view. Quite different from say someone like my sister (God love her) who is very destructive with anything mechanical or electronic and would not change the oil and then complain.

I guess my g/f point of view is that she always followed the factory maitnance before on previous cars and never had a problem. But in following the factory OLm on this car, it will run long enough on one fill that it creates a new issue to her that she never had to deal with. That is low oil level (despit the fact the OLM doesn't monitor that)

 

[Drew99GT]

How hard would it be to show your G/F how to open the hood, walk to the front of the car, open the hood, pull the dipstick, check the oil level, and open the oil filler cap and add oil if it's needed? This shouldn't require days, weeks, and months of frustration at GM and OLMs in general.

I wish I had problems this easy to deal with.

 

[FastSUV]

Originally Posted By: ekpolk
Originally Posted By: FastSUV
. . .
Anyway, my g/f has been made aware of all the caveats and she has elected to have me change the oil for her everytime the OLM gets to 50% & then 0% using dino or blend.


Now this is getting strange. OK, I know it's a little trickier than opening the hood and pulling the stick once or twice, but whatever interval you're using, irrespective of where the OLM is, why not just reset the darned thing with each change, and then just look for one number??? Ironically (I think), the Toyota system is much more primitive, and turns the light on strictly based upon miles driven (target OCI is 5k miles). It takes me approx ten seconds to reset it after an oil change. As I recall from my Buick days years ago, the GM system is no harder to reset.

Originally Posted By: FastSUV
I had originally thought I'd use PP but if the oil will be changhed every 4-5k then she may as well use dino.


Gee, if you see this, why not rethink your condemnation of the OLM (which afterall, can't yank the dipstick itself and throw it at you...), and take advantage of what it does? All the safer if you're using synthetic, AND of course, checking your oil at an interval appropriate to the vehicle involved. That would have you pretty much 100% covered and worry free.


Points duely noted. We are making some more progress. I think we are gonna change the oil & reset the OLM and then run it until it begins to drop noticeably on the dipstick (maybe to the middle of safe zone), then change the oil & reset the OLM at that time. I am thinking this will work if the oil level will not drop too much by say around 4500k or so. Then she would not have to check the oil herself.

& I of course would check it for her anyway every now & then since I am an oil man.

 

[FastSUV]

Originally Posted By: Drew99GT
How hard would it be to show your G/F how to open the hood, walk to the front of the car, open the hood, pull the dipstick, check the oil level, and open the oil filler cap and add oil if it's needed? This shouldn't require days, weeks, and months of frustration at GM and OLMs in general.

I wish I had problems this easy to deal with.

she knows how, but she doesn't want to on a new car when her older inferior car could go the distance between OC's without her having to mess with it. She is frustrated that the newer car forces such a long OCI based on the OLM & it adds additional hassel for her when she just wants to have the maintenance done by a third party as she was used to on all previous cars.

It is easy to do, and she knows how but doesn't have time or want to. She has some health issues and is a single mom and if you take off you BITOG hat & be objective; then surely you could see that point of view.

 

[Gary Allan]

Originally Posted By: ekpolk

Now this is getting strange.


I have to agree...

Quote:
And that would be fine if the OLM gave you an option to choose between following the OLM OR choosing it to just warn you on a pre-determined interval. ARE YOU LISTENING GM???? Change the system to allow for either.


Does GM have a gun to either of your heads?

If I was someone who had such core beliefs ..that can't be altered ..and not following them had caused some unfavorable outcome or "near miss" in my mind, my mother would have said, "..and if [fill in the blank] had told you to stick your head in a bucket of [fill in the blank] would you have done it?".

I've got to conclude that FastSuv has just taken us all on a protracted tour here ..but it hasn't anything to do with OLM's or single moms ..or anything like that.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: FastSUV
It is easy to do, and she knows how but doesn't have time or want to.

But she has time to go to a quickie lube place three times as often as the OLM might suggest? This just doesn't make any sense, I'm sorry.

 

[cmhj]

This is getting silly.

 

[Pablo]

What do you mean by "getting", mi padre?

 

[BuickGN]

I think the main point is with the older cars you expected to have to check the oil and change it at an interval based on mileage. If I didn't know anything about cars, I would assume the OLM knew the oil level and everything was taken into consideration like the level. In other words, a car equipped with an OLM would make me less likely to do traditional oil level checking even if I had done it religiously in the past. It seems like a safe assumption to the average person that the OLM includes everything in it's calculations. Think about how much running the engine 2 quarts low could change an OCI yet they don't monitor it.

 

[MCompact]

Originally Posted By: 440Magnum

I've had people tell me the same basic thing about the oil pressure warning lights and gauges that have been in cars for 80-odd years- that it should measure level in addition to pressure because people get confused.

My opinion: People that don't understand something as basic as the difference between oil level and oil pressure, or between oil level and oil life for that matter, deserve whatever damage they get from neglecting any one of those parameters. The light/gauge measures pressure, the DIPSTICK measures level, and the OLM measures life. Three parameters, three measuring instruments. All must be maintained.

Yes, I know I'm in the minority on that.




I agree, they deserve whatever mechanical mayhem their ignorance creates.

 

[PF52]

Originally Posted By: FastSUV

she knows how, but she doesn't want to [check the oil] on a new car when her older inferior car could go the distance between OC's without her having to mess with it. She is frustrated that the newer car forces such a long OCI based on the OLM & it adds additional hassel for her when she just wants to have the maintenance done by a third party as she was used to on all previous cars.



Truth be told, she just got lucky with the previous car; it wasn't part of any "maintenance plan". The whole plan would have been shot full of holes had it been a leaker or oil burner.

 

[zulu]

Somebody PLEASE change the title of this thread to "GM OLM OWNER dead wrong" and then close it...

 

[FastSUV]

LOL...man I have finally gotten so anal about things that I have topped the bunch...I left here for awhile because the level of worry & detail trumped what I could healthily process.

Now it seems something realtively simple that the g/f compalined to me about I have pumped up into a thread worthy of a M1 is [censored] debate LOL.

I did not mean to but my obsession with oil comes in spurts. It is still avalid point though and even though I agree about checking the oil regularly, I looked at it objectively and began to think about it enough to post.

But you guys can't call the kettle black ehhh?

 

[FastSUV]

Originally Posted By: BuickGN
I think the main point is with the older cars you expected to have to check the oil and change it at an interval based on mileage. If I didn't know anything about cars, I would assume the OLM knew the oil level and everything was taken into consideration like the level. In other words, a car equipped with an OLM would make me less likely to do traditional oil level checking even if I had done it religiously in the past. It seems like a safe assumption to the average person that the OLM includes everything in it's calculations. Think about how much running the engine 2 quarts low could change an OCI yet they don't monitor it.


Ahh someone else who understands how I looked at it even though I agree people should check their oil regulalrly...a man with an objective point of view enough to see someone else's perspective without getting all rialed up. thanks

 

[FastSUV]

Originally Posted By: zulu
Somebody PLEASE change the title of this thread to "GM OLM OWNER dead wrong" and then close it...


much of this forum is based on opinion...the title is not long enough for me to have explained why I thought the OLM was wrong to allow insane mileage between OC's for those who are not used to having to check the oil frequently

 

[bountyh]

Originally Posted By: AlanRebod
OLM doesn't measure oil level. It does not know if your engine is burning oil and certainly many engines can go the entire length of the OLM's OCI and not burn a drop.
But they would definitely be the exception, not the norm. Most cars use a little oil. I don't know what "typical" is these days, but a quart every couple of thousand miles is actually pretty good IMHO. The Saturns used to blow oil like crazy, even when relatively new because of the type of valve guides they used. My wife's Saturn probably sucks a quart every 500 or so.

 

[FastSUV]

Originally Posted By: bountyh
Originally Posted By: AlanRebod
OLM doesn't measure oil level. It does not know if your engine is burning oil and certainly many engines can go the entire length of the OLM's OCI and not burn a drop.
But they would definitely be the exception, not the norm. Most cars use a little oil. I don't know what "typical" is these days, but a quart every couple of thousand miles is actually pretty good IMHO. The Saturns used to blow oil like crazy, even when relatively new because of the type of valve guides they used. My wife's Saturn probably sucks a quart every 500 or so.


that is a lot of oil use...makes me feel better cause so many people tend to act like their cars don't use a drop...I have never had a car like that...but my '01 Jeep takes 4-5k before it begins to use any

 

[oldmaninsc]

Originally Posted By: FastSUV
Originally Posted By: Drew99GT
How hard would it be to show your G/F how to open the hood, walk to the front of the car, open the hood, pull the dipstick, check the oil level, and open the oil filler cap and add oil if it's needed? This shouldn't require days, weeks, and months of frustration at GM and OLMs in general.

I wish I had problems this easy to deal with.

she knows how, but she doesn't want to on a new car when her older inferior car could go the distance between OC's without her having to mess with it. She is frustrated that the newer car forces such a long OCI based on the OLM & it adds additional hassel for her when she just wants to have the maintenance done by a third party as she was used to on all previous cars.

It is easy to do, and she knows how but doesn't have time or want to. She has some health issues and is a single mom and if you take off you BITOG hat & be objective; then surely you could see that point of view.


No, sorry but I can't. I have several relatives and friends - who think nothing of checking their fluids once in a while. Some are old (like me) some are young. Some have health "issues", most don't.
As someone else mentioned - it only takes a few minutes each month. Is 5 - 10 minutes per month too much to ask? If she doesn't or can't check her oil - what about her tires? Should the tire makers be responsible for a tire going flat? Same thing!

If you are going to take on the responsibility of owning a car, then you are responsible for maintaining it. If a person is not able or doesn't want to do it themselves, they should have someone do it for them - either a friend or pay a shop.
Just because you have a new car, doesn't mean you don't check the fluids. I really don't understand the thinking.

But to expect the car makers to make it completely fool proof is just insane and irresponsible IMO!

Personally I think GM's OLM is the greatest thing to come along.