Which OLMs use driving conditions ?

Pennzoil motor oil
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I think Intelligent Oil Life Monitor is better then me saying OLM which uses driving conditions. I'm going to use IOLM as a catch all for OLMs which do not only use mileage but uses an algorithm based on various operating conditions.

PS
I see IOLM is already listed in the Acronyms thread.
 
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A simpler (non-rocket science) algorithm can use miles and time the engine was running to come up with the change interval which would "good enough". For example, it will automatically account for highway versus city driving.
 
Originally Posted By: Vikas
A simpler (non-rocket science) algorithm can use miles and time the engine was running to come up with the change interval which would "good enough". For example, it will automatically account for highway versus city driving.

True. Miles over time is basically speed. High average speed = hwy; low avg speed = city. But as far as simple algorithms, I still like the plain amount of fuel burned better.
smile.gif
 
Originally Posted By: Vikas
A simpler (non-rocket science) algorithm can use miles and time the engine was running to come up with the change interval which would "good enough". For example, it will automatically account for highway versus city driving.

But this would not take into account short drive, cold winter starts.

For a while my 13 Accord IOLM was dropping like a rock because of all the cold winter starts with multiple shore drives I had. Thankfully my driving is more normal now
 
I mean if your car can give you cumulative average speed and number of hours the engine is running, you would get "good enough" answer. It would account for short drive and extra idling. Again, it is not going to be exact but those two factors are getting accounted for.
 
ok, but it would be better to include the number of cold starts and if the car reached operating temperature. I understand Honda does among other additional things. The car's computer has that info so it is only software.

PS
Without that, the IOLM would be the same in both cold and warm places, but oil life is different in those climates.
 
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Newer cars have lot more input such as fuel consumed etc. Come to think of it, total fuel consumed is a pretty good measure to compute OLM as it accounts for operating temperatures, speed, idle time etc. Of course, if there are other problems such as bad O2 sensor etc then this method does not work well but almost all of the algorithm even the fancy ones make quite a few assumptions.
 
Yes, but is the extra gas used for cold winter starts, the extra gas used for not getting up to operating temperature, and extra gas used for whatever proportional to each other and the gas used by normal driving as far as oil life is concern?

IMO, the gas use for one cold start with short drive (< 1 mile) is more severe to oil life then using the same amount of gas on a highway.
 
Originally Posted By: Vikas
Newer cars have lot more input such as fuel consumed etc. Come to think of it, total fuel consumed is a pretty good measure to compute OLM as it accounts for operating temperatures, speed, idle time etc. Of course, if there are other problems such as bad O2 sensor etc then this method does not work well but almost all of the algorithm even the fancy ones make quite a few assumptions.


Since our fleet trucks operate as stationary power sources for long periods every day we used to use fuel consumption as a yardstick for oil changes.

It is actually quite accurate as fuel usage correlates very well with oil contamination.
 
Originally Posted By: MikeySoft

IMO, the gas use for one cold start with short drive (< 1 mile) is more severe to oil life then using the same amount of gas on a highway.

The point is that you'll use up more gas during a cold start followed by a 1 mile drive than you would on a warmed up engine on a hwy during a 1 mile drive.
 
The point I'm trying to make is; imo, using a fixed amount of gas for multiple cold winter starts with very short drive (< 1 mile for each start), is more severe on oil then using the same amount of gas on the highway. Of course you will get more miles on the highway, but using only gas consumption for an OLM will have different results for different driving conditions.

Using mpg will give better OLM. Having gas consumed per mile and additional inputs, like some IOLM do, will give even better.

Maybe I was miss reading some of the posts as using only gas consumption but they met to also to include miles driven?
 
Originally Posted By: MikeySoft
The point I'm trying to make is; imo, using a fixed amount of gas for multiple cold winter starts with very short drive (< 1 mile for each start), is more severe on oil then using the same amount of gas on the highway.

That's true. And if you keep driving this way (cold short trips), your OLM will kick in after fewer miles as a result.


Quote:

Using mpg will give better OLM.

Well, the total amount of fuel burned already does take MPG into account. Example: Say your fuel-based OLM is calibrated at 300 gallons. Now, if you're driving mostly hwy and getting good MPG (say 30), the OLM will allow you to go 9,000 miles. But if you're driving very short trips with cold winter starts, maybe you're only averaging 18 MPG, in which case the OLM will kick in after only 5,400 miles.

Is it as accurate as some of those more fancy OLMs with super advanced algorithms that were described before? No. But Vikas and I were just saying that if you want to keep it simple, fuel burned is not a bad parameter to use.
 
Thanks Pete, I understand now.

To confirm your reply to your first quote of me, I often check my remaining oil life. It was dropping like a rock when I had those cold winter short trips. It looks like I would need to change my oil before 4,000 miles if I keep the same conditions. Some people on the Honda forums claim they get close to or over 10,000 miles using the IOLM, but many of them live in warmer states and drive mostly highway. My driving conditions have changed now so my oil life is going down a lot slower (more miles) now.
smile.gif
I hope my better driving conditions burned off the fuel contamination I must have been getting?

I'm been thinking more. I was about to post, before seeing your last post, that I felt using mpg alone may not be a good thing because someone's average MPG may go up over time, thus making the oil remaining life go up. Your last post had me see that will not happen when the OLM is based on max fuel to be used. The OLM will continue to go down (but at different rates) even for someone with multiple cold winter short trips, then takes a long rode trip in the spring.

Anyway, back to my original question. Which cars use IOLM and which use only millage for the OLM?

My research found that GM appears to be the first to use IOLM.

This is was we got so far:

IOLM
GM
BMW
Honda/Acura
Some Fords

Millage only
Some Fords
Nissan/Infiniti

What about other cars. My friend's 2009 Lexus only uses millage. But that is only a 2009, maybe the newer ones use an IOLM?

Please let me know if I have any errors in the list and if you have any additions.

Thanks for everyone's input.
 
Originally Posted By: MikeySoft
Which OLMs use driving conditions ?

Do all newer car's Oil Life Monitors use driving conditions for computing remaining oil life! Or do some only uses mileage ?

Are their any newer cars which do not have OLM?


The OLM on my 2008 Taurus X does. I've seen the % oil life go UP during an extended highway trip after weeks and weeks of nothing but <10 mile short trips.
 
Interesting. I think it would be better if % of oil life remaining does not to go up when driving conditions get better. IMO, It should only go down but at a slower rate, meaning more miles then before to go down in %. Unless it is taking into account of fuel contamination being burnt off?

Any comments for others?
 
Quote:
My friend's 2009 Lexus only uses millage
I would like to get independent confirmation on that one. I can understand 1999 Lexus doing that but not 2009 Lexus! I can also confirm that 1999 Honda has amber colored dumb light (MAINT REQD) which used to blink at 6K miles and go solid at 7.5K miles.
 
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Originally Posted By: Vikas
Quote:
My friend's 2009 Lexus only uses millage
I would like to get independent confirmation on that one. I can understand 1999 Lexus doing that but not 2009 Lexus!
Its a 2009 Lexus ES350. The oil change light is for 5000 miles. I understand the earlier ones then that were 7500 miles but I heard Toyota has had oil sludge problems and changed it to 5000.

Anyway, hopefully someone else will verify that. I will try to find a pdf of the manual.

PS
My 2003 Accord used millage only.
My 2013 uses an IOLM. It is my understanding that they went to IOLM for the 2006 Accords.
 
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Originally Posted By: Vikas
Quote:
My friend's 2009 Lexus only uses millage
I would like to get independent confirmation on that one. I can understand 1999 Lexus doing that but not 2009 Lexus!

I don't know what its OLM does, but the maintenance schedule for it does in fact suggest oil changes every 6 months or every 5K miles:

http://drivers.lexus.com/t3Portal/document/omms/L-MMS-09passcars/pdf/L-MMS-09passcars.pdf

Even for 2013, it's still the same recommendation.
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: Vikas
Quote:
My friend's 2009 Lexus only uses millage
I would like to get independent confirmation on that one. I can understand 1999 Lexus doing that but not 2009 Lexus!

I don't know what its OLM does, but the maintenance schedule for it does in fact suggest oil changes every 6 months or every 5K miles:

http://drivers.lexus.com/t3Portal/document/omms/L-MMS-09passcars/pdf/L-MMS-09passcars.pdf

Even for 2013, it's still the same recommendation.
Who said you get what you pay for?
smile.gif


Anyway, I have access to her Owner's account. It does not give access to the whole manual as one PDF. It gives access by sections and you can do a search. I search "oil" and it found several sections. I found the oil life indicators in the "2009 ES350: Steps to take in an emergency (pdf)" section. It states the following:

OIL MAINT REQD SOON Indicator
Indicates that the engine oil is scheduled to be changed. A buzzer also sounds. Comes on approximately 4500 miles (7200 km) after the engine oil is changed. (The indicator will not work properly unless the oil maintenance data has been reset.)

OIL MAINT REQD Indicator
Indicates that the engine oil should be changed. A buzzer also sounds. Comes on approximately 5000 miles (8000 km) after the engine oil is changed (and the oil maintenance data has been reset).

We can wait until a 2009 Lexus owner verifies this or you can send me a PM with your email and I'll sent it to you. It's on page 391 but this PDF section starts on page 375 of the owner's manual.
 
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