Who's going strictly by their Oil Life Monitor?

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Originally Posted By: KW
Originally Posted By: Gary Allan
Originally Posted By: KW
So far the farthest has been about 8000 miles. The norm is about 6000 miles or so.


What's that working out to in time/season terms?


About 6 or 7 months. The long OCI included a trip From Arkansas to Colorado and back in the summer heat driving across Oklahoma. The others are mixed around town and Sunday drive stuff.


You're seeing the +/- of the blanket 7500/6month none OLM recommendation. You're service is in the mean. Not that it means much other than the mileage/time recommendation wasn't just pulled out of their behinds.

I think the longest we've seen here is 13k on a GM OLM.
 
Originally Posted By: Doug Hillary
Hi,
Gary - In my case about 17 months @ 17kkms (10.6k miles). This is about the average for all Benzes in OZ with the ASYSST system


It appears that they're targeting the 18month time span. The mileage is probably open ended, so to speak ..at least for a good bit over 17kkms ..or so I would imagine. State of the art needs to synchronize with the calender. No technology should be allowed to span unevenly into years for attention.

They need to get it to 2 years ..or cut it to 1 year if they suggest giving it to the more common US consumer. 18 months is too long with the way we're kept busy consuming and supporting consumption.
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VW/Audi learned that the hard way.
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I had a v-10 chevy 3500 in florida that barely warmed up in the morning because the houses we worked on were very close by. It was worked to death and the OLM once said to change the oil after 2,000 miles. I went to synthetic after that.
 
Originally Posted By: JBM
I had a v-10 chevy 3500 in florida that barely warmed up in the morning because the houses we worked on were very close by. It was worked to death and the OLM once said to change the oil after 2,000 miles. I went to synthetic after that.


Wow did you put a Ford V-10 into a Chevy or what?
 
The OLM neither knows nor cares what oil is run.
The OLM has no ability to sample any characteristic of the actual oil.
It's accouting is based entirely upon operating parameters.
Variable service life will be caused by either differences in use of the car, or the onset of colder weather.
 
I use the OLM on my Acura and it generally triggers an oil change every 6k miles or so.

"If you had your car serviced at the dealer, when do they do the things (like air filter, etc) if your OCI's are variable? dio you have to take it in on schedule (e.g. 5000mile) and then whenever your OLM says?"

The Honda/Acura system calls out different services each time the indicator goes on. There is a letter (A, B, etc.) and a number (1,2,etc.). The owner's manual tells you which services are due for the letter and number the system has indicated. It is much more than a simple oil life monitor. I don't know how GM and other companies deal with this.
 
I'm changing at 5K until I can figure out if my OLM is working or not. I reset it approximately 7K miles ago and it has not indicated a change yet (I don't have a % display, just a light). I'll make a decision about following it after that.
 
Anyone have experience with the Honda OLM system....I have been following mine on my acura and it is averaging about 6K to reach 0% life....I have been using synthetic with it..

How good is the Honda OLM system?
 
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1319330&page=1

After using the one in our Impala, I absolutely trust it, and after comparing oil capacities vs. engine size and seeing how long the OLM goes on cars with larger oil sumps (it goes longer), I fully trust the engineering that went into the GM OLM.

Another anecdote. The last interval on our Impala was all highway driving - long trips across the country. After 5,000 miles, it was still at 20%. As soon as my mom started doing short trip driving, and now that some of the cold starts have been in the 20s and 30s (yes, it's getting that cold here), it dropped 10% in less then 100 miles. Ours is very sensitive to cold weather, and because the engine is a 4 quart sump and 3.5L, it does not go out to the 7,000 + miles that people with Ecotecs experience. Those are 2.2L/2.4L engines with the same oil capacity as our 3.5L V-6.
 
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My 08 Impala 3.5L went 10k miles to ~ 7% last OC. I only have the car for 17k miles now so that's all I can tell you. I bought when it's 11 months old with 53k and now 70k, :). I commute 63 miles one way Monday to Thursday and even longer now on Friday with 95% highway. I do see the OLM goes down faster as temp goes lower and worse mpg too. I drive at speed limit (70 mpg in MI) and I averaged 32.5 mpg at that 10k OC.


Originally Posted By: Drew99GT
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1319330&page=1

After using the one in our Impala, I absolutely trust it, and after comparing oil capacities vs. engine size and seeing how long the OLM goes on cars with larger oil sumps (it goes longer), I fully trust the engineering that went into the GM OLM.

Another anecdote. The last interval on our Impala was all highway driving - long trips across the country. After 5,000 miles, it was still at 20%. As soon as my mom started doing short trip driving, and now that some of the cold starts have been in the 20s and 30s (yes, it's getting that cold here), it dropped 10% in less then 100 miles. Ours is very sensitive to cold weather, and because the engine is a 4 quart sump and 3.5L, it does not go out to the 7,000 + miles that people with Ecotecs experience. Those are 2.2L/2.4L engines with the same oil capacity as our 3.5L V-6.
 
OLM can't compensate for fuel dilution...yeah it knows if you make shorter trips, but if you had coolant or fuel in the oil it doesn't know that...I say 10-14k on dino is stupid and that is why so many dealerships & car owners do not follow it.

YESSSS I know many Jiffy Lubes & dealerships also tell the customer not to follow OLM so they can make a buck on more frequent service visits. But I see that mainly as the 3k/3 month variety shops...But a dealership that says 5k instead of OLM is probably actually sincere and means well.

For those who OLM says 4-6k then I'd say follow it, but someone on here reported 14k on dino on people's cars they care for and one vehicle was 3qts low...so what if it was all HMY miles, 14k on dino is just plain silly.
 
Fast, buddy ..so basically you want to ignore the thing, right?
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That is, it's valid only if it falls into your idea of a good OCI ..outside of that, it's trash.

I get it!!
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Don't use it,new oil and filter every 5K, but I do zero it out and that's the extent of it.
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Originally Posted By: sparkplug
We run my g/f's Cobalt to 0%. On QS HP it was around 7500 miles and with Valvoline WB is around 5000 miles.


Are you indicating that the OLM somehow knows whether you're running synthetic, or what type of oil you have? That isn't the case. I'm not saying you're lying about the mileages you got with those oils, but that would be due to your driving habits on each - not the oil.
 
I've never followed it up to this point. I've done a number of UOA's and am finally getting some good results so I'm going to go the whole distance this time. Mine only has a dummy light so I don't know the % but it will typically go off at around 7k miles. I have 115k miles on my Grand Prix.

Based totally on having adequate TBN left I'd say it is quite trustworthy. If on the otherhand you are having some engine issues it won't know that.
 
Early days yet for me, but the OLM is reporting 90% life left after about 800 miles of normal (for me) driving. That suggests I could go 8K.

It's NAPA Synth in there now, so 6300 miles total (900 miles a month x 7 months) doesn't sound impossible -- and the OLM is backing that up.
 
Originally Posted By: Gary Allan
Fast, buddy ..so basically you want to ignore the thing, right?
lol.gif


That is, it's valid only if it falls into your idea of a good OCI ..outside of that, it's trash.

I get it!!
thumbsup2.gif



Well I apparently am not the only one...I am not unreasonable...I might be open to a full-syn run on OLM if my OWN car had one, but even you certainly could see where over 10k on dino for a soccer mom who does no top-offs is unreasonable???
 
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