Oil life monitors

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doublebase

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Can anyone tell me specifically the criteria that goes into various formulations, for different car brands?

Maybe there already is a thread for this...maybe people don't really know specifically what each car company does? All I know/heard is that GM is supposedly reliable, then again I've heard it's not. I've heard Ford is just a mileage driven monitor, then again I'm sure the newer models probably aren't. My own personal car is just a maintenance reminder light that goes on every 5,000 miles. My wife's Honda CRV has an oil life monitor, but I have no idea how it works...and I've asked other people and I've received several different answers...many of which sounded like they knew less about it than me.

If anyone has any specific information on these things...the different types that go with specific cars, I'd be interested in hearing it. My wife's CRV is a 2008 model, but I'm curious about other brands too.
 
At least in my '13 Ford's is a countdown; partly based on miles driven and partly on time. It's set to trigger at 6 months - tested when I parked it for 3 weeks once. It goes down faster on a highway trip than it does around town though, so
crazy2.gif
maybe there's a metric that measures how much fuel is being pumped. On the highway it does count down 1% every 100 miles. Almost exactly.

In a normally priced vehicle, they can't afford to put in an actual monitor. So manufacturers use parameters from the computer, speedometer and throttle (and other things that can be measured with existing "normal" things on the vehicle) to estimate the oil's condition.

I have also heard that GM's is pretty accurate. But there's also the question as to whether the OLM on vehicles are calibrated for dino or synthetic, or a blend, which could make a difference. In your wife's Honda it may simply be a mileage counter, Honda isn't telling.

Only way to be 100% on this is to have a UOA performed.
 
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A few years ago someone here posted a link to a document explaining the GM system in detail. for the most part, these systems are using an algorithym to calculate considering: miles, rpm, engine load, temperature, drive time, etc. The monitors have no idea what type of oil you are using and are not performing any type of oil analysis. I believe that Mercedes, and certainly others, have researched using actual oil condition monitors. IIRC, Volkswagen had an issue years ago because their OLM's were set to assume synthetic oil - which is commonly used in Germany - and here in the US many engines were ruined until the OLM was reprogrammed.
 
Kuato
I have a 2015 F350 gasser and it bothers me a bit.
I'm really beginning to think its solely based on time as it drops rapidly by the week no matter if I drive it or not. Like 2% a week. I have 218 miles on the fresh oil change and its now 86%- I'll get used to it- lol
 
OP, the search function here is awkward so I hope someone else has time to get the link.

I can only comment on GM's OLM as I run a small fleet of GM trucks and vans. GM's system is extremely accurately designed and implemented on V8 engines we run. It even takes into account our stationary operations where we use the Van's engine to power our equipment at 1500 or 1750 rpm.

I recently sold an 04 van with half a million miles on it that had only been changed via OLM its entire life here from brand new. Never leaked, smoked, or dripped, and didn't use oil either. Since I use whatever syn is on sale I think I can say the GM setup works well on the V8's...
 
I think what's been said about OLMs is true in general (time/temperature/drive cycles/loading/miles are all part of an algorithm to determine oil life).

I also think they're evolving over time. My 08 Ram seems heavily weighted to mileage alone- it rarely varies by more than a few hundred miles per OCI, although running a few tanks of E85 will noticeably shorten the monitor- so at least that's factored in. My '12 Challenger varies a lot more, and seems much more attuned to drive cycles. Lots of highway -> considerably longer OLM.
 
Last Wednesday night my oil was almost black at 2995 miles. OLM was at 25 percent. I have no idea how you guys can stand to wait until 5000 miles.
 
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
OP, the search function here is awkward so I hope someone else has time to get the link.

I can only comment on GM's OLM as I run a small fleet of GM trucks and vans. GM's system is extremely accurately designed and implemented on V8 engines we run. It even takes into account our stationary operations where we use the Van's engine to power our equipment at 1500 or 1750 rpm.

I recently sold an 04 van with half a million miles on it that had only been changed via OLM its entire life here from brand new. Never leaked, smoked, or dripped, and didn't use oil either. Since I use whatever syn is on sale I think I can say the GM setup works well on the V8's...


+1 I use the OLM on all my GM vehicles without concern. Just use the oil that it was approved for in the manual.
 
The majority of newer Fords (2011+) have an intelligent oil life monitor that takes into account driving habits, temperatures, towing, idling, etc. It won't exceed 10,000 miles or 1 year.
 
One thing to take note of, GM recently put out a bulletin that advised that oil should be changed by 7500 miles, regardless of what the OLM says. I think this was a result of Traverse/Acadia/Enclave that have proven to be hard on oil. Plus, the ACDELCO dexos has been shown to be shorter on TBN than full syn. I used to run my sisters Cruze 1.4 turbo to 10k with 3% left on oil life monitor with ACDelco Hengst filter and Mobil 1 5w30. Blackstone said it was fine. My understanding was that ACDelco dexos didn't do nearly as well in that vehicle for such a duration. I should add that even doing oci every 10k (by OLM) I was still doing changes 3x per year. She has a new job now, but currently there are 95k miles on her 2012 Cruze. Now,after tthe TSB I don't go past 7500 for an oci regardless of what OLM says.
 
Originally Posted By: CapitalTruck
One thing to take note of, GM recently put out a bulletin that advised that oil should be changed by 7500 miles, regardless of what the OLM says. I think this was a result of Traverse/Acadia/Enclave that have proven to be hard on oil. Plus, the ACDELCO dexos has been shown to be shorter on TBN than full syn. I used to run my sisters Cruze 1.4 turbo to 10k with 3% left on oil life monitor with ACDelco Hengst filter and Mobil 1 5w30. Blackstone said it was fine. My understanding was that ACDelco dexos didn't do nearly as well in that vehicle for such a duration. I should add that even doing oci every 10k (by OLM) I was still doing changes 3x per year. She has a new job now, but currently there are 95k miles on her 2012 Cruze. Now,after tthe TSB I don't go past 7500 for an oci regardless of what OLM says.


They recalibrated most of the post 2013 GMs with DI engines to account for fuel dilution and oil breakdown. I believe she can go in and they can recalibrate her OLM to account for this for free. My terrain goes between 5-7,500 where as I believe the older models would go 10k plus. I had my first oil change 6 months ago, the OLM was at 0% and it was roughly 5,500 miles. I like the 4 cylinder in my CUV but I wouldn't go over 7,500. I agree
 
Originally Posted By: tomcat27
A few years ago someone here posted a link to a document explaining the GM system in detail. for the most part, these systems are using an algorithym to calculate considering: miles, rpm, engine load, temperature, drive time, etc. The monitors have no idea what type of oil you are using and are not performing any type of oil analysis. I believe that Mercedes, and certainly others, have researched using actual oil condition monitors. IIRC, Volkswagen had an issue years ago because their OLM's were set to assume synthetic oil - which is commonly used in Germany - and here in the US many engines were ruined until the OLM was reprogrammed.


Interesting stuff. I figured some had some sort calculation, but never considered the synthetic compared to conventional factor.
 
Originally Posted By: Bgallagher
Originally Posted By: CapitalTruck
One thing to take note of, GM recently put out a bulletin that advised that oil should be changed by 7500 miles, regardless of what the OLM says. I think this was a result of Traverse/Acadia/Enclave that have proven to be hard on oil. Plus, the ACDELCO dexos has been shown to be shorter on TBN than full syn. I used to run my sisters Cruze 1.4 turbo to 10k with 3% left on oil life monitor with ACDelco Hengst filter and Mobil 1 5w30. Blackstone said it was fine. My understanding was that ACDelco dexos didn't do nearly as well in that vehicle for such a duration. I should add that even doing oci every 10k (by OLM) I was still doing changes 3x per year. She has a new job now, but currently there are 95k miles on her 2012 Cruze. Now,after tthe TSB I don't go past 7500 for an oci regardless of what OLM says.


They recalibrated most of the post 2013 GMs with DI engines to account for fuel dilution and oil breakdown. I believe she can go in and they can recalibrate her OLM to account for this for free. My terrain goes between 5-7,500 where as I believe the older models would go 10k plus.


LAF/LEA/LUK ECM's were recalibrated to max out the EOLM at 7,500 miles -- this goes back to 2010.
 
Originally Posted By: CapitalTruck
One thing to take note of, GM recently put out a bulletin that advised that oil should be changed by 7500 miles, regardless of what the OLM says. I think this was a result of Traverse/Acadia/Enclave that have proven to be hard on oil. Plus, the ACDELCO dexos has been shown to be shorter on TBN than full syn. I used to run my sisters Cruze 1.4 turbo to 10k with 3% left on oil life monitor with ACDelco Hengst filter and Mobil 1 5w30. Blackstone said it was fine. My understanding was that ACDelco dexos didn't do nearly as well in that vehicle for such a duration. I should add that even doing oci every 10k (by OLM) I was still doing changes 3x per year. She has a new job now, but currently there are 95k miles on her 2012 Cruze. Now,after tthe TSB I don't go past 7500 for an oci regardless of what OLM says.


It's kind of ridiculous that GM puts out this Dexos rating system and their own oil doesn't hold up to the OLM's in their own vehicles. I think if you're going to put a rating out there, have oil companies pay for that label...then any oil with that rating should be able to go 10,000 miles in their very own vehicles, regardless.
 
Originally Posted By: doublebase
It's kind of ridiculous that GM puts out this Dexos rating system and their own oil doesn't hold up to the OLM's in their own vehicles. I think if you're going to put a rating out there, have oil companies pay for that label...then any oil with that rating should be able to go 10,000 miles in their very own vehicles, regardless.


Do you understand/are you aware of the issues with this specific platform that necessitated the change?
 
Originally Posted By: Ramblejam
Originally Posted By: doublebase
It's kind of ridiculous that GM puts out this Dexos rating system and their own oil doesn't hold up to the OLM's in their own vehicles. I think if you're going to put a rating out there, have oil companies pay for that label...then any oil with that rating should be able to go 10,000 miles in their very own vehicles, regardless.


Do you understand/are you aware of the issues with this specific platform that necessitated the change?



Are you talking about the vehicle itself?
 
The OLM on my Regal has had that recalibration to reduce the optimism about OCI that plagued the DI engines earlier. It drops about 1% for every ~60 miles, no matter what kind of driving I do -- no slower on extended highway driving, for example. So it recommends a 6K OCI at the outside. I tend to change every 5-6 months, which for me is about 4000-4800 miles.
 
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
OP, the search function here is awkward so I hope someone else has time to get the link.

I can only comment on GM's OLM as I run a small fleet of GM trucks and vans. GM's system is extremely accurately designed and implemented on V8 engines we run. It even takes into account our stationary operations where we use the Van's engine to power our equipment at 1500 or 1750 rpm.

I recently sold an 04 van with half a million miles on it that had only been changed via OLM its entire life here from brand new. Never leaked, smoked, or dripped, and didn't use oil either. Since I use whatever syn is on sale I think I can say the GM setup works well on the V8's...


I'd say the GM V8's overall are well respected/well built units. I work with a guy who swears the LS motor is the best engine ever built. I love hearing about the high mileage stories of these things.
 
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