how do you feel about oil life monitoring system.i still change at 5000 km (3000 miles)do you trust it???

how do you feel about oil life monitoring system.i still change at 5000 km (3000 miles)do you trust it???

In a word; YES.

I was always a 6,000 mile OCI guy. See here for my first time using the recommended OCI and the oil analysis I did: My Used Oil Analysis

I always changed mine at 5000 miles using synthetic oil. If you don't put a lot of miles on, you might not change your oil all year based on the monitoring system. Go with the mileage. Plus, I rotate the tires with oil changes.

allterrainjoe wrote:how do you feel about oil life monitoring system.i still change at 5000 km (3000 miles)do you trust it???

In a nutshell, it's like a dummy light. It does NOT have any idea if your oil is any good or if it's low. It's a mile counter, that's all! Most of the time, like most dummy lights, if you've gone to the point of it coming on, there's a good chance you've gone too far.

With the array of oils and oil qualities, you need to figure out what's the most practical rotation for your engine.

In my 07 Suburban I always went about 8,000 miles before change the oil according to the OLM. I ran Royal Purple in it always.

I'm old school as well and change my oil every 3000 miles as well.

Goreki, it does more than just track mileage, it actually uses the engines sensors to determine the load put on the engine then calculates the percentage. If you tow something everywhere it will show the oil life percentage decreasing more than some just commuting. If it just went off of mileage it would fall to 0 at the same point everytime no matterwhatthe truck was used for.

I am running Mobile 1 and about to change the oil at 5,200 miles and my oil life meter says I have 47% left.

rdss wrote:Goreki, it does more than just track mileage, it actually uses the engines sensors to determine the load put on the engine then calculates the percentage. If you tow something everywhere it will show the oil life percentage decreasing more than some just commuting. If it just went off of mileage it would fall to 0 at the same point everytime no matterwhatthe truck was used for.

I am running Mobile 1 and about to change the oil at 5,200 miles and my oil life meter says I have 47% left.

I'd like to believe and open to it but simply have not seen any evidence that is true.

Your own example and knowing these things round up, 47% of 10,000 is 4,700 + 5,200 = 9,900 (and assuming it's rounding up) ~10,000. Little too consistent to be irony.

I do not rely on the computer to tell me when to change my oil, however, it is more than just a mileage counter. It's not a perfect system, but it is better than how the majority of the motoring public decide to service their vehicles.

Yes... It's not just a measure of mileage.

Some info: GM OLS

Here's another thread on our site: SS

Now that the local auto parts store is taking used oil, I'm going to start changing my own again. I will follow the OLS as a guide, and use Amsoil. Also based on others here (EKinMN), I think I can go 5,000 miles easily without engine problems. This will be a big test for me. I've been a 3,000 mile guy for years!

One last little diddy. Some of the parameters that the OLS uses is low temp/low load (one end of the scale) and high temp/high load (on the other end of the scale). I've noticed my shortened drives over the past week in 25deg F temps have made a "significant" impact to the oil life %... I just changed the oil, have 700 miles on the change, and I'm already reading 94%... I never realized that Low temps had such a dramatic effect on the oil...

Just one man's opinion -