Oil Life

[Norbert]

I bought a car 2 mo. ago and I did change the oil back than
The oil life sensor tells me 70% after 3000 miles
What do you do? change the oil no matter what or drive until the oil sensor tells me 30%?

Topic

[college man]

Drive until the sensor tells you. 10-15%

[Jerry Marshall]

Just curious, how does that sensor work? Does it measure the viscosity of the oil or what is it measuring?

[college man]

[quote=”Irishbull74″ post=178346]Just curious, how does that sensor work? Does it measure the viscosity of the oil or what is it measuring?[/quote]
It measures how the car is driven. It determines long drives vs short.

[Norbert]

Finally I found this in the owners manual:

One of the most convenient and
important features of the multiinformation
display on your vehicle
is the maintenance minder.

Based on engine operating
conditions and accumulated engine
revolutions, the onboard computer in
your vehicle calculates the remaining
engine oil life.

Therefore after 3500 miles I changed the oil the computer calculated 60% and the oil was black and dirty

[Jake F]

The maintenance minder is a cool feature but there’s something even better. Making your own oil change log. Here’s my ballpark motor oil change intervals under above-average daily driver driving with a basic filter.

Conventional – 3300mi
Semi-Synthetic – 3800mi
Semi-Synthetic High Mileage – 4200mi
Full Synthetic – 5000mi

If the oil looks dirty, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s not doing its lubrication job. Your car sounds newer, so I’d personally be filling with high mileage semi-synth unless the car calls for full synth. If you rev high and accelerate fast all the time, you’d benefit buying a decent filter every change.

[Author]

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