Oil Life System

[jrizz1]

I had the oil changed at a chevy dealership last August. I know they reset the oil life monitor. The car sat in storage all winter. I have put on approximately 3500 miles since the oil change. The monitor is telling me I have 26% oil life remaining. Shouldn't you get more mileage using Mobil One? Someone suggested that the oil monitor sensor could be dirty. Has anyone ever heard of this? If so, how is it repaired? Or is this normal engine oil life. I plan on doing the oil changes myself from now on. I was planning on using the stock AC filter. Any problems with that or are the aftermarket filters worth the extra money? Thanks for the advice.

 

[Patrick]

JRizz,
I think the oil life monitor anticipates 5,000 miles between oil changes, so if you've but 3,500 miles on it since the last oil change, 26% oil life remaining sounds about right.

-Patrick

 

[LLC5]

Oil life is determined by the computer. It takes into account time, mileage and driving habits. Depending on driving habits, I think it can go as high as 10,000 miles. Yours is at 26% most likely because of time. Mobil One is a quality oil for engine protection, not extended change intervals. Even the best oil gets contaminated, and should be changed every 3-4000 miles in my opinion. And yes, use a AC Delco filter.

 

[Tom73]

... Someone suggested that the oil monitor sensor could be dirty. Has anyone ever heard of this? If so, how is it repaired?

No such thing as an oil monitor sensor. The oil life is monitored by the computer which monitors/measures such things as miles, driving habits, oil temps, rpms, etc to determin when the oil should be changed.

The service manual for mine says that you should change oil when the CHANGE OIL light comes on or once a year, which ever comes first. I currently have about 9,000 on the oil in mine and the monitor is showing about 43%. But almost all of those 9k miles are highway miles put on during major trips (in other words, very little stress )

tom...

 

[jrose7004]

I'll bet the indicator wasn't reset!