By what logic does % of "Oil Life Remaining" operate ?

[2018 TourX in Texas]

Is is just straight miles or an optical sensor looking at oil darkness etc ?

Or maybe hours idling + driven ?

How often do y'all change your oil & filter ?

Thanks David

 

[Profasr]

Hi David,

I'm not sure how it works, but I'm pretty certain there's no optical sensor measuring dirt and contaminates in the oil - too expensive for GM bean counters - it is most likely based on mileage. That being taken straight from my backside - I change my oil every 5K. I've seen too many horror stories about GM's "high feature" V6 timing chain problems. Even though our GS V6 are from the updated design, I still don't take any chances since the cost of a change is less than $100.00. I drive my cars into the ground, so clean oil is the most important thing I can do to extend the life of this car.

 

[MelsRegal]

Time, mileage, and engine rpm. When it gets below 10%, change it.

 

[2007LucerneCXL]

From GM Bulletin No.: 18-NA-125 Date: April, 2018

Oil Life Monitor Calculation Pathways:

1. Engine revolutions – Oil life starts with a fixed number of revolutions and will decrease with each revolution. Cold / hot coolant temperature readings have multipliers that reduce engine revolutions pathway quicker depending on how far from the normal oil temperature the vehicle is operating.

Note: If the engine coolant temperature gets above 260°F (126°C), engine overheat condition, the oil life will go to 0%.

2. Mileage from last reset – Starting with MY 2013, the OLM is capped at 7,500 miles (12,070 km) for all GM powertrains except the Volt. In perfect conditions, a vehicle would reach 7500 miles (12,070 km) from the last reset and the oil life left would be 0%.

Note: For the 2016-2018 MY Camaro, 2014-2018 MY CTS and 2015-2018 MY ATS equipped with the 2.0L LTG sold in Europe, the OLM is capped at 30,000 km /1 year.

3. Time – This pathway is a liner function, a fixed decrease in oil life for a given time after the oil life is reset. The oil life will drop to 0% after 1 year regardless of the amount of engine revolutions or how many miles since the reset.

Note: The Volt uses a 2 year timer instead of 1 year. It also uses the engine revolution counter. It does not use the mileage pathway to count down.

 

[2011LAX3.6]

I have the 3.6l in my 2011 lacrosse, I will never forllow the oil life meter, just reset you odometer and never go past 3.5k on oil. I have 160k on my cxar and she still runs great!

 

[2018 TourX in Texas]

Great input from y'all thank you.

I developed the habit my other vehicle - Mercedes ML500 with the m113 V-8 of swapping out the old oil filter with a new one half way on oil life:

For example, MB said 10k on the oil (it is a 9.5 qt sump capacity) but I'd go 8k miles, therefore switch out old for new filter at 4,000 mile point.

I may just do that on this 2.0 Turbo LTG engine.

Sounds like it won't change any % on the "oil life remaining" display but just my peace of mind.

I'm guessing this Turbo LTG runs pretty warm - that may limit oil life too.

Cheers - David

 

[adam728]

I'm guessing this Turbo LTG runs pretty warm - that may limit oil life too.

I wouldn't say it runs warm. Mine holds between about 199-205F on both engine oil and coolant temperature all the time. Even when towing my small trailer and dirt bike. I don't think I have ever seen oil over 208F. Very well controlled.

As for changing the filter half way thru - my opinion is, if you are getting that many debris, then oil is likely suffering breakdown by then, so change both oil and filter. You have to drop the skidplate to get to thr filter anyway, so oil is just a small step beyond. Interestingly my Suzuki motorcycle recommends changing the oil filter with every other oil change.

 

[ulycyc]

Turbos use the engines oil to cool and lubricate and gets more abuse than what the engine does. Use the best synthetic oil with turbo engines and change at the time given time. Standard NA engines you have more freedom to do what you want with oils and change intervals

 

[2007LucerneCXL]

The OLM did have issues with the algorithm earlier that GM had set it to high and it was found that it was smoking engines and needed to be adjusted down.

Unfortunately most consumers assume that they don't have to check the oil level until it comes to the next oil change at 7500 and it's the vehicle’s and/or manufacturers fault for not making the vehicle idiot proof lol.

 

[2018 TourX in Texas]

Right on.

I may do a baseline oil analysis soon.

Sounds like our LTG 2.0 TourX calls for 7500 miles oil + filter, so swapping my oil filter early at 3,500 ish miles could ONLY help.

How many are adhering to the 7,500 ?

PS: Yes Mercedes lend themselves to "filter swap" because it's accessed from top of engine.

PPS: Ha I ride a Suzuki too - a V-Strom 650 & noticed that too. I change both each time as a precaution. I also use 20w/50 due to our 🔥 hot summer climate.

 

[adam728]

How many are adhering to the 7,500 ?

PPS: Ha I ride a Suzuki too - a V-Strom 650 & noticed that too. I change both each time as a precaution. I also use 20w/50 due to our 🔥 hot summer climate.

I change it when near 50% on the OLM. Ends up being about 3500-4200 miles typically.

On a previous GMC Terrain the dealer recommeneded changing at 10-15% on the OLM. Typically did it at 5,000 miles, which was around 25% OLM. At a bit over 70k the timing chain guides went, plus a whole mess of other things. Was pretty irked, had the build date been like 3 months earlier all would have been covered. But GM had "fixed" the issue by the time mine was slapped together.

Had a DR650 for 6 or 7 years. Good bike, but a seperate street bike and dirt bike ended up being better for me. I do kind of want to put 50/50 tires on the CBR and treat it like an adventure bike.

 

[Hulk311]

I had a 2013 Buick Verano, bought brand new and had it for 10 years. Last year I go to get my oil changed and the guys is like, "Sir, we found some sludge in your oil."

I always followed the OIL % and got it changed on time and never did short trips so I have no idea how it got sludge. Maybe because I only drove about 5,000 miles per year and changed the oil once a year?

Anyways, with the wagon, I'm going to change the oil every 6 months and not even pay attention to the OIL %.

 

[2018 TourX in Texas]

I had a 2013 Buick Verano, bought brand new and had it for 10 years. Last year I go to get my oil changed and the guys is like, "Sir, we found some sludge in your oil."

I always followed the OIL % and got it changed on time and never did short trips so I have no idea how it got sludge. Maybe because I only drove about 5,000 miles per year and changed the oil once a year?

Anyways, with the wagon, I'm going to change the oil every 6 months and not even pay attention to the OIL %.

To verify his report I'd do my own oil change & carefully observe things, is there really sludge ?
With modern synthetics & a good filter it seems like you'd be ok.
I try to keep my trips to 10 miles +, and Def do longish 50-100m say monthly.
Getting things up nice & hot 🔥 burns off crud that shorter trips leave behind !

Also my preferred method is to swap oil filter out halfway to oil interval.

My 2 Benzes have 180k & 265k respectively on V6 / V8 & oil looks like honey up to 6-7k miles with that method.

 

[2018 TourX in Texas]

I change it when near 50% on the OLM. Ends up being about 3500-4200 miles typically.

On a previous GMC Terrain the dealer recommeneded changing at 10-15% on the OLM. Typically did it at 5,000 miles, which was around 25% OLM. At a bit over 70k the timing chain guides went, plus a whole mess of other things. Was pretty irked, had the build date been like 3 months earlier all would have been covered. But GM had "fixed" the issue by the time mine was slapped together.

Had a DR650 for 6 or 7 years. Good bike, but a seperate street bike and dirt bike ended up being better for me. I do kind of want to put 50/50 tires on the CBR and treat it like an adventure bike.

Very interesting 🤔.
What year was your terrain & age at the worn out chain guides ?
Was it same LTG Turbo engine ?

 

[2018 TourX in Texas]

Another question:

How does "oil % remaining" reset itself.

It did last time I changed it, but I'm not clear on how so.

This time, I will swap just the filter out.

Does draining oil trigger it ?

Or just reset from dash data screen, like with miles on a gas tank refill ?

Thanks ahead of time friends !

David

 

[saab93driver]

Another question:

How does "oil % remaining" reset itself.

It did last time I changed it, but I'm not clear on how so.

This time, I will swap just the filter out.

Does draining oil trigger it ?

Or just reset from dash data screen, like with miles on a gas tank refill ?

Thanks ahead of time friends !

David

Resetting procedure is outlined in owners manual

 

[2RegalHouse]

I do my own changes with full synthetic at the 20% OLM mark and always change the filter as well. Works out to about every 6,000 miles. Using better oil and the 20% mark has worked well on my last several GM vehicles. Engines are cleaner and quality oil is better than 20-30 years ago. If you are doing changes every 3,000 or at 50% on the OLM, you are likely overkill unless its some sort of performance vehicle or are always running it hard or in severe conditions. Just my oil usage and thought process... but has worked well in my case.

 

[DrFaustus]

The OEM oil for these cars is a full synthetic.

 

[agaric]

There is a good reason the oil also should have the DEXOS cert.

 

[2RegalHouse]

The OEM oil for these cars is a full synthetic.

I totally understand and always follow the DEXOS cert levels as well. I only mentioned synthetic as some people still buy the plain old regular due to costs. The dealer may follow your OEM requirements but the local Jiffy Lube may not...