2003 oil life sensor

[fredw]

how accurate is the oil life sensor on these trucks, i now have drove approx. 8000km over my regular oil change life and my oil life sensor is showing that i still have 60 percent oil life yet, which is about 150 hours on the engine, has any one else looked into this

[KenZ]

Hi Fred,

Is this something new on the 03's? I know that there is a change oil indicator on my 02, but don't know of any way that it can tell you the life left on your oil. In order to do this, it would have to predict your driving habits for the future. It could only do this based on your past driving habits, which may or may not continue to be the same.

My understanding is that there is not an oil "sensor" for the life of the oil, but a computer program that looks at your driving--city, hwy, starts and stops, idling etc and lets you know when you need to change the oil based on those conditions. Of course it wouldn't know the type of oil you were using either, so the assumptions are probably made based on the recommended oil.

I know this area is getting more sophisticated in efforts to reduce oil usage and our demands on foreign oil, so maybe something extra has been added to the 2003. But even so, the first paragraph would apply. It might show 60% life left and you could take off and do some rough driving and it would have to compensate and may all of a sudden pop up and tell you that an oil change is needed when you thought you had a lot more hours left. It would have to continuously monitor and update.

I'll be looking for any other responses too.

Ken

[johnpugh]

Part of the deal with the oil life sensor is the fact that GM is now recommending a 10,000 mile change interval. They must have reprogrammed the system to reflect the new recommendation.

[4x4man]

My oil life shows I am at 85% with almost 1,600 miles. I didn't reset the oil indicator after the 500 mile oil change I did just to see how long it "says" I should go. I am still toying with the idea of just doing 5,000 mile oil changes regardless, but we'll see.

If I was going to follow it, it is a great feature knowing how much life you have left, rather than a light that just comes on out of the blue telling you to change oil. This could come in real handy if you are down to say 10% or so and are getting ready for a trip. Nice to change your oil before the trip, rather than during.
Now if only I can get a light under the hood like I had on the 01.. :mad:

Bob

[red sled]

The real test for the 03 would be to change the oil while the sensor was telling you that you had 10% left on your oil life and see if the thing reset itself back to 100% after the change!

My Service Guy is telling me that the change oil light in the 02 only counts the rpm of the engine, so say if you spend a lot of time idling or driving in the lower gears the change light would recognize fewer miles driven. If you spent more time on the highway in OD you would get more miles per REV, thus getting more miles between changes, but the engine revs would still be the same.

[DMAX Daddy]

When I was looking at trucks, I seem to remember the salesscum telling me about the oil sensor on the Monte Carlo's that sensed several driving parameters and you only need to get an oil change when it said you needed one.

I may be off a little on the description, but I wonder ifthey put those in our trucks? The one in my truck (2003) seems to be mileage driven

[ 02-06-2003: Message edited by: DMAX Daddy ]</p>

[fredw]

yes this is new to the 03, it is nice to see a oil life exp. i am not sure now if i can trust it, on my 02 the light came on after 16000km, even the dealer thought their was something wrong, but then game me the go ahead to beleive it, i might have to do a engine oil anal. at about 10 percent left, and give a reply

[FisHn2DMax]

I don't think the 03 oil life indicator is actually sensing oil quality/parameters. I say this because I've changed my oil twice now, @1000 miles and just changed it again @3500 miles. The indicator still indicates 76% oil life. I believe this sensor is tied into the rpm sensor and the computer converts that to an algorithym which determines remaining oil life? I would like to reset the darn thing after oil change, but can't find how to do it?

Anyone know how to do this, or does the stealer need to reset it via the PCM?

:D

[ 02-06-2003: Message edited by: FisHn2DMax ]</p>

[KenZ]

Well, I guess this is something new on the 2003's. But it doesn't change the fact that the sensor can't predict the future unless it is based on the past. So if your driving changes, the remaining life would have to change. What if you add a quart of oil? What if you don't change your filter? Air or oil. What if you are using synthetics!?

A sensor would have to sense some quality of the oil--dirt? viscosity? soot? oxidation? I doubt that they have a sophistcated high dollar sensor. Its probably just software based on the engine RPM, hours, and or mileage. They probably sense it the same way as the 2002, but with some software that predicts the remaining life and displays it out.

But I don't know for sure, maybe someone in the know can enlighten us.

[K1XV]

KenZ, I think you are being a little too literal. When I see "60% life left" I assume that really means 40% of life has already been used up. How fast you use the remainder is up to you.

As a member of the bar since 1976, I think there is some lawyer in you! (hope I did not insult you)

Ray

[Burner]

Fish'n... If you have the "buttons" on the wheel, use the lower hook. When the diplay reads "oil Life" press and hold that button. If the wheel is absent use the in-dash reset button. As before you must use it when the "oil Life" is displayed.

Burner ;)

[FisHn2DMax]

Burner,

Thanks, I used the button on the Wheel as you described and it did reset back. It indicated 100% for just a second and then held at 99%.

When I looked into the owners manual for the oil life reset step I couldn't find it? I'm sure it's in there some where, but I didn't see it.

THANKS for the help!!!

Gordon
smile.gif

[KenZ]

Ray,

No offence taken. No its not the lawyer in me, but the engineer. I probably am too literal many times. I never did do good on multiple choice questions unless the answer was exact--ie math. I almost flunked a geology course because the multiple choice questions were too vague. I always over thought the question. Sorry if I'm making it more confusing.

In the first post, it was mentioned that having 60%left was 150 hours. I was just trying to point out that I don't think you can really equate it that way. Also the question was how accurate was the sensor. I'm not sure there is a "oil sensor" for oil quality.

Maybe I'm jealous that I don't have an 03 to play with smile.gif

[K1XV]

KenZ, I am both an engineer (EE) and a lawyer, and I find some folks in both fields to be strange in their own ways. But by far the weirdest group is economists!!

I don't think the remaining oil life display actually samples and analyzes oil quality in the literal sense. It would be quite a device if it could do so. I believe it only monitors revs, loads, hours, whatever, since the last reset and then through a algorithm attempts to compute how much life is remaining. I doubt if the results would differ based on the initial quality of the motor oil used.

Ray

[fredw]

as to my first question: i as well think, it uses set parameters, amount of hours at set rev intervals,boost presures, idleing hours,ect. to come up with a oil life, found out today, gm will stand behind oil life sensor if oil changes are done at their dearlers, and if problem you are having is proven to be from oil breakdown, my dealer told me, i will also take a sample in for testing at 10 percent left

[jbplock]

Regarding oil life, If you still prefer to time oil changes by mileage, one way to track miles on the oil is with the business trip odometer. My 2003 has two trip odometers - personal and business. I have been using the personal one to manually track MPG but I realized today (as I was playing with all the buttons on the steering wheel) that the business trip odometer could be used to keep track of miles per oil change. smile.gif

[TxDoc]

Just some info on the oil life monitoring system:

THE GM OIL-LIFE SYSTEMTM TO ALLOW GM VEHICLE OWNERS TO REDUCE WASTE OIL BY UP TO 40 MILLION QUARTS ANNUALLY


LAS VEGAS -- General Motors will equip nearly its entire North American lineup over the next five years with a patented oil-life system, allowing drivers to potentially conserve nearly 40 million quarts of oil (37.8 million litres) annually.

The GM Oil-Life SystemTM tells GM car and truck owners when it's time to change their engine oil, eliminating many unnecessary changes that waste oil, said Michael Grimaldi, a GM vice president and vehicle line executive for full-size trucks.


Oil-life monitoring, which senses when the oil in a vehicle is nearing the end of its useful life, has seen limited use the past few years, particularly on the Chevrolet Corvette, Cadillacs with the award-winning Northstar engine, and certain other GM car models.

Over the next five years, the GM Oil-Life systemTM will be available on 90 percent of GM's North American production volume, Grimaldi said. At that level of usage, GM calculates that one year's production of new GM oil-life monitor-equipped vehicles, coupled with longer change intervals, will allow the annual decrease in the amount of waste oil in the area of 40 million quarts (37.8 million litres) compared to the same fleet not equipped with the monitoring system. The system also promises to create a net reduction in the amount of oil used and reduce the amount of solid waste in the form of used oil filters.

The patented engine oil-life monitoring technology involves computerized monitoring of engine revolutions, operating temperature and other factors to determine when a vehicle's oil should be changed. Rather than depending on fixed oil change schedules that may not be suitable for all situations, the monitoring system customizes oil change schedules based on a vehicle's engine and transmission type and an individual's driving habits.

"Every driver operates with different driving styles and under different conditions," said Grimaldi. "The GM Oil-Life SystemTM compensates for that, allowing a customized diagnosis of each vehicle's oil change needs."

When the system senses that the oil in a vehicle is nearing the end of its useful life, it notifies the driver that an oil change is needed with a "change oil" dashboard message that's displayed for 15 seconds when the engine is started. Once an oil change is completed, the oil-life monitoring system can be reset to begin a new analysis cycle.

This method of determining oil change schedules is more precise than the traditional approach of basing the cycle on the number of miles (or kilometres) driven -- typically 3,000 miles (5,000 kilometres).

Starting with the 2000 model year on certain vehicles, GM will raise the maximum mileage allowed between oil changes for oil-life monitor-equipped vehicles to between 10,000 and 15,000 miles (16,000 and 25,000 kilometres), depending on vehicle brand and engine. These longer intervals between changes will be available to drivers who average longer trips under optimal operating conditions, helping them avoid the inconvenience and expense of unnecessary oil changes.

The benefits to drivers of vehicles equipped with the oil-life monitoring system are clear. For those who neglect to change their oil on a regular basis, the system provides reminders that a change is due. If they heed the reminder and follow through with an oil change, they'll protect their engine from premature wear.

Customers who thought they needed to get their oil changed every 3,000 miles (5,000 kilometres) or so, might be able to go longer between changes. This will save them money, time, and, perhaps more importantly, precious resources.

The rollout of the GM Oil-Life SystemTM is in keeping with the more than 100 "green" design initiatives on the new Silverado and Sierra full-size pickups which are now reaching Chevrolet and GMC dealerships. These include the 89 percent recyclability of the vehicles and the replacement of lead solder in power and signal distribution areas with a new "spliceless" bussed electrical system design, which eliminates the use -- and ultimate disposal -- of 18 tons of lead per model year. Also, GM's new full-size pickup fleet has the highest fuel efficiency of any full-size truck manufacturer with potential savings of 3.7 million barrels of oil, or more than 157 million gallons of gasoline, over the life of one model year's production.

"This oil-life monitor initiative is further evidence of GM's commitment to its environmental principles," said Grimaldi, "specifically the company's dedication to helping restore and preserve the environment." Grimaldi said GM recognizes that this initiative, over time, may impact the sale of oil and oil filters -- by GM, GM dealers and other operators.

"However, given the customer and environmental benefits it has to offer, GM believes that the GM brand, and ultimately GM dealers, will be strengthened by offering high-value customer features and industry-leading initiatives like this one," he said.

Smart oil-life monitoring is one of a series of vehicle maintenance advances by GM over the past few years that result in a lower-cost, more hassle-free ownership experience. Others include 100,000-mile (166,000-kilometre) spark plugs, battery rundown protection, brake wear sensors, "run flat" tires, "filled-for-life" automatic transmission fluid, 100,000-mile (166,000-kilometre) serpentine belts, "lubed-for-life" chassis components, cooling systems with coolant-loss mode technology and 150,000-mile (240,000-kilometre) coolant, OBDII onboard diagnostics, and roadside assistance.

btw--I like jbplock's idea of "I have been using the personal one to manually track MPG but I realized today (as I was playing with all the buttons on the steering wheel) that the business trip odometer could be used to keep track of miles per oil change."

Thanks

[ 02-07-2003: Message edited by: TxDoc ]</p>

[Trippin]

The stealer gave me the first oil change for free. So I let em. They didn't reset the oil life monitor. I had to do it when I picked it up. So clearly it does not actually sense the oil just an approximation as described above.

[fredw]

thanks tx: just what i was looking for, real proof of what it does, thanks again

[ski]

If the oil life system is supposed to actually let you know when to change to oil, why when I get the oil changed at the dealership do the techs put the sticker in the windshield staign 3 months or 3000 miles, are they not on board with GM corporate ? ;)

[Bill Knieper]

If you look on page 5-19 and 5-20 of the 2003 Duramax owners manual it tells you the oil life calculation is based upon revs and temperature or 10,000 miles max. It also tells you the computer must be reset at each oil change so it can start a new calculation for the new oil.

[Holeshot]

pump the gas peadal 3 or 4 times then your oil life will go back to 100 percent. my 01 did this and I found this out by trying to set juice levels on my 03. Man if thats the one thing I dont like about the juice is it always resets my oil lite, on both trucks!! Oh well I can live with that hehehe.
Later
Tony