5 or 6,000 miles may just be enough to cancel any warranty you may have....and insure reduced engine life.
Ive had my car over 6 years, I know the oil life monitoring system intimately..have seen hundreds of Ls/X engines data reports from the GM test lab.Gm spent hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars in the devoloment of the Oil Life Monitoring system. I rely on it, knowing that following it will insure engine longevity in the 200,000 plus range.
My oil life monitor usually is at zero right around 3800 to 4,000 miles...
in six plus years I have made 15 oil changes... and I am confident they were done at the proper interval.
Make sure you use the proper oil with the proper GM Spec, no synthetic blends, no extended life synthetics.. they dont meet the GM spec.

 

I change my oil every 5,000 km (~3,000 mi.) and typically the oil change monitor indicated about 50% oil life left. Cheap insurance, CHANGE THE OIL !!!

 

When I was under the car two days ago I thought about these Oil Life Monitoring systems on the car and how much Bill (aka: EVIL TWIN) preaches about it and I am going to use mine from now on.

It can be found by pushing the "TRIP" button a few times.

Micah

 

Not everyone drives the same E-T, so mileage when the OLM reaches zero is not the same for everyone. As you said, we should trust the OLM, so I don't understand why you would make the following comment.

How can you say that? Do you know what gmlefty's OLM says?

 

A total waste of money.... even with the oil life monitor at zero, there is a 10 % buffer built into the algorithms.. USE the oil life monitor, use the extra money you save to, to feed the hungry, Dont just throw it away.. The oil life monitor is so good that the base line of the monitor after four years of field test has increased the base line of 01 model and newer from 10,000 mile to 15,000 miles... meaning the same condition now decrease oil life from 10,000 miles to the new base line of 15,000 miles...
Bill aka ET

 

If the OLM passes 5000 miles and still shows 20% should you still wait till it reaches 0%? I have religiously changed my oils between 4-5000 miles, no matter what the monitor stated. I'm I wasting $$$$$?

 

When the OLM reaches 55% and 50% I change the oil. You can never change your oil to much. It's the cheapest insurance you will ever buy.

 

love that! dino oil? isn't he the purple pet thingy on the flintstones?

Agree that 3000 is old school. It won't hurt tho, so if you like it, go for it.

 

I believe that's what ET is saying - trust the monitor, not what someone back in the "dark ages" said about oil changes. He is the "voice of authority" on the LSx engines here on the Forum.

Mine usually hits 5% at around 8-9000 miles, and I'll start looking for a place to change it. I'm at a point where I do a lot of "short cycle" driving now, so I'm keeping my eye on it - I used to do more, lengthier highway cycles, so I expect my experience to change somewhat.

 

Then with ET's statement:

Isn't 8-9000 between oil changes too long of intervals?

 

The algorithm is based on many factors, including driving style, rpm cycles, starts & stops, etc. The OLM is going to tell you when to change based on how YOU drive YOUR car. I expect a car seeing a lot of track time to be very different from mine, which is mostly a daily driver, putt-putt around town to the grocery store, brewery, Home Depot, etc.

 

Wow... did you read what he said in his first post?????? he doesn't even know how to access his monitor.. I explained how we designed and wrote the algorithms for the oil life monitor system,.,, I also said use it, it works,.... some people can see 8 or 9 thousand miles before their oil life monitor gets to 0, it has very little to do with mileage.
NOW PAY ATTENTION HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I said changing at 5 or 6,000 mile may be enough to void any warranty you might have, or cause premature engine life.... ( what I didn't spell out was )using mileage as a yard stick will not represent what the oil life monitor has calculated . because mileage has little to do with the oil life system...
If the original posters driving style warrants the oil life monitor to display zero oil life at 4,000 miles, and he waits until 6,000 mile he is causing damage...
I also only mentioned that my driving style only allows me 3800 to 4000 miles.... For the slower folks here... when my oil life says zero I journal the date and the mileage, I subtract my currant mileage from my last oil change which is also found in my journal and I can come up with the mileage interval between oil changes...Its a shame I have to explain things that should be understood by even the most challenged individuals here.. This is second grade math... addition and subtraction... it isn't rocket science..People need to get out of their grandfather thinking, this is the new millenium... quantum engine designs, sophisticated monitors, all in the interest of making your car a 200.000 mile plus engine... the bench mark for every other manufacturer is 100,000 miles.. we tested the LS/x engine to a new standard in the industry and that is 200,000 miles,, so following the maintenance schedule which includes your oil life monitor you should have no trouble seeing 200,000 miles...

Changing it sooner is a waste of money and resources...

 

The nice thing is, though, it's going to pester him to death if he gets to 5%....

 

If the Oil life monitor is saying you still have life in the oil even with 10,000 miles on it , it is OK.. trust the monitor...We did hundreds of test analysis, all types of scenarios under the most adverse conditions to the most engine friendly condition. did thousands of oil samples before writing the code for the system.
When your oil life monitor displays your early warning ( oil life at 10% ) it is time to buy oil, or make an appointment for a change and figure on changing it within the week or so... even when it gets down to zero, you dont have to panic, there is a built in cushion... but you want to change it at zero, and not push it over the zero mark..
Remember this is a very sophisticated engine, it also uses the most sophisticated lubricant on the planet... you can not use your grandfathers thinking with this engine or oil... The Gm spec is one of the mos demanding specs in the industry..becareful not to use blends, or extended life Mobil oil because it doesn't not conform to this spec.It has to show the GM spec on every bottle.

 

 

This car is a masterpiece of engineering design, it has some glitches but for the most part it is a 100,000 dollar American sports car with a 50,000 dollar price tag.... The oil life monitor was built for the consumer, thousands of dollars spent, for your motoring pleasure.. this is a serious piece of equipment...
20% Means. you have 20 % of the full use of the oil in the car...it means that it's properties have not reached any critical areas of concern... it also means that there is no adverse effect running it down to 0%... proven hundreds of times in the test lab..
Run it to zero and save yourself a few buck, it will help buffer the high cost of fuel, at least alittle....shure you can change your oil every 1000 miles or 3,000 miles. it wont hurt anything, but it is such a waste.. but what is worse is that so many people cant get their head out of their grandfather's ***..way back in the 1950's. Talk about not being up with the times.. living in the past.... this car is light years ahead of cars that were produced only 15 years ago....

 

Evil Twin,
Thanks for the well explained answer. I have a OLM in my 96 seville that I have used religiously and this car has 157K on it. You are right the OLM works great. I just could not find the darn thing and have not had time to read manual.
gmlefty

 

Just changed my oil today, how do I reset the oil life monitor? I pushed and held reset and now it shows "Oil Life: ___%." Is this normal? Does it just take some time to recalculate, or am I resetting it wrong?

 

Now why in the hell would you do something like that? Especially when oil is slowly becoming a scarcer resource, why would people waste it?

That's just a waste of natural resource if you ask me, aside from the argument that you waste your money. But personally, it's your money, so waste it how you want. However, I think it's ridiculous that people would do that at the cost of natural resources. You'll never see me change my oil until the DIC says CHANGE OIL SOON. I'm not out to waste money or dwindling resources.

 

Follow the oil life monitor. Listen to E-T on this one. He really is in the know. As far as using the monitor.


From my manual.

Engine Oil Life
Press the TRIP button until the engine oil life is
displayed, such as OIL LIFE REMAIN 89%.
This is an estimate of the engine oil’s remaining useful
life. It will show 99% when the system is reset after
an oil change. It will alert you to change your oil on
a schedule consistent with your driving conditions.
When the remaining oil life is low, the system will
alert you with a message CHANGE OIL SOON.
When the oil life is down to zero, you will receive the
message CHANGE OIL NOW.


To reset the OIL LIFE reminder after an oil change:
1. With the ignition on, press the TRIP button so the
OIL LIFE percentage is displayed.
2. Press RESET and hold for two seconds. The word
RESET will appear, then OIL LIFE 99%.
Remember, you must reset the OIL LIFE yourself after
each oil change. It will not reset itself. Also, be careful
not to reset the OIL LIFE accidentally at any time other
than when the oil has just been changed. It can’t be reset
accurately until the next oil change.
The DIC does not replace the need to maintain your
vehicle as recommended in the Maintenance Schedule
in this manual. Also, the oil change reminder will not
detect dusty conditions or engine malfunctions that may
affect the oil. If you drive in dusty areas, change your
oil after every 3,000 miles (5 000 km) or three months,
whichever occurs first, unless the DIC instructs you to
do so sooner. Also, the oil change reminder does not
measure how much oil you have in your engine, so be
sure to check your oil level often. See “Engine Oil” in
the Index.