Oil Life
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Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 75
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From: Toronto Ontario
Oil Life
Hi All,
A question about the oil life remaining data in the C%...Does it register any extended time when the car is not in use??? If I park it for say two months, does the system know this and register it?
A question about the oil life remaining data in the C%...Does it register any extended time when the car is not in use??? If I park it for say two months, does the system know this and register it?
Safety Car
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 4,411
Likes: 1
From: Wilmington NC
Originally Posted by snowball
Hi All,
A question about the oil life remaining data in the C%...Does it register any extended time when the car is not in use??? If I park it for say two months, does the system know this and register it?
A question about the oil life remaining data in the C%...Does it register any extended time when the car is not in use??? If I park it for say two months, does the system know this and register it?
Pro
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 658
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From: Toronto Ontario
Originally Posted by snowball
Hi All,
A question about the oil life remaining data in the C%...Does it register any extended time when the car is not in use??? If I park it for say two months, does the system know this and register it?
A question about the oil life remaining data in the C%...Does it register any extended time when the car is not in use??? If I park it for say two months, does the system know this and register it?
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I do not believe that the system takes extended down time into consideration. I have not noticed any change in my oil life monitor when the car sits for the winter.
Racer
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 460
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From: N. Potomac MD
From what I understand the computer which displays the oil life left percentage uses an algorism that takes into account the number of engine revolutions (IE: time it is running) and factors in average rpm and load information to determine the percent the oil is used up. For example if the car idled for 3 months then it would probably default to some number of months and ignore revolutions. If it was run 100% at the track full load all the time then it would probably have the oil indicater show % used very quickly. My daily driving and milage I choose to replace my oil about every 6000 miles and at that time the oil life indicator shows about 10% oil life left. Remember it is only an indicator. It does not actively monitor the oil itself only engine running parameters.
Bottom line is do what you feel is good.
Bottom line is do what you feel is good.
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Safety Car
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 4,411
Likes: 1
From: Wilmington NC
Originally Posted by Corvette00Car
From what I understand the computer which displays the oil life left percentage uses an algorism that takes into account the number of engine revolutions (IE: time it is running) and factors in average rpm and load information to determine the percent the oil is used up. For example if the car idled for 3 months then it would probably default to some number of months and ignore revolutions. If it was run 100% at the track full load all the time then it would probably have the oil indicater show % used very quickly. My daily driving and milage I choose to replace my oil about every 6000 miles and at that time the oil life indicator shows about 10% oil life left. Remember it is only an indicator. It does not actively monitor the oil itself only engine running parameters.
Bottom line is do what you feel is good.
Bottom line is do what you feel is good.
I got to see the parameters for the algorithm but it has been some time. Maybe somebody else saved the writeup. But what the operation gets down to is average oil temperature per opertation. In other words if you take drives that puts the oil at about 210 degrees for the great deal of the trip you are going to have quite long oil life indications. Either side of that "sweet spot" and oil life will drop quickly. Short trips and severe duty both fall on the sides of the bell shaped oil life curve.
To my knowledge the C5 has no time or date keeping feature.
From Hib halverson's write up: "The oil life monitor also cannot read the calendar. If your C5 has gone 12-months but less than 10,000 miles since its last oil change and the change oil light has not come on, change the oil and filter and reset the monitor. Information on how to display oil life remaining and resetting the monitor is in the Service Manual."
Instructor
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 109
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From: burbank ca
I have always wondered how time really affects the oil life anyway. If the car sits for two months, does this really make much/any difference? The oil is just sitting there like it would in the bottle that it came from. I know the Jiffylube commercials say "3K miles or 3 months which ever comes first". From a logical point of view, I just can't buy into the oil having that short a shelf life. Does anyone have any real data to support that?
