Oil Life 13%
 

Hey guys!

It's been awhile since I've posted but I have recently been driving around 500 miles every weekend and have noticed my oil life has dropped to 13%. I don't get free oil changes anymore but is this something I should be worried about, like should I be getting an oil change like RIGHT NOW, before doing another road trip, to avoid damaging the engine?

Looking forward to any kind advice!


Kind regards,


Xtina

Let it go to 0%. Nothing will happen. The sun will rise tomorrow.

I'm at 43% and plan to get my oil/filter changed in a couple of week from now. In general, I don't let it get below 40% before getting it serviced. I'm a fanatic about that sort of thing because it's the easiest thing one can do to ensure long engine life.

Now excuse me while I get out of the way for those who will say that GM knows what they are doing with the algorithms that set the percentages for getting oil changed and that it's OK to wait until approaching 0%.

See what I mean? :lol:

It sounds like it's been 11 months since your last oil change. It's based upon mileage, type of usage, and also time. At the 1 year anniversary of the date on which the oil life monitor was last reset, it will read 0%. You can change the oil, and not even start it for a year, and it will still read 0% exactly 1 year after resetting the monitor.

But, to answer your question, you're not going to hurt anything letting it go down to zero. There is an undefined grace period, but you most keep up w/ the required services to keep your warranty intact.

I know, Chevrolet says let it go to 0%. I still change mine every 5000miles. I would go nuts if it said 13%. I'm sure you are OK, just not my way of doing things.

At 5% it'll start to nag ya to change the oil. I let it go until I get nagged and then I change the oil.

Elmer

No big deal either way change it now or let it go to zero.

I schedule my appointment once it gets to 10% of so... I wouldn't worry about it just change it when you can.

I do check my oil on a regular basis (weekly) to ensure levels are correct and oil looks okay.

You should check your manual, which requires an annual oil change, even if you've only put 500 miles on it in that year. You can't just focus on mileage.

Many Corvette owners don't put 5K miles on it during the 3-year warranty period, and if they've never changed the oil during that time, they'd be in serious trouble in the event of a warranty claim.

Useful thread.. Only 3800 miles and 2 more months til I hit the one year mark.

-Josh

The computer adjusts for the oil life based on time. My car only had 2000k miles on it since the last oil change but it had almost been a year and it was at like 8%.

:iagree: Right there with ya brother. Albeit I won't put 5K miles on mine in a year, and most always have to change mine at the 12 month mark. My other cars, they're going in at 5K. To me the price is cheap enough to feed my OCD. :D

BTW, traveled through your beautiful city last month. Stayed at the HIE on 37th.

Xtina, you can change it or wait. Your preference. :yesnod:

So you enjoy waiting no more than 7 1/4 months before changing your oil.

Just the time component will consume 60% of the OLM in that time.

Basically you're changing oil every 6 months if not faster.

If they put on 5k, even without the time component they'd be down under 50%.

The OLM on my car from April to October of last year went down to 13% and I had put on 6900 miles on the car. I feel that even putting on a "normal" 1000 miles a month with no time component the OLM would demand a change before crossing 10000 miles. Much more aggressive than the C6 OLM. With the time component I feel like getting over 8000 miles in a 6 month period on a single oil change is damn near impossible.

The Owners Manual defines a "grace period":

I experience pretty much the same thing. I usually do about 1K miles a month, and in 6 months or 6K miles, my OLM is under 20%. That's where type of use comes in on the algorithm. In my M7, I enjoy keeping the revs up, and usually go to 3-4K before shifting.

Make sure you tell them to keep records or service it a dealer!!, ya know what a nightmare that can be if your engine blows up and all..

Yep. That's how I like to roll.

Changing the oil at 0% is perfectly fine.