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Oil life monitor

Chief

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Moved from the break in thread. kw


One other thing - although not exactly on topic on this thread - I now endorse the use of the oil life monitor in the Avalanche (duck!). I use to be of the change the oil every 3K like religion but over 46K miles this is what I've observed (and as a disclaimer I did oil changes at 1K, 3K, and 6K to Mobil1 and THEN followed the monitor).

When I was doing a lot of city driving commuting to work in downtown Seattle I found that the light would recommend changing oil from 4.2 to 4.6K.

When I went on several hardcore off-roading trips over a two month period the light came on after 3.4K miles. So to me it sure did seem like it was looking at load.

When I altered my driving habits and it became more long distance on the highway at cruise in the HOV - the light on my last go around did not come on until 6.8K miles.

It appears to me after a variety of driving that the system does "work" and I'm happy with the recommendations from the computer.

As I said - duck!
 
I'm happy with the oil monitor as well. The change oil light is coming on at a little over 3000 miles. Maybe the sensors are picking up the extra load of the supercharger.

kw
 
I did first change at 3k, now trying to follow monitor. Second change came about 8K later. Then dealer forgot to reset (I even reminded him :rolleyes:) so I'll probably change at 5-6K more then try again. I've always been a 4-5K guy (instead of 3K). No matter what most say and my dad drilling it into me as a youngster, 3K just seems excessive to me.

I like the idea of the monitor and definitely like the encouraging posts regarding its "working."

Rich
 
I have used monitor since the day one....

I am about 8k right now.....should need change soon
 
RichUF said:
Then dealer forgot to reset (I even reminded him :rolleyes:) so I'll probably change at 5-6K more then try again.

Rich

My mechanic (A ex GM mechanic) told me to reset the oil sensor all you do is rev the gas three times within the first 5 seconds of starting the truck.

Dale
 
Tribal said:
RichUF said:
Then dealer forgot to reset (I even reminded him :rolleyes:) so I'll probably change at 5-6K more then try again.

Rich

My mechanic (A ex GM mechanic) told me to reset the oil sensor all you do is rev the gas three times within the first 5 seconds of starting the truck.

Dale

yes, I should have mentioned that I did this immediately when I noticed...it's just as easy as you describe. But, that ruins the monitoring for that period...at least by the couple hundred miles I put on it. (oops, forgot to mention above that had it changed last time before light came on because I was in for service for something else anyway, but it was "about time" anyhow)

sorry for the confusion...point is I like the oil monitoring system (y)
 
I have mine chaged every 3-4k miles reguardless of the oil life monitor. The light has only come on once between oil changes and that was right around 3500 miles.
 
I go between 4-5k miles... or basically when the oil moniter gets to 60%.... don't even know what percentage it comes dings you to change your oil at, as I have never been below 60%

Grey


 
Okay Chief, time to duck. :eek:

I think I will also try this also after my next oil change, but I would not recommend going past the recommended maintenance interval for your particular brand of driving, if you would like GM to honor you drive train warranty. I am sure not a lawyer or a warranty expert, but if you do not follow the GM recommended maintenace interval - you void your drive train warranty.

I know that the 02 owners manual says to go by the GM oil life monitoring system, 10K or 12 months. I document everything that I do on the MYGMLINK website and they recommend every 3k
for my "heavy" driving.

I do quite a bit of trailer pulling with my Av, so my brand of driving would be considered "Heavy" by GM's standard. I was recently coming back from a long trip pulling my 28' travel trailer and the change oil light came on, approx 3.2k since my last change. Most of the driving since my last oil change had been pulling a trailer. So I believe the system really works as advertised.

As has been discussed here in many other threads about oils and such, the best thing that you can do to ensure the longevity of your engine is to change your oil regularly and often. Going over 5K is really pushing the issue no matter what kind of oil you use in my hubble opinion (time for me to duck). I want my Av to last a looooooong time and oil and a good filter is certainly cheaper than an engine.
 
Dazed Dave said:
No, that would make me sensible, not normal. Not normal at all >:D

Well if sense was required that would not be normal on this site anyway!

Before people get any ideas about a hidden message in that post, I am referring to the fact that this is a predominately male member environment where we regularly disregard our wifes views.... or at least keep the truth from them.

It's sad that I actually had to explain that
 
I'm feeling comfortable with the oil life monitor because it appears to be as conservative as I am, maybe even more so. I try for every 3000 but sometimes that stretches to 5000. This is only in the span of 5-8 weeks. When I've been looking for a hole in my schedule to get an oil change done the light has been coming on. It's thinking just like I am.

kw
 
I live by the change oil light. It all depends on my driving. It has come on at 4K, 5K, 6K, and 7K miles. Most of the time it comes on 5-6K miles. I really like this because I can change my oil and rotate my tires at the same time.

And yes oil and filter are cheap, but when you have 150K miles you save some money. I usally put 30K miles a year. So instead of changing my oil 10 times in one year. I now change it 5 times a year. So when my Av is 5 years old if I did the 3K mile oil change I would have done 50 oil changes. With the light I will only change it 25 times. That is not a whole lot of money but since I do my own service it save me a little time and money.
 
I changed my oil and filter about 2500 miles ago. I changed from Mobil 1 which I ran for the last 42000 miles to Royal Purple. My Change Oile light came on. My question is does the Change Oil light actually monitor the oil's life through some sort of viscocity or particle check or simply run by miles in which case a reset should be done even if light does not coome on.
 
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