Oil Change Light

[NightEye]

My oil change light just came on today. I'm just curious exactly what triggers the oil change light (I havn't checked the oil yet, it was dark out when it turned on). Is it a time/mileage thing, or is it an actual mechanical flaw the comptuer detects? Does it matter if I drive it another 50 miles or so with the light on?

Also, what is a good and reliable place to change your oil, somewhere where they will actually put the correct/requested oil in and do it right (ie, Pep Boys?). Btw, what kind of oil do you guys put into your F-Body's?

Simple questions, but I just got the car and want to make sure I'm taking care of it the best I can.

[FloydSummerOf68]

If you want to take care of it the best you can then put mobil 1 synthetic.
Thats some mighty fine oil right there.

[cassie]

The change oil light is electronically programmed to come on every 3000-4000 miles

you can reset it to make it go off. A lot of people just like ot have it on to use as a reminder.

[LD]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by cassie:
The change oil light is electronically programmed to come on every 3000-4000 miles

you can reset it to make it go off. A lot of people just like ot have it on to use as a reminder.<hr></blockquote>

no mine doesn't come on for about 7,000 miles. If you read the manual it says it calculates when your oil needs to be changed by how many miles you drive and how you drive it. Mine is ALL highway driving (360+ miles a week) so it takes a while to come on.

[DrFix2Fly]

Acutally your oil change is calculated based on engine revolutions that your PCM counts using the crank position sensor. You can make this light go out by holding your trip/odometer for about 10 seconds until your oil change light blinks.

[navyblue2000]

I have trouble believing that it actually accurately calculates, because it once came on 200 miles after an oil change.

just turn the key 'ON', and hold the trip odometer till the oil change light flashes.

[NightEye]

Thanks for the replies. Just wanted I wanted to hear (PCM calculates it, not an actual mechanical problem).

I'll prolly go get it changed anyway with the Mobil 1 Synthetic - don't know what's in there right now.

Thanks guys!

[mjparme]

I always wait until the Oil Change light comes on to get my oil changed. GM swears by their oil life monitor so that is good enough for me. The whole "change your oil every 3000 mile" thing is just propaganda put out by oil companies and mechanics so they can get your money.

The information about the oil life monitor says it calculates when you need your oil changed on several factors in the engine. RPM's is one, there are others.

My manual says if I hold my trip meter button in for 12 seconds it will reset. I always take my car to the dealer to have my oil changed and they always reset it for me.

EDITED: for grammar

[ January 12, 2004: Message edited by: mjparme ]</p>

[AlienInv8r]

I usually just change mine every 3-5k miles. And all I use is good ol' pennzoil in my car. She runs fine without any problems with that. I wouldn't worry about the light a whole lot, just check to see if the oil looks ok. Besides, it's like $10 and 20 minutes to change oil. Simple preventative maintenance. I'm probably gonna switch to synthetic soon myself, it lasts a longer than traditional oil and has some detergents in it that can help clean a bit inside the engine too (from what I've read).

[r&ksport]

How Can Operating Conditions be Used to Predict Oil Life?

Using carefully controlled laboratory tests, it’s possible for lubrication engineers to measure how long it takes to dilute engine oil during cold operation. And it’s possible to measure how long it takes for high temperature to degrade the additives. We usually think of measuring time in hours and minutes, but for an engine, the amount of revolutions it has run is also a good measure. So for the purposes of oil life, time is measured in engine revolutions. Engineers like to talk in terms of models. A model is a way to describe something mathematically. It’s possible to create an oil life model that very carefully matches the results of analyzing the oil in a laboratory. The oil life monitor, then, is based on a model. A computer chip in the Powertrain Control Module is loaded with a certain number of engine revolution counts. The count for each engine/vehicle combination is determined by testing. As the engine runs, each revolution is subtracted from the remaining count in the oil life monitor. When the count reaches zero, the instrument panel light comes on. But, here’s the clever part. When the various input sensors detect that the engine is running under either cold or hot conditions, it subtracts extra counts (penalties) for each engine revolution. So, the conditions
that cause the oil to "wear out" make the counter run down faster. When the oil is changed, it’s necessary to
reset the oil life monitor and the countdown begins again.

NOTE: Synthetic oil resists "wearing out" better than mineral oil, so the oil life monitor is set to account for this, but only on vehicles that are specified for synthetic oil from the factory -- the Corvette, for instance. Using synthetic oil in other vehicles is certainly not harmful, but the oil life monitor will continue to count down as though the engine contained mineral oil.

SOURCE: GM TechLink March 2000

[r&ksport]

Reset Procedure:

2001 - 02 Camaro
2001 - 02 Firebird

1. Turn the ignition to RUN but with the engine off.

2. Push the Trip/Oil Reset button located on the instrument panel for 12 seconds. The Oil Change light will start to flash to confirm that the system is reset. The reset is completed when the Oil Change light goes out.

[oil pan 4]

This is why it comes on...
It is due to a PSID (Pressure per Square Inch Differential)switch being triped. I see them on a few peaces of air craft suport generators and hyd. test stands I work on.
When the pressure on the filter is so much more on the inlet side than the out let side (set at a preset pressure) it trips a switch.
They can get fu(ked up and come on even after I change the filter plus oil, they can go bad and give false reading.
All it does for me is turns on a light when the filter gets dirty, when the filter starts to get dirty the light flickers and goes off when the engine warms up, untill it gets all the way dirty and stays on all the time.
On your car it sends a signal to the ECU, and like any falt code in the ECU it has to be cleared.
It is a simple pressure switch and a few wires.
And how would the ECU know when you change the oil?
Why would they make an ECU engine rev count down when they could use a $3 switch to tell you when the filter is getting cloged.
Mobil one is a lot cleaner than regular oil, it would keep your PSID down.
High way driving is a lot better on your oil than stop and go, it stays cooler on the high way and bakes in stop and go.
You could get a bigger filter too, that will keep the PSID down.

[LD]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by oil pan 4:
This is why it comes on...
It is due to a PSID (Pressure per Square Inch Differential)switch being triped. I see them on a few peaces of air craft suport generators and hyd. test stands I work on.
When the pressure on the filter is so much more on the inlet side than the out let side (set at a preset pressure) it trips a switch.
They can get fu(ked up and come on even after I change the filter plus oil, they can go bad and give false reading.
All it does for me is turns on a light when the filter gets dirty, when the filter starts to get dirty the light flickers and goes off when the engine warms up, untill it gets all the way dirty and stays on all the time.
On your car it sends a signal to the ECU, and like any falt code in the ECU it has to be cleared.
It is a simple pressure switch and a few wires.
And how would the ECU know when you change the oil?
Why would they make an ECU engine rev count down when they could use a $3 switch to tell you when the filter is getting cloged.
Mobil one is a lot cleaner than regular oil, it would keep your PSID down.
High way driving is a lot better on your oil than stop and go, it stays cooler on the high way and bakes in stop and go.
You could get a bigger filter too, that will keep the PSID down.<hr></blockquote>

then why does my light go off and stay off after 30 seconds?
It only comes on at every start. Why would they lie in the manual?

[r&ksport]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by oil pan 4:
This is why it comes on...<hr></blockquote>

My previous post was copied directly from a GM Tech website site. _That is why it comes on_.

Are you saying GM lies to their technicians?

[ January 14, 2004: Message edited by: r&ksport ]</p>

[NightEye]

It's now sporatic like you guys had mentioned it above. The light comes on when I start to car, but once I drive it for a few minutes it goes off. Kinda of annoying. I gotta do an oil change anyway. Does anyone use the K&N High Performance Oil Filter - is it worth getting?