Patman36

Checked the 'Oil Life Remaining" reading on the D.I.C. and it indicated that it was at 54%. I had the oil changed at 2500 miles and now have 4700 miles on the car. Is this normal? :confused:

Patrick :sleep:

chocoholic

Do you know for certain that when the oil was changed that the oil life remaining indicator was reset?

If it wasn't reset those figures would seem about right for a typical 10,000 mile interval. Having said that, perhaps you make lots of short trips?

Patman36

I personally reset it after the last oil change. I wouldn't say I make a lot of short trips... the car almost always fully warms up...

Patrick :confused:

Ron C

Well, Pat from Tulsa, I'd say that this is telling you to change oil every 5000 miles. That's one of the gizmo's you probably could have done without. By the way, if it didn't remind you, how often would you change oil? What kind of oil would you use? And do you know where it goes?

If the answer to any of these questions doesn't spring to mind, I suggest you sell the car and buy a tractor.

BadAttitude

Kinda harsh, don't ya think? :yesnod:

~ BA

Tiger Shark

Hi Patman36,

I used to be TargaC5.

For comparison to another early build 2002 MN6 Coupe: I had my oil changed the first time at 2625 miles. At 5066 miles (2441 miles later), my oil life meter was at 60%, and I got a Low Oil message. It was actually about 1 1/4 quarts low. I just had them change it again 1 week ago, and I'm taking it in sometime this week (500 miles since they changed it) for them to document it.

Dave68

I drive 10 miles to work and back (20-total, half-city/half highway) and get about 2800 miles until 54% shows up, so I'd say that if your driving habits are similar to mine, then all is normal. Believe me, more than just a little thought was put into the oil life algorithm. If the monitor tells you to change the oil at 4400 miles, then you shouldn't go beyond that many miles before changing it.


[Modified by Dave68, 8:36 PM 2/3/2002]

Tiger Shark

:rolleyes:

:jester


[Modified by Tiger Shark, 10:39 PM 2/3/2002]

AP

The monitor takes into account RPM's and speeds....

I know that a buddy of mine had the percentage drop 2% after making 3 dyno pulls... if the car is driven hard...

If you dont drive the car hard... maybe you should have the dealer look into it....

When I did my oil change at 500 miles my DIC read 92%.... at 3000 (2500 mile difference) it reads about 86%.... but that was mostly freeway driving...

Ron C

My post was perhaps a bit cynical; It's point was that this isn't rocket science here. We aren't even discussing cam profiles. We're talking about the quality of oil. Granted, that's a subject that a person could go on and on and on about, and the chemists and refiners have made science out of the pursuit of better products.

But for the sake of this discussion, it's nothing but changing oil every few thousand miles. The little computer algorithm watches a few things, gleans an offset for heavy use based on durations of heavy load and high temperatures. Not terribly difficult a concept, and I think our friend needs a dose of "don't sweat the small stuff."

Your little gizmo isn't telling you anything unnatural.

Patman36

Can you believe we actually HAVE cars in Oklahoma? I mean, it is hard dodging all the horses, buggies and tractors on the dirt roads. :confused:

Just FYI Ron, I changed the oil at 500 miles to get the crap out of the engine after break-in. After that, changed it at ~2,500. Have added a little oil since then. I change the oil on my other cars every 3,000-4,000 miles. On the Vette, I will probably stay with that schedule, although I will change it per the oil indicator if "told" to do so. I add Mobile 5W30 into the gas tank... err engine. :lol: And "don't sweat the small stuff"? I do, especially since some LS1's are pretty notorious for GUZZLING oil... just trying to keep this perty car workin' right.... I agree though, I shouldn't lose sleep over it, but I don't. Sometimes criticism is necessary to keep people in line, these are just cars (fun ones though! :D).

Tiger Shark and Dave68, thanks for the comparison on your cars. I know how sophisticated the algorithm is for the oil life indicator, just checking to see if I had a larger problem. :D I appreciate the responses guys, some of them atleast :D

Patrick :cheers:


[Modified by Patman36, 11:34 PM 2/3/2002]

c5vetteman

For my driving style it looks like I'll be averaging 3000 miles to get to 50% oil life remaining after each oil change.

6Speeder

Ron: Why don't you go somewhere and get a life, you :troll . Just do it somewhere else. Your attitude isn't wanted or needed here.

Patman: Lot's of factors used in the oil life algorythm, oil temp, number of revolutions, load, etc. Mine shows about the same, but I'm OK with it, I don't go past 5000 miles on oil changes anyway. :cheers:

Sgerh

At about 2,900 miles I only have 21% of my oil life remaining. I guess I should keep my heavy foot off of the gas. Oh wait, nevermind. I will change the oil at 3,000 miles and keep my heavy foot on the gas. :cool:

Don't sweat the oil life remaining calculation. Just regularly change at 3,000 miles with Mobil 1 and the LS1 will last a long time.

Scott :seeya

Draco

My car is showing about the same numbers as you are, most of my trips are in town and less than 20 miles round trip so I have been attributing the low percentage to this. I hope all the numbers are normal.

C5 Frederik

From 85 % to 10% it took 6.300 miles. Fast driving on autobahns most times. Only few in town & Country.

Frederik

davidmax

I've had mine drop 4% in a hard days night.Twin Turbo motors need more frequent change 3k in summer 4.5k in winter,2k if I run down my DIC by 30
points in3-4 weeks.Enjoy,Dave

SoCal C5

I think that sounds about right.

I change my oil when the DIC shows less than 20%. I usually get about 6000 miles between changes.