Intelligent Oil Life Monitor - Page 4

Titanium12 · 07-07-2011, 09:31 AM

It's peace of mind for me to change my oil every 3,000 miles & I do it myself......some
people make their bed everyday.....I don't. To each his own.

Dgc333 · 07-07-2011, 09:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by redav;

My question is: If you can measure those things the oil affects, and from those measurements detect that the oil is going bad, why can you not measure those things and detect that the oil is NOT going bad? Or, if the computer keeps a log of the measurements, and there is a steady decay with time, it's pretty easy to detect a jump back to the "new oil" measurements, at which time the computer will conclude the oil was changed & resets

These systems are not complicated. They look at the number of miles driven, how many times the car was started. Just those two parameters would tell whether you do hiway or around town driving. Keep track of how many times the car is started and also got up to full operating temperature. Those three bits would provide enough info to calculate when the oil should be changed.

As far as the reset default it has to be at least what they expect the maximum oil change interval could be. Why the chose 20,000 miles; could be they expect better oil in the future that will allow for longer drain intervals and it would be an easier software update if they didn't have to change that constant. I doubt it was sloppy programing.

silenthill · 07-07-2011, 10:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Titanium12

It's peace of mind for me to change my oil every 3,000 miles & I do it myself......some
people make their bed everyday.....I don't. To each his own.

Absolutely! That's one of the reasons in my OP I posted that I didn't want this to diverge into the debate of when to change the oil that often seems to happen. It's like Coke vs Pepsi

halfmoonclip · 07-07-2011, 04:49 PM

How tough is the filter/oil plug to access? My bride's Panzer has a bellypan that is an SOB to remove if the car isn't on a lift, so I finally said the hell with it and let the dealer do it.
She had a Pontiac Bonneville years ago with a filter that you could see with the hood up, but you couldn't actually touch it enough to remove it without taking off a wheel.
Anyway, I'd rather do my own changes; any problems getting at things?
Moon

Titanium12 · 07-07-2011, 10:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by halfmoonclip

How tough is the filter/oil plug to access? My bride's Panzer has a bellypan that is an SOB to remove if the car isn't on a lift, so I finally said the hell with it and let the dealer do it.
She had a Pontiac Bonneville years ago with a filter that you could see with the hood up, but you couldn't actually touch it enough to remove it without taking off a wheel.
Anyway, I'd rather do my own changes; any problems getting at things?
Moon

There is a fabric like cover on the bottom of the car held on by 8 torx screws. They are relatively easy to take out except the center one in the middle almost directly below the dash on the very bottom of the car. I jacked the car up a little bit to get that one out........and I am leaving it out since it is such a pain the butt to get out.

. All the others are accessible from the front and sides of the car. This is on the bottom of the car for aerodynamics I think since alot of German/European cars have this as well. A little inconvenient but only takes about 3 minutes to get off. Gives the car a very clean look underneath!

The filter is at the front/center of the car. It is in a great spot and hangs completely down.....not sideways or at an angle. Easy to spin off and it isn't touching anything else so oil doesn't run down the side of the block/pan. I like it since it allows you to fill the filter with oil completely before spinning it on allowing for a non "dry start."

The plug is in the center pointing towards the rear of the car. 15mm wrench will get it off.

Both filter and plug are in great spots to allow a clean easy change with little clean up. Ford designed this one right.

halfmoonclip · 07-08-2011, 08:33 AM

Titanium, thnx for the comeback and explanation. I'll have a look at it when my car arrives; the older I get, the less patience I have with boolchit jobs, so I may just let the dealer change it. I used to change oil at 1K (!) and 3K miles, and always changed a new car's oil after 1K. I just won't do that anymore, and it really isn't necessary. My long suffering TJ Jeep gets changed once a year these days since the old girl doesn't see a lot of miles (at 17 mpg....).

As far as the speculation about the oil change monitor, my current Fit has such thing, and I'm sure it is a computer-generated WAG using number of starts/run time and whatever other input all the little 0s and 1s can generate. It is helpful, since you don't have to keep track. My kid's Caliber has two trip odometers, and she zeros the one when I change her oil; when it hits 7K she says '....Daaaaaad...". Of course, being old school, I put a label under the hood too....
Moon

scottjl · 07-08-2011, 09:51 AM

have to wonder how that under-body fabric cover will last to a WI winter. i'm sure by next spring it will be nasty, torn and need to be removed anyway.

me2000 · 07-08-2011, 10:09 AM

I get a free oil change at 3,000 miles and then 1/2 off after that. I'll take advantage of that.

STL 314 · 07-08-2011, 01:55 PM

Took mine to the dealer today for regular maintenance at 4,500 miles (slightly early) and they had no clue about any oil monitor. They actually asked me if it had one. They had two guys tinkering around the menus trying to figure it out & concluded that my car had no oil monitoring system - neither one you could look up in the menu comp or one they could operate with their equipment. They said if a lights comes on to bring it back.

Between that & the crabby cashier I wasn't impressed.