What are you getting with your oil life monitors?

[NoVaGT]

However, why would it count down based on time and not mileage? I mean, is the oil breaking down or something? I would think it would take a lot longer for full synthetic oil to start breaking down but I could be wrong.

Yep.

When a car sits, oil degrades. I think it's condensation related, but I'm not sure. It does seem that DDers get waaaay more miles out of their OLM reading than those that let their car sit. Cars run often are happier mechanically.

I DD my car, and get at least 8K miles before it gets to around 15%

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[Less Weight]

Yep.

When a car sits, oil degrades. I think it's condensation related, but I'm not sure. It does seem that DDers get waaaay more miles out of their OLM reading than those that let their car sit. Cars run often are happier mechanically.

I DD my car, and get at least 8K miles before it gets to around 15%

Thanks for the info; Good to know.

And yeah, I know from past experience that daily driven cars tend to run better and with less issue but I just can't get myself to muck up the car in rain and on salt-ridden roads. I know, I know; it's not a valuable or collectible car but I bought it brand spanking new and I'd like to hang onto it for at least 20 more years in the best condition possible. Not to mention one look at my daily driven Honda's rusted out chassis reinforces my decision, haha.

 

[moosestang]

As I understand it, oil gets asidic from the combustion gasses. That's why you don't want to leave year old oil sitting in the engine, etching the metal surfaces away.

 

[Deleted member 35644]

I changed my oil last weekend at exactly 5,000 miles and my OLM said 50%.

 

[Deleted member 35786]

The more hwy driving you do the longer the oil will last in between changes. When I lived in Germany I did a lot of driving on the highways (Autobahns) and it would be an easy 10,000 - 15,000km between oil changes. Trust me the old timer german mechanics knew there stuff and they were anal about routine maintenance.

 

[michail71]

I'm not sure if my driving habits are considered hard. But I do 2 or 3 wots a week up to 6,500 7,000 rpm when the highway on ramp is clear.

I actually like that my OLM is kicking off at 6,000. But this 6,000 went by fast! It seems to be in typical range as other here are getting.

 

[Zathras]

I didn't take exact count but after 6000 miles (when I had it changed) mine was somewhere around 25%.

 

[jrsimon27]

I use my car as a weekend warrior very low mileage just like 3000 miles a year.
The life oil monitor tells me to change oil after getting close to the full year of usage.

 

[Texstang]

I put about 10k miles on my car per year and don't drive it too hard most of the time. I might do a few WOT pulls per week on it but for the most part it's just a DD.

I usually change my oil at 5k and the monitor shows about 50% when I do, so I assume if I were to continue driving past that, it would go the full 10k.

 

[Andy13186]

My light came on at like 3700 miles I think. I drive it pretty hard though, and do a decent amount of engine braking.

 

[tom_sprecher]

I get just over 10k between changes by the OLM. I do not drive it every day, but spend many hours at a stretch OTR.

 

[TheLion70x77]

My OLM indicated 16% at the first change (dealer changed at 5,600 miles when I bought the car slightly used with that mileage on it). So it probably would been about 5% at 6,000 miles. After that it's usually 50~55% when I change it at 5k. I do quite a bit of extended high RPM. About 20 minutes 2-5 days a week. Including multiple WOT pulls in 3rd and 4th gear in straights, topping out in each gear. Occasionally I get into 5th for a while if I exit correctly on a particular turn. But my oil temps seem to stay pretty reasonable, so I believe oil temperature plays a very significant role in how they calculate oil life, more so than load or RPM ranges.

 

[Deleted member 35786]

I didn't take exact count but after 6000 miles (when I had it changed) mine was somewhere around 25%.

About the same for me at 18%.

 

[Burgo]

Mine is sitting on 55% remaining after 3300 kilometres and 4 months, not very long really given that I've used 45%.

 

[Blue Moon]

I usually change the oil when the monitor gets down to single digits, which is generally close to 10K miles. Some city driving, mostly highway, and the occasional WOT 0-60 test.

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