How accurate is the on-board oil life monitor on my vehicle?

[PinnedAndRecessed]

I'm not tech savvy and when I bought my 2023 truck I continued with 5,000 mile oil change intervals. Then I stumbled onto the on-board oil life monitor and discovered that at 5,000 miles the computer said my oil still had ~ 60% life. It uses synthetic oil, 96% city driving, etc.

Now it's at 40%.

What's a good rule of thumb for today's modern vehicles?

 

[thinckley]

I would start by researching how your specific make/model's sensor measures oil life.

Personally, I start with the manufacturer's recommendation, which for my Hyundais is 7.5k, then I listen to my mechanic who does the oil changes. Just last week I had the oil changed and, when they checked, the pre-change levels they were low. Turns out one of my cars (4 years old) has an engine that is currently the focus of a class action because it burns oil. So now, I am checking the oil every 1k miles, with changes scheduled at 3k. If we continue to see the drop, then next spring (oil use is worse in the summer), I'll take it to the dealer to diagnostics and, if necessary, engine replacement.

 

[hittman]

Personal preference.
To me, oil changes are cheap insurance against potential future problems.
I have several friends who are professional auto or motorcycle mechanics,
They had to talk me out of continuing my "3 months or 3000 miles" routine on my 2021 Silverado with a 5.3L.
We compromised at changing oil every 5000 miles.
It's what the pro's I know do too.

 

[The Norseman]

Jeep told me just don't go over 10,000
miles. I use their conventional oil
change package. I usually have one
oil change a year.

From what I have read; Automotive oils
have improved so much you no longer
have to change so often. With synthetic
oils you can approach 20,000 miles.

The Best to you and your Endeavors.

 

[mr.deerstalker]

easy to check on. change your oil. mark where are on the miles of change. reg oil? 3K miles check your %. should be toast at 3k. synthetic oil. same thing, but should be between 40-50% done. synthetic oil normal go's to 5K miles. thus the 40-50% reading. here's how you can never go wrong, treat your syntactic oil as reg oil, change it at 3k miles. oil is cheap! changing your motor or buy a newer car. not so much. im an airplane guy, oil is cheap compared to rebuilding the motor. same thing applys to any motor. giid luck! Mr DS

 

[Fox Mike]

I would start by researching how your specific make/model's sensor measures oil life.

Personally, I start with the manufacturer's recommendation, which for my Hyundais is 7.5k, then I listen to my mechanic who does the oil changes. Just last week I had the oil changed and, when they checked, the pre-change levels they were low. Turns out one of my cars (4 years old) has an engine that is currently the focus of a class action because it burns oil. So now, I am checking the oil every 1k miles, with changes scheduled at 3k. If we continue to see the drop, then next spring (oil use is worse in the summer), I'll take it to the dealer to diagnostics and, if necessary, engine replacement.

We just had a complete engine changed in our 2016 Hyundai Tucson. Got it back just last week. My son was on his way to Cape Cod when he started losing power. Took it to the dealer there and they had it transported to another dealer for a through inspection. They changed everything they thought might be the reason for the excessive oil use and the power lose. They finally used a bore scope to inspected the cylinders. They found number three cylinder was scared and grooved. Hyundai Headquarters was contacted and they authorized a completed engine change. Keep meticulous records of oil use (how often you need to add to bring it to the proper level) and any and all oil changes (unless done by the dealer).

 

[Jeepnik]

How long do you intend to keep the vehicle?

Oil is inexpensive. I've mentioned before two of my vehicles are from '78 & '82. Yeas parts have had to be replaced over the years, but not catastrophic failures. But, I am consistent with maintenance. These will probably go to my kids.

My"new" truck is a '20. I could probably not do any maintenance and it would still be running when I am gone. But the mechanic part of me just rebels at the thought.

The truck gets serviced every 5000 miles. There is one thing about regular servicing. You often spot issues before the cause problems.

By the way, when was the last time you saw anyone check their fluids while getting gas? When was the last time you did it? More importantly, how many folks even know how?

 

[Actnbill]

With these new engines that use "Zero Weight" oil I wouldn't go more than 5,000 miles between oil changes.....They have very tight tolerances and don't like old oil......Add a turbo and Direct Injection I would be more conservative and change every 4,000 miles..... I suspect those monitors are purely mileage driven and don't actually sense oil wear

 

[NikA]

The monitor should be recording actual engine usage and mileage and align accurately with the manufacturer's recommendations. As other have said, whether that is the best interval for your usage is up to you. Several engines classes in the past 20 year have required redesign due to failures from extended intervals.

 

[Captain America]

On cars with conventional or semi-synthetic oil that do city driving the oil looks a little dirty at 3000 miles and our full synthetic vehicles it looks that way around 5000 miles. The money saved by lengthening your oil change interval vs the damage that could be done is not worth the risk in my opinion.

 

[Johnnu2]

I trust NO technology.... and I certainly don't like "control" taken out of my hands through technology.
I am VERY OLD and still change my oil personally.......... every 5,000 miles in my 2016 Toyota (vs. 10K recommended).
We have a 2009 Subaru and change the oil every 12 months at around 3,000 (or less) miles.
So far, so good..... I hope not to have to ever buy a new car.....at least not until I hit 90.
IMHO as always.... I do enjoy these discussions.
J.

 

[thinckley]

We just had a complete engine changed in our 2016 Hyundai Tucson. Got it back just last week. My son was on his way to Cape Cod when he started losing power. Took it to the dealer there and they had it transported to another dealer for a through inspection. They changed everything they thought might be the reason for the excessive oil use and the power lose. They finally used a bore scope to inspected the cylinders. They found number three cylinder was scared and grooved. Hyundai Headquarters was contacted and they authorized a completed engine change. Keep meticulous records of oil use (how often you need to add to bring it to the proper level) and any and all oil changes (unless done by the dealer).

This is the 2019 Kona with a 2.0l engine. It has not been recalled, but it is a known issue. My mechanic actually has the Tuscon with the same engine and he had his replaced due to excessive oil use and told me about the steps Hyundai will take if I file a complaint (one of the reasons he knew that oil use is worse in warm weather). I am still well within the 10yr/100k warranty so I'm not super worried about it yet.

 

[peachhead]

I'm not tech savvy and when I bought my 2023 truck I continued with 5,000 mile oil change intervals. Then I stumbled onto the on-board oil life monitor and discovered that at 5,000 miles the computer said my oil still had ~ 60% life. It uses synthetic oil, 96% city driving, etc.

Now it's at 40%.

What's a good rule of thumb for today's modern vehicles?

I have a 2013 f150. I don't pay attention to the monitor and I go every 5,000 mi. Basically because it's easier to remember that's when I get my tires rotated.
As someone earlier noted, oil is cheap.

 

[bedfordboy]

The oil life meter monitors RPM, engine running time per start, engine temperature and a number of other factors to determine % of oil life remaining. I recently sold my 09 Silverado 5.3L which I drove mostly highway miles (300mi round trip per week), it was not uncommon for the oil life monitor to show 25-30% life remaining at 7000 - 8000 miles which was when I normally changed it (this was synthetic oil). Truck had over 230000mi on it when I sold it and was running fine, no smoke, plug fouling or anything but it was using about a pint of oil between changes when I sold it. Bought a new Silverado 5.3L Z-71 back in April when I retired and still haven't passed 5000mi for the first oil change but my driving habits will change now so I'll probably get regular (synthetic) changes in the 5000mi neighborhood from now on.

 

[Goldstar225]

I've been doing 5K oil changes on my vehicles for the past 40 years. I've never had an oil related failure or excessive oil usage between changes as a result. I see no reason to change my habit.

 

[Mobuck]

I trust an 'oil life monitor' nearly as much as the fortune teller's crystal ball. I've heard too many comments about how many miles are on the oil change before those idiot lights say the oil is used up. As far as I'm concerned city driving, start/stop driving, and short trip driving are the worst abuse one can impart on an engine.
Problems arise when oil changes aren't done properly. So in some/many cases, it might actually be an advantage to not change oil as frequently(but with better quality products and mechanics).
Some of the problems with oil changes relate to who/where/how those changes are done and the quality of products used. I'm particular and understand that doing things RIGHT usually results in better returns than the low ball 'oil change city' goober shop in town. Allowing these clowns to change oil should be illegal. I've heard so many stories about places that put the vehicle up on the hoist, remove the filter, replace the filter with the cheapest one available, and add enough oil to refill. Same oil and now a crapola filter, too. I get ads from places that sell filters and see the prices of generic 'looks the same' filters that aren't up to specs on filtration.
How the oil filter is replaced can make more difference than one might expect. Assuming the filter housing is designed correctly(the filter screws on from the bottom), just filling the filter with oil when replacing can result in far less start up wear than spinning on a DRY filter.

 

[DGW1949]

Good point on "don't install a dry filter".

DGW

 

[althor]

I bought a 2012 Honda and went to the 'new owner seminar' where they insisted that you only needed to go by the oil life monitor. Fast forward to 2019, bought a new Honda from the same dealer and went to the 'owner seminar' and they said to just go with about 5000 miles. I pointed out the inconsistency and they told us that depending on how a vehicle is driven, it may not be accurate. They had a customer come in when the oil life showed 5%, but there was only 1-1/2 quarts in the engine. Apparently short drives that don't allow the engine to head up can take a toll over time, but the algorithm doesn't account for all scenarios. Maybe something else happened as well.

 

[Jeepnik]

Good point on "don't install a dry filter".

DGW

People do that? Even horizontally mounted filters get some oil. Not to mention oiling the O ring and threads.

First oil change on my new Fiat 124 wagon it became apparent the factory had installed the O ring and threads dry. Try as I might I could not get it off. I was down to cutting it off.

A fellow fireman (hey Sundays were made for private vehicle maintenance) walked up shoved me (literally) aside reached in and spun it off by hand.

Now you know why we kept that big ole Cajun around. That and no one ever wanted to start a bar fight when he was around.

 

[Ethang]

I bought a 2012 Honda and went to the 'new owner seminar' where they insisted that you only needed to go by the oil life monitor. Fast forward to 2019, bought a new Honda from the same dealer and went to the 'owner seminar' and they said to just go with about 5000 miles. I pointed out the inconsistency and they told us that depending on how a vehicle is driven, it may not be accurate. They had a customer come in when the oil life showed 5%, but there was only 1-1/2 quarts in the engine. Apparently short drives that don't allow the engine to head up can take a toll over time, but the algorithm doesn't account for all scenarios. Maybe something else happened as well.

Low oil is not the fault of the Maintenance Minder, that's on the owner for not checking it. I am on my 2nd Honda and go by the computer. I use Mobil 1 and Napa Gold filters. My Civic went 347K and I only got rid of it because I found a V6 Accord I really liked. My Accord is at 150K now. Neither burn any oil between changes and my Civic still ran strong when I sold it. All that said, I still check the oil once a month...