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Oil Life Monitor

32K views 70 replies 30 participants last post by  BigMick23 
#1 · (Edited)
Hey guys! I'm new..I have a question for here. I have a 2015 Colorado Z-71 crew cab 4WD with the 3.6L V-6. I bought the truck brand spankin' new. In fact, I ordered it for myself. The first oil change I got about 5,500 miles out of the oil before the monitor told me time for a change. The second oil change I got a little over 4,000 miles. The third oil change I got about 3,500 miles. And now the oil change coming up, I have gotten about 2,700 miles out of the oil before the monitor told me It's time for an oil change. My Colorado has only 16,000 miles on it now. I have owned it for 1 year and 10 months now. Why does the oil life keep decreasing and the Oil Life Monitor coming on sooner and sooner? I do live in northwestern PA and I do use my remote starter during the winter months to thaw the windows out but I'm out there and going down the road before the first 10 minute cycle is up, so it's never sitting and idling for real long, this is before the morning commute to work and before driving home from work. So I do get that remote starting a vehicle has a little bit of an impact on oil life. I usually drive the speed limit to and from work, I never get into high RPM's while driving, I live in a small town just outside of the city in the country so "start/stop" isn't much at all. My drive to and from work is around 35 miles round trip each day. The dealership is the only one who changes my oil, not a mom and pop joint, not myself, JUST the dealership. The oil life percentage is always reset after each oil change too. Just can't understand why my "oil life" keeps decreasing.
 
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#2 ·
That sounds really odd.
My 15 remained consistent with my typical driving habits for 30K, which I changed at 6K, and just under 20%. I would consult dealer service about that.
 
#4 ·
My Colorado only has 1500 miles on it and I purchased it after most of the colder mornings this past winter were long gone, but I did use my 2016 Equinox with the 3.6 most of the winter which probably has the same software. It currently has 7500 miles. The OLM last spring and summer was very slow in decreasing the life of the oil. I changed the oil at about 4000 miles in November with about 40% life left. Since the last oil change, I often would pre-start the vehicle since it sits outside on the cold mornings and start driving it within 10 minutes before the timer ran out. I then drive about 15 miles on a four lane highway to work which should get the engine up to operating temp to burn off condensation. After 3200 miles since the last oil change, the OLM is down to 18% which is taking in consideration the idle time during warmups and the time it sits in the garage more since I purchased the Colorado in mid February. I will probably change the oil at about 3500 miles this time to not cause a warranty issue, but otherwise I usually change the oil between 4000 and 4500 miles. Since the warmer spring weather, the OLM life counter has slowed up and is not decreasing as fast as it was.
 
#5 ·
FWIW

My truck is 14 months old and only has about 7800 miles on it. My first oil change was at 4,500miles and the oil life monitor listed 25%. I'm only 3,500 miles since my last oil change and I looked at the monitor last week and it listed 18%. I'm not sure I'll be able to get to 10K miles before it gets to Zero %. Granted...the first oil was the factory oil. The First oil change was the dealership. Does the oil life monitor know anything about what type of oil you use? Synthetic versus regular?

Honestly...I'm not worrying about the oil life monitor and what it tells me. I'll consider 5K miles between oil changes a pretty 'safe' place to be. Should I mention it (the OL monitor reading) to them the next time I get it changed? Sure...I would.
Even the sticker (oil change reminder) they put on the inside of my windshield (after the last oil change) says 5,000 miles until the next change. Go figure.
 
#8 ·
Here's what I've seen. My first oil change was at 5,000 miles at dealer with 35% oil life left. My second oil change was at 9,500 miles with approx. 8% oil life. Truck not driven hard with a lifetime fuel economy of 19.8 mpg per DIC. The winter seems to have a big effect. I expected the DIC to give me longer life but I'm starting the question the algorithm. I'm using Mobil1 now at 5000 mile intervals.
 
#9 ·
The algorithm is programmed to the factory fill mineral oil. You are using better oil (Mobil 1) so the algorithm is probably on the conservative side in your case. I would keep using the good oil and change it every 5K or according to the OLM anyway, because we like to pamper our babies :smile:
 
#14 ·
Same here. Just because some computer is there to 'monitor' my truck does not mean it knows whats best for it.

Manufacturers, contrary to popular belief, do NOT want your vehicle to last forever. They want to make them reliable and for you to be satisfied and not have to bring it in for warranty. But if they designed them to last too long, well then no one would need to buy another.

While some think that changing oil too frequently is a waste of time or money, I think doing 2 oil changes a year (in my case anyways) is cheap insurance.... whether it needs it or not. :wink2:
 
#11 ·
As others have already said it's based on the factory full "synthetic blend" they use (which is really just dino oil with a couple things tweaked to make it synthetic blend, the percentage of synthetic is never given). I use Amsoil Signature Series and I run it up to 10k miles (rated for 25k) based on my results from UOA's. I just reset the oil life when it gets down to stop it from yelling at me and to stop the dealership from calling lol
 
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#13 ·
The thing I have observed with this system is long idle time will affect life. Also short trips will eat up percentage.

My buddy has a 15 Colorado and he eats up percentage since he drives only a few mins to work daily. The engine barely gets up to temp and he is there. Same for going home. This is harder on oil life than anything and the computer reads this.

Same for cold start and long idle times. It will use up oil life at a much faster rate. Once summer gets here much of this should improve.

I use Mobil One in everything but still go by the OLM.

Note my HHR SS came from the factory with Mobil One and even with the turbo it will run 7500-8000 miles on the OLM. I wish you could change the programming to full syn oil to show the extra 2-3 thousand miles it is worth.

As for this new oil where you change it once a year or even the 25K. I am just not comfortable with that. I know it may do it but I like to not let things settle that long in an engine.

Lets face it changing oil for most of us is not an issue and it is cheap enough at Walmart.
 
#15 ·
I agree

I agree with a lot of what you all are saying :) I work for a Chevy dealer actually, in sales. This is my 4th "free" maintenance visit already then I start paying for them after that. I generally like to change my oil in all my vehicles, past and present, between 4,000 to 5,000 miles. I rotate tires every time as well. My truck goes in for the oil change on Monday and I talked to our service advisor and one of the top techs, not only in our shop but in the entire country, about my oil life decreasing and they were both kind of puzzled by it as well. I actually made a comment to our service advisor saying, "The factory probably programs it that way, that way they get you to come in and spend more money in the shop and then eventually buy another brand new vehicle." He said, "Yeah, probably. I wouldn't put that past them."

I think what I may do after this last "freebie" is go back to changing my oil every 4,000-5,000 miles like I used to with my old vehicles and just ignore what the monitor says. All ya gotta do is pull the dipstick and look at it to make sure the oil is up to the full line and also look at the color. If it's golden then it's good. If it's black then it's time. Technology is great and all, but a lot of times..It's just a great big pain in the a$$ :p It really doesn't need to be as complicated as what they make it.
 
#16 ·
I have used this technology for a good while and never saw a orobem with it in the 4 cars I have knew with it.

It was never a marketing deal to get you in. Hell if that ever got out GM would pay dearly in the media.

If there is a problem it is a programming thing. If not it is just a lot of over thinking and the lack of understanding of the parameters and condition tha affects the changes.

Many underestimate the things that do the most damage to oil.
 
#17 ·
I have posted this in the other oil life monitor threads but this is what the algorithm is

 
#18 ·
See:

"COLD HOT coolant temp readings have multipliers that reduce engine revolutions pathway quicker depending how far from normal oil temperature the vehicle is operating"

So maybe since you are in a cold climate, it doesnt get to the normal oil temperature as quickly which causes the OLM multipler to be higher than normal thus reducing the stated oil life?
 
#19 ·
I'm at 8% and the oil life warnings are popping up..... I'm at only 8020 miles total. I don't put a lot of miles on this thing - short trips 5 miles at a time to/from work. My last oil change was in September with 4500 miles or close to that (7 months ago).

The sticker the dealership put on my windshield says 'Next Oil change 9900 miles". It'll take me 2 months to reach that mileage. LOL.

I'll get thru this tank....and maybe another and see where I'm at. I could poke the dealership about the transmission stutter/chuggle again while I'm there.
 
#20 ·
I bought my Colorado from a friend who moved up north and needed a 4WD (mine is a 2WD). He used up the complimentary oil changes so I switched to fully synthetic. This was 2400 miles ago. Now it shows that I have 40% remaining. It does not seem like it will make it to 5k miles. Prevously I used synthetic on my cars and did 5k or 1/yr oil changes, whichever came first. I think I'll stick with the 5k interval with the truck also.

Speaking of the stutter/chuggle, give your truck a 91 or 93 octane next fill-up if you want. For me that was the only solution. It took my ECM the second tank to adjust for the better gas. I wrote up my "chuggle" story in this forum.
 
#22 ·
Had my 2nd free oil change yesterday - and premature at that. Talked to the Service Advisor of whom - seemed to talk in circles. I asked him about the oil life monitor and why it went on 'too quickly' since my last oil change. He clicked on his computer and we found I'd only gone 3500 miles since the last oil change and I was getting warnings everytime I get in the truck.
He starts talking about how the system works - in more extreme conditions, engine cycles, bla bla bla. So I told him...."I drive 5 miles to work, 5 miles home, and I drive like granda'. No extreme conditions here!! Then, he starts blaming the techs for not resetting the system properly the last time..... but, the oil life monitor showed 100% after the last change. What else is there?

I asked him to have the Tech check the programming or whatever system is used to calculate all the information it uses. I'm not sure he understood what I meant or was getting at.

So, he basically proceeded to tell me....Just wait until 5,000 miles and get it done then. So,I'm scratching my head and I'm thinking....so, if the 'warnings' start bugging me at 3500 miles - I gotta put up with that for 2,000miles or 4months?

The only thing it could be, is that I had 7 months between oil changes. But even that doesn't make sense because everything I read about the system, says 1 year or 7500miles max. It never mentions about a 'time' countdown other than 1 year.

My dealership uses full synthetic. It's a GM product of course. I'd been researching my options / costs to do the oil changes myself. They're pretty cheap here@ $49.95 for an oil change and tire rotation. Can't beat that really. I can't physically do tire rotations due to the weight of the wheels. It's just not physically ideal for either of us. Dealer charges $20 alone for tire rotations.
But...if the oil life monitor is going off every 3500miles - could get expensive (I'm sure the dealerships love that $$).


Still perplexed about the oil life monitor. Our temps here aren't anywhere extreme enough to take that into consideration. We had 8" of snow all winter. I'll be curious to watch it over the spring months.

Anyone else getting PREMATURE oil life monitor changes? What's your conditions like?
 
#26 · (Edited)
Jan, the oil monitoring system is wonky at best. While I only have 10K on mine, I have given it 6 oil changes myself (never went back for any freebies)
Except for the 1st one which I did around 500 miles to get the break-in oil out, plus the assorted metal flakes which came from the break-in period, (you would be surprised how much flakes off during this period) each of my oil changes were based in 2K intervals.

I drive the same way, the same mileage and can pretty much map out when my next 5 oil changes will take place......unless the Mrs has me trekking across the state for her shopping excursions.

Having said that, each oil change has shown a completely different oil-life percentage left....... ranging from 15% left to 65% left.

There is no rhyme or reason as to why its never the same, and its never even close to the previous % left.

Like you stated, the people at GM give different answers so while Im sure there is some scientific reasoning behind it all, at the end of the day I still go with my old habits and change it when I feel it needs to be done.

Is it a little more $$$ to do it my way, definitely. But for what might add up to an extra $100 or so a year, to me its just cheap insurance to know its being done right.

And if it matters, I only use Mobil 1 and OEM oil filters.
 
#27 ·
I'd recommend to everyone in this thread to consider having a UOA done. Forget about the OLM (until after the warranty is up, at least). Pay the extra to have a TBN test done (the amount of active additive left in your oil) and then see how long they tell you that you can really go on your oil. I personally do one every oil change. Probably overkill, but it's relatively cheap insurance because I plan on keeping the truck for a long time. But for the average driver I'd say every 4 changes would be more than sufficient.
 
#29 ·
My last 6 oil changes, I try to do them at 20%, never let it go below 10%, full synthetic oil and a lot of highway miles.
5181-changed early because I was towing my camper
6180
6641
7053- the 10% one
6894
5975

I'd say the olm is spot on.
 
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#35 ·
I mean the OLM could be useful for the automotive illiterates who can't be bothered to pop their hoods ever, who otherwise wouldn't change their oil until they turned their vehicle in the next year. But I wouldn't say it's "over-engineered". All it really is is an equation programmed into the truck that I could probably store on a thumb drive. Lol
 
#44 ·
Oil life rate-of-change on the DIC

I've been surprised at how quickly the oil change percentage drops on the DIC. Our last two Chevys were/are 2007s and the indicator generally doesn't get down into the 10% range for 8,000 to 10,000 miles, but on this truck it's feeling like the old days with the 3,000 mile rule in effect.

Has Chevy changed this across their product lines or is this perhaps a symptom of GDI engines?

I'm not the type to buy into conspiracy theories but longer oil change intervals have to hit dealers in the pocketbook...

(And yes, I know there are many opinions about trusting the DIC or adhering to some mileage or time factor -- not really the point of this post -- wondering specifically about DIC behavior.)
 
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#52 ·
I've been surprised at how quickly the oil change percentage drops on the DIC. Our last two Chevys were/are 2007s and the indicator generally doesn't get down into the 10% range for 8,000 to 10,000 miles, but on this truck it's feeling like the old days with the 3,000 mile rule in effect.

Has Chevy changed this across their product lines or is this perhaps a symptom of GDI engines?

I'm not the type to buy into conspiracy theories but longer oil change intervals have to hit dealers in the pocketbook...

(And yes, I know there are many opinions about trusting the DIC or adhering to some mileage or time factor -- not really the point of this post -- wondering specifically about DIC behavior.)
And don't forget the oil companies! They have to pay for the oil spills somehow!
 
#45 ·
I'm finding it's about the drive routine.
I drive 46 miles round trip, split between 45 mph and 65-70mph, while my wife drives 6 rural miles at 25-40mph daily. Her's was at 40%, while mine was at 70%, when I swapped vehicles for a month at 2000 miles on both.
 
#46 ·
Yeah I know the indicator is supposed to adapt to driving conditions, but this truck and my 07 Suburban are/were primarily commuters on the same 90% highway route I've been driving for ten years. I'm finding it hard to imagine this V6 is trashing up the oil faster than a V8 in a truck that weighed twice as much.
 
#47 ·
Yeah, the changed algorithms are definitely dropping the % faster. My wife's previous 11 Camaro w/LLT motor would never get near 20% on the same drive. I would get it changed every 6 months, regardless the mileage. Sucked trading in a 6yo trouble free car with 30K miles, but rear passenger room was needed.
 
#48 ·
I just remembered something I read about GDI engines -- they produce quite a bit more soot. The injector is deep in the cylinder and as a result of that and the increased atomization from the higher pressure design means the exhaust valves accumulate carbon buildup at a much higher rate. After reading that, I'm running premium fuel since premium all major fuel producers step up the detergent content in premium.

But it would make sense that this also shortens oil life considerably.

Characterisation of soot in oil from a gasoline direct injection engine using Transmission Electron Microscopy - ScienceDirect
 
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#51 ·
Sooo...
My wife hit 3600 miles with her 3 mile each way daily drive (plus some short bank runs), plus me putting 2k on it with my 46 mile daily round trip, and her OLM hit 10%. They definitely took short tripping into consideration as an extreme on the algorithm compared to what her Camaro tracked. I'm at 3800 miles with 44% left, so we'll be about 6 months on oil changes with our occasional vehicle swap.
 
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