Hmm I have been trying to just check my oil status.....I turn the key to the "on" position and press the button until "oil life" appears and is flashing. But I can't see what percentage of my oil is used up? Where does it show you? all I can see is the mileage. Any suggestions?

 

It won't tell you a percentage except when you reset it. It will only tell you when it needs changed.

A little arrogant of them!

 

Here's a thread from a few weeks ago....
http://www.coloradofans.com/viewtopic.php?t=557


I am told that the on-board computer can calculate and store the percentage of oil life, but for some reason we got shorted on the display.

 

the dealer can probably tell with the diagnostic tool, they just don't show the consumer.

 

I can press my stem until I'm blue in the face. All it will do is toggle back and forth from my odometer to my trip odometer. What am I doing wrong?

 

This is from eSI and is more accurate and detailed than the Owners Manual.

GM Oil Life System - Resetting
The vehicle has a computer system that has a change engine oil light, indicating when to change the engine oil and filter. This is based on engine revolutions and engine temperature, and not on mileage. Based on driving conditions, the mileage at which an oil change will be indicated can vary considerably. For the oil life system to work properly, the system must be reset every time the oil is changed.

When the system has calculated that oil life has been diminished, it will indicate that an oil change is necessary. The change engine oil light will come on. The oil must be changed as soon as possible. It is possible that, if the vehicle is driven under the best conditions, the oil life system may not indicate that an oil change is necessary for over a year. However, the engine oil and filter must be changed at least once a year and at this time the system must be reset. If the system is ever reset accidentally, the oil must be changed at 3,000 miles (5 000 km) since the last oil change. Remember to reset the oil life system whenever the oil and filter is changed.

1. Turn the ignition to RUN with the engine OFF.
2. Press and release the reset button in the driver information center (DIC) until the OIL LIFE message is displayed.
3. Once the alternating OIL LIFE and RESET messages appear on the DIC display, press and hold the reset stem until several beeps sound. This confirms the OIL LIFE system has been reset.
4. Turn the key to lock. If the CHANGE OIL message comes back on when you start the engine, the ENGINE OIL LIFE system has not reset. Repeat the procedure

 

Something that tripped me up for a while is that you need to have the parking brake off, as well as all the doors shut to be able to access the oil life reset. Any messages displayed on the DIC will prevent you from getting to the oil life portion.

 

Oil Life display

I also can't get my oil life display to show the percentage of oil life left. The owners manual leads you to believe that you can check the remaining life left. I've got almost 10.000 mi on mine and the change oil message never came on. I did however change the oil at 6000 mi and I'm getting ready to do it again in a couple of thou mi because I've always been a advocate of frequent oil changes and I'm not going to wait for a computer I dont trust to tell me too. I didnt re-set the oil life when I changed it because I want to see if it ever comes on. I've been using Mobil 1 for the past 7 years or so in my past vehicles and I know you can go longer intervels but 10,000 (mostly highway miles) is still my limit.

Nowhere that I could find mentioned doing a first oil change withen the first couple thousand miles like I've always done in my past new vehicles. Whatever happened to "getting rid of the break-in oil"?

 

They don't recommend removing the breakin oil that early. They haven't for a few years.

Also the DIC will not show the percentage left on our trucks. The manual for the 2004 models had a mis-print.

 

oil light



dont feel bad, my chimes DON`t work, but $ 500.00 and $ 250.00 insall fee, will fix it. i don`t think so. i live with no sound. and oil light dose NOT say
100% on my 04 colorado.

 

Owners Manual Error - Oil Life Percentage Displayed on DIC - kw GMT355 display cluster indicator #PI01834 - (03/04/2004)

When servicing the vehicle with the VIN you entered, the following diagnosis might be helpful if the vehicle exhibits the described symptoms.

Condition/Concern:
Owners manual states the DIC will show oil life percentage. This is incorrect. The DIC will display oil life when the oil needs to be changed. It will never show oil life percentage.

Recommendation/Instructions:
The oil life can be reset per the owners manual with the DIC. Or it may be set with the Tech 2. To use the Tech 2, go to PCM, special functions, engine output controls, oil life reset. You can see oil life percentage and reset the oil life at that screen.

Please follow this diagnosis process thoroughly and complete each step. If the condition exhibited is resolved without completing every step, the remaining steps do not need to be performed. If these steps do not resolve the condition, please contact GM TAC for further diagnostic assistance. This diagnostic approach was developed for the vehicle with the VIN you entered and should not be automatically be used for other vehicles with similar symptoms.

Models:
(2004 Colorado Canyon S1 T1 GMT355)

 

Oh wow- so the dealer can retreive the oil life percentage before clearing it !?!?! I wish i would have known that on my first oil change. I had it changed before the change oil light came on.

 

exactly my thought. I'm going to have it checked when I get 7000 miles on the oil this time. That is when I changed the mobil 1.

 

I've been trying to get the CHANGE OIL to stop flashing for two days now after reading all the posts on this site. Still will not stop. Is a trip to the dealer needed to correct this ? What about disconnecting the battery ? Will that reset everything ?

 

OK OK I finally figured it out
I was just pressing and releasing the reset
switch once and you need to do it three
times to get OIL LIFE to appear then you
can hold switch in until the beeps are heard.

 

You will not hear the beeps if you changed your headunit and are not using the Metra VT-GMRC-01 harness.

 

I tend to ignore the oil life crap thing. I just change my oil at regual intervals. You drive your truck and know when to change the freakin oil. I think GM put it there for the women who dont understand the concept of an oil change or even know if thier particular vehichle requires oil.

 

There are plenty of males out there that don't know squat about engines and the care and feeding of them.

Women for the most part would rather charm a man into getting oil and dirt under their fingernails than grub up their own. Who is smarter here?

I've been getting outsmarted by women for many years.

Robert

 

They don't recommend removing the breakin oil that early. They haven't for a few years.

Also the DIC will not show the percentage left on our trucks. The manual for the 2004 models had a mis-print.

Any motor-heads correct me if im wrong, but I believe the GM oil life system measures engine revolutions and precise temeratures as well as miles and calculates the percentages from that, so if someone is a grandpa-driver, then at 7000 miles, the revs will be lower and oil use may not be that low compared to someone who has their foot in the tank may burn through the black stuff in 4k miles.

Personally, unless you are running synthetic, 3000 miles is solid rule of thumb for city folk like me and 4000 for less severe conditions. My resoning for that is that why would you want your engine oil to be 100% spent for any length of time before changing it? The real reason people push their oil changes back is that they dont want to spend the money and time on something you cant immediatley see a benefit of doing. I dont care who you are or what you drive or what oil you use, 7000 miles is a stretch.

back to the gm oil system: when i ran jiffy lube, i saw these systems 2-4 times a day and if the change oil message was on, the old oil came out dark, *not black* mind you, but good and spent, about when my cadillac showed 20% oil life left (for example), or about 2800-3200 miles, or 3200 to 3500 miles in winter. Ive run it to 4500 miles and it ran fine, just about a 5% loss of mileage after 3000 miles, roughly, but again, why ever run on spent oil? doing it yourself, an oil change shouls cost less than 15 bones, or about 20ish at a reputable garage. Damn, just change it.

 

The mechanic told me the computer calculates things such as miles, number of times the truck is started and such. He said it is not a very accurate way to tell if your oil needs changeing, he still recommends every 3000 miles.

 

I've just passed 7000 miles since my last oil change and have yet to see the oil life monitor come on. I was told by a GM tech that I could wait until it came on and that the monitor is reliable. I also noted in one of the manual entries posted in the beginning of this thread that the truck may not indicate an oil change for up to a year.

Since my wife lost her job, I've resorted to delivering pizzas which I'm having to do in the truck. I'm planning to change the oil this weekend just to be safe, but I'd like to know what others think about trusting the monitor. I'd feel better about changing the oil every 3500 miles, but when you have to make every penny count, you do what you have to.

 

Although with today's technology and blends of oil that are out there, you can never change your oil too much. Plain and simple. If you want the most life out of your vehicle, keep all the fluids in it "clean".

Think of it this way. You can drink the water out of just about any faucet in any city. But bottled water tastes so much better!

 

One thing the oil monitor doesn't account for is dirt. If you drive in dirty or dusty conditions alot, if you wait until the monitor goes off, you might be screwed

 

I've just passed 7000 miles since my last oil change and have yet to see the oil life monitor come on. I was told by a GM tech that I could wait until it came on and that the monitor is reliable. I also noted in one of the manual entries posted in the beginning of this thread that the truck may not indicate an oil change for up to a year.

Since my wife lost her job, I've resorted to delivering pizzas which I'm having to do in the truck. I'm planning to change the oil this weekend just to be safe, but I'd like to know what others think about trusting the monitor. I'd feel better about changing the oil every 3500 miles, but when you have to make every penny count, you do what you have to.

Mine did not come on until after a full 12K miles. That was a lot of long distance highway driving. I thought too it might be broken, but ond day it started flashing OIL LIFE

 

Mine did not come on until after a full 12K miles. That was a lot of long distance highway driving. I thought too it might be broken, but ond day it started flashing OIL LIFE

I suddenly developed an oil leak and lost about a quart of oil overnight. I took it to the dealership the next morning and they found a hole punched through my filter like some object went through it. I asked them while I was there about the monitor and they told me to change it every 3000 miles. They said to not rely on the oil life monitor under any circumstance.

To me this brings up a few questions:

1. Are they just saying this to get some extra cash out of someone from oil changes?
2. Is it true to not trust the oil life monitor and GM is tossing out yet another buggy product?
3. Does the oil life monitor work fine, the service reps don't trust it based on years of changing oil at 3k miles, and this causes conflicting messages, reducing the credibility of GM?

 

Mine did not come on until after a full 12K miles. That was a lot of long distance highway driving. I thought too it might be broken, but ond day it started flashing OIL LIFE

I suddenly developed an oil leak and lost about a quart of oil overnight. I took it to the dealership the next morning and they found a hole punched through my filter like some object went through it. I asked them while I was there about the monitor and they told me to change it every 3000 miles. They said to not rely on the oil life monitor under any circumstance.

To me this brings up a few questions:

1. Are they just saying this to get some extra cash out of someone from oil changes?
2. Is it true to not trust the oil life monitor and GM is tossing out yet another buggy product?
3. Does the oil life monitor work fine, the service reps don't trust it based on years of changing oil at 3k miles, and this causes conflicting messages, reducing the credibility of GM?

I think you will get different answers depending on who you talk to. Many service departments say 3K interval is optimal but they have a vested interest in doing more oil changes. It certainly won't hurt anything, except your wallet. On the other hand I heard GM was under pressure to reduce waste oil so came up with oil life concept. So I'm not sure I believe them either.

With the continually improving quality of oil I think 3K interval is way too conservative. I run synthetic oil and change 2X year which is about every 8K miles.