Oil warning light reset

[72lemanscvbl]

I would really like to string up the fool that makes me reset the oil change light at what seems like random intervals. I always have to check the owners manual for the exact 3 pedal push routine. Have it now on my 06 Equinox and had it on a 99 lumina. ITS JUST A STUPID FEATURE AND I HATE IT.

I feel better now.

Thank you

[big swede]

Originally Posted by 72lemanscvbl

I would really like to string up the fool that makes me reset the oil change light at what seems like random intervals. I always have to check the owners manual for the exact 3 pedal push routine. Have it now on my 06 Equinox and had it on a 99 lumina. ITS JUST A STUPID FEATURE AND I HATE IT.

I feel better now.

Thank you

I somewhat agree with you but some people need a visual reminder when to go change it. The routine is simple enough I think. Turn the key forward for the electronics to come on but not far enough to start the car and pump the gas 3 times. The oil light will then flash a few times and turn off. I think the goofy thing is that if you get your oil changed before the light comes on and then don't reset the oil monitor, even though the lights not on, the change oil light will come on way too early because the car doesn't know you changed the oil early. It would be nice if the oil monitor could be a little more sophisticated and know when the oil was actually changed and could reset the monitor from that point.

[Uzzy]

Originally Posted by 72lemanscvbl

I would really like to string up the fool that makes me reset the oil change light at what seems like random intervals. I always have to check the owners manual for the exact 3 pedal push routine. Have it now on my 06 Equinox and had it on a 99 lumina. ITS JUST A STUPID FEATURE AND I HATE IT.

I feel better now.

Thank you

You're the fool. Reset it when you change the oil, then when it comes on next, change the oil again! 3 months / 3,000 miles does not apply anymore. The computer knows better than you do on when to change it. It takes thousands of bit of data of your engine's controls and driving habits and determine's when the recommended type of oil needs to be changed. The service departments and oil companies are of course going to tell you to stick to 3 months / 3,000 miles becuase it makes them money, but it's BS for modern cars.

[shadams]

Some like it, some dont, such is life.

As far as the system itself, it isnt the be all to end all. I had an Acadia in the other day for a traction control light, check this out. There was a code set for a cam actuator, which then disabled the trac system, no ses light on. The first step in the diag was to check the oil condition and level, and we found that at 9000 miles, the oil had not been changed yet. It was black and thick and of course the oil life still said 18%. The actuator is driven off of oil pressure, and apparently the oil had degraded to the point where it was causing a problem. We changed the oil, cleared the code, and havent seen it since. BTW, this was about a month ago and it is my stepmoms car. I told her I would go past 5k on the oil change if it were mine.

The oil life system would work great in a perfect world, but just like all other service recommendations, they can change based on conditions.

Believe me, oil changes suck and no one likes doing them, and we actually lose money when we do an oil change as a whole. Take care!

[F14CRAZY]

You guys suppose that 3 months still applies? Moisture accumulation can be a bad thing

[Uzzy]

Originally Posted by F14CRAZY

You guys suppose that 3 months still applies? Moisture accumulation can be a bad thing

That's why I use synthetic and follow the OLM. Synthetic isn't affected as much by moisture.

[nailhead425]

Reseting the light isn't that big of a deal, just a routine.

Originally Posted by shadams

The first step in the diag was to check the oil condition and level, and we found that at 9000 miles, the oil had not been changed yet. It was black and thick and of course the oil life still said 18%. The actuator is driven off of oil pressure, and apparently the oil had degraded to the point where it was causing a problem.

Egads! I must be old because 9k is a ton of miles! I wouldn't put 9k on an oil change unless I was OTR and never shut the engine off. It just goes to show a person that even with modern engine controls oil still needs to be changed.

[Old Dood]

Originally Posted by Uzzy

You're the fool. Reset it when you change the oil, then when it comes on next, change the oil again! 3 months / 3,000 miles does not apply anymore. The computer knows better than you do on when to change it. It takes thousands of bit of data of your engine's controls and driving habits and determine's when the recommended type of oil needs to be changed. The service departments and oil companies are of course going to tell you to stick to 3 months / 3,000 miles becuase it makes them money, but it's BS for modern cars.

I am one of those FOOLS.
I see no harm in 'over' changing my oil.
I will do it every 3K or 3 months. Which ever comes first.
It is not that expensive and gives me piece of mind to boot.
My Buick costs me about $30.00 per change and the XLE about $20.00 per change.
For some silly reason I always 'think' my cars run a little better after they have had an oil change....

My Buick is real easy to reset the Oil Light. I hold the Reset button for 5 seconds and it is done.
The XLE is wierd. I still haven't figured it out.
I know I have to turn on the 'key' (push the button actually) and then it gets foggy. I just have them do it at the dealership. hehe!

[Uzzy]

Originally Posted by Old Dood

I am one of those FOOLS.
I see no harm in 'over' changing my oil.
I will do it every 3K or 3 months. Which ever comes first.
It is not that expensive and gives me piece of mind to boot.

Well w/e floats your boat, at least you're not on here bitching about how difficult it is to reset the light when you do it, or the impossible task of pressing the gas pedal to the floor 3 times with the key in the run position, before starting the engine. If the light comes on before you've gone 3,000miles, you've got problems.

And I typically went about 8,000kms on my synthetic oil in my Saturn when I had it. I don't know what the Silverado's interval will be yet, I'm still a little short of the first oil change. It'll be getting Mobil1 synthetic from now on as well.

[likearock00]

I put Mobil1 Extended Performance that is rated for up to 15k miles. Then I go by the DIC for the oil changes. It gets changed around every 7-8k miles, so the oil is not nearly used up, but as OD said- it gives me peace of mind.

[Old Dood]

I NEVER see the Oil change light on any of my cars.
I change it too often for that.

On the Buick it has a percentage LED. Starts at 100% and works downward.
The mechanics tell me when it reaches 50% then look to change it. It rarely goes below 60%.

I use regular Dino Oil. I have thought about changing the Park Ave over to synth oil but, I am simply not sure if that is a good idea since I have over 120K on it.
(The TN guys seemed to like to switch over their Toyotas to Synth oil right after break in. I still stick to Dino oil for that one too.)

Should I change it in the Park Ave at this point? Is it really worth it since I change it so often?
The only real reason I thought of changing it is because it would turn over easier on a cold morning with a synth oil.

[Uzzy]

Originally Posted by Old Dood

Should I change it in the Park Ave at this point? Is it really worth it since I change it so often?
The only real reason I thought of changing it is because it would turn over easier on a cold morning with a synth oil.

If you do change it over to Synthetic, don't change it as often to make it worth it, you can even follow the light Crazy, I know. But the problem with changing an older car with higher mileage to synthetic is that the synthetic oil has more detergents and cleans out the gunk that dino will miss. This becomes a sort of a problem for older cars where that gunk is what's keeping the oil from flying out past all the seals. Since you've kept up on all the changes since it was new (I'm assuming) then you should be fine changing it over. I recommend Mobil1, if it's goo enough for the Corvette and Cadillac Racecars, it's good enough for me.

[Old Dood]

Originally Posted by Uzzy

If you do change it over to Synthetic, don't change it as often to make it worth it, you can even follow the light Crazy, I know. But the problem with changing an older car with higher mileage to synthetic is that the synthetic oil has more detergents and cleans out the gunk that dino will miss. This becomes a sort of a problem for older cars where that gunk is what's keeping the oil from flying out past all the seals. Since you've kept up on all the changes since it was new (I'm assuming) then you should be fine changing it over. I recommend Mobil1, if it's goo enough for the Corvette and Cadillac Racecars, it's good enough for me.

I believe I do use Mobil 1. If that is Dino oil.

I also Motor Vac my car every 30-40K miles. However, that is more fuel system I believe.
I figure I will just leave it alone and keep using Dino oil.
I just had it done today and I technically had 200 more miles to go before I reached 3K miles.
Today was a perfect day for it time wise to have it done.
Plus I had the Tranny flushed and also had the Cabin filter changed...boy, was that dirty too.
The Cabin Filter really is a useful feature. I swear by it.
My oil changes are done about once every 3-4 weeks...give or take.
At least 90% highway miles too.
I am sure I am over doing it a bit but, once again it can't hurt.

[Uzzy]

Originally Posted by Old Dood

I believe I do use Mobil 1. If that is Dino oil.

I also Motor Vac my car every 30-40K miles. However, that is more fuel system I believe.
I figure I will just leave it alone and keep using Dino oil.
I just had it done today and I technically had 200 more miles to go before I reached 3K miles.
Today was a perfect day for it time wise to have it done.
Plus I had the Tranny flushed and also had the Cabin filter changed...boy, was that dirty too.
The Cabin Filter really is a useful feature. I swear by it.
My oil changes are done about once every 3-4 weeks...give or take.
At least 90% highway miles too.
I am sure I am over doing it a bit but, once again it can't hurt.

Mobil makes dino oil, but Mobil1 is synthetic. I just picked up 16.2L of it at Crappy Tire, they had it on sale for $29.99 for a 4.4L jug+1L bottle. I didn't realize I already had like 5 jugs and 8 bottles at home Oh well, we've got 3 cars that use it. They also had Fram synthetic filters on sale, so I picked a couple up. Normally I use the Motomaster (Crappy Tire store brand) but for my Silverado, the syntheic on sale were only about 60cents more, so I figured, they the hey, I'll try it.

I've got 13% oil life left according to my monitor and I've driven ~7500kms (4660miles) since I got the truck and it had an oil change during the safety inspection at the dealer. I checked the oil today and it looks purdy and golden still and is full (I'm used to driving Saturns and older leaky cars, so still being full after that many miles has never happened to any of my cars before). I'm going to do the oil change to synthetic on Monday anyway, since I'm off work now for a week and I just wanna give the truck a good once over. The only bummer is, it just barely fits in my garage. So I'll likely have to have the door open for most of what I want to do.

If 4660 = 87% oil life, ~5356 would have been the total distance according to the OLM. 5356 = 8619kms.

[Old Dood]

Thanks Uzzy...Then I use the Mobile that is regular Dino oil then.