Motor oil 'condition' sensors... do they work?

[JoLin]

Wife got a new Escape as her company car. Company reimburses for maintenance, but getting it done is up to her (okay, me!). This car has a 'time to change the oil' sensor that supposedly lets you know that the oil is dirty. It isn't activated by mileage unless it hits 10,000 between changes.

Now, I'm a dinosaur. I change oil on my car every 3,000. The Escape specifies synthetic, and since she does mostly highway driving I'll probably stretch it to 6,000 and have the dealership rotate the tires at the same time.

Just wondering if anyone's car has the your-oil-is-dirty feature, and if you think it's accurate?

 

[GA_Boater]

Not a sensor, but part of the computer. It keeps track of miles, plus driving conditions like high speeds, short trips, long idle times or stop and go type driving. All the things the owners manual say are bad for a car and the normal driving mixed in with harsh driving conditions should turn on the light.

Accurate - doubtful, probably pessimistic.

 

[alldodge]

Agree, no sensor all done by the computer. Truck and car both have them, I watch the trucks mileage, I let the car tell me when it's getting close. Car synthetic, truck diesel

 

[MTboatguy]

The one on the Chev that my Dad left me, seems to be pretty accurate, I know when I brought it home back in Nov, I had the oil changed before I came home and have drove it a little over 3000 miles since then and the change oil light has again come on, so seems pretty accurate based on the mileage I have driven.

 

[Scott Danforth]

I pulled apart both a VW turbo 2.0 and a TDI that have 10,000 oil change intervals and run on synthetic. I also helped a friend pull apart a new 3.6 liter apart on his Acadia all running synthetic and changed at the dealer. The two VW's were about 120k on the clock, the Acadia had 114K

all three engines had sludge 10mm thick.

Oil has 3 functions. lubricate the motor, cool the motor, keep the motor clean.

its ability to keep the motor clean long since gives up prior to 10,000.

I'm old school, oil change every 2500-3000 miles, motors are clean (no sludge buildup) after 200k

 

[robert graham]

My 1996 Buick uses an old type " rev counter" that says " change oil" after so many engine cycles.... Has nothing to do with oil condition....but I always use the old visual/eyeball check to decide when to change the oil on all my vehicles....my old 1964 VW oil gets blacker sooner than the "newer" cars, so just change it now and then....

 

[JoLin]

Thanks for the input, guys. Didn't occur to me that the computer was keeping track of miles and the way the car is used, but that makes lots more sense than my thinking the oil was somehow being 'sampled.' I must be losing it :facepalm:

No history with the car yet, so I think I'll stick to my plan unless the 'change it' warning comes on before 6000.

 

[gm280]

I recently changed the intake manifold gaskets on our '98 Blazer 4.3 liter because of water leaking in the driver's side rear of the engine. It has 170k on it and while changing those gaskets, I also changed the valve cover gaskets as well. And there was no signs of sludge anywhere. It honestly looked basically new inside. But I change the oil and filters myself and about every 3000 miles as well. I use Valvoline oil with Purolator filters. No issues, and regular oil, not synthetics.

If you really read most any owners manuals, there is no such thing as mere regular driving conditions to them. Daily driving in stop and go city traffic is harsh conditions. So is long road trips. And if you live on dirt roads or just about any type driving is considered harsh driving conditions according to their owners' manuals. So 3000 mile intervals is so easy to follow. JMHO!

 

[bruceb58]

http://owner.ford.com/how-tos/vehicl...te-MFPR0515OIL

GM system works the same way.

When I worked for Delco(part of GM at the time), we were working on an actual oil sensor but not sure if it ever went into production for any particular vehicles

 

[NYBo]

With a sound engine, changing the oil every 3K unless you meet the "severe service" criteria, especially mostly very short trips, is throwing money and resources away IMO. The need for that ended decades ago but the practice continues, encouraged by oil change places.

 

[bruceb58]

With a sound engine, changing the oil every 3K unless you meet the "severe service" criteria, especially mostly very short trips, is throwing money and resources away IMO. The need for that ended decades ago but the practice continues, encouraged by oil change places.

++++1

 

[dingbat]

I change the oil, when the light comes on, plus a procrastination period. Somewhere between 5000- 7000 miles, which works out to 2-3 times a year.

Three (3) Honda, one (1) Toyota and a Chevy truck. 600,000+ miles between them

 

[HT32BSX115]

I pulled apart both a VW turbo 2.0 and a TDI that have 10,000 oil change intervals and run on synthetic. I also helped a friend pull apart a new 3.6 liter apart on his Acadia all running synthetic and changed at the dealer. The two VW's were about 120k on the clock, the Acadia had 114K

all three engines had sludge 10mm thick.

I have a VW TDI. Bought it new in 2001.......I had the valve cover off at 180,000 when I changed the timing belt(the second time) . I have changed the oil every 10,000 miles since I bought it.

At 180,000 there wasn't any "sludge". It's got 230,000 miles on it now and there's no sludge.

I don't know what caused "sludge" in the one you mention above, but it wasn't the 10,000 mile oil change. There are people on the VW TDI site that are doing 15,000 mile OCI's and their oil analysis indicate they still have "headroom".

For you guys doing 3000 mile OCI's.......it's a complete waste of money. I wish you lived near me though. I'd be glad to take your used oil for my waste oil furnace!

With a sound engine, changing the oil every 3K unless you meet the "severe service" criteria, especially mostly very short trips, is throwing money and resources away IMO. The need for that ended decades ago but the practice continues, encouraged by oil change places.

Usually the people that "push" 3000 miles OCI's are the ones that want to do it for you!!! (for a price of course.....and they get you in there for other "$$$$ervice"......Dealers do "free" oil changes for this reason)

 

[bigdee]

Yes they work! Oil life is determined by many variables such as engine temperature, outside ambient temperature, driving style, warm up time, % of engine load, number of engine revolutions. Your computers logarithms are being used to calculate all this data. 3000k oil changes are from the dark ages and a waste of resources.

 

[Fleetwin]

The Ford system is called "IOLM". Intelligent Oil Life Monitoring.

It looks at: Number of Starts (cold and hot), temperatures (both engine and ambient), idle time, load(s), driving habits, etc. It is an algorithm that takes many parameters into account.

My experience with it has been good. Depending on what I am doing, my "REMINDER" comes on between 7K and 10K. Closer to 7K if I've been doing a lot of towing or my idle time is high, such as in the summer with the A/C on.

It won't let you pass 10K.

 

[WIMUSKY]

I believe my change oil message comes on after 3k. I change it between 3/5k... For me, I would never depend on a sensor/computer to monitor my driving habits/conditions and when to change oil....

 

[bigdee]

The Ford system is called "IOLM". Intelligent Oil Life Monitoring.

It looks at: Number of Starts (cold and hot), temperatures (both engine and ambient), idle time, load(s), driving habits, etc. It is an algorithm that takes many parameters into account.

My experience with it has been good. Depending on what I am doing, my "REMINDER" comes on between 7K and 10K. Closer to 7K if I've been doing a lot of towing or my idle time is high, such as in the summer with the A/C on.

It won't let you pass 10K.

Yes that is at least much more scientific that the SWAG METHOD (scientific wild azz guesses)!

 

[Fleetwin]

I believe my change oil message comes on after 3k. I change it between 3/5k... For me, I would never depend on a sensor/computer to monitor my driving habits/conditions and when to change oil....

Believe it or not, many of today's vehicles "Learn" your driving habits and adjust engine/transmission operating parameters based on those habits. All in the name of smooth operating, emissions and fuel economy.

As an example; my wife drives a lot differently than I do. I can tell when I driver her car. It takes a few miles for the car to "learn" the way I drive and it adapts. Most notably the transmission shift points.

Another example is driving a brand new car. You may not exactly like the way it shifts, etc. on a test drive. As the car "learns" the way you drive it becomes much more to your liking.

 

[gm280]

Reading these comments makes me wonder. If cruel oil is presently less then $30 dollars a barrel now (and they are talking $20 as well), why is oil and oil products not coming down in price? Engine oil hasn't changed price in the least for a long long time. But gas has dropped a lot. Do I smell something rotten going on? :noidea:

And there are so many other products that are oil driven and their prices haven't dropped either. Look at the price of Mineral Spirits, or K1 Kerosene fuel. Why are they still so high?

 

[gm280]

Thinking about an actual oil sensor(s) to determine when oil needs changed is interesting. I could easily see a sensor that would read the oil amount and the possible resistance reading across the oil with microscopic metal particles suspended in it. That would offer a need for change. Also a sensor to pass a certain about of preset light through it to see if there was too much dirt imbedded in it. I could also see a sensor that could read the acidity of the oil as well to determine if the oil needs changed. There are ways to make that a realistic capability. JMHO!