# Is Oil-Life Monitor (OLM) also based on time?



## wtsheff (Jun 26, 2021)

I have a 2017 (3500 miles total) with only 1000 miles on the oil but the OLM is reading 7%. I think it is solely because it is approaching the one year mark since the last change. Is it imperative to have the oil changed immediately or could I get some more mileage out of the oil before a change? I have heard that you don't really need to change the oil every year as long as the car is driven on a regular basis however car sat for almost the entire year. Therefore maybe the computer is accounting for the car not being driven and I have answered my own question. Thanks.


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## Strawberry644 (Oct 10, 2020)

wtsheff said:


> I have a 2017 (3500 miles total) with only 1000 miles on the oil but the OLM is reading 7%. I think it is solely because it is approaching the one year mark since the last change. Is it imperative to have the oil changed immediately or could I get some more mileage out of the oil before a change? I have heard that you don't really need to change the oil every year as long as the car is driven on a regular basis however car sat for almost the entire year. Therefore maybe the computer is accounting for the car not being driven and I have answered my own question. Thanks.


as far as i know it takes into account distance, cold starts, engine starts, and idle, i believe its also time based. I would just change the oil if I was you at least sometime this week. i usually change it at 40percent or 50 its still pretty dirty by then


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## snowwy66 (Nov 5, 2017)

My motorcycle gets changed yearly regardless of miles. And it's not ridden a lot.


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## Johnny B (Jun 4, 2019)

Strawberry644 said:


> as far as i know it takes into account distance, cold starts, engine starts, and idle, i believe its also time based.


All that and coolant temperature and engine RPMs. The OLM is a very thought out and proven algorithm, you knowing better then it as to when changing the oil isn't likely.

I personally think the OLM pushes the oil change out further than I'm comfortable with. The way I drive the OLM would have me changing the oil at about 8k-9k miles, I change my oil at 5K-6K. I wouldn't ever recommend to anyone taking it to ZERO or beyond.


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## wtsheff (Jun 26, 2021)

Ok guys, thanks for your input. 
I will definately be changing it ASAP with the good dexos 2 oil and will finally be driving it on a daily basis.


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## Fireworks234 (Jan 4, 2018)

My personal experience with my OLM is that it shows a lot more oil life remaining than I think there is with my car. I've personally had times where my car was running a bit rougher and was noticeably happier after the oil change. With that knowledge, I don't wait until 20% any more. I'm typically changing it based on miles rather than OLM.


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## joelunchbox (Aug 8, 2018)

My understanding of oil changes is they need to be done at least annually. The reason I've read is that the oil filter can deteriorate when in constant contact with oil. So, I think it's a cover their ass thing in case a filter comes apart.


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## mwswarrior (Jul 3, 2015)

Best way to really know what's going on with your oil is lab testing. It's reasonably priced and help you get a bead on what's actually happening with oil at various OLM %s. 

This is the lab I've used: Blackstone Laboratories

With synthetics, you'd probably be surprised at how long the oil will continue to function properly.


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## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

AMSOIL Products for the 2011-2015, 2016 Limited Gen1 Cruze


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## MP81 (Jul 20, 2015)

joelunchbox said:


> My understanding of oil changes is they need to be done at least annually. The reason I've read is that the oil filter can deteriorate when in constant contact with oil. So, I think it's a cover their ass thing in case a filter comes apart.


My Cobalt goes years between oil changes, simply because I drive it so infrequently. Likewise with the Camaro which is even less frequent. 

But my Volt is about two years before oil life hits 0%. When I had it changed this year, I had a whole ~800 gas miles and probably 6 runs of Engine Maintenance Mode (which uses either 0.03 gal or 0.07 gal, depending on the temperature outside and how long it needs to run for) - so almost all of that is entirely due to time.


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