Oil change indicator

[Clay L]

I have read some posts that indicate that the oil change light activates based on info it receives from the engine regarding a lot of factors such as load, heat, etc.
I know that is true for some vehicles made by Chevolet/GM, but mine seems to come on every 7,000 miles traveled (if I forget to reset it when I change the oil at 3,000 miles).

So to get what I hope is a definitive answer I called Workhorse customer service and asked them.

The guy said on vehicles made by Workhorse, the interval is "dumb" and is based strictly on miles traveled.

[Clay L]

I have read some posts that indicate that the oil change light activates based on info it receives from the engine regarding a lot of factors such as load, heat, etc.
I know that is true for some vehicles made by Chevolet/GM, but mine seems to come on every 7,000 miles traveled (if I forget to reset it when I change the oil at 3,000 miles).

So to get what I hope is a definitive answer I called Workhorse customer service and asked them.

The guy said on vehicles made by Workhorse, the interval is "dumb" and is based strictly on miles traveled.

[Fred and Bonnie]

Clay, on your chassis that is correct, but on newer models the instrument panel has a readout for the "Oil Life Remaining". Different animal. I have fought this battle and most seem to think the GM calculations are full of holes. I have asked why a Chevrolet Class C motorhome chassis uses the computer for oil change intervals, but because Workhorse is providing the warranty, the computer system is now worthless. Go figure.

Fred

[Clay L]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Fred and Bonnie:
Clay, on your chassis that is correct, but on newer models the instrument panel has a readout for the "Oil Life Remaining".
Fred </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

They want your VIN before they talk to you so the info would be for my chassis as you said.

Do you know when they started adding the "oil life remaining" function to the IPs?

[Fred and Bonnie]

Clay I thought the "Oil Life Remaining" was on the '04 model year IP's. Is your chassis an '03 or '04. The tenth digit of your VIN is the chassis model year.

Fred

[Clay L]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Fred and Bonnie:
Clay I thought the "Oil Life Remaining" was on the '04 model year IP's. Is your chassis an '03 or '04. The tenth digit of your VIN is the chassis model year.
Fred </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
The chassis is an 03 model year but the IP was replaced in 2005 with the new version with the amber backlight.

[Fred and Bonnie]

Clay, I would say that since the engine computer is an '03 system, the IP change would have little to do, if the input wasn't there.

Fred

[Horsepowerfan]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Clay L:
The guy said on vehicles made by Workhorse, the interval is "dumb" and is based strictly on miles traveled. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Hi Clay,
I'm not so sure this is true and here's why. My chassis was built in '02 and since I have access to a GM Tech 2 scan tool I looked at the data parameters in the ECM. It DOES monitor "Oil Life Remaining" and shows a value in % in the data list. Now, the I/P cluster I have does not have the ability to display the % remaining oil life, but the ECM is apparently still tracking it.

On a long trip we took some time ago I heard a warning chime from the cluster and noticed my temp. gauge was all the way up as hot as it could go. Then after a few seconds it dropped right back down to normal. This happened about 3 times within 10 min's. and on the third time it happened the "CHANGE OIL SOON" message appeared on the cluster. (I had just changed the oil a month prior and reset the oil life monitor.) Long story short, I found a chafed wire to my coolant temp. sensor that was causing a false HIGH temp. signal to be sent to the ECM. I also had a code set in the ECM and since I had my scan tool with me I checked the oil life % and it had dropped to zero. Since engine coolant temp. is one of the big factors used to calculate oil life I think the program thought since the temp. was so high it reduced the oil life accordingly. This is just a theory though.

As far as your oil life monitor indicating a change due every 7,000 miles, are your driving habits and conditions about the same most all of the time? If that's the case, then your oil life will degrade at the same calculated rate each time you drive.

I have heard that newer Workhorse chassis models ('04 and up I think) have clusters with the ability to display the % oil life remaining as read over the serial data bus from the ECM. So, just because your cluster (or mine for that matter) can't display it doesn't necessarily mean the ECM's not keeping track of it.

[Clay L]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Horsepowerfan:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Clay L:
The guy said on vehicles made by Workhorse, the interval is "dumb" and is based strictly on miles traveled. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Hi Clay,
I'm not so sure this is true and here's why. My chassis was built in '02 and since I have access to a GM Tech 2 scan tool I looked at the data parameters in the ECM. It DOES monitor "Oil Life Remaining" and shows a value in % in the data list. Now, the I/P cluster I have does not have the ability to display the % remaining oil life, but the ECM is apparently still tracking it.


As far as your oil life monitor indicating a change due every 7,000 miles, are your driving habits and conditions about the same most all of the time? If that's the case, then your oil life will degrade at the same calculated rate each time you drive.

I have heard that newer Workhorse chassis models ('04 and up I think) have clusters with the ability to display the % oil life remaining as read over the serial data bus from the ECM. So, just because your cluster (or mine for that matter) can't display it doesn't necessarily mean the ECM's not keeping track of it. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Mine seems to come every 7000 miles even when the oil is changed at 3000. That happens when I forget to reset the counter or whatever it is.

I would not be surprised if the ECM is keeping track of the remaining oil life.
There wouldn't be a good reason to change the software just because the IP isn't (or is) tracking it.