- First Name
- Rick
- Joined
- Oct 19, 2024
- Threads
- 32
- Messages
- 325
- Reaction score
- 545
- Location
- Central Wisconsin
- Vehicle(s)
- '25 Maverick, '04 LeSabre, '99 Grand Cherokee, '88 F350 crew cab, '65 Dodge Coro
- Engine
- 2.0L EcoBoost
I have never seen an oil monitoring device on any class8 truck I have driven in the last 53 years. Right now our fleet consists of Volvo, Peterbilt, Kenworth and Mack trucks.The owners manual says it's more than simply a clock/odometer based. The service manual goes into slightly more depth: "The instrument cluster provides messages to inform the driver about the engine oil life status, engine oil life reset status and when an engine oil change is required. The duration of the interval between engine oil changes is calculated in the PCM and varies due to driving conditions. The PCM assumes a base mileage of 16,090 km (10,000 mi) or 1 year for normal driving. However, this number is adjusted down for conditions such as high engine temperature, high engine rpm, use of flex fuel and possibly low engine oil level. The PCM calculates and provides the engine oil life percent message to the IPC . The engine oil change minder can be reset at any time by the driver."
How exactly the PCM makes the calculation or what data precisely it's pulling, I can't tell you, but there is lots of documentation it isn't simply a clock/mileage countdown.
These sorts of systems are common on modern cars and have been very common on heavy trucks for even longer. Though it is worth noting these systems monitor how the engine is performing between oil changes not testing the oil directly to make the oil life determination.
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