Many modern cars have an oil life index to inform owners whenever they should change their oil. Some of them fancy enough to display a percentage that transmits the exact amount of life in the oil. If you have ever wondered if this percentage is accurate, then it is. It is not calculated only based on miles.
The first oil life monitoring systems returned to the world in the 1980s, through the algorithm developed by three engineers at General Motors: Donald Smolinski, Paul Harvat, and Cereli Schwartz. Using data from the car’s ONSTAR system, such as motor cycles, injecting, and water temperature, create a trio for electronic unit to predict the wear of engine oil.
The algorithm is adequately smart to consider heat cycles, and to decline in shorter trips and longer trips. Because the system can understand the temperatures of oil, it also looks at how oxidation – the cause of oil deterioration – shorten the age of the oil, and treated this in the remaining percentage.
Any good fuel system will display a bright orange light before the tank is really empty. Likewise, the GM system will recommend the driver to change his oil completely before cooking it. It will also tell you to change the oil at least once a year, regardless of the amount you paid – the minimum oil change.
In the real world test, Speed Junior Lake Holder engine oil YouTube holds some oil from Cadillac to confirm the accuracy of its monitoring system. It is not surprising, the algorithm finds somewhat conservative, and the discovery of oil has a little more life than what the regime claims. Like a low fuel light, it is just a warning that you must change your oil, and not that you work on dead oil.