Oil Life Monitor System
 

Hi,
I wonder if anyone knows which year GM installed the Oil Life Monitor System in the trucks?

Re: Oil Life Monitor System
 

I don't remember it being an option in my '02 company truck which was a 2500HD. I have it in my '09 H3T. Sometime in that space of years, I guess.

Re: Oil Life Monitor System
 

Thanks for the reply Mr_Rich,

I have it in my 2001 GMC 1500, 5.3 gas engine and I read GM introduced it in 1988 in some vehicles:
https://assets.cobaltnitra.com/teams...145efa6b30.pdf

That is why I wonder if it ever came in any 88-98 trucks.

Re: Oil Life Monitor System
 

In the link, it says," What if my oil has gone 6,000 miles, the light doesn't turn on, & still looks ok, or is looking dark...."
Response, " ..."Different driving conditions will change required oil change.." (( paraphrased ))

THAT IS NUTS....... The GM "monitor" can not compute the chemical makeup in the used oil. OR THE FILTER CONDITION. Oil will break down & dilute, even if it's not dark "looking".

3,000 to 5,000 miles.... change it. And filter too.
I learned this from one of the best record-holder engine tuners in the country. ( He sends oil to a lab for testing)

I would never put total trust in an idiot light or an algorithm.

But, after my opinion...... I didn't know a truck as old as mine would have one.

Re: Oil Life Monitor System
 

The oil life monitor didn't make it to trucks until the new '99 GMT800 platform trucks. None of the '88-'98 GMT400 trucks ever had it.

Re: Oil Life Monitor System
 

That makes sense because that was in that period of time when OBDII came in to service. What happens with the oil life monitor is not shown on the dash indication but I get sent an e-mail that will tell me the percentage of oil life left. Not that it's anything I follow; it's more of an FYI. I change my oil in 5-6K miles and since I have a couple of vehicles that winds up about once a year.

Re: Oil Life Monitor System
 

OBDII started in '96, the same year these trucks got the Vortec V8s. So, '96+ GMT400s had OBDII, but no oil life monitors.

Re: Oil Life Monitor System
 

Yep.

My sister started using the "Oil life %" meter when her new 2010 Accord came with one, ignoring me telling her to change the oil every 5K.

Following that meter she's been doing oil changes probably between 8-10K miles.

Her Accord with only 80K on it now burns oil to the point where the last time it went in for an oil change only a couple of quarts drained out. Her response? "But the oil life meter said I still had 30% oil life!"

Meanwhile our other 5 Hondas don't use a drop of oil. They're religiously changed every 5K miles.

Change your oil at least every 5K miles. Cheap, easy, and worth it.

The GMC's get changed about every 2500-3K. They're mostly driven around town though.

Re: Oil Life Monitor System
 

Your 5 other hondas got lucky, it's very common for hondas to burn oil. They are reliable little oil burners.

To the OP, they werent availible on trucks until 99.

The first car to have the system in 88 was the corvette. My 90 has it, but its gets changed every 2 years(about 800 miles).

Re: Oil Life Monitor System
 

Cylinder deactivation models use oil, well known. Does she have a V6?
I've had a 99,01,02,05,06,08 and 2010 v6 accords. The 99-06's never used oil, don't have deactivation. 08 and 10 both use oil, both have deactivation. FYI honda manual states 7500mile oil changes, for everything from 3.7L v6's to CBR600's that spin 15,000rpm, and that's for dino oil not synthetic. Its insane, and nobody should ever do that.

Re: Oil Life Monitor System
 

Thanks to all for replies. So it never came in the 88-98 GMT 400 series, that was what I thought but wasn´t sure.

Re: Oil Life Monitor System
 

Um, no.

My immediate family has owned
1988 Accord
1989 Accord (two of them)
1990 Accord
1993 Accord (two of them)
1994 Accord
1998 Accord
2000 Accord
2002 Civic
2007 Civic
2008 Odyssey
2010 Accord
2011 Accord

NONE of them have ever used a drop of oil except my sister's 2011 Accord, and I solely blame that on a lack of maint because she goes by the oil % monitor instead of using a little common sense.


No, all of our Hondas have been 4 cylinders except the Odyssey.

The older Accords called for changes every 3750 miles.

I started doing mine at 5K because my miles are all hwy miles.

A few of those (the 88, one of the 93's, and the 98) were totaled by my sister, but the rest were driven for well over 150K and none of them used any oil.

None except my 93 have required any work other than scheduled maint.

My 93 had 360K on it when I sold it. Still had the original clutch. I had to replace the radiator at 250K, the fuel injection relay at 300K, and a clutch slave cylinder at 350K. Other than that it was tires, oil, plugs, brake pads, and timing belts. Still ran like a top, got 30MPG, and didn't use a drop of oil between changes when I sold it, and I only sold it because Dad was getting too old to get in and out of his 94 and sold it to me for what the sales tax cost him on the Odyssey.

My 94 currently has 260k on it. Doesn't use any oil.

That's why we've stuck with Hondas for our daily drivers.

Re: Oil Life Monitor System
 

I bought new, in 1989, a 1989 Accord LXi , Black & a 5 speed....

Loved it !!

Re: Oil Life Monitor System
 

My 93 was a black 2 door EX (same as the LXi on the 88-89). It was really a pretty car. Wish I could buy a new one exactly like it right now. They haven't made one since that I liked as much as I liked that one.

Up until the 2000 Accord, all of ours were 5 speeds.