Hi. how does the oil life indicator work? How can it tell how dirty the oil is? Or, does it merely measure the mileage that has elapsed since the last oil change?

Would you trust the oil life indicator more than your own common sense and experience?

 

What oil life indicator? I have an MY 04 and all I get is a service light that comes on a certain number of miles after its last reset.

 

You have a maintenenc required light that comes on a scheduled interval, and you have the oil light on in case your oil is low. Other than that.. idk what indicators we have..

 

 

06+ have an oil life indicator.. tells you percent life left or something.

Anyway, no I don't pay attention to the maint req'd light on my 00.. although it is pretty accurate.. generally comes on right around my oil changes every 6000mi or so.

 

Really? How does it tell, does it have sensors that can calculate the amount of deposits in the oil??

 

I think that was the original question ;-)

 

oh.. no, it has nothing to do with the actual oil. It estimates the interval based on your driving style and miles traveled..

 

I have an 06 berlina now. If you click the trip odometer 3 times, the display will then show what percentage of oil life you have left.

I'm just wondering if I should go by this or the usual 3,700 mile interval that I like to use.

 

Follow what the '06 oil life indicator says, the engineers who designed that program know a whole lot more about oil than any of us do. It takes everything into account; if I had a '06+ I'd follow it. It is based on speed, temp, miles, throttle position, length of trips, time elapsed, engine RPM's, etc.