woodsmitch
Sedro Woolley,Washington,USA
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I got a new Ram 3500 the first of the year. I have been in Az. for the winter and geting ready to hit the road. The truck has 1500 miles on it (mostly city driving) and I had the oil and filter changed. While at the dealers I asked them to be sure they reset the oil change alert. The service manager said there wasn't anything to reset since there was no oil change due showed on the evic. So I asked how will the computor know that the oil had been changed? He didn't seem to know how it worked so he asked another guy there and he said the engine analizes the oil for viscosity, etc.. I remember reading somewhere that it computed on the way it was driven as in stop and go driving and dpf regens and such. Anyone know how this works and if it needs to be reset?
The reason for changing the oil was for me to know how all this town driving was effecting the oil. I pulled a sample and sent it to be tested and will do the same for the next change which will be mostly towing miles.
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ib516
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Shocker, but the dealer doesn't have a clue. The trucks computer does not analyze the oil at all, the oil life monitor does need to be reset. The procedure will be in the owners manual.
The oil life monitor (OLM) uses a computer program to determine oil life. It has no idea if there's even oil in the engine. It looks at things such as:
- Outside air temp
- Load/duty cycle
- total number of engine revolutions
- engine idling time
- engine temperature
Then does a "best guess" computation saying, based on that, the engine oil should have x% of life left in it.
If the oil was changed recently, just reset the oil life and carry on.
Some reading for you (<-- I know this is an explanation of GM's system, but they all work similarly)
Another article
* This post was
edited 04/12/12 07:31am by ib516 *
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Turbo Diesel Dude
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Read your Owners Manual and it will tell you. EZ to do. JMHO
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downtheroad
Pacific Northwest
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Dealer needs to read the "owner's manual."
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ib516
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Just another comment.
Here's an example for you. Short trip driving in cold weather is the toughest condition for your engine oil. My wife's vehicle is a 2006 Pontiac Montana SV6 minivan. It is equipped with GM's OLM system. When she uses the van as a commuter back and forth to work in the cooler weather, the engine oil life barely makes it 3000 miles before it says "Oil Life 0%". We just took that same vehicle on a highway trip for Easter. I drove it about 1000 miles. The oil life still reads 90%. Why? Because I started it, and we drove 500 miles then shut it off. Started it, drove another 500 miles. Engine gets up to operating temperature and stays there, all highway cruising. Very easy on oil.
My Dad drives from Canada to Az, cruises around Az for a few months and can drive back again before his vehicle's OLM says it needs an oil change. No cold starts, lots of highway cruising as they go site-seeing. He gets about 9,000 miles out of an oil change based on the OLM.
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donn0128
Pronounced Ore-gun
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Key in on position, pump go pedal three timed, key off,key on if I remember correctly. It is in the owners manual.
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bigdaddogg1
Martinez, Georgia
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On mine the change oil light started going on at 3000 miles, and the Dodge recommendation is to change it every 7500 miles. (Ya think maybe the dealer wants to change the oil more often to get some extra cash? LOL)
I reset it as shown above, and it came on after another 3000 miles. When I did get it changed, I asked the mechanic to change it, so he did....to 5000 miles! Since I do a lot of towing, sometimes in rough conditions, I usually change it around 5000 miles, so this worked out for me.
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five'er
Canada
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Because you don't seem to follow what the computer in regards to oil changes, does it matter if you reset it?
That's how it's done in my 09
Turn ign on but don't start
fully depress acelerator peddle slowly 3 times within 10 seconds
turn ign switch off/lock position..
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B.O. Plenty
Minnesota
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five'er wrote:Because you don't seem to follow what the computer in regards to oil changes, does it matter if you reset it?
That's how it's done in my 09
Turn ign on but don't start
fully depress acelerator peddle slowly 3 times within 10 seconds
turn ign switch off/lock position..
Yes you need to reset it because the computer doesn't know if you changed it or not. The light could come on as soon as another 1-2 thousand miles. Resetting it will start it out back at 0 miles.
B.O.
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halibutman214
Oregon
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Yes it's in the book however there is NO WAY for you to know it in fact reset because it didn't tell you you needed it changed. Not sure why you would change it so soon. The computer tells you well before it REALLY needs to be changed.
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