Oil warning light

[Sharky]

So driving today and the oil light came on. Checked the fipstick and it showed mid point between min and max.

When restarting, the large display said "change oil".

My question is, how do these smart cars (suzuki s cross) know. Is there some kind of clever sensor that can detect dirty oil? Or is it just based on miles since the last service?

The car was serviced in the summer and I presume the oil was changed. Is there a counter that needs to be reset when oil is changed?

And how long have I got before the engine blows up?

 

[Slick]

Don't worry the engine won't blow and to be fair, 6 months could have past since its service and it just wants an oil service. You could just get a local boy to do it who likely knows the procedure for resetting the timer on such warnings.

 

[sleuthey]

Miles driven since the last service please

 

[sleuthey]

You could just get a local boy to do it who likely knows the procedure for resetting the timer on such warnings.

Or YouTube

 

[biggs682]

Our Nissan Note has a countdown in miles between recommended services.

It's all getting a bit clever

 

[Mike_P]

Can be a false indication. I have had warning lights come on which are simply down to the cars electronics getting into a mix and a reset of the system by the garage resolved the issue.

 

[Sharky]

Thanks all. I was worried when the light first came on, but after checking the dipstick guessed it was just a warning to get the oil changed. Will book it in and you've reassured me that it's OK to drive for a while.

 

[Dogtrousers]

And how long have I got before the engine blows up?

You have 20 seconds to comply.

 

[Sharky]

Just looked at the checklist from the last service in June last year. For oil changes, it says either when the warning light comes on or every 12.5k miles. The last service was at 21k miles, so possibly they decided it was not due to be changed. Now at 30k, computer says yes, needs changing.

Either that or they didn't reset the counter.

Have worked out how to reset it, so might do that as the light is distracting, but I will book it into the garage as soon as they have a free slot.

Thanks for all the comments.

 

[DRM]

Just looked at the checklist from the last service in June last year. For oil changes, it says either when the warning light comes on or every 12.5k miles. The last service was at 21k miles, so possibly they decided it was not due to be changed. Now at 30k, computer says yes, needs changing.

Either that or they didn't reset the counter.

Have worked out how to reset it, so might do that as the light is distracting, but I will book it into the garage as soon as they have a free slot.

Thanks for all the comments.

Just reset it, mine came on it’s dead easy on Suzuki’s as you’ve found out, I think it’s time based, as it came on as near as makes no difference to 12 months after the last service, and they couldn’t fit it in for the service for a couple of weeks

 

[CXRAndy]

Some cars have a sensor to read the particulates in the oil. Other just do it on mileage.

 

[figbat]

Most cars just use an algorithm based on a number of factors:

- cold starts
- journey length
- engine load
- fuel used
- distance covered
- elapsed time
- and others

Some have very crude sensors that can approximate viscosity or electrical permittivity, which is also fed into the algorithm.

Don’t keep resetting the warning and carrying on though!

 

[sheddy]

what colour is the oil on the dipstick ?

 

[figbat]

what colour is the oil on the dipstick ?

Unless it’s some funky colour, this doesn’t really tell you anything. Oil goes dark in use - it means it’s doing its job (collecting soot and other combustion products). Obviously if you have just had the oil changed it is black then there’s an issue (someone didn’t change the oil!).

 

[Cycleops]

Remember when cars had a oil pressure gauge? You knew if your bearings were still healthy or there was impending disaster. No electronic guessing games. I once had a Austin 7 special which ran on 0~5 lbs.