I'm a new Dodge Grand Caravan owner, having recently inherited a low-mileage 2012 Dodge Grand Caravan Crew from a family member. I know the car has an alert that illuminates when the engine oil needs to be changed. My question is whether it has the ability to indicate how much life is left in the oil. The 2014 Chevrolet Suburban I recently drove, for instance, indicated the exact percentage of oil life left, and my son's 2007 Honda Civic gives the amount of remaining oil life in 10-percent increments. Thank you in advance for your assistance and looking forward to being part of this community.

 

 

Thank you for your very helpful response.

Is the "It's time to change the oil" indicator reliable? In other words, is it OK to wait until it appears -- which would seem to suggest the engine oil life is 10 percent or less -- to change the oil?

Thanks again.

 

I think the oil life monitors go to long. It doesn't know the actual oil condition; Its a mathematical guess.
I follow a severe service maintenance schedule for my vehicles and change oil every 6 thousand kilometers. the oil is black at that mileage. Don't care if oil analysis testing says it can to longer...Never had an oil consumption problem, never had a vvt cam phaser problem. . Oil changes are cheap...engines aren't.

 

Very helpful. Thank you!

 

most that display the actual percentage have steering wheel buttons....on the left side...4 arrows up down left right...if you don't have these scroll buttons, the evic won't display the actual life remaining.

 

Per the manual, wait for the light, but do not exceed 12 months or 10,000 miles between changes. If I were you, I'd change the oil now an reset the indicator. It does not hurt anything but your wallet to change it sooner than the manual recommends.

 

And if you are using a full synthetic and an oil filter that is rated for 20,000 miles then you can wait for the light. Some say the synthetics are overkill and "not worth the extra money" but for 5-15 dollars extra I'd rather overkill.

At this website (http://pqiamerica.com/PCMO_Sample_Su...2_15_2016.html) you can search for test results from the Petroleum Quality Institute of America, the tests aren't well labeled but if you click into the tests you see a picture of the specific bottle of oil they tested. Some of the tests labeled "synthetic" weren't synthetic, and some labeled "conventional" weren't conventional oils.

I don't know where to find testing on oil filters that is useful for real world use; there are some silly youtube vids but they are mostly absurd.

 

Percentage based indicator systems cannot monitor the actual condition of the oil - all they can do is monitor factors that affect oil life. Things like idling, stop and go driving, engine run time, etc - then the PCM calculates the estimated oil life based on these factors.

The other type is mileage based, which simply alerts the driver to how many miles are left before the next change is due. My GC alerts me at 200 miles. I've seen some vehicles that allow you to view the mileage left before the next change is due.

Should these systems be trusted? It depends on you. In my situation - we bought our GC at 26k after it had been used as a lease vehicle for the dealer. We've got just over 55k on it now - every time I've changed the oil, it's been clean (relatively speaking) and there's no indications of problems. I try to stick to 5,000 miles between oil changes (even though I'm pretty sure the indicator on my van is set at 8,000) so I'm not planning to exceed the indicator mileage until the warranty expires, just because if something does go wrong, I can prove I followed their recommendations.

Now, if I purchase a beater car that's falling apart just to use as a daily driver, I'm probably not going to give a darn what the indicator tells me.

You can narrow down the best interval for your oil changes by monitoring the color of the oil. This works best if you have a clean dipstick that doesn't have varnish or deposits on it, but whenever you check the oil, note the color. After an oil change, it's clean and light. After a few thousand miles, it starts to get darker. I recommend changing it when it's a dark amber color - that's when the oil is beginning to break down but still has sufficient properties to lubricate the engine.

 

I also do 5,000 miles because I drive 30,000 miles per year and 5,000 is easy to remember and plan for. Also I love to work on cars. I have the ramps sitting in my driveway and the few tools needed I keep in my van and my wife's jeep respectively so I can do a change with little hassle.