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"Change Oil" message - 09 Journey

5K views 3 replies 3 participants last post by  Neto 
#1 ·
Anyone know what triggers the "Change Oil" message that comes up? I figured it was tied to some set amount of expended mileage, but someone told me recently that on their car (another make) there are sensors that evaluate the oil, and the message is triggered when the oil begans to break down. I tend not to believe this, because the first time I saw the message was very soon after I changed the oil for the first time after we bought the vehicle, last December. I reset it then, and now recently it started it again, and well before 3k miles had passed. (I have since changed the oil again.) Is it possible that it counts the number of starts? (My wife usually has the car, and she does make a lot of short trips - I seldom drive it except to church on Sundays.)
Neto
 
#2 ·
Some vehicles do have sensors. I don't know about the Journey specifically, but I'm pretty sure it works the same way as the vans. The computer evaluates information it already knows about, such as how long the engine has been operating since the last oil change, temperature, RPMs, etc. Based on all of this there is some math that eventually kicks out a "change oil soon" message.

Did you disconnect the battery recently? I've noticed that the message comes up sooner after doing so - probably built in the change the oil early when the car is brand new.
 
#4 ·
To the best of my knowlege, there is no such a thing as an engine based sensor which evaulates oil quality. What many cars do have are various metrics (like cold-starts, engine time, fuel consumed) fed into the computer since the last reset; systems which used these metrics have proven to be extremely accurate in predicting oil change intervals if (and only if) the oil used matches the specification required by the manufacturer. If oil is of lower quality then it will be long past due when the Oil Change message shows up, and if the oil is of a higher quality (i.e. from using synthetic oil in an engine which has conventional oil specified), then you'll be thowing away good oil if you change the oil when the message shows up.
Sorry for taking so long to get back here. I've been so busy that I haven't had a chance to get back on.
Anyway, No, I haven't had the battery disconnected. (You can hardly even see the thing, where they stuffed it. I hope I never have to mess with it along the road someplace!)
The first time it was at about the right time, except that I had just changed it. But a good part of those miles were highway miles, since my bro-in-law drove it up here (Ohio) from Sarasota, Fl., where we bought it. The second time it was at around only 2500 miles; again, not REAL early, but I use good quality oil, and of the proper viscosity. I don't know what brand or type of oil the dealership had put in it in Florida. I would guess that it was a cheaper brand, as the tires they put on it were definitely cheap.

I’m guessing that it’s the frequent starts and short trips that triggered it in my case. Anyway, I need to reset it again – had to look it up in the manual the first time, and now I don’t remember how it’s done.

Thanks for your responses.
Neto
 
#3 ·
To the best of my knowlege, there is no such a thing as an engine based sensor which evaulates oil quality. What many cars do have are various metrics (like cold-starts, engine time, fuel consumed) fed into the computer since the last reset; systems which used these metrics have proven to be extremely accurate in predicting oil change intervals if (and only if) the oil used matches the specification required by the manufacturer. If oil is of lower quality then it will be long past due when the Oil Change message shows up, and if the oil is of a higher quality (i.e. from using synthetic oil in an engine which has conventional oil specified), then you'll be thowing away good oil if you change the oil when the message shows up.
 
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