I just a oil change and the oil guage still displays that I only have 20% oil life remaining. Does anyone else have this same problem? Is this an easy fix? Is there a reset button somewhere I'm not aware of. If you have any suggestions that would be great, thnx

 

Yes, very easy. Bring the car into the dealer and get the oil changed.

Oh and...



:P

 

what you mean i have to pay additional money to have my oil changed at the acura dealership just to have my mid screen to read my oil life accurately? that doesnt make any sense

 

I think you did not write correctly. If in fact you did change your oil. You can reset the MID. Read the manual, I do not know it off hand but it's like pressing RESET for some specific time.

 

i think he means: " I just did a oil change and the oil guage still displays..."

 

Nevermind... He edited the post I believe.

 

Here’s the full procedure:

To reset the display:

1. Turn the ignition switch to ON

2. Press the < or > button repeatedly until the oil life is displayed.

3. Press and hold the Select/Reset button for 10 seconds. The Multi-Information Display will ask for a confirmation.

a. If you are sure you want to reset the display, press the Select/Reset button for 10 seconds again.

b. If you do not want to reset the display, press the < or > button to select “Cancel”

 

cool that worked, thnx. I was scared for a minute. I thought my cars mid was malfunctioning

 

We dont have our TL yet here. So the MID does not "really" check the oil life, it just takes into consideration your driving performance and miles? Or was he just having problems and had to reset it?

 

He reset it because he had the oil changed, but not at an Acura dealer. Many people go other places, or do their own oil changes, so the method for resetting the MID is good to know.

The MID does not sample the oil, but, as you said, takes into consideration your driving habits, average speeds, temperature, starts and stops, and maybe something else I can't think of.

 

Wow, all this time i thought it actually "knows" and monitors oil life. Thanks for the detailed answer Ron.

 

 

maybe the TL uses the same oil life measurement as the BMWs. it takes into accoount, as mentioned above, driving style. the more aggressive the person drives, the more gas he/she has to consume which relates to the amount of times the person has to get gas. based on this, oil life is directly proportional to the frequency you put gass in the TL's tank.

a good analogy is that every human has a predetermined number of heartbeats. once you used up all of it, you can either get it repaired, get a new one, or just check in.

 

I belive one of the crucial measurements for the oil monitor is the total engine revs. For me that is running around 6k miles.

 

Found this information, take it or leave it:

The advanced technology of the service indicator systems allows the use of
microcomputers to consider the influence of engine coolant temperature, high
and low engine speeds, short and long trips, and the number of engine
starts, in determining the optimum maintenance interval.

Researchers learned that oil degrades in a predictable fashion and that
monitoring a few engine-operating conditions allows oil life to be
determined quite accurately. Specifically, the engine computer monitors
engine speed to count combustion events while also estimating oil
temperature based other engine operating conditions. From here, the computer
is able to determine the rate of oil deterioration and notifies when to
change oil. This software based Oil Life System is part of the same computer
that also helps to control engine functions.

Oil life can be maximized if its temperature is maintained around 200
degrees F. Highway driving exemplifies this type of operating condition.
Conversely, when an engine is started cold, contaminants from the engine
combustion such as water and fuel can enter the oil. If the engine is not
allowed to warm up, contamination can build up in the oil, which results in
reduced mileage between oil changes. Finally, trailer towing in a warm
climate can increase engine oil temperature, which will also reduce oil
life.

Most vehicles are typically operated under a variety of conditions. As a
result, use of the Oil Life System will often double or even triple the oil
change interval for a typical vehicle when compared to the 3000-mile oil
change. The Oil life system keeps track of the various operating conditions
of the vehicle and adjusts the mileage between oil changes respectively.
With this, there is no longer any need to guess at when to change oil.

There is no dedicated sensor in the system that judges engine oil
condition - it's all done with the engine management computers.

 

I'm at 1975 miles and MID shows 80% life. Does this REALLY mean I can go 10,000 miles without an oil change? Sure hope not.

 

It depends. Mine seemed to linger at around 70-80% for a long time, then went down through 60-50-40% relatively quickly.

I am now at about 4.5 months and 5,100 miles, and my MID indicates 40% oil life. I think that I may change the oil by 7,500 miles, whether the MID recommends it or not. This is probably overkill, though, as I think that the monitoring system that the car uses is likely quite good and reliable.

My driving is about 80% suburban/stop-and-go and 20% highway. I'm probably average to slightly below average in terms of driving aggressiveness and RPMs.

Thanks, Sherlock. Nice info.