Oil Change Reminder Lamp: Description and Operation

Oil Change Minder

NOTE: On early build vehicles, the PCM uses time and distance calculations stored in Keep Alive Memory (KAM) in the PCM to help determine the oil change minder status. If the PCM KAM (Keep Alive Memory) is reset or lost for any reason (battery disconnect, PCM disconnect or dead battery), the oil change minder is disabled and the oil life reset procedure needs to be carried out through the message center to re-enable the oil minder function.

The message center provides an oil change minder to inform the driver that an oil change is required. The duration of the interval between oil changes is calculated in the PCM based an a maximum mileage of 16,093 km (10,000 miles) or 1 year for normal driving. The PCM calculates and provides an oil life status message to the IPC (Instrument Panel Cluster). The IPC (Instrument Panel Cluster) further converts the remaining oil life using the driver's configured oil life start value and displays the oil life percentage, indicating the remaining oil life. The oil change minder can be reset at any time by the driver. Refer to Message Center Configuration Service and Repair.

Oil Life and Oil Life Start Value

The oil life is displayed in percentages. The oil life start value is used to increase or decrease the starting point of the oil life. The oil life start value can be changed back to the maximum of approximately 16,093 km (10,000 miles) if the value was previously changed or to lower the value by 10% increments down to 10%. Each 10% reduction lowers the oil life in both mileage and time (days).