What is an "oil life indicator"?

LOL! Oil life indicators aren't any sort of sensor. :D

Oil life is measured by how many miles you put on your oil. Basically it's a tripometer renamed. And they're not accurate to the driver.

Oil life is affected by the distance you drive at any one time, how hard you drive it, the speed you drive at, and the time between driving. There's no way that the "oil life" indicator takes any of that into account. Trust me.

I already love this forum. Learn something new everyday. :tup:

It was my understanding that the engine oil life indicators being put in most vehicles were a bit more sophisticated than just "miles traveled"...that they took into consideration variables such as hours of operation, engine speed, temperatures, etc.

I may be incorrect and/or maybe that the above doesn't apply to the 370Z???

I drive a 2007 Chevy Silverado Z71 (for a few more days). Not sure how its oil life indicator works.

Well, I can tell you that GM's seem to not care how hard you drive the car. In the 2 years I've owned my Solstice, it's been exactly 5000 miles for the oil life to be 0%. My Trans Am's "oil change" light came on at 3500 miles. I had that for 4 years and I can tell you that it was always the same mileage (By the sticker).

I don't see oil-life indicators ever being smart enough to work the way we'd expect.

I wasn't suggesting that they be relied upon as much as we should rely on our own common sense...but I did think they were supposed to be more than just set to come on at a predetermined mileage. :)

Well, it's not about being on-time with the oil. You can use the same oil for 100,000 miles in some cases. The issue is just reminding people that they NEED to do it.

100,000 miles in some cases? <what?

I know one case, actually, even though that was an exaggeration. My point is that it wont hurt your motor to go over the oil life's recommended life span, but the oil life indicator is mostly just a reminder.

If you are leaving oil in a car for 100K miles I don't ever want to buy a car you've owned and I don't care what kind of oil you used!!! :)

LOL! Nope. Like I said, I change the oil after every race day. Cars I don't race get their oil changed every 2-3 months (I only drive 300 miles a month). I know that's WAY early, but I get bored sometimes and decide to change the oil. :D

FWIW. I stopped by the dealer on Friday where I bought my 370 to see if the Service Dept. is open on Saturdays (no, damn it). I'm about to roll over 1,200 miles and I plan an oil change at that point. I wanted to know if they had one of these 30-minute-in-and-out-quick deals (no again, damn it).

In the course of the conversation, the Service Manager told me that I must use Nissan Ester oil and that an oil change would run about $120 (Jesus wept!!). I politely expressed my disbelief ("politely" = I resisted calling BULLSH!T) that Nissan made the use of their own oil a requirement. I told him that I just planned on using a regular high quality 5W30. The guy then tells me I had better read the fine print in the Warranty regarding the use of Nissan oil.

At this point I smelled smoke and, sure enough when I turned around, there it was being blown up my a$$. Needless to say, one thing is now sure to happen and one thing most definitely will not occur. I absolutely will make sure to tell the GM at this dealership about my conversation with his Service Manager. I will also tell the GM that I absolutely will not deal with his Service Dept.

BTW, the owner's manual says "NISSAN recommends Genuine NISSAN Ester Engine Oil, which is available at a NISSAN dealer." The Warranty does not "require" its use.

Why are you changing oil at 1,200 miles?