How does the Oil Life Meter on my car work?

I recently purchased a new 2007 Honda Accord. I have noticed that it has an meter that tells you how much life the engine oil has left. When I first bought it, it said 100%. As I drove it more, it dipped down little by little. When it reaches a certain percentage, I'm supposed to change it.





I'm fascinated as to how this works. How can a car tell how good the oil is in it's engine? And how accurate is this meter? Is it just a guide or something very spot on? Also, does it have sensors or anything that need to be replaced? I wouldn't want to drive around with a bad oil life meter telling me that my oil is fine when it needs to be replaced!How does the Oil Life Meter on my car work?
It really has no idea what the oil condition is in. What it does is it is hooked into the computer and it takes the rpms of the crank, how many times you start and shut off your car, speed of travel, and some other computer facts and spits out a guestamation. I find that in some cars these are pretty good but in others they are not even close. THe wosrt ones are on the GM vehicles. We get new Trail Blazers in all the time that have 8k,9k,or even 10k miles on the original oil and the oil life is still at 15% or so. The oil is 2 quarts low and very dirty. I would go directly by the owners manual recommendations which in a Honda is probably 7500 miles. Maybe even 5000 but not the 3000 that oil companies want you to do it.








also check out this site I cut and pasted one part of it here:


http://www.practicingoilanalysis.com/art鈥?/a>





Current and Pending Technologies


General Motors Corporation GM Oil-Life鈩?System


The General Motors (GM) Oil-Life System, first introduced commercially in the 1998 Oldsmobiles, determines when to change the oil and filter based on several operating conditions. The technology does not actually monitor any single quality or physical property of the oil. Instead, the Oil-Life System monitors engine revolutions, operating temperature, and other factors that affect the length of oil change intervals.





The sensor is based on GM鈥檚 determination that nearly all driving conditions can be grouped into one of four categories: easy freeway driving; high-temperature, high-load service; city driving; or extreme short-term, cold-start driving. GM discovered that oil degradation in the first three categories was largely a function of the oil temperature. During extreme short-trip driving (the fourth category), the principle cause of oil degradation is water condensation and contaminants in the oil - the lower the oil temperature, the greater the contamination.





The software automatically adjusts the oil change interval based on engine characteristics, driving habits and climate. When the system notifies the owner that it is time for an oil change, the owner can go to the nearest GM dealer and a technician will change the oil and filter, properly recycle the oil, then reset the vehicle鈥檚 oil life system. ...How does the Oil Life Meter on my car work?
Your engine oil meter is accurate and pay attention to it. 3000 miles or 3 months on regular oil and 6000 miles on synthetic oil. synthetic is better but it costs a little bit more. When the display says something like change oil soon, change it.Bad oil overtime will buildup overtime and cause problems to the engine. Always check all your fluids under the hood, especially the coolant/radiator fluid, you dont want your engine to overheat and blow. good luck
These meters are based on the mileage you are putting on your car. When it's time to replace the oil based upon manufacturer recommendations for miles between oil changes, it simply lets you know.