SabrToothSqrl

if we can make a tachometer, speedometer, oil pressure gauges, and more... why does no one have an oil LEVEL sensor?

I pulled out of my driveway last week and about had a heart attack

"LOW OIL PRESSURE STOP ENGINE" (or similar).

my OLM was at 22% remaining, everything seemed normal.

I changed the oil. Got all of 3 quarts out of it. (usually 5 ish) and put in the normal 6.

While it's great that we can go many, many more miles between changes, apparently I've never bothered checking the oil level. Any why should I? the tires tell me when they are low. the freaking washer fluid tells me when it's low... why the hell doesn't the oil tell me when it's low?!

I'm guessing it's burned more oil than normal because I've been towing a 6k load for approx 500 miles this summer.

While I'm sure I'll get the standard badgering of it's my responsibility to check the oil.... which is understandable, why the hell can't it be a sensor?

it tells me when I don't use my seatbelt driving the 15' in my driveway.
When the rear hatch is open.

which DOOR is open

what song is in the radio.

but when it comes to protecting a multi thousand dollar engine.. ehh.. screw it!

Can't wait to buy my Tesla... anyone want to donate? engine's are so dirty... bleh.

Don't get me wrong, I love the sound of a carb 460 in my boat, or a 525 in my buddy's, but seriously... this sensor seems like a simple enough idea to me... I'd even want one on my boat engine!

in2pro

I couldn't agree more... why did it wait till you were down 50% to tell you you needed oil...
But now that I have said that, it occurs to me that the level sensor has to be somewhere where it will be consistently immersed in oil, otherwise the normal splash of the crank shaft counter-wights, and inclines of the vehicle would falsely indicate a low oil situation...

{tpc}

If they can design a vehicle that senses when a car in front of it is slowing down too fast and can slow your vehicle for you to help avoid an accident, a oil level sensor would seem a piece of cake.

I even have an idea, but I am hesitant to post it, maybe I can make some money on this...lol.

I just had the dealer change my oil the other day. Different dealer than the first, owned my the same people (gmc vs chevy), same exact oil. Chevy dealer was $3 more expensive for the same change as the gmc, and the gmc dealer also rotated the tires. For gmc this was not a "special" rather just their normal service. For chevy, this was after $7 off coupon. And the gmc place said up to 5 qts...when I told the guy I knew I would have to pay for the extra qt, he said not to worry about it, and they put 6 in.

Also the chevy dealer's sticker said I should bring the truck back for the next change at 5000 miles more than current odometer reading. The gmc place, instead of putting a mileage on the sticker just put "20%". I guess gmc place loves the OLM or something....regardless, I'm sure I will visit gmc place much more often...

{tpc}

Just for fun, I searched for this. Hella makes one that you can put in the bottom of the oil pan, and via a control unit, it measures oil dynamically and statically and compensates for angles/etc.

So it can be done. Maybe its too costly, or maybe its too much info to give the customer?

intheburbs

Oil is pumped up to the upper half of the engine, and then oozes back down. Depending on the outside temperature and the operating temperature of the engine, the oil will ooze back into the pan at varying rates.

The oil pump is gear driven from the crankshaft, so as engine speed changes, so does the speed of the oil pump. Ever notice how the oil pressure gauge changes with engine speed?

All of these factors add up to a varying amount of oil in the pan. Any type of indicator would be constantly fluctuating while the engine was running. If only there was a way to monitor how much oil is flowing through the pump. Oh, wait, there is! These trucks have an oil pressure gauge - what a great idea!

Let's see...you have a $40-$50k vehicle, it's lifeblood being the motor oil, and you can't be bothered checking it once or twice a month?

And have fun with that Tesla if you ever want to take a road trip. Personally, I can think of much more fun ways to spend $90k.

73shark

My MB Airstream Interstate Sprinter has an oil level check function but it does require that the engine is not running. And it takes several minutes.

Oh and it holds 13 quarts of Mobil 1 ESP @about $8/qt

SabrToothSqrl

It's not that I can't be bothered, it's that I should not have to be bothered.
I spent $53,000 on a truck... shouldn't it just tell me when the oil is low?
Why can't a sensor check the dip stick? (Which, according to the above post, there is one that can)!

If it can tell me how hard my tires blow, it can tell me oil level... (ha ha).

Yes, the Oil Pressure gauge did it's thing, I got the warning and acted appropriately.... so that part worked



As for the Tesla, yes, I cannot WAIT to take EPIC FREE road trips all over the US! My wife and I plan to drive ALL THE FRACK over the place. Everywhere we can!

Weekend trip to FL?! Sure. Head up to Maine?! No problem. FREE.

By 2015 over 90% of the US will be covered, and every (super charger) fill up is FREE, FREE FREE. I don't get to take road trips to see the USA because gas is $3.75/gallon.

as for my $53,000 truck, let's take 90,000 miles / (a generous) 17 MPG. that's roughly 5,300 gallons of fuel at, average the past few years, $3.75/gallon = $19,875.00

So... you spend $20,000 on gas... I spend $20,000 more on a car that's faster, quieter, safer, pollutes less, and let's face is... dead sexy

it about evens out... other than the pollution... not to mention no engine air filters, no oil changes, no transmission! lots of saved $$

when the Model 3 drops for $35k, people will be trampling each other to get these things. Ohh, let's also not mention that you can plug in anywhere with an outlet... Which means there are literally millions of places you could plug in... vastly outnumbers gas stations...

Don't worry, gas isn't going anywhere, and I need a Tahoe to haul my boat around, but for daily driving... make sure you wave as I drive silently past the gas station

I drop us back to this guy --> http://www.teslacost.com/

anyway, trying to not get off topic, i promise!

The moral of the story is, if you're like 99% of people, and now relying on an oil life gizmo, you also need to check your oil levels!

I'm sure no engine maker really cares if you... if you seize the engine, they will just sell you another... but in this rare case, i'm NOT picking on GM

So, spread the word, check your oil levels every 1,000 miles lol.

bird

I hear ya Sabr, my 1997 Lumina told me when the Engine Oil was low....loved that car, drove it to 324,000 then sold it!

I had a year of free oil changes, etc at the dealership when I bought my burb. I figured it was a year I wouldn't have to do any of my own maintenance!(yay)...whelp that's the last time I ever trust a stealership. I found out I was low on oil after about 3500 miles and my engine started making odd noises. I thought the exact same thing when I checked the dip stick, "how on fawking earth does it not have a low oil sensor?" I've worked on 3.5hp briggs with low oil sensor/cut offs

my burb burns oil consistently (.5qt every 1500k), so I got that going for me.

SabrToothSqrl

I had a 1990 Chevy Cavalier that got me through a year of college... burned so much oil that I never changed it.

Whenever the engine would start acting up, I'd just dump a quart in.

carried around a 4 pack at all times.

the oil would of course splatter onto the hot manifold, with the hood up, so it would be smoking and damn near on fire, but hey, let's keep burning gas and oil, and bleck

I'm about to install air horns on my 2012 Jeep this week, and under the hood is just so dirty... same with my Tahoe... oil man... it's nasty.

intheburbs

Total thread jack.....

Free supercharges, free road trips, only 20 minutes for 50% charge (seeing as how charges are asymptotic, how long is needed so you can reach the next station? A lot more than 50%), almost sounds too good to be true. What's that saying again? It's on the tip of my tongue....

And I'm just asking a question: Is the Tesla truly better for the planet?

It takes X number of BTUs to move a car 50 miles. Most modern cars are very efficient at utilizing those BTUs and pollute a very small amount, per federal guidelines. Coal and gas plants have less-strict emissions regulations, compared to cars. So, if the coal/gas plant has to generate those same BTUs (with extra, for the transmission losses), couldn't it be emitting more pollution than the car? So therefore, the Tesla (or any electric car) might actually pollute more than a regular car.