Change oil soon indicator light

I'm wondering what exactly triggers the Change Oil Soon light on a Saturn
LS2 2000. Is it on a timer or milage linked or does it actually have a
sensor that checks the oil quality....

The reason I ask is that mine is coming on when I start my car and goes off
after about a minute. My oil is only about 1000 miles old, the level is
fine, and it looks pretty good on the stick....

Is it possibly linked the my Service Engine Soon light that is perpetually
on?

The car has 47000 miles.

Thanks,

Ken

 

Just had mt 2000 SL1 into Saturn today for an oil change because the change
oil soon light came on.
I was told that it is triggered by the amount of starts the car had. I only
had about 4000 klms on it.
But was changed back in September.
Also he said the oil only has about 10 percent life left to it at this stage
when it is sensored.

Hope this helps.

 

All the dash lights should come on when you switch the key to the on
position to demonstrate the bulbs work. At least that's my understanding -
looks like you got a good reply as to how the oil change interval is
calculated.

 

Ken,

At only 1,000 miles, it sounds like whoever changed your oil last time may
not have reset the oil change indicator. This is done by pressing the
reset button located in the under-hood fuse-box.

As for your other question, it is definitely guess-work and not any type
of oil quality sensor. I'm not sure what it's looking at to make that
guess.

Regards,
Steve

 

It's not based on time or mileage, it's based on engine revolutions with
adjustment/penalty factors based on engine operating temperature and engine
load. After the calculated oil life is used up, the light comes on. My guess
is that somebody forgot to reset the oil life monitor when they changed the
oil last..

 

Gosh, I forgot to reset the oil life monitor when I changed oil in my Saturn
a week ago...Thanks for remaining!