Oil Change Indicator - Description

DESCRIPTION

A change oil indicator is standard equipment on all instrument clusters. However, on vehicles manufactured for export markets except those equipped with a 2.8 liter diesel engine and an optional diesel particulate filter, this indicator is electronically disabled. The change oil indication appears within the fixed segment odometer Vacuum Fluorescent Display (VFD) unit on vehicles not equipped with an optional Electronic Vehicle Information Center (EVIC). On vehicles equipped with the optional EVIC, the change oil indication in the odometer VFD is electronically suppressed so as not to duplicate indications that are provided by the EVIC. The odometer VFD change oil indicator consists of cycling textual CHANGE thenOIL messages which appear in place of the odometer/trip odometer information. The EVIC change oil indicator consists of a textual Oil Change Required message that appears within the EVIC VFD.

The odometer VFD unit is soldered onto the cluster electronic circuit board, and is visible through a window with a smoked clear lens located at the base of the cluster overlay right gauge dial face (Dodge) or the tachometer dial face (Chrysler). The EVIC VFD unit is soldered onto the cluster electronic circuit board, and is visible through a window with a smoked clear lens located at the base of the cluster overlay speedometer dial face. The dark lens over either VFD prevents it from being clearly visible when it is not illuminated. The change oil indicator textual messages appear in the same blue-green color and at the same lighting level as the other information displayed in the odometer or EVIC VFD unit when it is illuminated by the instrument cluster electronic circuit board.

During daylight hours (exterior lamps are OFF) the odometer and EVIC VFD units are illuminated at full brightness for clear visibility. At night (exterior lamps are ON), the VFD lighting level is adjusted with the other cluster illumination lamps using the panel lamps dimmer thumbwheel of the headlamp switch on the instrument panel. However, a PARADE mode position of the thumbwheel allows the VFD unit to be illuminated at full brightness if the exterior lamps are turned ON during daylight hours.

The change oil indicator is serviced as a unit with the odometer or EVIC VFD unit in the instrument cluster.