Fluid condition monitor

A fluid condition monitor suitable for real time monitoring of a fluid in a fluid system such as on-board vehicle monitoring of engine oil and transmission fluid to determine contamination. A capacitive spaced array electrode probe is immersed in the fluid and an oscillating voltage is applied at a first frequency of at least one hertz and the current IB measured as an analog of the bulk fluid impedance. The voltage is also applied to the probe at a second frequency of less then one hertz and the current Is measured as an analog of the electrode surface impedance. The difference in measured currents DELTAI is determined electrically compared with a predetermined threshold value; and, the measured first frequency current IB is compared with an upper and lower limit value for IB determined empirically for the known baseline fluid. If DELTAI is below the threshold or IB is not within the upper and lower limits, a fault condition is declared and an indicator is activated to warn that the fluid is not suitable for continued operation of the system. An alternate embodiment includes a fluid level sensor.