Oil life monitor b.s. ?

[painterpatt]

I call b.s. I have an 11 Flex and a 12 Explorer. Changed oil on the same day, set mine to 80% hers to 100%. I work 20 miles round trip to work, shes 10. Usually drive mine every where we go with kids (way cooler) I drive out to track, she takes kids to karate classes 3 days a week 10 miles round trip. Anywho Both Oil life monitors came on same day. Same hour (both on our lunch) how the hell is it possible? ?  I thought it analyzes miles, temps ect. That is one freak stroke of chance. Total BS if it happens again

[FracaSHO]

Personally, I NEVER rely on the cars monitor. There are phone aps to keep track of maintenance.  Only downside is, you have to manually enter the mileage. I enter mine every fill up, and my wife texts me hers when she fills up. Or you could always keep a small notebook in the car. That's what I did back in the day.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2

[mjhpadi]

I thought the oil monitor was 7500 miles so if you set it to 80% that means it would come up to change in 6000 miles.  I believe it is based solely on mileage.

[05yellowgt]

I know on the f150 it adjusts for towing and heavy load conditions.

Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk 4

[SHO-Pa]

Sorry to bring up an old thread, is there a consensus on this?

My Expy and the SHO were changed around the same time. The Expy is mileage based and at about 55% currently on a 5000 mile counter. If the SHO is a counter, then the oil change interval would be 7950 (!) miles.

So based on this, it looks like its an "intelligent" oil life monitor. Does anyone know for certain?

[BiGMaC]

I had my oil changed at 1800 miles because the light came on... the ECU monitors 6 different parameters about the oil to decide when it's due..... The service manager and mechanic both said it's smarter than we are.   It is not a timer/counter.

However, if you want you can just reset it from the left LED screen to the % oil life you want and the light will go off.

[DJE624]

IDK.  I don't use the monitor.  Ford says 10K now (syn blend).  I do synthetic every 5K.  I feel safe with that.

[BiGMaC]

I agree... I change it at 5K mile intervals... or related to any special use. I changed it early only because the warning dialog came up.  I'd never go longer than 5K miles no matter what the light did.  That's my interval too.... even if it longer was manufacturer recommended

[mjhpadi]

I would send the oil out for an anaylsis...I use Blackstone Labs.  I was changing oil and filter every 3K miles but based on the results from the lab, I am going to go to 5K changes.  Just FYI, for 25 bucks it's an inexpensive way to see what's going on with the oil in your engine.  Also they have a fairly quick turnaround once you send them a sample.  I recommend it, sure helps your peace of mind.

[DJE624]

I would send the oil out for an anaylsis...I use Blackstone Labs.  I was changing oil and filter every 3K miles but based on the results from the lab, I am going to go to 5K changes.  Just FYI, for 25 bucks it's an inexpensive way to see what's going on with the oil in your engine.  Also they have a fairly quick turnaround once you send them a sample.  I recommend it, sure helps your peace of mind.

I saw Mark's report and they were quite thorough. 

[black99lightning]

I change about every 5-6K.  Lots of highway use.

[BiGMaC]

Here's the links to videos for what the intelligent oil life monitor does....

Intelligent Oil-Life Monitor│Ford How-To Video

...and how to reset it...

Intelligent Oil-Life Monitor® - Reset with 4.2" LCD Screen | Ford How-to Video

That shown..... Mj has an excellent method!

Here's the link to all the Ford "How-To" vids
http://owner.ford.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Owner/Page/OwnerVideoPage&year=2013&make=Ford&model=Taurus

[mjhpadi]

Thanks, I must say, after stalling on having the oil tested, I am really glad I did it.  I learned so much from the test it was well worth the 25 dollars I spent, plus Blackstone Labs will send you additional kits so you and send another sample without waiting for the collection kit.