My '06 Ford 500 is telling me I need to change the oil, even tho its been only about 2,500 miles since I put in the Motorcraft 5W-20 & Motorcraft filter. However, time-wise, its been about 7 months and mostly short trips of under 2 miles to & from the train station. I plan to change it soon, but here's a counterexample to the observations that Ford uses a "dumb" mileage counter for its OLM
2006 Ford 500 OLM
- Thread starter dwgwater
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I usually change mine every 5k or unless the OLM tells me otherwise. Though it was short miles it was still 7 months. Worth changing it anyways. Take a sample and send it out for a used oil analysis. Find out what the TBN and wear metals look like. It is the only way to be certain there isnt something wrong
Originally Posted By: dwgwater
My '06 Ford 500 is telling me I need to change the oil, even tho its been only about 2,500 miles since I put in the Motorcraft 5W-20 & Motorcraft filter. However, time-wise, its been about 7 months and mostly short trips of under 2 miles to & from the train station. I plan to change it soon, but here's a counterexample to the observations that Ford uses a "dumb" mileage counter for its OLM
I have the same OLM on my Freestyle. It's a dumb timer, not an OLM. There are a couple of possibilities: 1) it wasn't reset the last time the oil was changed or 2) it's set to 3K and not 5K. It can be set for "severe service" to go off every 3K. I think this is something that is flashed at the dealer.
My '06 Ford 500 is telling me I need to change the oil, even tho its been only about 2,500 miles since I put in the Motorcraft 5W-20 & Motorcraft filter. However, time-wise, its been about 7 months and mostly short trips of under 2 miles to & from the train station. I plan to change it soon, but here's a counterexample to the observations that Ford uses a "dumb" mileage counter for its OLM
I have the same OLM on my Freestyle. It's a dumb timer, not an OLM. There are a couple of possibilities: 1) it wasn't reset the last time the oil was changed or 2) it's set to 3K and not 5K. It can be set for "severe service" to go off every 3K. I think this is something that is flashed at the dealer.
It is still a "dumb" system. Your OLM went off because of the length of time since the system was reset. The Ford OLM system will go off every 6 months in my truck. The perfect example was I was on deployment and returned 5 months and 3 weeks later on my Truck's OLM flashed change oil soon 5% oil life remaining and I believe my wife drove my truck something like 500 miles while I was on deployment just enough to prevent any wear and tear associated with a vehicle sitting for a long period of time.
I did the change myself on 10/13/11 and reset the OLM. It went to zero last week (maybe the week before). I wonder how it calculates months, although its within a couple weeks of 6 months. Not sure of the exact mileage, but it's under 3K. Either way, it'll get changed soon, but I don't think changing oil over Mother's Day weekend is a real good way to maintain spousal happiness
Originally Posted By: dwgwater
I did the change myself on 10/13/11 and reset the OLM. It went to zero last week (maybe the week before). I wonder how it calculates months, although its within a couple weeks of 6 months. Not sure of the exact mileage, but it's under 3K. Either way, it'll get changed soon, but I don't think changing oil over Mother's Day weekend is a real good way to maintain spousal happiness
Flowers and dinner will go a lot farther then oil and filters. haha. That's why I changed my oil last week
I did the change myself on 10/13/11 and reset the OLM. It went to zero last week (maybe the week before). I wonder how it calculates months, although its within a couple weeks of 6 months. Not sure of the exact mileage, but it's under 3K. Either way, it'll get changed soon, but I don't think changing oil over Mother's Day weekend is a real good way to maintain spousal happiness
Flowers and dinner will go a lot farther then oil and filters. haha. That's why I changed my oil last week
Ford went to smart OLM's in recent years. My 2011 5.0 Mustang has one. Kind of shocking to see 6,500 miles and 61% oil life remaining. Of course it also holds 8 quarts.
Originally Posted By: dwgwater
My '06 Ford 500 is telling me I need to change the oil, even tho its been only about 2,500 miles since I put in the Motorcraft 5W-20 & Motorcraft filter. However, time-wise, its been about 7 months and mostly short trips of under 2 miles to & from the train station. I plan to change it soon, but here's a counterexample to the observations that Ford uses a "dumb" mileage counter for its OLM
dwgwater,
If your OLM says it's time then I'd do it. Keep a record of it and see if a pattern arises. If it continues them perhaps you can use a better grade of oil like a good synthetic and go perhaps to the OLM's next timed interval you like.
In my Impala mine is based on mileags and how many turns the engine does so it indicates for me every 6K which is fine for me. This is one time where computers are a great help to man...not the other way around!
Durango
My '06 Ford 500 is telling me I need to change the oil, even tho its been only about 2,500 miles since I put in the Motorcraft 5W-20 & Motorcraft filter. However, time-wise, its been about 7 months and mostly short trips of under 2 miles to & from the train station. I plan to change it soon, but here's a counterexample to the observations that Ford uses a "dumb" mileage counter for its OLM
dwgwater,
If your OLM says it's time then I'd do it. Keep a record of it and see if a pattern arises. If it continues them perhaps you can use a better grade of oil like a good synthetic and go perhaps to the OLM's next timed interval you like.
In my Impala mine is based on mileags and how many turns the engine does so it indicates for me every 6K which is fine for me. This is one time where computers are a great help to man...not the other way around!
Durango
Let it go for 12 months if that is the milage you are putting on the car. The engine in our cars is pretty easy on oil with the large sump it has.
Now this is not to say every once in a while you should not take it out for a hour or so drive some Sunday afteroon. Give it a hour or so run to burn off anything in the oil every other month or so. For me I drive down to Rockford once every month or so othewise the car sees a two mile trip to work and a two mile trip back home most of the time.
Now this is not to say every once in a while you should not take it out for a hour or so drive some Sunday afteroon. Give it a hour or so run to burn off anything in the oil every other month or so. For me I drive down to Rockford once every month or so othewise the car sees a two mile trip to work and a two mile trip back home most of the time.
Originally Posted By: Durango
If your OLM says it's time then I'd do it. Keep a record of it and see if a pattern arises. If it continues them perhaps you can use a better grade of oil like a good synthetic and go perhaps to the OLM's next timed interval you like.
Why? It is not a real Oil Life Monitor, rather just a timer that counts 5,000 miles or 26 weeks from each reset. Changing the brand/spec of oil will have no effect on the timer.
If your OLM says it's time then I'd do it. Keep a record of it and see if a pattern arises. If it continues them perhaps you can use a better grade of oil like a good synthetic and go perhaps to the OLM's next timed interval you like.
Why? It is not a real Oil Life Monitor, rather just a timer that counts 5,000 miles or 26 weeks from each reset. Changing the brand/spec of oil will have no effect on the timer.
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