Ford OLM - explain?

[Skeet6]

I did the last oil change on my wife's 2019 3.5 Ecoboost F-150. Motorcraft semi-syn 5W-30, and Motorcraft filter. Keeping with the 5K OCI, I am doing again this weekend. Just for kicks, I checked the OLM and it said 46% oil life remaining. How does the Ford OLM work on these trucks?
Mike B

 

[stower17]

Ford OLM has a time based feature integrated into it. I’m not sure if the FORD OLM takes into account engine operating conditions, but I believe it does

 

[SAJEFFC]

It takes into account time in sump, mileage, number of cold starts, idle time, and hours in operation. I have an F450 for towing a large fifth wheel and it sits a lot in the garage. Changed the oil last June and the oil life % is down to 38% left. That's with just 2200 miles driven on the oil! My '19 Explorer is the same way. A 300-400 highway trip sometimes won't drop the percentage at all. I too change them both at 5K miles just for ease of remembering.

 

[FatCat2]

I did the last oil change on my wife's 2019 3.5 Ecoboost F-150. Motorcraft semi-syn 5W-30, and Motorcraft filter. Keeping with the 5K OCI, I am doing again this weekend. Just for kicks, I checked the OLM and it said 46% oil life remaining. How does the Ford OLM work on these trucks?
Mike B

For most people with an F150 as a daily driver or just regular non-towing uses, it seems to work out almost perfectly as 12 months or 10,000 miles, whichever you are going through faster will correlate precisely to your remaining %.

If you had 46% I'll bet you were either at roughly 5,400 miles since the last change, or 6.x months since the last change

 

[Hall]

Under normal driving conditions - and your driving is monitored - it aims for around 10,000 miles. Everyone thinks their driving conditions or habits are "severe" but the vast majority of us aren't (using the conditions that many automakers use).

When you reset the meter, you can choose 100% or lower values. You could choose 50% or similar and in case you don't check, it will tell your wife an oil change is due.

 

[Bird's_Garage]

My 19 F150 OLM is basically a mileage counter that expects 10k changes every time. No matter how long it takes me to accumulate mileage, it still goes to 50% over the course of 5k miles. The only trust I have in my OLM is that it helps me keep up with the exact mileage I've gone (70% left=3k miles traveled) so I don't have to write it down.

 

[Hall]

expects 10k changes every time. No matter how long it takes me to accumulate mileage

Have you exceeded 10k miles in 12 months ? It seems to be pretty linear for 10k miles / 12 months but adjusts in case you aren't reaching 10k in a year.

 

[FatCat2]

Have you exceeded 10k miles in 12 months ? It seems to be pretty linear for 10k miles / 12 months but adjusts in case you aren't reaching 10k in a year.

That ^

If you're getting straight mileage results, that just means you are exceeding a 10k miles/year pace

 

[ZeeOSix]

I did the last oil change on my wife's 2019 3.5 Ecoboost F-150. Motorcraft semi-syn 5W-30, and Motorcraft filter. Keeping with the 5K OCI, I am doing again this weekend. Just for kicks, I checked the OLM and it said 46% oil life remaining. How does the Ford OLM work on these trucks?
Mike B

The OLM in the newer Fords will count down from 100% to 0% in 365 days ... even if the engine is never started.

 

[Bird's_Garage]

Have you exceeded 10k miles in 12 months ? It seems to be pretty linear for 10k miles / 12 months but adjusts in case you aren't reaching 10k in a year.

Then that's my case. I'm currently running around 12k a year.

 

[jimbrewer]

The main factor is time. It’s almost like countdown device

My experience on the 3.7L is that it doesn’t like inactivity. It actually seems to reward you for a few days after a long trip.

I never tried to pull a trailer at high rpms in mountainous terrain, but more heavy duty use didn’t seem to make much difference.

When you think about it, that’s probably about right. Modern oils eat it up and spit it out assuming reasonable change intervals. The “Everyone is a severe service driver” thing is a myth.

That said, the IOLM on my Ford had almost zero margin of error when I tested. When I ran it all the way down, almost 9,200 mi. it was OK—-but only a few hundred miles from failure.

If I were relying on an IOLM for an Ecoboost I would change at the 25% 30% oil life remaining mark

 

[Whimsey]

Our 2017 2.3 EB Explorer would run down to 0% at 10,000 miles if we let it with my wife's daily driving commute, mainly highway. I usually try to change it at around ~6,200 to 7,800 +/- miles, depending on the season. The UOA's have come out decent doing that with Mobil 1 5W-30.

 

[dan_erickson]

My sisters 2011 fusion seemed to hit 0% at one year. Only about 5000 miles on the oil.

 

[Hermann]

Have had my 2018 F-150 with the 3.3L na engine for 2.5 yrs. The first half of its life it had many 3 mile short trips during an OCI. In addition the engine in this truck is slow to get to FOT. The second OCI the truck received was before the winter of 2018 at 2666 miles. Lots of 3 mile short trips to work and back 8 hours later, plus only a handful of long trips of 50 miles plus. In the spring (5 months later) I had driven about 2200 miles when the OLM showed 20% oil life remaining. I changed the oil at 4900 miles.

Now after retiring 95% of my trips are at least 15 miles during a heat cycle. Often the truck will sit for 2 to 3 days idle. The OLM is showing 37% at 4200 miles into the current OCI. The oil was changed in late May 2020, 8 months ago. Three days ago I took a 425 mile round trip in the 65mph range (4 lane non interstate). Before the trip the OLM was at 40%.

IMO the Ford OLM of that model year F-150 did a good job of informing me of the conditions during that 2nd OCI. The "Great Computer" said the oil was stressed. I agreed and changed the oil and filter. Since then the OLM seems to suggest a oil change in the 5K range. So that is what I am doing. Sometimes that is over 5 or 6 months. The current OCI is at 8 months now.

Sorry for the long Covid Boredom ramblings.

Stay safe everyone

 

[FatCat2]

Have had my 2018 F-150 with the 3.3L na engine for 2.5 yrs. The first half of its life it had many 3 mile short trips during an OCI. In addition the engine in this truck is slow to get to FOT. The second OCI the truck received was before the winter of 2018 at 2666 miles. Lots of 3 mile short trips to work and back 8 hours later, plus only a handful of long trips of 50 miles plus. In the spring (5 months later) I had driven about 2200 miles when the OLM showed 20% oil life remaining. I changed the oil at 4900 miles.

Now after retiring 95% of my trips are at least 15 miles during a heat cycle. Often the truck will sit for 2 to 3 days idle. The OLM is showing 37% at 4200 miles into the current OCI. The oil was changed in late May 2020, 8 months ago. Three days ago I took a 425 mile round trip in the 65mph range (4 lane non interstate). Before the trip the OLM was at 40%.

IMO the Ford OLM of that model year F-150 did a good job of informing me of the conditions during that 2nd OCI. The "Great Computer" said the oil was stressed. I agreed and changed the oil and filter. Since then the OLM seems to suggest a oil change in the 5K range. So that is what I am doing. Sometimes that is over 5 or 6 months. The current OCI is at 8 months now.

Sorry for the long Covid Boredom ramblings.

Stay safe everyone

Could you supplement the above with the following, pleaes?

Three pieces for each oil change:
1. Date performed
2. Mileage
3. % oil life indicated by OLM

For the in between points, like "had driven 2200 and it showed 20%", could you give the date to determine exactly how long it had been since the oil was changed? Can't really see what is or is not going on with how 'smart' the OLM is without knowing all of those things at any given point (date and mileage of last oil change, current date, current mileage, current OLM %)

 

[Hermann]

the oil change at 2666 mile oil change was around the first of Nov 2018 and was changed at 5200 miles or so on April 25th of 2019. The OLM was showing 21% at the time of the change of oil. Has only had Motorcraft 5w-20 Syn Blend and Motorcraft FL-500s filters from Quick Lane. Looked up everything on my Ford Pass account.

 

[FatCat2]

the oil change at 2666 mile oil change was around the first of Nov 2018 and was changed at 5200 miles or so on April 25th of 2019. The OLM was showing 21% at the time of the change of oil. Has only had Motorcraft 5w-20 Syn Blend and Motorcraft FL-500s filters from Quick Lane. Look up everything on my Ford Pass account.

The OLM went from 100%->21% after 2,534 miles in less than 6 months? That's not what I expected at all. Interesting

 

[Hermann]

The OLM went from 100%->21% after 2,534 miles in less than 6 months? That's not what I expected at all. Interesting

At that time I was making the twice daily 3 mile cold starts 4 days a week. Sometimes those 3 days off were in a row and I didn't do anywhere for 3 days. According to other posts in this thread days off are a negative towards OLM longevity. IMO the short trips are the reason. There were winter days when it was barely blowing warm air by the time i got to work, usually 5 to7 minutes. This is a slow to warm vehicle. Yesterday on my way to the GF's house in 35° weather, the first ten miles or so of the trip, the trip computer was showing around 13-15 MPG. After that it becomes a quite efficient engine.

 

[Ohio91]

I did the last oil change on my wife's 2019 3.5 Ecoboost F-150. Motorcraft semi-syn 5W-30, and Motorcraft filter. Keeping with the 5K OCI, I am doing again this weekend. Just for kicks, I checked the OLM and it said 46% oil life remaining. How does the Ford OLM work on these trucks?
Mike

It takes into account time in sump, mileage, number of cold starts, idle time, and hours in operation. I have an F450 for towing a large fifth wheel and it sits a lot in the garage. Changed the oil last June and the oil life % is down to 38% left. That's with just 2200 miles driven on the oil! My '19 Explorer is the same way. A 300-400 highway trip sometimes won't drop the percentage at all. I too change them both at 5K miles just for ease of remembering.

The weirdest feeling is taking a truck in for service that has racked up 156 miles on the odometer. I took my work f150 to the shop last week with this mileage on it. However the truck idles 8 hours a day 5 days a week while on the job site (highway department). It is a requirement that our amber lights be on while close to the road and the drain from the lights and gps units kills the battery surprisingly fast. Soo they just idle all day every day pretty much. They follow the hours vs the mileage and replace the truck every 3 years or so.

 

[FatCat2]

The weirdest feeling is taking a truck in for service that has racked up 156 miles on the odometer. I took my work f150 to the shop last week with this mileage on it. However the truck idles 8 hours a day 5 days a week while on the job site (highway department). It is a requirement that our amber lights be on while close to the road and the drain from the lights and gps units kills the battery surprisingly fast. Soo they just idle all day every day pretty much. They follow the hours vs the mileage and replace the truck every 3 years or so.

When it's not your gas or truck I bet it's nice to have the HVAC running and at temp when you get in, eh? Especially in the winter if in or near Ohio, where it's the complete kind of warm where all the seats and surfaces are warm because the air has been warm so long