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Oil Life Monitor


ZED

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Prior to the oil life monitor, I had always done whatever the owners manual recommended.  The recommended miles and months have definitely changed over the years.    Now I go by the oil life monitor, I wait for the warning which seems to be around 5%.   The last few cars I bought always had free maintenance for a certain amount of miles/years.  I once tried to get the free maintenance when the oil life was at 20% and was told they would not do it unless it was 10% or lower.  I told them I was going on a 2000 mile driving trip and did not want to do maintenance on the road.  They did it for me but wrote up the "trip" circumstances on the work order. 

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Great subject . Recent news report information said that after 6 months oil starts to loose effectiveness even at low miles . I watch the oil monitor and after 6 months it is usually down to 30% for me that is about 6,000 miles . The oil is the life blood of a car , so for the $ 29 at Lincoln ( or $ 20 at Pepboys ) , that is the least I can do for this machine that gives so me much enjoyment.

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Mine is at 8k miles and the monitor is in the low twenties. I drive a lot of interstate and some back roads near my house, nothing too aggressive.

 

Just checked the oil level (following the procedure in the manual) and it's a tad below the upper hole in the dipstick.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I decided to comment on this topic since I started it.....

 

Traditional wisdom esp with my 2017 being a twin turbo direct injection motor would be to go no farther than one year or 5,000 miles on the oil. Then after some extensive reading about Ford testing the Ecoboost engine and comparing the wear of engine parts with engines that Ford beats the living tar out of including running dirty oil Ford found little to know difference when changing the oil going by the oil life monitor or changing the oil significantly sooner. I still feel a bit uncomfortable letting my oil go past 5,000 miles but the fact is Ford has tested there OLM to a point where it can be trusted so I will let it go to say 15-10% before changing. This is just my opinion and if you feel like changing much sooner so be it. Let's face it changing the oil soon definitely will not hurt for sure.

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I never let a vehicle go past 3-5k miles before changing the oil and also have transmissions serviced regularly. Our last two vehicles went 240k and 260k miles and still ran fine (one had a transmission rebuild).

 

So seeing the odometer at 8k was definitely uncomfortable, but like you I decided to trust it.

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Hi gang. The oil change interval for my current MKZ in "Normal Driving Conditions" is "6 months/7,500 miles, whichever comes first". I usually wound up changing at ~6 months.

The 2018 MKZ oil change recommendation (at least for non-Hybrids) in "Normal Driving Conditions" is 1 year/10,000 miles, or when the "Intelligent Oil Life Monitor" indicates, whichever comes first. For me, that means I'll usually be changing the oil and filter once a year on my new MKZ, unless the system indicates I should change sooner.

Good luck everyone. :)

Edited by bbf2530
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  • 1 year later...

I was under the impression the Oil Life Monitor is just a timer based on engine hours/mileage and perhaps average oil pressure readings, but I'm not sure how it works.

 

Prior to the Lincoln, I've done ALL oil changes myself and use Amsoil exclusively. My engines were normally aspirated  V6's with multi-port fuel injection, and my work commute racks up 350 miles per week. What I found worked best was to use extended life synthetic oil and changed it twice a year. Once in the spring and again before winter.

 

For my 2.0T I have the Lincoln 5,000 mile interval service package for 48mo/60K. Because the Lincolns are using direct fuel injection, I'm a little worried about intake valve carbon deposits due to no fuel to clean them. I'm hoping the more frequent oil changes will help prevent deposits. My thought is fresher oil has the capacity to trap more contaminates that are less likely getting back into intake via the PCV system.

Edited by TomV
clarification on OLM
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Prior to ca. 2010, IIRC, the oil life monitor was based on months and mileage.  With the advent of Ford IOLM, a much more sophisticated system of parameters was applied.

 

https://owner.ford.com/support/how-tos/vehicle-features/dashboard-instrument-cluster/intelligent-oil-life-monitor.html

Edited by drolds1
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  • 2 years later...
2 hours ago, jimflutes said:

On my 2016 and 2013 the oil life monitor would tell me how much is left ( 50% , 30% etc ), now this 2018 MKZh does not read how much is left , when I go to the oil window it just shows how to reset and not how much is left ..

 

HI jimflutes. Not sure why your 2018 will not show the remaining oil life. However,r you can access remaining oil life via the LincolnWay app on your smart phone.

 

Also: The IOLM will essentially be a 1 year/10,000 mile timer...unless our driving style/environment qualifies as Severe or Heavy Duty driving. That variable would cause the IOLM to recalculate remaining oil life down from 1 year/10,000 miles .

So assuming "Normal" driving usage: if we are 3 months after an oil change (and less than 2,500 miles driven), the IOLM will read 75% oil life remaining. If we are 6 months and less than 5,000 miles) after an oil change, the remaining oil life will be 50% etc. etc.

However, on the other side of the coin: If we are 1 month after an oil change but have already driven 9,000 miles, the IOLM will calculate we have 10% oil life left, etc. etc.

 

I am sure you know all this, but it is still informational for others.

 

EDIT- Forgot you have a hybrid, so the above numbers need to be adjusted for whatever the Hybrid oil change intervals and variables may be. Too lazy to look it up right now. ?

 

Good luck.

Edited by bbf2530
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4 hours ago, jimflutes said:

Thank you for the reply .  However I do not have the smart phone , but why did Lincoln change the way the olm works .

 

Hi jimflutes. My 2018 (non-hybrid) shows oil life remaining. If you have checked all the settings and it is still not showing oil life remaining, perhaps address this issue with your Lincoln Dealer next time you have it in for service. Or alternately, call Lincoln Concierge and have them investigate whether your 2018 MKZh should or should not display that information.

 

Keep us updated and good luck.

Edited by bbf2530
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  • 4 months later...

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