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Old Jun 11, 2011 | 11:11 AM
  #1  
Sam Menard's Avatar
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Oil changes

I noticed that there is a display guage which indicates % engine oil life. I'm not sure if it takes into account vehicle and driving habits, but at what percent would you think about changing the oil?

Sam
 
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Old Jun 12, 2011 | 03:15 PM
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curious about this as well... I did not see in the manual any specifics on what determines the oil life monitor
 
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Old Jun 12, 2011 | 07:18 PM
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I don't use that monitor but do reset it after each oil change. Just change it based on miles. My first was at 1800, then will be around 5000 for now on. Use full synthetic oil, so I think 5000 is a good number. The manual does say 7500 with no towing and 5000 if you do tow.
On my old Chevy we would be able to get about 7000 miles before the oil life monitor said 0%, but never let it go that far.
 
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Old Jun 13, 2011 | 09:00 AM
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I waited the 5 months on mine (I'm only at 3700mi or so) and it still said 30% left. I knew it needed it done so I took it in anyways. Not sure how "smart" it is but I'll go by mileage/months over that thing (unless using it in extreme conditions, which I won't be).
 
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Old Jun 14, 2011 | 07:25 AM
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Just did my 4th oil change, at 20k miles. Loving the 6.2L, use for towing and running around empty. Use Penzoil Ultra oil and motocraft filters.
I preset my oil minder to start at 60%, easy read the manual.. And pretty much the warning light comes on at about 5000 miles. Working great for me!
 
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Old Jun 14, 2011 | 02:50 PM
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I now have about 4500 miles on my truck and checked the oil minder today and it still reads 100%. Hows that according to it I have at least another 4500 to go. I think it is a joke!! I always change the oil between 4 & 5000. I have been towing a lot.
 
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Old Jun 14, 2011 | 04:23 PM
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I put 4K on mine & it still read something like 86% - I changed it & now change every 3-4K I may be wasting oil/cash but mines on the dirt roads a lot, I tow/idle frequently and lately 100° heat outside -

IT Just makes me feel better.......


I don't trust the thing.
 
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Old Jun 14, 2011 | 05:08 PM
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it's cheap insurance. Nothing wrong with changing more often.
 
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Old Jun 15, 2011 | 04:49 PM
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Originally Posted by loganworks
I now have about 4500 miles on my truck and checked the oil minder today and it still reads 100%. Hows that according to it I have at least another 4500 to go. I think it is a joke!! I always change the oil between 4 & 5000. I have been towing a lot.
I'm not sure if you are reading it the right way.

If you hit "Setup" a couple of times, you will get a message stating "Oil life 100%". However if you hit "Setup" immediately followed by "Reset" you will get a whole different set of readouts including the correct oil life %. After every oil change, go back to that screen and hit "Reset" once more and it will reset it back to 100%.

Sam
 
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Old Jun 15, 2011 | 08:10 PM
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Interesting, either way I will be doing mine based on mileage. I usually dump the factory fill at 1000 miles and then after 4000. Then every 5000 after that.
 
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Old Jun 16, 2011 | 11:11 AM
  #11  
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Originally Posted by Sam Menard
I'm not sure if you are reading it the right way.

If you hit "Setup" a couple of times, you will get a message stating "Oil life 100%". However if you hit "Setup" immediately followed by "Reset" you will get a whole different set of readouts including the correct oil life %. After every oil change, go back to that screen and hit "Reset" once more and it will reset it back to 100%.

Sam
AND do what I do, bump the reset down 4 times to 60%, and you wil start at 60% and the reminder will trigger roughly at 5,000 miles....
 
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Old Jul 9, 2011 | 06:48 AM
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Using bulk CP oil at work which is the same as the Motorcraft oil and with baseline UOA's on each new unit 91 in all! Average oil change according to the oil life monitor and UOA's its right about 7200 for all the trucks. All show very little wear metals and average less than a quart of make up oil between changes. We use CAT labs for our testing so all the trucks are now on a constant 7500 OCI. With a fleet this size that adds up to thousands of dollars saved and prevents waste of oil. We have 45 more trucks on order but the outfitter building them can't keep up! So far the 6.2 is working very well!!! By the end of this year we should have at least 20 trucks with over 100k on them! That will be the test!!! We get new trucks every 2 years and they are beaten and abused but well maintained and average about 150k when we dump them at auction. Fords are the only ones that have not fallen apart on us! I have very high hopes for this engine and look forward to great service from it!
 
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