Oil life monitor with a mind of its own

[LargeNinCharge]

Does anyone else experience their oil life drop drastically in their truck as well? I will always stick to a 5k interval, but would like to understand why it jump from a high percentage to a low one seemingly overnight

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[FaaWrenchBndr]

Honestly I really don’t even pay attention to the monitor. I don’t believe in the 10k OCI. The lack of frequent long freeway drives me to a 5k OCI

 

[Snakebitten]

It's software
Ford software ??
I have a lot of goodwill towards Ford. But not so much their software, if you know what I mean.

They're getting better. Slowly.

 

[HammaMan]

This oil change mine went sideways early on -- said within 2k to change it. reset it and 2k later it's still says another 4k to go. Probably a bug.

 

[blazef150]

If you do alot of short trips before the engine gets to operating temperature, run it hard, idle alot or use e85 the life will drop drastically and it rightfully should.

 

[Rinn69]

If....IF...there was an actual sensor that actually analyzed/monitored the real-time condition of the oil, then I would follow it. BUT, there isn't. It's just a program, based on time and MAYBE, on duration of the engine running. The oil change monitor is for people that only use warning lights as an indicator of "something might be wrong, but it will be OK if I drive it another 1000 miles". IMHO, they are worthless...
They are called "idiot lights" for a reason.

 

[blazef150]

If....IF...there was an actual sensor that actually analyzed/monitored the real-time condition of the oil, then I would follow it. BUT, there isn't. It's just a program, based on time and MAYBE, on duration of the engine running. The oil change monitor is for people that only use warning lights as an indicator of "something might be wrong, but it will be OK if I drive it another 1000 miles". IMHO, they are worthless...
They are called "idiot lights" for a reason.

Yes it is programing, but it's an algorithm based on how the vehicles is driven. Parameters: idle time, time since oil change, milage, engine load intensity, fuel alcohol content, etc. It's not the simple mileage dummy light of the past. All of those Parameters due affect oil condition.

That's why oil changes shouldn't be based solely on milage.

 

[Buyer2021]

If....IF...there was an actual sensor that actually analyzed/monitored the real-time condition of the oil .....

You probably know, but for others:

The fact is there's no sensor / instrument technology extant that provides that functionality.

That's why Ford (and all manufacturers) use 'proxy indicator data' and an analytical algorithm to make an estimate of remaining oil life.

The practice of using proxy indicators and algorithms to control all sorts of chemical processes is well-established in industry. There are lots of chemical characteristics which cannot be directly quantified in real-time, but which bear on the operation of industrial processes - enter the 'proxies' and algorithm to save the day! (yeah, those may be much more sophisticated and tested algorithms ).

You may not like Ford's baseline target for oil life; you may not like that the 'forward-looking' algorithm assumes continuation of past behavior (what else can it do?) and then appropriately, IMO, changes the projection (either up or down) when the behavior changes; you may not like how the algorithm 'weights' different proxies, etc.

Personally, I think the OLM does a pretty good job of achieving its objectives (balancing oil utilization with engine longevity) for the vast majority of drivers / driving conditions. YMMV, no worries!

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