Intelligent Oil Life Monitor

[scottjl]

Originally Posted by 6SPD_soul

And you KNOW there are people out there who would probably think easily finding it on a touchscreen and hitting the message reset would magically change the engine oil, so manufacturers circumvent those people by making the process look intimidating and technical.

LOL. Thanks. This gave me a good laugh. Sadly it's true.

Reminds me of when we told a friend about getting "winter air" in her tires. She went to her mechanic and asked him to put it in. He did, free of charge for her. She came back and told us how happy she was to get it done and he didn't even charge her. We couldn't stop laughing.

[redav]

Originally Posted by scottjl

true, when your dealership is changing your oil. do you want to spend $XXX for a computer just to do the reset when you're changing your oil yourself in your driveway? then again might be another revenue stream for ford.

Let's ask this question: Who will perform the reset? I see it being tied to who changes the oil:
1. dealership
2. jiffy or other generic lube shop
3. yourself/family/friend

If it's (1), then the dealership will reset it. I get my oil changed at the dealership, and they perform a full check of the car while it's in process. The computer interface tool would be the simplest way for them to do it instead of getting inside the car & fiddling with it. I would have no complaints with this since I take my car to the dealership anyway (they offer free oil changes if I complete my regularly scheduled maintenance there). IIRC, there are many cars that turn on an idiot light to get you to change your oil, and the owner has to take it somewhere to turn it off; that's essentially all this would be, but minus the idiot light.

If it's (2) or (3), then you will have to reset it because the quick lube place won't know how, and I wouldn't trust them to do it correctly, anyway. Odds are most people won't remember the process without looking it up, so using the info display is simplest. However, as was pointed out, there are people out there who will use the simplicity to screw it up. OTOH, if someone loses the manual, he'll never reset it, and then the feature is pointless. Neither of these solutions is ideal. That's where the auto-detect would be best.

how would it detect this? when you change the oil filter? some optical sensor to detect the clarity of the oil? just something else to go wrong that really serves little purpose. not when a manual procedure isn't that hard.

Hardly. How does it detect that the oil needs to be changed? Someone explained that it measures other things in the engine that the oil affects. When the oil's performance starts to fade, those measurements are affected and that's how the computer detects it. (I would think it would be easier to directly measure the properties of the oil itself, such as electrical properties, that change as the oil becomes contaminated/breaks down. Then the system would be about as complicated as your fuel gauge.)

My question is: If you can measure those things the oil affects, and from those measurements detect that the oil is going bad, why can you not measure those things and detect that the oil is NOT going bad? Or, if the computer keeps a log of the measurements, and there is a steady decay with time, it's pretty easy to detect a jump back to the "new oil" measurements, at which time the computer will conclude the oil was changed & resets itself.

Personally, it doesn't really matter since I'm the type that will change the oil on a regular schedule anyway. Oil changes are cheap, so the simplicity of a regular schedule is just as valuable to me as stretching a few more months out of my oil. So, if the system is there or not, I don't think I would use it nor even look at it. (That actually fixes all the problems: the process is uber-simple--do nothing; there are no downsides to forgetting to reset it; and if it gets reset accidentally, I probably wouldn't even notice.)

[newmission]

...don't know jack! Here's today's 3000 mile change. No lights of any kind came on.

[Joe Schmoe]

Some automakers build the engine with unique oil and oil filters that are intended to be changed earlier than the normal interval for the first change. Check the part number on the OEM installed first oil filter vs. the normal oil filter part number. I don't want to start a debate about whether you should switch to synthetic vs. regular oil on the first change, but it doesn't hurt to do the first change @ 3000 if this is the case, then follow the manual from then on out.

[redav]

Originally Posted by Joe Schmoe

Some automakers build the engine with unique oil and oil filters that are intended to be changed earlier than the normal interval for the first change. Check the part number on the OEM installed first oil filter vs. the normal oil filter part number. I don't want to start a debate about whether you should switch to synthetic vs. regular oil on the first change, but it doesn't hurt to do the first change @ 3000 if this is the case, then follow the manual from then on out.

In the "old days" an early oil change was recommended to remove any residual swarf in the engine that the initial cleaning didn't get. With better manufacturing technology today, this is less of a problem, but still not a bad idea, IMO.

[newmission]

That was my second oil change so far. Now I'm running Mobile1 and still going with Motorcraft filter.

[Titanium12]

Manual says 4.5 quarts......is that with or without the filter. I put a new filter on (filling it before I put it on) and had a total of 4.5 quarts in the engine. (that's 4.5 qts. in the filter and engine) On the dipstick it has two drilled holes in the stick and the oil level was almost in the middle of the two......anyone putting 5 quarts in? I'm guessing the other half quart would put the level at the top hole on the dipstick. Input please...........

[mattlqx]

You fill the filter before you put it on? I've just usually lubricated the seal on the filter and let it fill naturally when I put in the new oil.

[spivonious]

My dad's BMW 328 has a similar system. It's been telling him to change at about 20,000 mile intervals. No engine problems yet and he's approaching 100k. I think synthetic oils have a much longer lifespan than we think they do.

[silenthill]

Originally Posted by spivonious

My dad's BMW 328 has a similar system. It's been telling him to change at about 20,000 mile intervals. No engine problems yet and he's approaching 100k. I think synthetic oils have a much longer lifespan than we think they do.

That may very well be, but the 2012 Focus isn't running a full synthetic oil and also that the manual specifically outlines 10,000 as the longest interval for oil.

My personal car maintenance philosophy is to maintain the car, but not over- or under- maintain. I changed my oil on my last car every 7,500 miles as per the owner's manual and got the car up to 170k before I sold it.

I actually have faith in the iOLM technology, but I'm concerned that there's no way to see the current oil life. Maybe I just don't like surprises, but I'd rather know that I'm down to 30% oil life so I can figure out when to make time to take the car in for service, versus having the 5% "Oil Change Soon" surprise me.