Oil Life Monitor vs Storage time

[WildHorse]

While ago (can't find the thread now) It was highly debated whether or not the PCM monitors the oil while the car was in storage. In the case of my car. I stored the car 3.5 months ago, did a oil/filter change shortly afterwards, reset the OLM. Today, I went to go check the OLM. It's now at 86%. So yes, yes it does monitor the oil when the car is in storage. Hope this clears it up.

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[Bikeman315]

While ago (can't find the thread now) It was highly debated whether or not the PCM monitors the oil while the car was in storage. In the case of my car. I stored the car 3.5 months ago, did a oil/filter change shortly afterwards, reset the OLM. Today, I went to go check the OLM. It's now at 86%. So yes, yes it does monitor the oil when the car is in storage. Hope this clears it up.

Not sure why it was debated but you are 100% correct.

If anyone still doesn’t understand it maybe this will help.

https://owner.ford.com/support/how-...nt-cluster/intelligent-oil-life-monitor.html#

 

[WildHorse]

Not sure why it was debated but you are 100% correct.

Had to do with moisture build up / acid build up etc., etc while in storage. Your car knows. And according to that vid, it figured a year was long enough. And really, with modern synthetics, any sort of build up of harmful contaminants is a non issue anyways. Cheers.

 

[PoCoBob]

I'll throw this wrench into the works. I have 2 cars that both claim to have Intelligent Oil Life Monitoring. A 2019 Mustang GT and 2016 Edge Sport. The Mustang works just as the links above say it will work. The Edge simply works as a countdown clock to 16,000 kms (10,000 miles). It never varies from that. The difference between the 2 vehicles is the Mustang has factory gps and the Edge doesn't. The Mustang knows what day of the year it is, but the Edge doesn't know if it sat in the garage for a day, a week or a month. This is the only thing I can think of that would cause one to work and not the other. For the record I never let it go more than 10,000 kms before I change the oil.

 

[WildHorse]

Mustang has factory gps

Really ? Doesn't that only come with the tech package ? Mines a 300A, so no tech pack.

 

[PoCoBob]

Really ? Doesn't that only come with the tech package ? Mines a 300A, so no tech pack.

Well that blows my theory all to heck. So if the cars not communicating with a satellite how does it know how much time has past?

 

[WildHorse]

Well that blows my theory all to heck. So if the cars not communicating with a satellite how does it know how much time has past?

Internal clock I suppose.

 

[Bikeman315]

Internal clock I suppose.

Exactly.

 

[WildHorse]

Exactly.

I was right ? Bound to happen sooner or later !

 

[PoCoBob]

Well something doesn't add up somewhere. As I said in my first post time has no bearing at all in the IOLM system in my Edge. 4,000 kms it'a at 75% and 8,000 kms it's at 50% no matter how long it takes to put the distance on. If there's an internal clock my vehicle didn't get one.

 

[WildHorse]

If there's an internal clock my vehicle didn't get one.

It's also not using the TC-1971 pcm either.

 

[Elp_jc]

So yes, yes it does monitor the oil when the car is in storage.

Nothing is monitoring the oil. The car just have an algorithm that calculates when you need to change the oil, based on time and use. The time is 1 year, so even if you don't use the car at all, it'd show '0%' life left after 1 year. The use supposedly takes into account many inputs, but our freaking cars don't even have an oil or coolant temperature sensors, so who knows how accurate it really is. I always change the oil around 5K miles or 1 year, so the OLM is useless to me. I still reset it after each oil change, in case I sell the car.

 

[Cobra Jet]

Here’s how the oil life monitor works, per the shop manual:

 

[WildHorse]

I stored the car 3.5 months ago, did a oil/filter change shortly afterwards, reset the OLM. Today, I went to go check the OLM. It's now at 86%. So yes, yes it does monitor the oil when the car is in storage. Hope this clears it up.

Took the car out for the first time yesterday, and the OLM was @ 69%. So confirms my first post.

 

[Elp_jc]

Nothing monitors the oil, so the 'OLM' acronym is deceiving. There's no oil sensor anywhere; that's why you have to reset it (otherwise it'd reset itself with new oil). It's just an algorithm that basically does a combination of 3 things: Oil life goes from 100% to 0% in 365 days. Oil life goes from 100% to 0% in 10,000 miles max. And the third affects how much quicker life is reduced from 10K miles depending on how you drive. But even if you don't drive at all, the oil life would be 0% in a year, due to the calendar part alone (can't change that). Hope this helps.

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