oil life monitor question

I have a 2004 Limited w/ V-8, approx. 23,000 miles. It's only been about
2000 mi. since my last oil change, yet I'm getting a 'change oil soon'
message. I'm 98-99% certain that it was reset at that time. Does the oil
life monitor really monitor the oil or is it just an estimate based on
mileage, elapsed time, etc.? Since it's still under warranty, is this
something that the dealer can easily check? Thanks.

Being 98% sure is pretty close to "assuming".... The instructions for
resetting the oil life monitor are in your owners manual under "message
center".... The instructions need to be followed exactly.

We must remember that lube monkeys aren't the sharpest pencils in the box
and we must allow them the odd transgression.....


"Andy G." > wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>I have a 2004 Limited w/ V-8, approx. 23,000 miles. It's only been about
>2000 mi. since my last oil change, yet I'm getting a 'change oil soon'
>message. I'm 98-99% certain that it was reset at that time. Does the oil
>life monitor really monitor the oil or is it just an estimate based on
>mileage, elapsed time, etc.? Since it's still under warranty, is this
>something that the dealer can easily check? Thanks.
>

What I mean is that I checked to make sure it was reset after the change.
Is it possible that the oil could be uused up after 2000 miles? I haven't
changed my driving habits. Or is the monitor off calibration? Thanks.


"Jim Warman" > wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Being 98% sure is pretty close to "assuming".... The instructions for
> resetting the oil life monitor are in your owners manual under "message
> center".... The instructions need to be followed exactly.
>
> We must remember that lube monkeys aren't the sharpest pencils in the box
> and we must allow them the odd transgression.....
>
>
> "Andy G." > wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>>I have a 2004 Limited w/ V-8, approx. 23,000 miles. It's only been about
>>2000 mi. since my last oil change, yet I'm getting a 'change oil soon'
>>message. I'm 98-99% certain that it was reset at that time. Does the oil
>>life monitor really monitor the oil or is it just an estimate based on
>>mileage, elapsed time, etc.? Since it's still under warranty, is this
>>something that the dealer can easily check? Thanks.
>>
>
>

If it really monitored the "quality of the oil", it would turn itself off
when the oil was changed. You wouldn't have to manually turn it off. I
believe it is just based on the miles driven since it was last reset.
Tom
"Andy G." > wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> What I mean is that I checked to make sure it was reset after the change.
> Is it possible that the oil could be uused up after 2000 miles? I haven't
> changed my driving habits. Or is the monitor off calibration? Thanks.
>
>
> "Jim Warman" > wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> Being 98% sure is pretty close to "assuming".... The instructions for
>> resetting the oil life monitor are in your owners manual under "message
>> center".... The instructions need to be followed exactly.
>>
>> We must remember that lube monkeys aren't the sharpest pencils in the box
>> and we must allow them the odd transgression.....
>>
>>
>> "Andy G." > wrote in message
>> news:[email protected]...
>>>I have a 2004 Limited w/ V-8, approx. 23,000 miles. It's only been about
>>>2000 mi. since my last oil change, yet I'm getting a 'change oil soon'
>>>message. I'm 98-99% certain that it was reset at that time. Does the
>>>oil life monitor really monitor the oil or is it just an estimate based
>>>on mileage, elapsed time, etc.? Since it's still under warranty, is this
>>>something that the dealer can easily check? Thanks.
>>>
>>
>>
>
>

Don't know about 2004, but the oil change alarm on earlier models could be
reset to a fraction of the full 5000 miles, in increments of 10%. If the
2004 model still has this feature, the most likely explanation would be that
it was reset to 40%. Your owner's manual will have the procedure.

"Tom from WI" > wrote in message
t...
> If it really monitored the "quality of the oil", it would turn itself off
> when the oil was changed. You wouldn't have to manually turn it off. I
> believe it is just based on the miles driven since it was last reset.
> Tom
> "Andy G." > wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> What I mean is that I checked to make sure it was reset after the change.
>> Is it possible that the oil could be uused up after 2000 miles? I
>> haven't changed my driving habits. Or is the monitor off calibration?
>> Thanks.

Andy, I'm unsure of the strategy used for the oil life monitor on the 04s...
but, AFAIK, it is simply a mile/time based display with no other
computations considered....

The only thing that I can think of is that the lube monkey may have
inadvertently "personalized" your oil change preference. Page 76 of your
owners guide explains how to both reset the message and personalize this
setting....

If you don't have the owner guide, you can download on from
www.motorcraft.com ... select techical resources near the top and then
select owner guides on the left of the window that pops up.

HTH.

> "Andy G." > wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> What I mean is that I checked to make sure it was reset after the change.
>> Is it possible that the oil could be uused up after 2000 miles? I
>> haven't changed my driving habits. Or is the monitor off calibration?
>> Thanks.

I beleive the monitors on some vehicles do take other information into
account, perhaps rpm/thottle activity, temp, and shift patterns ??? So
maybe it could intelligently say the oil is played out.....that being said,
I think it was simply not reset.

Thanks for all the suggestions and help.

Andy


"Jim Warman" > wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Andy, I'm unsure of the strategy used for the oil life monitor on the
> 04s... but, AFAIK, it is simply a mile/time based display with no other
> computations considered....
>
> The only thing that I can think of is that the lube monkey may have
> inadvertently "personalized" your oil change preference. Page 76 of your
> owners guide explains how to both reset the message and personalize this
> setting....
>
> If you don't have the owner guide, you can download on from
> www.motorcraft.com ... select techical resources near the top and then
> select owner guides on the left of the window that pops up.
>
> HTH.
>
>