I have a 2012 Mustang GT and I changed the oil right before I put the car away in early November with Motorcraft 5w20 syn blend. I just took the car out of storage and it seems the oil life monitor is saying the oil is 50% used? Really? Anyone see any harm in just resetting thie oil life for Pete sakes how can 8 quarts of quality oil be down 50% from sitting for 5 months? This car has only 20,000 miles and the oil is always changed at 5,000 miles so the motor is real clean.
Winter storage oil life?
- Thread starter Camprunner
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The oil life monitor will count down even when the car isn't driven, as you've discovered. This is well-documented on this and other sites. You've probably read "Oil doesn't have a calendar", "Shelf life is the same inside the sump as inside a bottle", et cetera.
Originally Posted By: CT8
Run the oil till 0 then change.
+1
Run the oil till 0 then change.
+1
Reset the monitor when you start using it this spring. There is no degradation.
Originally Posted By: JC1
Originally Posted By: CT8
Run the oil till 0 then change.
+1
+2
There will be condensation, and some of the additives will have fallen out of suspension. You don't have to change it right away, but the OLM (or more accurately the team of engineers behind it) is on to something.
If you always do oil changes based on miles, I'd keep this one short, like 2k-3k.
Originally Posted By: CT8
Run the oil till 0 then change.
+1
+2
There will be condensation, and some of the additives will have fallen out of suspension. You don't have to change it right away, but the OLM (or more accurately the team of engineers behind it) is on to something.
If you always do oil changes based on miles, I'd keep this one short, like 2k-3k.
It would appear the OL monitors are geared towards a maximum of 1 yr. And there are UOA's out there to prove that oil sitting a lot can last a lot longer than 1 year. Still, I do annual oil changes regardless of miles. My Mobil 1 changed last May has 1100 miles on it. It will get changed again in 2 months.
Originally Posted By: turtlevette
Reset the monitor when you start using it this spring. There is no degradation.
I agree with this, reset it
Reset the monitor when you start using it this spring. There is no degradation.
I agree with this, reset it
Originally Posted By: d00df00d
There will be condensation, and some of the additives will have fallen out of suspension.
Really, are additives going to fall out of suspension any faster with oil in the sump vs the bottle if at all? And in my experience internal engine condensation isn't a concern with vehicles stored out of the elements.
The following is a three year UOA of my Caterham that does spend a fair bit of time in winter storage in an unheated garage:
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/4021722/Sustina_0W-20,_6,003_kms,_Cate#Post4021722
The OLM in my older BMW (probably not as sophisticated is in some modern cars)is not time affected and I can go years on the same oil. But once when I was making a lot of short winter trips with a thermostat that was not fully closing, and condensation was definitely building up in the engine, the OLM indicated an oil change in less 2,000 miles.
There will be condensation, and some of the additives will have fallen out of suspension.
Really, are additives going to fall out of suspension any faster with oil in the sump vs the bottle if at all? And in my experience internal engine condensation isn't a concern with vehicles stored out of the elements.
The following is a three year UOA of my Caterham that does spend a fair bit of time in winter storage in an unheated garage:
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/4021722/Sustina_0W-20,_6,003_kms,_Cate#Post4021722
The OLM in my older BMW (probably not as sophisticated is in some modern cars)is not time affected and I can go years on the same oil. But once when I was making a lot of short winter trips with a thermostat that was not fully closing, and condensation was definitely building up in the engine, the OLM indicated an oil change in less 2,000 miles.
Originally Posted By: d00df00d
The OLM includes time in its calculations. If you stored the car long enough, it'd demand an oil change even if you had put 0 miles on it.
Exactly. I reset my Shelby because the same thing happens to me every Spring when I bring it out, the OLM is at 50% or so.
The OLM includes time in its calculations. If you stored the car long enough, it'd demand an oil change even if you had put 0 miles on it.
Exactly. I reset my Shelby because the same thing happens to me every Spring when I bring it out, the OLM is at 50% or so.
Originally Posted By: Camprunner
I have a 2012 Mustang GT and I changed the oil right before I put the car away in early November with Motorcraft 5w20 syn blend.
Yep, seeing as it was intentional that you had a change just before storage, reset it.
I have a 2012 Mustang GT and I changed the oil right before I put the car away in early November with Motorcraft 5w20 syn blend.
Yep, seeing as it was intentional that you had a change just before storage, reset it.
The Ford setup appears to count time as well as miles.
The setup in our newer Accord as well as in GM cars takes everything into account except time, and both makers advise owners to change per the IOLM or once a year whichever comes first.
Obviously, the oil in your Mustang didn't degrade sitting in the sump over the months of storage.
Ignore the OLM in this case.
Is the Ford setup even an IOLM, or is it just a time and mileage counter?
The MMs in older Hondas merely counted miles, for example, without regard to actual operating conditions.
Some older BMWs record fuel used as the only variable in oil change intervals required.
The setup in our newer Accord as well as in GM cars takes everything into account except time, and both makers advise owners to change per the IOLM or once a year whichever comes first.
Obviously, the oil in your Mustang didn't degrade sitting in the sump over the months of storage.
Ignore the OLM in this case.
Is the Ford setup even an IOLM, or is it just a time and mileage counter?
The MMs in older Hondas merely counted miles, for example, without regard to actual operating conditions.
Some older BMWs record fuel used as the only variable in oil change intervals required.
I'd reset the OLM.
The olm's are all based of time. They use an algorithm to determine how long the vehicle has driven for to determine the life of the oil like during short trips etc, and even if the car is sitting engineers know the oil can slowly degrade so it counts during that as well. I'd just run it out to 0% then change
The crankcase develops lots of water vapors and such that are byproducts of combustion. Without the car running and the pcv system cleaning that out the Condensation sits there and "dilutes" the oil. The engineers know this so they make the olm's account for it.
Originally Posted By: 02s4audi
The crankcase develops lots of water vapors and such that are byproducts of combustion. Without the car running and the pcv system cleaning that out the Condensation sits there and "dilutes" the oil. The engineers know this so they make the olm's account for it.
Without the car running, there are no byproducts of combustion for the pcv system to clean out. As I noted above, there is no calendar time component in most IOLMs. Running time itself isn't as much of a factor as miles run from each cold start either, since running time in the full operating temperature range is very easy on the engine and its oil.
There is a very good thread here from years ago on the factors used in the GM IOLM logic that I'm too lazy to find.
The crankcase develops lots of water vapors and such that are byproducts of combustion. Without the car running and the pcv system cleaning that out the Condensation sits there and "dilutes" the oil. The engineers know this so they make the olm's account for it.
Without the car running, there are no byproducts of combustion for the pcv system to clean out. As I noted above, there is no calendar time component in most IOLMs. Running time itself isn't as much of a factor as miles run from each cold start either, since running time in the full operating temperature range is very easy on the engine and its oil.
There is a very good thread here from years ago on the factors used in the GM IOLM logic that I'm too lazy to find.
I agree with you but there is still byproducts there from the last time it was run, rarely is it ever fully clean. And if the pcv system isnt functioning properly there could be a lot more. OP I would agree with many people here who have said to just run it to 0. I was just giving my belief behind why it goes down while just sitting
By that measure, any engine oil has combustion and wear products in it from the first time the engine is started after an oil change.
Fortunately, the oil also has additives to deal with these things and these additives remain effective for many months and miles of use, in fact for much longer than the typical recommended drain interval.
Fortunately, the oil also has additives to deal with these things and these additives remain effective for many months and miles of use, in fact for much longer than the typical recommended drain interval.
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