JCR 56

But is the OLM accurate if the viscosity is being affected by fuel dilution, should be the question.

frosty19

Just to answer above, I bought the truck as "certified pre-owned" that came with a lifetime powertrain warranty if you have the truck serviced with the dealership. My question sort of came about as what is the point of stating an oil change time frame that is less than what the OLM calculates unless it is inaccurate. At some point down the road if something goes wrong with the truck and you followed oil changes relating to the OLM, how can they state the problem was caused by not getting the oil changed at their expressed, arbitrary, interval? In theory I could do half the oil changes I do now and still be fine according to the 10,000 mile OLM as I am nowhere near maxing out my oil.
I understand the dealership needs to make money with the services to offset any potential claims, but if a Ford Dealership is selling Ford Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles how can they offer a warranty based on more stringent rules than what is stated in the Owners Manual of the vehicle.

All of what you stated makes sense, I just want to expand on one point. We are saying that the OLM can't detect or at least estimate dilution based on idle time, trip length or misfire condition detected by the ECM? That seems like it is a major contributing factor to oil life that it disregards if so.

doyall

If a dealership is offering the warranty themselves as opposed to being warranted by Ford, I suppose they can impose whatever terms they wish. (I wouldn't be surprised if the dealership actually purchased the Ford extended service contract for the vehicle in the background. Dealer cost is probably very reasonable.)

While the algorithm *should* take into consideration ambient temp, operating temp, operating time, idle time, operating RPM, engine operating mode, and probably a host of other parameters which *may* to a degree signify that the engine is ripe for a dilution event, reaching the conclusion that a dilution event has occurred probably cannot successfully be determined on a consistent basis by measuring combinations of the parameters due to the fact that there are so many different sets of combinations, not all engines will necessarily suffer a dilution event under the same set of circumstances (sort of like some engines use more oil than others) and dilution is more of an accretive phenomenon. Additionally, dilution may likewise abate to some degree under the right circumstances.

I would also imagine the algorithm aims for the standard, not the exception.

sdmartin65

The design of the OLM is directly tied to the sale of new F150's, if it weren't you might see a better product. Ford is able to advertise the extended maintenance that adds to low ownership costs. As previously stated there are three levels of use in the owners manual but the OLM is designed for the lightest. The only way to overcome that would be a OLM with driver input for intended use.