Wrong again. The "Oil Change Required" message displayed on the EVIC is sent over the vehicle BUS system from the ECM. The message is requested when the ECM calculates there is excessive (above 5%) fuel in the engine oil dilution. This calculation is derived from engine idle time and the amount of time the engine is performing an 'active' exhaust regeneration. During these operating conditions, a small amount of fuel will get into the engine oil. This is normal operation of the engine.

 

Im sorry, but until my "Oil Change Required" light DOESN'T come on at a 7500 mile interval like clockwork, I just don't buy it. Maybe something is different with my truck, i don't know. I've driven in all kinds of conditions with all kinds of loads in the past year and nothing changes the message's interval.

 

From reading the different posts some say that it's mileadge based, and others say it's from the ECM. My "oil changed required " came on at 7500 intervalI was a 1000 miles from home and didn't want to chance that it might be a fuel dilution problem so i had it changed at a cost of $84.00. I run anywhere from 5000 to 7500 plus a month, I really would like to know if its mileage based or coming from the ECM sensing a fuel dilution problem. If its mileage based I could have driven it another 1000 and save me some dollars by changing it myself.

 

Ok, because my post was directly from chrysler, and hearing what you guys are saying, here is my educated conclusion.... Maybe it's a whichever comes first type deal. Like instead of 3 months or 3,000 miles like a gas engine, it's 7500 miles OR the fuel dilution estimation.

That would make sense to me. Best of both worlds I suppose!

 

This is the way that my mechanic explained it to me also. It is either your oil quality gets bad first or you hit 7500 miles. I change my oil every 5000 miles so I always get the trip right at the 7500 mark. Every third oil change is right on the money thou.LOL LOL

 

That makes sense. I changed my oil at 2000 miles, 6000 miles, 10000 miles, and every 5000 miles from there. It would be reasonable to assume that my oil has never gotten dirty enough to trigger the alarm so it just falls back onto it's 7500 mile schedule.

 

Mine just kicked on right at 7560, And ive changed it twice. Once at about 1000miles and again at 4000. I figured that it was preset either at the dealer or factory to come on at that time if their wasnt an issue prior to the 7500 mark.

 

If it is a question of fuel dilution, or another issue with the oil, I would imagine that if you reset it without changing the oil, the "oil change required" indicator would immediatly come on. Mine did the same thing..."oil change required" after driving 1000 miles or so after the oil change. I don't do any heavy towing or load the truck up very often (if at all). After resetting the indication, it has not come back on. Is there something wrong with my thinking? Should I go get the oil changed?

 

I don't get it people are going to rely on a message to change there oil , humm what's next a "replace tire now" indication on the overhead, The overhead console message is a calculation of the idle time, engine hours and mileage driven. I have only reset mine twice and have 31000km or 19375 miles so that works out to 9687.5mile each time, My brother has the exact same truck as mine and he idles it alot and sometimes he will get the message after about 700miles, but there also was a problem with his indicator after the oil was changed the indication would not go out and the ecm had to be reflashed to fix the problem.
The 7500miles or 12000km is recommended oil change for the every day highway driver if you use the truck for work and idle it alot the oil change interval should be based on the engine hours, not the distance driven.
I change my oil every 6 months and sometimes there is only 3000miles between oil changes. I do that because of my driving habits not because of what the owners manual says. I've done that on every car or truck I've owned. A oil change is cheaper than a engine.

 

What's up with people digging up all the ancient posts as of late???

Anyway....THIS is by far the BEST info on how the system is set up to calculate the "oil change reminder".

Easy way to prove this to yourself is to change your oil, start your engine and let it run a bit, shut it down and check the oil level after a predetermined interval (lets say 5 minutes). Drive your truck until the "change oil" message comes on and then check your oil after that same 5 min interval. You'll find the oil level has miraculously risen!! Engineered fuel dilution! Now, disreguard the message and reset it. The engine now thinks it has "new" oil and will monitor the algorithms until it sees fit to turn the message on again. NOW check your oil.......it REALLY full now huh!!

I've had customers disreguard this info and it's amazing how much oil comes out of the engine.

and on the technology...IF your low fuel light comes on what do you do? IF your tire pressure monitor light comes on what do you do?

 

It doesn't get any simpler than this.

 

Just reading about all the "stuff" the new 6.7 has on it makes my head hurt and scares the he$$ out of me as to what else the ECM has stored in it and the sensors everywhere. Is all that stuff really making the truck better?