Oil Life Indicator

I have an 03 Town Car and I'm wondering what the oil life indicator is based on. I reset mine after my last oil change a little over 3000 miles ago. Well it still says about 65% life left. I can't imagine that's accurate because most suggest a change every 5000 miles. Could it be the mobile 1 synthetic is really lasting that long? I just don't know what it bases that percentage on.

I can't find exact reference to your inquiry however, looking at the details provided for other models you might deduce what the Town Car is evaluating as well.. maybe call the customer service number.. they can be very helpful with certain things.. they were great with the mobile phone for 1996 :)




Change Oil Soon Or Oil Change Required
Mark VIII

The oil life functions include ‘‘Oil Life OK, Change Oil Soon’’ and ‘‘Oil Change Required.’’ The oil life is determined by the engine oil level and temperature sensors, ABS control module, odometer data and PCM RPM data.

When the oil life reaches the range of 1–5%, the ‘‘Change Oil Soon’’ message will appear. When oil life is 0%, the ‘‘Oil Change Required’’ message will appear.

Depressing the oil change RESET button will reset the oil life to 100%.


Change Oil Soon Or Oil Change Required
2000–02 Lincoln LS

The oil life functions include ‘‘Oil Life OK, Change Oil Soon’’ and ‘‘Oil Change Required.’’ The oil life is determined by the engine oil level and temperature sensors, ABS control module, odometer data and PCM RPM data.

When the oil life reaches the range of 1–5%, the ‘‘Change Oil Soon’’ message will appear. When oil life is 0%, the ‘‘Oil Change Required’’ message will appear.

Depressing the oil change RESET button will reset the oil life to 100%.


Change Oil Soon or Change Oil Now
2003-07 Lincoln LS

The oil life functions include "Oil Life %," "Change Oil Soon" and Oil Change Required." The oil life is determined by the engine oil level and temperature sensors, ABS control module, odometer data and PCM RPM data.

When the oil life reaches the range of 1-5%, the "Change Oil Soon" message will appear. When oil life is 0%, the "Change Oil Now" message will appear.

Depress the oil change RESET button to reset oil life to 100%.

MKS, 2008-09 Sable, Taurus & Taurus X


Press and release SETUP button until System Check is displayed.
Press SETUP button again to display OIL LIFE =XX% HOLD RESET = NEW.
Press and hold RESET button for two seconds or longer until OIL LIFE 100% is displayed.
While “OIL LIFE SET TO 100%” is displayed, if a lower oil life is desired, press and release RESET control to reduce value. Each press of RESET control reduces value by 10%.


2003-05 Town Car

The Information and Message Center is located in the overhead console. The MODE button scrolls through the normal modes. The RESET button will acknowledge a warning or select sub-menu options.

The oil life monitor has two level warnings. Both can be cleared with the RESET button, but the critical warning will return to the display after a period of time if the condition is still active.

Oil life percentage (XX) will be between 6–100 when oil life is satisfactory. CHANGE OIL SOON will appear if oil life is 5% or less. CHANGE OIL NOW will appear if oil life is 0%.

To reset the oil life monitor, proceed as follows:


Turn ignition On, but do not start engine.
Press MODE button repeatedly until OIL LIFE XX% appears on display.
Press and hold MODE button for five seconds until RESET FOR NEW OIL LIFE appears.
If RESET button is not pressed after one minute of inactivity or power is interrupted during oil life resetting, the message center will reset oil life to original value.

So the indicator is based on something then? Seeings how it seems I would go far beyond the 5000 miles I'm kind of leary about using it.

So the indicator is based on something then? Seeings how it seems I would go far beyond the 5000 miles I'm kind of leary about using it.

Yeah.. for the same year, Ford published a Universal Service Guide (USG) (http://www.motorcraftservice.com/pubs/content/~WO3TOW/~MUS~LEN/36/03a03mg6e.pdf) that's calling for 3000 mile oil changes.. :jerking:

I'm sticking to 5000 miles only because I want to keep the car as long as it holds together.. it's 100% paid for and times are getting tough everywhere.