For those owners that put very few miles on their cars, have you figured out the time between oil change recommendation of the FSS? Wilma (born 12/10/07) had her first oil change on June 23, 2009 (2,600 miles on the odometer) & has had < 3,000 miles put on her since. Or does the FSS let you go the same # of miles as a frequently driven XF? The FSS allows Fred to go >8,000 miles (which is 4 to 5 months driving).

 

Although mine is driven almost every day the miles are way low. I change mine once a year an reset the FSS. As I recall mine counts down in days, not miles. I probably put less than 2500 miles on the car in a year.

 

My Xfire falls into your low mileage driven category. I changed the oil initially on 10/10/09 with 6100 showing. (Note: The FSS is initially set to 7000 miles at factory.) The FSS had already started its warning mode for oil change when I did this service, which was a year after I bought it with 1500 showing.

Right now the FSS is showing 6000 until next oil change. And I've driven approx 1000 miles since I changed the oil & reset FSS. Since the FSS monitors driving conditions of the car to determine service interval, apparently I'm not stressing the engine to warrant changing from the 7000 mile default setting. Does the FSS really reduce the interval based on driving conditions? I haven't driven the car hard enough to know that it does. Maybe others have seen this.

Based on my driving habits, I'll probably do the oil change every 2 years unless the FSS indicates to perform service prior. Since I'm running the Mobil 1 0w40 recommended syn oil, the 2-yr interval isn't really a major risk regarding engine wear from lubricant breakdown.

 

Yours counts down in days? Maybe when that happens you've not driven very far over a long time period & ....that's the time period I'm inquiring about.....i.e., If someone put 0 miles on it.....how long before the countdown in days .....says...."change".

 

From the Owners Manual
"Depending on operating conditions throughout
the year, the next service is calculated and
displayed next to this symbol in days remaining
before the next service is required.
Likewise, the next service may be calculated
and displayed next to this symbol as distance
remaining before the next service is required."

The wrench icon has a clock icon beside it when it shows days remaining.
The wrench icon on its own shows distance to oil change.
Time or distance past due shows a minus sign next to the figure.

 

This is from the Mobil website......these responses suggest there's no reason to change annually if you get it up to operating temps often enough to burn off moisture;

Question: How to Handle 20,000-Mile Motor Oil Drain Intervals When a Car is Driven Infrequently Porsche recommends an extremely long drain interval of 20,000 miles for Mobil 1--which is great but since my 2006 911 is a "weekend car" it only gets 5-6,000 miles per year. Should I wait to change the oil at 20,000 miles or should I change it when 2 or 3 years are up?-- Roy James, Phoenix, AZ
Answer:
We recommend following the drain intervals listed in your owner's manual. Mobil 1 would satisfy those longer drain intervals as long as the manufacturer makes that suggestion.

Proper Change Interval to Avoid Moisture Buildup in Infrequently Driven Car

Question: I have a 1988 Chevrolet Caprice Classic Brougham LS with under 70,000 miles. It's a 4-barrel carb/5.0 V-8. It's been garage-kept its entire life in showroom condition and driven "lightly" 2-3 times per month. I change the oil every July and January with 5 quarts of Mobil-1 with SuperSyn. The car resides in New Jersey. I put approximately 1,500-1,800 miles on each oil change interval. Am I changing the oil too much? I allow the engine to fully warm-up and reach highway speeds during its rides so I was thinking changing the oil annually. Advice would be appreciated. I am more concerned with moisture build-up over time than mileage, even though the oil is synthetic. Thank you-- Anthony Mancini, Somerset, NJ

Answer: If you are getting the vehicle up to speed and warmed up at least every few weeks, then maybe you are changing your oil too frequently. If you never got it warmed up and hot to burn off moisture, we would recommend at a minimum an annual Mobil 1 oil change. For your circumstances, annually is a conservative and safe strategy.

 

I have only put, maybe, 2k miles on my '04 coupe since an oil change almost two years ago, and I've been getting the FSS single wrench display for a couple of months now - and, it's all just been weekend downtown cruises and easy freeway driving for me. I'm not excited yet, as I've only rolled an additional 250 miles (the display sez so), and have it on my "to do" list during my vacation next month. It's full of Mobile One, and it will be OK.

Based on that, my GUESS is that it keeps track of mileage AND time, and lets you go about 20 months or so (roughly?) OR 7K, which ever rolls over first. OR, maybe it simply quantizes time and mileage, and adds them to get a sum that it uses to calculate when service is due - that's a stretch, but possible. That's the only way I can make sense of it, because mine has NEVER been driven hard (by me), and is nowhere near halfway to 7k miles since my last oil change.

FWIW, I have read that it's a good idea to change the oil every couple of years regardless of the mileage, to guard against breakdown over time and impurities. I guess MB agrees.

 

Thanks, that's the info I was looking for! 20 months or so for low mileage car.

How's the SD Zoo, has there been any major upgrades since 10 years ago when I was there?

Went to the Omaha Zoo recently.....it was fantastic!

 

Chris once the countdown hits zero days it goes into minus days. So minus 10 would mean 10 days overdue.

 

I've never seen a days display, just miles ...on both cars. So, at some point the display will change on it's own from miles to days?

 

when mine comes on next time I'll take a picture for you. I think 180's post explains what's going on. To be honest I don't even look at that, the past 4 years I've always changed my oil the week after Carlisle. The car was purchased in July of 05, this July will be its 5th oil and filter change.

 

I am pretty sure you can change what it displays..... I'd have to go read the manual again to find out how.... or it might be in the service manual.... I have seen both methods on my car's...

I am also sure that that only applies to once you exceed the 7000 mile setting.....(well pretty sure since I have only seen the days or negative miles when the 7000 has counted down)...

 

The SRT is also a garage queen too. I change the oil every 6 months.

Then I put the used oil my wife's daily driver XF. J/K!

 

for a garage queen, at least every spring when she comes out of the garage at a minimum

 

Rob, I recommend once a year as you do, and I change it every spring after I drive it a few times before the spring Dragon Run. The discussion at the garage is when in that year should you change it?

Some say to change it before you put it away for the winter. That way you have the old oil out, which probably has some contaminates and acid in it, just sitting in the oil pan and engine.

Either way has pros and cons.

But once a year for sure for me! James

 

I put 400 miles on my Limited last year and 300 miles on my SRT (current mileage: 1,701) so my cars are definitely garage queens. I change my oil once a year in the spring.

 

Hey Rad send me your used oil, I should be able to get a few thousand more miles out of it.

 

june 23rd is my birthday woooo! haha

 

This thread is about Garage Queens and I do not get the connection to you and your birthday, unless ......
Not as if there is anything wrong with that.

 

I'm sure you could. If you're ever in Minnesota, stop by.