How do I reset the oil change indicator on my Ford vehicle?

Every Ford vehicle comes with something called an oil-life minder, though it’s more commonly referred to as the oil change indicator. Regardless of what you call it, this warning light pops up on your dashboard to let you know when it’s time for an oil change. Unfortunately, the light doesn’t turn off automatically after an oil change, so it needs to be reset every time you change your oil. Whether you’re changing your oil at home on your own or you’re bringing it into a professional, like those here at McFarland Ford, the oil change indicator needs to be reset afterwards. But if you don’t know how to do it, it can be an annoying light that just stays on and doesn’t serve its purpose. You don’t want that and neither do we, so we’re going to tell you how to reset the oil change indicator in your Ford vehicle today!

Resetting your oil change indicator isn’t a difficult task, but there are a few steps that you’re going to have to run through to get it done. So, we thought we’d simply take you through some step-by-step instructions to help you get that oil change indicator reset after your last (or next, if you’re preparing early) oil change.

1. First things first, make sure you’re parked in a safe space like your driveway or a parking spot and that the engine isn’t on. There’s no need to turn your engine off if it’s already on, but it doesn’t need to be on for this process and you’ll have to turn it off in a later step anyway.
2. That said, the electrical systems do need to be on so that you can walk through the rest of the steps, so you’ll need to turn the ignition to the run position either by rotating the keys to the right spot or by pressing the start button until the dashboard lights come on.
3. Your steering wheel should have controls with which you can navigate to the Settings menu on the digital screen of your instrument cluster.
4. Once inside the Settings menu, scroll to the Vehicle menu and select that next.
5. Now inside the Vehicle menu, scroll again until you can select the Oil Life option.
6. After having selected the Oil Life option, you simply want to hold down the OK button until a message pops up saying Reset Successful.
7. Turn your vehicle all the way off again, so that no lights or anything is on.
8. Now you can turn your vehicle back on to check and make sure the oil change indicator has actually been reset. If it’s not, you can try again as you might’ve missed a step. If it still doesn’t work, reach out to see if we can offer further guidance.

Depending on the age of your vehicle, this process might look a little different. For example, some older models have Info, Setup and Reset buttons instead of the steering wheel controls, which means a slightly different process. So, if you’re trying to go through these steps but they don’t seem to line up with your particular Ford vehicle, give us a call and we can try to help you through the process for your given model. Don’t hesitate to give us a call with any questions that you might have, we look forward to helping you.

While we’re talking about the oil change indicator, we thought we’d just quickly answer another frequently asked oil-related question. When exactly should you be getting your oil changed? Technically this will vary from vehicle to vehicle, so you should check your owner’s manual for an exact recommendation. But a general rule of thumb is every six months or 5,000 miles, whichever occurs first.