Fiat Oil Life and Miles to Service Displays

[CRD]

Our Fiat Ducato series 9 is two years old at the end of March and has done 16.5k miles. It has not been serviced yet.

The oil life displays 2165 miles

The service display says approx 13,000 miles until service.

Will the van demand a service when the oil life display goes to zero, or will it wait until the service display decrements to zero?

We will be doing a 2,500 mile trip to the French Alps via London soon so I am trying to decide whether to get the van serviced before we go, or closer to the anniversary date when we get back.

I’d appreciate your thoughts.

Thanks

 

[Two of usI]

I change the oil every 4k miles and if not done that every 6 months........ I may be out of date, but we were always told to do this when we were learning about maintenance, and have done it ever since, and haven't had any issues, so, will continue !!!!

 

[Basildog]

My understanding is that Fiat say that the oil should be changed every year if the vehicle is only doing a low mileage which they say 10,000 miles for .
Personally I’d change it anyway if going away.

 

[Just smiffy]

I always change oil and filters oil/air every year or 10k regardless… on every vehicle I’ve owned….

 

[L' Hobo]

In my opinion, one can never change the oil for a reputable one, too often!

I changed my oil and filters, at least, every 2 yrs but when I did 10,000 miles per year, it was every year.

Just remembered to reset the service point!

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[LiFePO4Convert]

The oil life displays 2165 miles

Do you know what has prompted the ECU to say this.

Fiat say that the qualify of the oil is not measured, but some incident like wrong fuel can cause uneven running which prompts this.

Or do you just drive hard?

 

[Round Square]

A year ago after refilling Diesel in Spain an orange warning light came on, oil needs changing. We had done 30,000Km in 20 months from new. ( Fiat say two years or 50,000Km oil change. )
I drove on to Portugal where we were staying for the winter.
Booked van in for two year service and all well.
Fiat Professional service is much cheaper in Europe.

 

[Roby2008]

Our Fiat Ducato series 9 is two years old at the end of March and has done 16.5k miles. It has not been serviced yet.

The oil life displays 2165 miles

The service display says approx 13,000 miles until service.

Will the van demand a service when the oil life display goes to zero, or will it wait until the service display decrements to zero?

We will be doing a 2,500 mile trip to the French Alps via London soon so I am trying to decide whether to get the van serviced before we go, or closer to the anniversary date when we get back.

I’d appreciate your thoughts.

Thanks

The service light mileage will stay the same when the oil life gets to zero, it is a separate system....if you overrun the oil life, the system will show a warning, these get more persistent if you ignore it ( I tried), if you over ignore it, the system will go into limp mode and then shut down ( according to my Fiat guy) .

We only had 2000km difference between the oil life and first service at 30000 km, I tried to match them ( However, I could not get an appointment for 3 months ) but the oil life warning was not happy about that, so I did an oil/filter change with OEM spec oil/Filter, reset the oil light with the ignition/pedal dance and all was well .......At the first service, the tech was told the oil was done already and he said no problem. that's quite often the way....

You have a choice, you can do oil/filter only now or a full service, your van is 2 years old so the service can be time rather that mileage based, whatever you do, I would do oil/filter before you go .....

The 30,000 km came up at around 2 years so perfect timing for the first service, but the oil life was not willing to play the game and wanted its own schedule...I still got charged over €500 for the first service sans oil/filter, but that's another story ......

 

[Roby2008]

Do you know what has prompted the ECU to say this.

Fiat say that the qualify of the oil is not measured, but some incident like wrong fuel can cause uneven running which prompts this.

Or do you just drive hard?

Its based on your driving and how hard the engine is working, with Tyrol and the Alps next door, mine gets a workout, so the oil needs a pre-service change, My Fiat tech said so anyway ...................mind you, he is German so that's what I think he said ......

 

[Roby2008]

In my opinion, one can never change the oil for a reputable one, too often!

I changed my oil and filters, at least, every 2 yrs but when I did 10,000 miles per year, it was every year.

Just remembered to reset the service point!

I did mine every year on the last van, we did 100,000 km in 9 years, but this one I stay with the service schedule, I am not so mobile as I was and service parts are harder to find and much harder to fit .........

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[CRD]

Do you know what has prompted the ECU to say this.

Fiat say that the qualify of the oil is not measured, but some incident like wrong fuel can cause uneven running which prompts this.

Or do you just drive hard?

I don’t think we drive it hard. It’s a 140 engine, but we run with the weight close to the 4,000Kg plated weight, which might explain it.

On motorways, we drive at about 65mph, 70mph sometimes.

 

[CRD]

We only had 2000km difference between the oil life and first service at 30000 km, I tried to match them ( However, I could not get an appointment for 3 months ) but the oil life warning was not happy about that, so I did an oil/filter change with OEM spec oil/Filter, reset the oil light with the ignition/pedal dance and all was well .......At the first service, the tech was told the oil was done already and he said no problem. that's quite often the way....

You have a choice, you can do oil/filter only now or a full service, your van is 2 years old so the service can be time rather that mileage based, whatever you do, I would do oil/filter before you go .....

Thanks for this helpful info. Could you say what the ignition/pedal sequence is please?

I’m going to speak to our nearest Fiat Professional Services about separating the oil change from the first service.

 

[Pausim]

I don’t think we drive it hard. It’s a 140 engine, but we run with the weight close to the 4,000Kg plated weight, which might explain it.

On motorways, we drive at about 65mph, 70mph sometimes.

The engine in the series 8 and series 9 Ducatos is a new engine but the oil change advice is very similar to the previous engine which uses the same fully synthetic oil. This is what it says about oil changes (page 262).
“(4) The actual interval for changing the oil and replacing the engine oil filter depends on the car usage conditions and is signalled by the warning light or message (if provided) on the instrument panel and must never exceed 24 months. Change engine oil and oil filter every 12 months if the vehicle is driven mainly in towns.”
Most of my driving is longer runs and very little is town use so I have my service and oil change booked in for a few weeks before the 2 years.

 

[L' Hobo]

I did mine every year on the last van, we did 100,000 km in 9 years, but this one I stay with the service schedule, I am not so mobile as I was and service parts are harder to find and much harder to fit .........

Which part do you consider hard as on my X250 IMO it's one of the easiest to service and never had problem with parts.

One drain plug and replacement washer to drain Oil, spin-on Oil filter at front of engine, remove 3 bolts and 3 screws on N/S headlight for Fuel filter and 8 hexagon headed self tapper replacement screws on top of Air filter.

2hrs of slow work on a sunny day and save £100+
Throw in a couple of hours gentle exercise (usually getting up off the floor) and it makes for a happy day.

 

[Roby2008]

Which part do you consider hard as on my X250 IMO it's one of the easiest to service and never had problem with parts.

One drain plug and replacement washer to drain Oil, spin-on Oil filter at front of engine, remove 3 bolts and 3 screws on N/S headlight for Fuel filter and 8 hexagon headed self tapper replacement screws on top of Air filter.

2hrs of slow work on a sunny day and save £100+
Throw in a couple of hours gentle exercise (usually getting up off the floor) and it makes for a happy day.

I didn't mean the MH, I meant me ......... In for a new knee next month .....

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[Roby2008]

Thanks for this helpful info. Could you say what the ignition/pedal sequence is please?

I’m going to speak to our nearest Fiat Professional Services about separating the oil change from the first service.

2013-2023 Fiat Ducato Oil Change/Service Light Reset Procedure



Turn the ignition key to the ON position

(Just turn on the ignition without making the engine start)



Make sure to fully depress and hold down the Throttle pedal



With one foot on the accelerator pedal, pump the brake pedal seven times. You may notice that the brake pedal loses the vacuum, and it goes really hard, but don’t worry about that; just keep on pressing it seven times



Keep the pressure on the Throttle pedal and keep holding it for 60 seconds



Release the Throttle pedal and turn off the ignition, leave it switched off for another further 60 seconds before starting the engine



Start the engine to verify the indicator has been reset, and you’ll see that the change engine oil indicator is missing and that it has been reset. Or it might flash or stay on for a little bit, and you might see the change engine oil stay on for a moment, but it will go out.





This operation should work for the third generation of the Fiat Ducato (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 model years).

 

[Roby2008]

I don’t think we drive it hard. It’s a 140 engine, but we run with the weight close to the 4,000Kg plated weight, which might explain it.

On motorways, we drive at about 65mph, 70mph sometimes.

I have the 140/9 speed @ 3500kg .... Lots of stop/start, Autobahn ( 120/30 Kph ) and of course the mountains ...... similar usage ...

 

[PhilG]

Service intervals are pushed out to entice fleet dealers to buy with less service costs.

Back in the day , Service intervals were 5k for Diesel, 6k for petrol, that went to 6k/9k and then 12k/18k, and most of them now are 24k. The only thing that changed was the number in the handbook, same car , same oil, same filters.

I cleared all the service lights and engine management lights off the dash on SWMBO's Fiat Bravo a few weeks ago, she asked me if there was a fault with the dash as there were no lights on.... service light had been on for 80,000 miles.

As has been said, get it done before you go, its not worth not doing.

 

[Pausim]

Back in the day , Service intervals were 5k for Diesel, 6k for petrol

and fully synthetic oils had not been invented.

 

[BouncyBoatFolk]

2013-2023 Fiat Ducato Oil Change/Service Light Reset Procedure



Turn the ignition key to the ON position

(Just turn on the ignition without making the engine start)



Make sure to fully depress and hold down the Throttle pedal



With one foot on the accelerator pedal, pump the brake pedal seven times. You may notice that the brake pedal loses the vacuum, and it goes really hard, but don’t worry about that; just keep on pressing it seven times



Keep the pressure on the Throttle pedal and keep holding it for 60 seconds



Release the Throttle pedal and turn off the ignition, leave it switched off for another further 60 seconds before starting the engine



Start the engine to verify the indicator has been reset, and you’ll see that the change engine oil indicator is missing and that it has been reset. Or it might flash or stay on for a little bit, and you might see the change engine oil stay on for a moment, but it will go out.





This operation should work for the third generation of the Fiat Ducato (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 model years).

Good guide given there. One slight caveat. The vehicle notes everytime this procedure is done and you get an internal countdown of " service coupons". Being an " often is good" owner I somehow burned through all nine of the service coupons in a couple of years ( some of them may have been failed attempts at the reset). You then get a dashboard notice saying the coupons have now all expired. This requires an OBD reset with the correct leads and programme. I was very fortunate to have a local funster who had purchased this equipment and very kindly gave it a factory reset back to 9 coupons.
Mike.

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[Roby2008]

Good guide given there. One slight caveat. The vehicle notes everytime this procedure is done and you get an internal countdown of " service coupons". Being an " often is good" owner I somehow burned through all nine of the service coupons in a couple of years ( some of them may have been failed attempts at the reset). You then get a dashboard notice saying the coupons have now all expired. This requires an OBD reset with the correct leads and programme. I was very fortunate to have a local funster who had purchased this equipment and very kindly gave it a factory reset back to 9 coupons.
Mike.

Interesting, I didn't know that.........with my usage, I reckon to be good for the next 10 years at least .....

 

[CRD]

Thanks, everyone for contributing to this thread, which has thrown up some very helpful information.

I’ve taken the excellent advice offered here and booked the MH in for its first service with our local FPS, before we set off for the French Alps.