Oil change and resetting the oil degredation counter

[Roger20]

I now have a 2018 Hymer with the X290 2.3 Euro 6 engine which needs the counter (and service interval) reset after an oil change. Deneb said in this post #7 https://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/forum/threads/dignostic-scanner.199755/#post-3390875 that it needs either either a multiecuscan or alfaobd scanner.

I looked at multiecuscan and its either £98 or £120 https://www.gendan.co.uk/mes_chooser.php#selection but there is a reservation that there might be a "security gateway module" on certain 2018 -2020 models which might prevent it's use.

Has anyone done their own oil changes on Euro5/6 Ducatos and been able to reset the counter and service interval using this or other diagnostic tools?

I would normally do my own oil changes annually so the cost might be justified eventually if it's worthwhile. Otherwise into the arms of Fiat!

Any advice appreciated.

 

[Deneb]

I'm not 100% certain but I don't think any of the Ducatos as yet have the SGW module fitted. Certainly someone on the Fiat Forum picked up a brand new van about a week ago and was using MES on it.
You can run a scan for modules with the free version of MES and it will list the SGW if it is present.
If it is, it's not the end of the world. The SGW has already been compromised. Search for Fiat SGW bypass devices. You should be able to get one for less than £50 if you need to and you can then use any aftermarket diagnostic tools as normal.

 

[Stealaway]

The service light won't come on until 28,000. Don't worry about it until then?.
Just keep your own service record.

 

[Roger20]

The service light won't come on until 28,000. Don't worry about it until then?.
Just keep your own service record.

It's the oil change light I'm more concerned about. It works by an algorithm in the ECU depending on the type of driving and the greater the mileage the more chance there is to trigger the warning. The handbook explains that at first it limits revs to 3000 but if it's ignored it goes into proper limp home mode at 1500 revs. Apparently its happened to some fairly new vehicles that have been sat a long time with the manufacturer/dealer and then driven short distances without regenerating the dpf.

 

[Deneb]

The service light won't come on until 28,000. Don't worry about it until then?.
Just keep your own service record.

And if the degradation counter puts the van in limp mode and then shuts the engine down altogether, don't worry about that either?

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[Stealaway]

No it doesn't. You have at least 2k tolerance.

 

[9526]

This worked on mine (and it’s free)

 

[Deneb]

No it doesn't. You have at least 2k tolerance.

Not 2K tolerance from 28,000 miles though. And Fiat advise that you should never travel more than 500km from the first illumination of the oil degradation warning lamp illuminating. Mileage since its activation is logged in the ECU. Good luck with any warranty or goodwill claim if it's exceeded. They will take the last oil change as the point at which the service and degradation counters were reset, not the customers assertion that they changed the oil.

I maintain all our vehicles, but I work on the premise that it's best to have the tools available to do the job properly, or not bother at all.

 

[Stealaway]

I'm not familiar with any degradation counter on Ducatos.
My service reset light came on almost exactly at 28,000 mile - on a motorway in France. It took me over a week to find a service centre (not Fiat) in Germany who reset it FOC although it took two machines to find one that would
I change the oil every year after around 8,000 miles. I've only had to the have the counter reset that once and I sold it with 54,000 miles.

How many miles have you done? Has any lights come on? Are you worrying unnecessarily?

 

[Roger20]

I'm not familiar with any degradation counter on Ducatos.
My service reset light came on almost exactly at 28,000 mile - on a motorway in France. It took me over a week to find a service centre (not Fiat) in Germany who reset it FOC although it took two machines to find one that would
I change the oil every year after around 8,000 miles. I've only had to the have the counter reset that once and I sold it with 54,000 miles.

How many miles have you done? Has any lights come on? Are you worrying unnecessarily?

I think oil degredation software and warnings only applies to the very latest Euro6 (and possibly 5+) engines - perhaps Deneb may be able to advise. Are you talking about a previous X250/X290 Ducato base?

There is no doubt that this counter reset issue can be a real problem. I met a guy in Italy in 2018 who had the oil warning light come on and ended up changing the oil by the roadside because he couldn't find a dealer to do it. He later told me he thought it was simply because his dealer hadn't reset the counter (nothing to do with the service interval warning which I believe goes off anyway after 1000km). He had only had it (allegedly) serviced not long before he set off.

As Deneb says it's a serious issue to ignore because even if you know the oil has been changed, eventually it will go into a serious limp-home mode.

These Euro 6 engines do need you to be much more proactive about engine management than before. Just as important with Euro 6 is ensuring you do regular (every 1000 miles?) active regeneration procedures running the engine at over 2000 revs for at least 20 minutes a time. Otherwise the engine does passive regeneration itself which, as I understand, can cause issues of its own, potentially forcing fuel past the rings. I'm sure this has been covered a lot on the forum.

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[Deneb]

Euro 5+ or newer. I haven't seen many reports of issues recently, but for some time after the introduction of the technology there seemed to be issues regularly cropping up due to independent garages either being unaware of the requirements or not having the ability to reset the counters on aftermarket diagnostic equipment, which always seems to lag the market by a couple of years, probably on the presumption that newer vehicles are invariably dealer serviced.

 

[the1andonly]

My 2017 Rapido fiat build 2016 is a euro 6 . recently changed the oil as per thread

Nowt to do? Change your oil

I bought this lot before the lock down so pherhaps not possible now. You need oil filter, oil and a means of removing filter and refilling with oil There are videos and instructions online this is my view on my 2017 euro6 ducato. It should be easy. I changed oil and filters for over 40...

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

I confirmed the hardware /software requirement with
grant@gendan.co.uk stating model and vin number
for £98 its a no brainer. A 2year service at £500-550 or £112 in consumables and the software.
Gendan have been a surpurb company to deal with, this was my 3rd purchase from them (VCDS for Vag cars).
The software is not as intuative to use as VAGCOM VCDS or as much support but even i managed to do the job



and i'm only a rocket scientist.

 

[Roger20]

This worked on mine (and it’s free)

mickyc I understand that this also resets the oil mileage counter but not necessarily the mileage to next service interval. Was this the case with yours?
In which case Multiecuscan may be the only solution for full reset if you are doing your own oil changes?