Honda service tech said first oil change should be 5,000 miles and although the Honda recommended service schedule says the oil should be replaced every 7500 miles after that, service tech says I should do at 5000. What do you guys think. This is the first car I ever had that had an oil interval change as long as 5000 miles, never mind 7500.

 

My Honda tech says 5K as well. The maintenance minder seems pretty close to agreeing as well. You'll get every variation of opinion around here but, strangely enough, since I trusted Honda to build the car that's who's opinion I'm going to believe. I'm also kind of fond of keeping my warranty in force so again Honda's opinion wins out, with me anyway.

 

Depends on the conditions you drive under, so my mechanic tells me. City driving causes oil to get dirty faster. I would stick to 5000 miles, but check the condition of your oil and if it looks less than clean and clear, get it changed sooner than that. Oil replacements are critical to the life of your engine.

 

Not exactly sure where you read the 7500 mile interval (would be interested in knowing though), but from the booklets and manual i've read it all says 5000 miles - or at the very least 12 months even if the service indicator has not gone on (for those who drive very very little).
So it's my understanding the fit requires 5000 miles or 12 months - whichever comes first. Going beyond that is considered negligent maintenence and if your engine fails it may not be covered under warranty.

Perhaps the 7500 mile interval was derrived from light driving and the Oil Life meter going down to 0%. At 5000 the oil life meter should read about 15% - and that is when you are recommended to change the oil.

Of course if you use synthetic oil you could extend that period of time - but only with the approval of Honda (so you don't void your warranty).
Regular oil is really only effective for 5000 miles - after that, it begins to loose its ability to protect your engine effectively.

 

i go by the oil gauge... im at about 5500 miles on this oil and my gauge is at 20% im getting it done next week

 

I've wondered how well the maintenance minder works. My saleslady told me that the oil life gauge can actually tell the viscosity of the oil, so depending on how you drive you may not have to get it changed as often. I drive hardly any city, all highway or rural roads with a little driving in my town. My commute to work is 45 miles and it takes me an hour, so my oil gets good and hot. I'm at 4400 miles and 40% oil life. At this rate, to change my oil at 15% I would be at 6233 miles.

Maybe I'll check it before I head home and see what color is it. I plan on changing it according to oil life gauge, but keep an eye on it just in case that's not frequent enough.

 

The oil minder DOES NOT test the viscosity of the oil. It can't, you need lab equipment to do that. All the oil minder does is track miles, engine revolutions, temperature and load and estimate the remaining useful life of the oil.

That said, I always change my oil within a week of the orange wrench showing up on the instrument cluster.

 

Added a Fumoto valve and used a Honda filter. Seems Honda made the walls of their filters thinner. I will now stick with my regimin of over 10 years: Full Synthetic, Purolator Pure One Oil Filter, and Change Oil At Exactly 5K. It is certainly overkill but it's cheap insurance. Using a full synthetic and a first rate filter such as a Pure One will easily permit you to run 10K or more without degradation. The key is to use a QUALITY filter. Stay away from Fram and other low budget filters. They are the weak link in the lubrication system of any engine.

 

Take your dipstick out and check the oil by hand... You can tell by looking at it, smelling it and feeling it if it's time or not. Can you tell I'm a visual/tactical person??? I would *always* err on the cautious side with oil changes. It is the cheapest insurance toward having a long-lived engine that you can get.

 

You don't taste your oil?

 

Ok, every 5K it is.

 

Easy going driver.

I drove hard for a while and it dropped 10% in 600 miles . hahah

And as other's have said, if you just do the standard oil change with no fancy oils or filters etc. then it is indeed the cheapest insurance to keep your car running and trouble free. What a cheap way to reduce the chances of you loosing ur valuable time and safety than to just keep up with regular maint.

 

Yeah, but I can't recommend it for the uninitiated! I'd have to do an in-service on that aspect of oil testing...

 

according to honda themselves, your first oil change should be past the first 5k...the oil has special additives in it that need to do their thing, whatever it may be.

change your oil when your maintanence minder tells you to. simple as that.

i go almost 8k between oil changes because i drive mostly highway, hence its not as hard on my car.

listen to the big h. they know more than your cousins, dads uncle who changes his oil ever 3k gives them credit for.

 

^+1


here you go: https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/fit-...-analysis.html

you have 2 choices:
1. do oil analysis and know for sure what's safe and probably save yourself money in the long run (by more than doubling your oil change interval)

2. do as the maintenance minder tells you.

it's safe to say that both methods will work.

 

Man, that's like a complete blood count for your car! Funny!

 

These are large truck engines yet synthetic is so superior to dino that they can run them 100K between changes since the oil does not break down and they have a superior oil filtration system. Common sense dictates that running full synthetic and a QUALITY filter like a Pure One and dumping at 5K is overkill to say the least but that has been my regimen for years.

 

Yes, I was told to go 7500 before 1st oil change then 5k after that.

 

Just do what Honda says! Keep your warranty in force!

 

The 5000 mile tech is a good one. We have had filters and oil analyzed for over a decade and the problem is really the capacity of the oil filter. Synthetics will easily show minimum viscosity and shear strength degradation in at least 8000 miles even under periodic racing conditions (track days). Conventional oils do show noticeable degradation but should be good to 5000 miles. But inboth cases the sludge caked on the filter media and the pronounced pressure drop says much of the oil flow bypasses the filter by 7000 miles for synthetics and 5500 miles for conventional oils.
The dynamometer shows the synthetics to be superior by 3% through out the oil life. As often quoted, the harder or lesser (short trips,infrequent use) you use your engine the more need for synthetics.

You should always be wary of extended service ads; more often than not they are resultrs of marketing efforts based on the 'best results recorded' datra rather than least data results. Most often you will see some disclaimer somewhere for recommended oil changes for 'severe' service. Like yours.
PS we recommend first oil change at about 1500 miles to flush out the assembly debris, clean room conditions notwithstanding. And every 5000 miles thereafter filter and good synthetic oil.