I purchased my car on January 30th this year, and as of today it has 9,770 miles. The build date for the car was January, and the dealership had it a week before I bought it. Currently the maintenance minder is showing 30%. Today since I had the day off from work I finally decided to check my oil because I'm getting antsy with the same oil in there for a year now. Well guys, that oil was super dirty. I mean almost black. I was pissed off. That maintenance minder is worthless, as it obviously does not perform an oil analysis, but uses some other method like engine revolution to determine the change frequency.

I was a good little boy and I followed Honda's recommendation not to change the original oil until the minder went off, but this has backfired on me. I went to the Honda dealership and bought five quarts of Honda 5W-20, the filter wrench, and extra washer and I'm changing the oil this Saturday. I wish I could change it tomorrow but I won't have time until Saturday.

I guess this is a warning to anyone solely relying on the minder system to check their oil every now and then. I will not be following the minder system again and will use my own two eyes to determine when to change the oil. It's a great idea in theory, especially for people who forget when to change their oil or have other services performed, but for anyone else I believe you're better off using your own judgment.

 

The color of the oil in an internal combustion engine is not a valid indicator of it's quality.

 

So you're saying I need to get an oil analysis done every time I go to change my oil first? The oil will have been in my car a year on the 30th of January and the way the minder system is going it may only be down to 20% by then. That is ridiculous.

The oil was clear when I got the car, it's black now, it's very dirty. I'm not going by that minder system unless someone can prove to me it determines the change frequency based on oil analysis. What happens if someone drives 4,000 miles a year. Does that mean the minder system won't have them change their oil for five years? Basing a change frequency on engine revolutions is not the way to do it.

 

The 2007 Honda Fit Owners Manual says

"If the message ‘‘SERVICE’’ does not appear more than 12 months after the

display is reset, change the engine oil every year."

 

Hey spearhead, quit being so rational, you're blowing my irrational rant.

I did not see that in my 09 manual but maybe I didn't look closely enough. Well I guess that makes more sense. Honda covered that base. I will look at my manual again.

 

I didnt think people actually went by that thing...

 

I do. I drive my Fit hard (lots of high RPM mountain interstate driving). The MM has never gone above 7K miles before getting to 15%. I change my oil soon thereafter. BTW my Fit turned over 70K miles today, still no oil consumption.

 

Extended service intervals are there to accommodate the the people who use their cars as point to point transport and don't really care about the specifics. Most modern cars run between 10-12k between oil changes on synthetic, according to the maintenance minders. The difference between "recommended" and in between services is that one simply keeps your car in warranty, and the other is at the discretion of the owner.

Even if I DID buy one of the Audis I work on every day, I would never let it go 10,000 miles on one change of oil and one filter. We have owners that spend the money and perform in between services, and it is apparent in the care of their cars. Meanwhile, I've seen cars in with 15k on the oil change and the oil comming out of the sump is nasty. Granted, oil cleans away sludge - but 15k on that oil cannot be good.

I plan on changing my oil every 5k on the mark, regardless of the service minder. I'll also add that servicing the ENTIRE car when you change the oil isn't a bad idea. A rotate every 10k will extend the life of your tires, and I'd even go so far as to replace the cabin and engine air filters every 15k.

 

Don't worry about that gauge. Change your oil when you think it's time.

Don't buy Honda oil. There are better and cheaper choices out there.

 

DGS..I'm not quite sure if ur more upset over the fact that the oil was black, or at the technology behind the minder. I feel if the manual states when to change the oil, and something catastrophic goes wrong, I would think it would be covered under the warrenty. Now it would suck to be w/o a vehicle(I'm sure a loaner would be in order) but the car would be fixed.

 

Although I am knowledgable about cars, point to point transport is only the reason I own them.

 

Having just bought two Honda's in the past two weeks, I took it as something that was for those people who either loose the oil change sticker from the Jiffy lube, (not that I'd go there) or say to themselves "when did I last change the oil?"

The dealer rep said it somehow monitors your driving, and my new Civic just went from 100% to 90% at 600 miles. If the math holds that puts it at change time (15% recommended) right about 5000 miles, which is normal.

 

Well I got all anal about it because I called Honda customer service and the rep I spoke with said engineering has confirmed there is a special blend not available commercially that aids with the break-in period. That is why it says not to change the oil for the first time until the minder system goes off.

I don't know why mine is turning over so slowly, but there is no way the minder will be at 15% on January 30th. I don't think anything catastrophic would happen to the car at all, but since I plan on keeping it for a real long time I want it to run as best it can. A dirty filter and oil not only causes extra wear on the engine, but reduces gas mileage as well. So I'm changing it this weekend.

I was looking through my user manual again and I don't see anything about changing the oil every year or 15% on the minder system, whichever comes first. Well it doesn't matter any more because I'll change it every six months or 6,000 miles, whichever hits first.

 

DGS, I'd recommend getting a sample done on just this oil change. it will confirm or debunk your theory once and for all in your head about the maintenace minder. As someone else said, the color of the oil has no bearing on it's capability to lubricate adequately. My Dad's VW Rabbit Diesel Truck would turn oil black in less than 1000 miles and by black I mean BLACK! An oil Analysis will show you once and for all if the oil performed adequately. if you switch now to Synthetic, you'll also have the extended protection that Synth offers and if you have to change the oil once a year... spending the little extra (on something that used to cost you 3x as much - assuming an oil change every 4 months) is negligible. an oil change with Moibl1 synthetic used to cost me $15 more at the dealer on my integra GS-R than with Honda Oil. $15 more per year ain't bad... plus synthetic in theory would allow you to run even longer than dino oil. IIRC, the maintenance minder bases off of your driving style, temps, higher revs, etc... and not off of an actual oil analysis. it's not perfect but I'm guessing that Honda has got it figured out. Our Ridgeline has the maintenance minder as well and it has served us well with 45K on the odo.

~SB

 

You know, it's a good idea, but I don't know where in Dallas I could get an oil analysis?

I already bought the Honda brand 5W-20 but next oil change I'll switch it up to Mobile One Extended Change Full Synthetic. The Honda brand is part synthetic so it's still pretty good.

Do you always follow the minder system on your Ridgeline?

 

FUD!

All of it. If you want to change your oil, then change it. Your just wasting oil. Don't blame it on the ineffectiveness of the computer. Chevy and many other manufacturers have used a maintenance minder system for over a decade, cars have not spontaneously combusted. If Honda, a manufacturer know for their quality, put their faith in the "computer", then that is more than enough for me. They have a lot more to lose than I if it all goes to shit. The simple fact that you are changing your oil based on the color tells me all I need to know about you. Your an old timer (not necessarily in the chronological sense) and no matter what happened you were never actually going to trust the computer, and now you have your "validation" that it is faulty.

Use the maintenance minder, don't use the maintenance minder. I don't care. But don't spread your FUD to everyone else. Just change your oil and sleep better at night.

 

in my '09 owner's manual i do remember reading the thing about once a year if you have not done it yet.
i am in agreement with FITproject, who changes his oil every 5000. i did that with my 2000 silverado since it was new and for having over 200k on it, the oil still looks great and it burns none whatsoever. my '92 civic that i bought my new FIT to replace has always had the oil done at 5000. it now has over 340k on it and still burns no oil and the oil stays clean looking(as much as can be expected). it's one of the best things we can do for our engines.

the guy above who was talking about the diesel going black after 1000 miles ... that's actually quite good. the oil in my old golf tdi went black after like 50miles! it's okay for diesels though. only use good quality synthetic for turbo diesels.

 

It's on page 251, as asterisk 1, where it talks about the Maintenance Minder.

 

It is sad that you call the previous post and "old timer" because he wants to change his oil because of discoloration. The mainenance minder doesn't take into account the contaminents in the oil. Also... believe it or not, 5w-20 isn't the oil that honda recommends for this car in most other countries (for the same 1.5 litre engine). There are other motivations to use this oil. Though this horse has been beaten before, the CAFE standards imposed here in the states on auto manufacturers have influenced Honda's (and Ford's) decision to use 5w-20. In other countries the recommended oil for the 1.5 litre engine is 10w-30 and 10w-40. In forums from these countries they use the thinner 10w-30 in the winter, and 10w-40 in the summer.
The maintenance minder doesn't take into account SEVERE driving conditions which call for more frequent oil changes too. Extreme cold (here in Minnesota), Extreme heat, dusty roads (here in minnesota), frequent small commutes (anywhere), etc... These are very valid reasons to change your oil more frequently then the maintenance minder.
For those that only change their oil every 10,000 miles.. what about your OIL FILTER?? Over time, the filter accumulates dirt that has been trapped, until it reaches a point where it is possible for oil passage to be obstructed. The filter should be changed before it reaches a point where it's an obstruction to the flow of oil, or even facing the danger of becoming plugged. The good and bad news in one, is that filters are designed to prevent from catastrophic failures due to improper lubrication, therefore it has a bypass valve, which will allow the oil to pass through with the dirt once it reaches the filtration capacity, preventing from loss of lubrication and allowing the dirt to enter the engine, and cause accelerated wear.
Just Food for thought. Just don't believe that little oil life gauge has universal super powers to take into account all of the variables affecting oil life.

 

Why all the worry. Just ignore the minder. I never change my oil. Every 3 months or more if I forget I check it and add if it is down. It is usually not, maybe because it is rather thick? I use the cheapest brands I can find on sale. I have yet to change a filter.

Forget the oil and enjoy the season.