Today I did the first DIY oil change on the 2009 Honda Fit in this family (at about 50,000 miles), using the regular-sized Wix XP filter and Pennzoil Ultra Platinum 5W-20. It went smoothly, except for filter priming. I tried to pour oil into the center hole directly from the five-quart jug, and enough spilled on the ADBV that I had trouble turning the filter in my hand to soak the media without having oil running off the end of the filter and making a mess.

I got a fair amount of oil in the filter, but could probably have packed more in. When I refilled the crankcase and started the engine, the oil light took about two to three seconds to go off. At ordinary cold starts the oil light goes off virtually instantaneously.

So that I can gauge how badly I screwed up, does anyone happen to know how long it usually takes for the oil light to go off immediately after an oil change when the filter has been correctly primed?

 

I never bother trying to fill the filter for the Fit, between the filter being tiny and it being mounted somewhat horizontally. A couple seconds for the oil pressure light to go off is typical for me. I've never pre-filled the filter for any of my other cars, either, and have never had any trouble from that cause.

I did pre-fill the filter for my motorhome when I changed the oil in it today, in as much as the Ford V10 filter is pretty massive (it looks like it holds about a quart) and handily mounts vertically.

 

I typically put some oil in the filter and I expect a couple of seconds for the oil light to go out.

 

The Owner's Manual should say about how long it should take for the light to turn off. I think my 2007 Owner's Manual says something like within 3-5 seconds. That it goes off is more important than how long it takes to do so.

 

Oil light or the maintenance minder? If you haven't rest the oil life yet scroll over to it and hold down the menu stalk for 10 seconds and it should reset.

 

Thanks, all, for these replies--they are helpful. It sounds like the oil light takes two to three seconds to go off immediately after an oil change, regardless of how well the filter has been primed. And yes, the 2009 owner's manual still says the oil light should go off within five seconds. Reset procedure for the maintenance minder is also unchanged (tap odometer stalk to choose oil life display, hold for 10 seconds or until indication flashes, release, then hold for a further 5 seconds or until oil life value goes to 100%).

I checked oil the night before doing the change and found the level halfway between the two holes on the dipstick. I didn't establish when the car had last been driven, so it is possible I was not measuring after full drainback. During the course of the oil change, I poured in four full quarts (including filter priming), which is slightly over the 3.8-quart nominal capacity. I checked oil this morning after the engine had sat idle overnight, and found the level almost exactly at the upper hole.

The last oil change on this car was at 44120 miles; I changed the oil at 50841 miles. On the (unsafe) assumption that the grease monkeys refilled the crankcase to the full level on the dipstick at the last oil change, I am estimating oil consumption of 13000 MPQ. I am planning to monitor oil level closely over this drain interval to obtain a more accurate measurement.

Side observation: the fresh oil on the dipstick smelled rather more strongly of gasoline than I like. Most recent trips have been short, but I suspect I will be checking out and cleaning the PCV valve before too long.

 

Typical.
Short trips (and much more prevalent in cold weather) usually don't get the oil hot and keep it hot long enough to evaporate out the condensation of water AND fuel.....and accumulation of that condensation can lead to a false oil level reading.

Some say it needs at least 30 minutes of driving AFTER it gets the oil hot (which itself could take 30 minutes or more depending on conditions) to get the condensation to evaporate out of the oil.



If you wipe the dipstick with your fingers then rub your fingers together, the liquid should feel slick.
If it feels 'grainy' between your fingers, that indicates a significant accumulation of fuel in the oil.


HTH

 

The reason most of the newer cars have the small can filters is so you don't need to worry about priming them.. If you've ever seen an oil filter blow off the car I can tell you the time it takes to fill that filter is short.. I blew one off on a dyne run on a naked engine once,, Holy crap, Oil everywhere in like 1 second the engine was empty. Luckily I had the low oil shutdown connected.. But what a mess to clean up, sprayed the whole dyne chamber window with brand new redline.. Had to steam clean the room to get it off..

 

[QUOTE=ezone;1330350]Typical.
Short trips (and much more prevalent in cold weather) usually don't get the oil hot and keep it hot long enough to evaporate out the condensation of water AND fuel.....and accumulation of that condensation can lead to a false oil level reading.

Some say it needs at least 30 minutes of driving AFTER it gets the oil hot (which itself could take 30 minutes or more depending on conditions) to get the condensation to evaporate out of the oil.



If you wipe the dipstick with your fingers then rub your fingers together, the liquid should feel slick.
If it feels 'grainy' between your fingers, that indicates a significant accumulation of fuel in the oil.


How long does it take for your blue cold lamp to go out? Should only take a mile or less, should have warm heater in 5 mins. Oil fill w/stock blue Honda filter on my '09 auto trans = exactly 4 quarts. Takes about 3 sec for oil light to go off on refill, don't bother with the mess you'll make priming the filter. If it was a Kenworth truck w/giant vertical spin-on filters, yes. Not going to hurt your baby at idle RPM 3 secs until the pump gets its prime.

 

Length of time the cold light stays on will depend entirely on how cold it is and how you drive.


"Should" is a big variable that is really not part of this equation.

 

Coolant temperature, which the red and blue temperature lights indicate, and oil temperature are rather different things. The oil takes longer to warm up than the coolant, partly because it's mostly in the cooler part of the engine and partly because the oil system doesn't have a thermostat like the cooling system does to help it warm up.