I am at 60% with 3700 miles and just changed the oil to mobil one and a honda filter. Does anyone know how to reset the oil life monitor?

 

The information for restting the oil life indicator is in the owners manual. Out of curiosity, why are you changing the oil any earlier then the car says to? If it's a problem I would think that it's Honda's problem. But hey, if you got extra cash that you don't know what to do with, I'll take it.

 

Pages 170-171 in your Owner's Manual:

Resetting the Engine Oil Life Display
Your dealer will reset the display after completing the required maintenance service. You will see ‘‘OIL LIFE 100 %’’ on the information display the next time you turn the ignition switch to the ON (II) position.

If maintenance service is done by someone other than your dealer, reset the maintenance minder as follows:
1. Turn the ignition switch to the ON (II) position.
2. Press the Select/Reset knob repeatedly until the engine oil life is displayed.
3. Press the Select/Reset knob for about 10 seconds. The engine oil life and the maintenance item code(s) will blink.
4. Press the Select/Reset knob for another 5 seconds. The maintenance item code(s) will disappear, and the engine oil life will reset to ‘‘100.’’

 

is it mileage that triggers the light? or some type of sensor?

 

I belive that it is related to engine revolutions and vicosity. But there may be more to it then that. The old rule of thumb of 3000/3 months is total crap with modern engines and modern oil. But if you like sending the oil companies money go with it.

 

actually. i spoke to a lot of honda mechanics (some work and some DO NOT work for honda) and basically they only extended the "oil change" schedule due to competition with toyota and other major car makers. The engines themselves have not changed much and especially the oil has not changed much at all
they recommend following the "old school" maintence schedule

reason they say this is because they've already seen some major problems and breakdowns after a few years of driving (probably after the regular warranty) on the 2002 and above models of accord and civics

but hey its up to you, extra $20 every few months vs a broken down car that will cost you a few thousand later on is up to you

 

Hmmmm........... no comment.

 

Yes, it is cheap insurance to keep the engine's "blood" clean. Just like people, the life is in the blood. But just because you can have extended oil life according the oil monitor doesn't mean that the filter will keep cleaning the oil, and I am not sold on the capabilities of the oil monitor.
The upper midwest usually deserves a severe driving maintainence schedule due to our temperate climate and the dusty rural roads.
The oil filter, by the way, is in a great location for do-it-yourself people. It's on the front of the oil pan opposite the standard rear drain plug. Another plus of the FIT!

 

Except that today's oils have wear reducers and EP additives that don't even become active until 4-5K miles. There's no conspiracy, change your oil when the manual tells you, or the car tells you. Your mechanic just wants you to come and pay them to do it every 3K, which is bullshit.

Go read Bobistheoilguy's forums, and come back informed.

 

So... Honda installed a completely useless oil-reading system on the Fit? If they did it to compete with Toyota, why would they sacrifice their reputation of all things against a reliability giant? I fail to see the benefit.

I raise the BS flag on this information unless you provide some proof or substantial evidence for this claim. And not a bunch of "water-cooler" chat from a bunch of Honda and non-Honda mechanics.

 

wow i can see you guys are really butt hurt from my comment..

all i can say is its up to you, i never said that you HAVE to do it.. i mean its your car do what you feel like

i do believe that honda did put R&D behind everything they put on there, i'm not saying the engine WILL shut down.. and i never said that the oil meter doesnt work.. i just said it was safer to change more frequent than not

so what kind of mechnical backgrounds are you guys from? so you guys are saying that doing a oil change every 10000 is no different than doing it every 3500 miles? did you open the engine up and see the real difference?

i went on bobistheoilguy long time ago when i was research gear oils and it was very informative, but can you help me by pointing out where on that site that provides information about changing oil at the "recommended" 10000 miles vs changing it at 3500 miles for hondas please

i'm not saying i'm right, and i'm not saying i'm wrong, give me a solid research on this and i'll believe you

 

Not really butt hurt at all. I never stated that changing the oil at 3500 miles on the Fit was the devil and that changing the oil at 10,000 miles was the end all rule from the Honda gods. I just don't believe what you're saying. You are saying that because people followed the "new" oil change rules, that it's "been causing major problems and breakdowns after a few years of driving." Now I asked YOU for this evidence already and you have in return asked me for evidence that can be found in the USER MANUAL. I want to see proof that the oil change schedule was really the cause of the engine failure.

Now here's what I think: Honda teaches you how to use the oil life gauge. Honda recommends you to follow the instruction and get an oil change prior. Honda saids its okay. Like you said, if there is a reason that Honda installed it... why not use it? I trust Honda products... which is why I brought one.

Call me lame, but I don't think they're about to sacrifice their hard-earn reliability reputation for a few scores at fixing engines. I mean they are in competition with Toyota... why risk releasing crappy cars or bad service recommendation information now?

Unfortunately, mechanical engineering is not my forte. But I've raced cars and been working on my own since time began. On my other cars, I've always followed the 3000 mile oil change rule, as it suggests in the manual (unless otherwise: track days, mountain runs, dirt rallies, etc etc). And that is basically what I going off of. I rather trust a user manual than some internet car enthusiast with conspiracy theories, who is also without evidence or proof that the new oil change schedule causes damage to the engine.

Now you are more than welcome to get your oil changed... but I just don't think it's neccessary.

But I mean, if you are really that paranoid, you should get real temperature gauges instead of the "cold engine"/"overheat" indicator lights.

 

let me tell you about experiences I have had on three of my cars (which I bought new)

for all of them, i have follow my own schedule of 4000km oil changes with castrol syntec.. when it comes time to remove the valve cover for the valve adjustment, the honda dealer or my mechanic always comment on the lack of sludge in the pan compare to other customers who does oil changes at the recommended 8000km interval.

the manual also states on my last two cars that the denso iridium plugs last 100,000km.. both (my lancer ralliart and my honda accord sedan) needed new plugs at 40,000 or 45,000km.. sure I can drive with the burnt out plugs, there was no stalling or anything major, but the car was using extra gas and the power wasn't as good.. change the plugs and back to normal

so in a way, I guess what i am saying is that, yes you can follow the recommended schedule and live with it, but if you want your car to run top shape, do what YOU and your mechanic feels right

-joe

 

Yup, but the mechanics are still told to suggest rules that make the dealership a little more money. However, it was interesting to see that the last time we brought our Odyssey in for an oil change (every 6k miles) the guys at the Honda dealership didn't put a mileage on the window sticker, but put a date. Hmmm... I think they quickly figure out who is going to fall for the 3 month/ 3k miles thing and who isn't.

 

i dont know the story behind this, but do you think the dealerships are really that bad?
yeah i know they overcharge on the maintences and whatever else they can to make money, but putting a date instead of the milage just to doop the guy seems a lil too much, maybe the dealership changed all of their "window sticker reminders" to dates intead of milage due to weather or other causes

 

I totally see your point of using honda's indicator and follow the manual would probably work out ok. That is true i have not provided any "evidence" of the engine breakdowns and etc.
But the reason why i dont doubt it is because i spoke to these "mechanics" on different occations and different times. They dont know each other, but yet they all say the same thing. some of them are independent shops that provide services to not only hondas but other japanese manufactorers. They noticed that changing not as frequently does put some kind of "pressure" on the life of engine, and may eventually lead to breakdowns or lack of performance etc.

 

i went to my mechanic yesterday to do my 4000 oil change and he actually refused to do it, not time yet he said

he has done this on numerous occusions, not just to me, so you can see that he doesn't do it for greed, but for actualyl providing good service

so you can do what you want, and i will do what i want.. to each their own

-joe

 

Bangkok. Really?

 

1000% agreed. Love your Fit? Change that Oil. Mobil one is even better but changing every 3000 matters most.

 

Forgot to read the Thread Title?