First oil change @ 10,000 miles--> switch to synthetic. Help
 

Hello, I bought my Honda FIT sport manual 5 months ago. I have never changed the factory (break in I assume) oil that came with the vehicle.

I am now close to 10,000 miles and the computer just showed two days ago 20% for the oil life. Crazy isn't it, especially when I came across some posts saying that the break in oil has special agents aimed to wear your engine during the break in period.

My driving is 95% state road driving in the flat Central to south Florida 50-60 mph with minimum gear change. I work at 5 miles from the university and I only have 2 traffic lights to get there.
So that might explain the high mileage w/o oil change. I am very gentle with the engine and do not push it at high rpm (I try to stay below 3000 rpm).

I would like to switch to synthetic and consider amsoil 5W30 as recommended. Below are my questions:

1- Should I do the switch now, or should I wait another or two more oil changes to switch to synthetic?

2- I see that some people use amsoil 0 W 30 as well. Which SAE should I use?

3- Would you recommend me to buy the Amsoil Ea filter as well?

4- where do you buy your amsoil oil? Would you recommend another brand (e.g. Mobil 1)?

I would like to change my oil not very often and I have seen people changing it after a year of use (13-15K miles). Since I am driving that much every 6-7 months, this is the reason of the switch to full synthetic oil. Thanks a bunch for the help.


Hydro.

hydro, well a couple of people have been sending samples of their oil the blackstone labs for analysis. probably a worth while 22 bucks to spend if your interested in more than just doing the factory recommended route. also BobIsTheOilGuy.com for an insane forum devoted to oil, if you want to ask others that are obsessive about oil.

Amsoil is a great product through and through, you pay a price for it I'll be switching my self to amsoil or mobile1 after the breakin period. Yes alot of people talk its important to properly go through the breakin period before switching over.... and the flip side is you don't want to put 70k on the car before switching as I've had seeping problems on other cars from the gaskets.

by all means, you can safely switch. regaurdless you are due for an oil change

By 10,000 miles, the engine should be sufficiently broken in to switch to synthetic. I'm not sure that the differences in price between various brands are justifiable in this situation. You can get 5 liters of Mobil 1 at Walmart for $22, or housebrand (Supertech) synthetic for about $17. Any oil that meets the spec should be fine. I don't have the Fit owner's manual with me right now, but I seem to remember that it listed more than one viscosity range, depending on ambient temperatures. Since you are in Florida rather than Minnesota, I would go with 5W 30 rather than 0W 30.

Also, despite what the oil meter says, the driving conditions you describe are much harder on oil life (per mile) than say, a 50-mile commute.

just change it. i changed my oil at like 5000 but i used Mobil 1.

You can change to synthetic at any time. There is no documented case that changing early to synthetic damaged their engine. One of the Acura model came with factory filled Mobil 1.

http://www.mobiloil.com/USA-English/...1_Brochure.pdf

The Honda OEM oil filters are well built, they are made by Toyo, so they are not crappy fram filters. Mobil 1 5w-20 is really good, I would use that or Amsoil 5W-20.
I would not deviate from the viscosity that is recommended. Mobil 1 and Amsoil are probably the 2 top synthetic oils out on the market.
I changed my oil this week,in the 09 FIT I used a Honda OEM oil filter and Mobil 1 5w-20

Thank you all. I will then change the oil using Mobil One, 5W20.
Also, canuck901, you might be interested by a thread I have started HERE. I am impressed by your mpg on Fuelly.com.
Please IM me how you achieve this. Thanks.

Hydro.

The 2009 owner's manual specifically states to use 5W20. There is no range of choices given. Obviously you can use other grades if you want. Just pointing out the manual doesn't give leeway like they used to. I had 8300 on my first fill and 30% left. I wimped out and changed it. I'm still gonna use dino, but...

There isn't a chance in hell I'm giving those gouging bastards at Mobil a nickle for their oil. I'll put in what the manual recommends, but it won't be mobil, that's for sure. Around these parts, they gouge on gas and they gouge on oil. Makes me sick.

Btw- I know nothing of synthetic oil but frankly, I'm thrilled not be dropping oil on my driveway with the fit. I'd like to keep it that way. Regular oil for me. Synthetic worries me, leak wise. So I've heard along the way, anyway. Probably from a mobil station!

Dan

It has nothing to do with damage. It will slightly delay the break in period. I used to build 911 engines professionally and we always used a non-synthetic oil for at least the first 1200 miles so the rings could seat. Granted, the rings we used (built for racing in some cases) were harder than normal rings and the ones in the Fit.


Don't make your decisions on your emotions and myth. There is no such thing as synthetics causing leaks, it is pure BS. The oil doesn't cause the leaks, faulty parts and worn out seals do. Synthetic oil doesn't deteriorate seals or cause leaks.

The facts of the matter is synthetic oil will keep your engine running for longer than regular oil. Dino oil has small amounts of wax, sulfur and can produce varnish or sludge buildup. Synthetics can endure a lot more heat than dino oil due to superior molecular structure. Synthetics also flow a lot better when cold......guess where you get a lot of engine wear? on startup when the oil is cold.

Cool. So from what you're suggesting, it's better to switch to synthetic around 1,200 miles or so? And then use only synthetic for the life of the engine? I have nothing against using it really. There's just so many differing opinions on it, so it's held me up from making the switch.

Dan

1200 is a bit too early. I would go at least 3000 and then switch with your first oil change. I would use it for the life on the engine and plan to do that with my Fit too. :)

Yeah, I figured at my first oil change. Thanks for the suggestions!

Dan

first oil change is free for me so will let the dealer do it, but from the next change im going to be using Mobil1 synthetic (silver cap).

my GE is also at about 8k miles and still showing 25% or something.

my oil life says 40% and i have 7800 on it now. when it says to i will change it with a full synthetic, im also waiting to do my first tire rotation, nothing has popped up saying to do so. has any ones maintenance minder said to do a tire rotation yet and if so at what millage?

you might want to do your tire rotation right around now. :D it's different from the oil reminder.

i usually rotate my tires every 7500miles or so every season since i run snows in the winter.

but the fits system will tell you to do a tire rotation, thats why i want to know if anyones has told them to do one

At 7500 miles, my front tires had 1/16 less tread than the rear tires, so I rotated them then. I think tire rotation is tied to oil changes on the maintenance minder, but this is something I can measure, so I will rotate my tires as needed.

My dealer insists on not changing the oil until the mm says 15%. That will probably be around 11,000 miles for me, so at that point, I'll switch to Mobil 1. If the mm was calling for oil changes around 7-8K, I'd probably continue using mineral oil.

"the break in oil has special agents aimed to wear your engine during the break in period."

No, the break in oil has Molybdenum Disufide, which is an ANTI-wear additive. This is intended to prevent cylinder wall scuffing and allow a good break in.

My Fit is getting it's first oil change at around 2,000 miles. I don't trust anyone else except me and my father to touch my car, so I'm doing it myself.

Now I will admit I haven't dealt with Honda before, but when I had to take my dad's cruiser in for maintinence we'd always get it back worse off than it was going in (airbox installed incorrectly. twice. Missing brake fluid cap, breaking the grill on the car and insisting we had done it in the time it took us to walk out of the dealership to our car, ect.) Anyone else have good luck with Honda in general?