My '09 goes in for it's first oil change tomorrow because I've hit the 1 year mark at 8100 miles and MM at 40%. I'm also get the MPG readout fix done then.

 

Well, tell me this... has ANYONE'S minder told them to do an oil change at less than 5000 miles?

The way I see it, it isn't the computer telling you, but Honda engineers. They're basically saying, just wait a bit before changing it.

How does "smashing it every now and then" seat the piston rings properly? You've had the car 2 years and 45k miles. Unless there's catastrophic failure, shouldn't it be running like new anyway? I dunno, I drove a car my father bought for $4500 from a body shop that had been rebuilt after being totaled in a collision, and it felt pretty good, new to me... even after the 7 years I abused it (drove rough and didn't check anything I should've).

Don't answer, I'll be honest, I don't really care what your answer is. I know that I don't know much about cars (I'm not trying to be modest, I simply don't). Based on your signature, I can only assume that you feel that you know enough about cars. These are the types of conversations that only end badly for me, so I'll avoid it.

 

Changed oil in my '09 Sport at 8700 miles (40%) I plan on going approximately 3,000 miles on this oil and then switching over to Amsoil.

 

Goober Engine break-in means basically all the moving parts need to get to know each other, or seat themselves to each other. Of utmost importance is the surfaces between the piston rings and the cylinder walls. This is really where the rubber meets the road. Without proper cylinder compression the engine is dead. Aggressive driving up's the RPM's this puts extraordinary load on the cylinders and the rings,those are the parts that seal the pressure in the cylinder and keep it out of the crankcase. All the other parts rotate against each other and spinning is all that is really needed.

This is what JDM refers to by 'mashing it'. The Cadillac NorthStar engine [worlds apart from the L15] favors high engine stress, as to many high performance engines. It assures a tight ring set.

Does this mean you should be slamming your engine, well not exactly, but it does mean that engine load is not necessarily harmful to an engine and certainly not the L15.

Honda markets to the common driver, in fact the lowest common denominator of the 'common driver'. Thus they tell you, in practical terms, to take it easy the first 500 miles. They also tell you to not change the oil until your FIT, via the ECU, tells you to. The MM is a great tool to service your car by.

You must realize that the folks on this forum come from all sorts of backgrounds and have all sorts of rational in terms of how to treat the FIT. Look around to the forums under FIT TRIXS and you'll be amazed at what people are doing. Some of it is scary, as in holy shit - I never knew you could do that.

Gleen all you can and keep within your realm [and expand it as you can] and your FIT will treat you well. Tons of good stuff here from a huge knowledge base of drivers. Honda engines are a whole lot of fun at 5K on the tack. Just gotta know if it's what you want to do and then how to best do it.

Right now - Piña Colada time. Good to know Capt. Morgan.

K_C_ EDIT: The MM tells you when to do things based on your driving profile. Some are below the 5K mark.

 

I don't recall anyone mentioning that their MM hit 15% with 5k miles or less. But, I'll just leave that there and chalk it up to forgetfulness if there has been mention (that I've seen).

I guess what it is, I feel that he is making himself out to know better than the Honda engineers (my impression of his post). And it's a reason I should be avoiding it (I'll get "heated up" and probably mistakenly).

While I still have another opinion on the matter, it's gone to quite irrelevant, so I will leave it here.

 

well i don't wanna get in the middle of a tiff here but i will, just to say i changed my oil today (well the dealer did) at 7085 and my MM said 20% oil life but my fit was tracked two days ago and hammered on for four 20 minute tracking sessions on a real track https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/utah...tml#post886220 so i figured i'd give her a well deserved drink.
oh and last week (5 days ago) it said 30% oil life!
so i bought it in feb 2010 with 40 miles on her
it took 5 months and 6900 miles to go down 70%
and then 4 days and less than 200 miles to go down another 10%
im pretty sure the ecu knows how to gudge by a persons driving style (wot, idle, temp, etc.) when to reduce the %'tage and turn on the MM light (mine didnt turn on i just thought 20% was close enought and since i'm moving out of state in a week i wanted to get it done at the dealer i bought it from cause it was free)

 

There are 2 types of Fits, the 07-08 vtec fits mm say to change at 6000 miles and doesn't matter what oil is in there. The 09-10 ivtec has an adaptive mm, which uses how you drive,time and how much air goes through your engine to let you know when maintenance is needed. My mm is at 60 percent with 3500 miles and I drive 90 percent highway. I always used M1 after break in but I think I going to use Honda oil. Next time I go to dealer I will find out all I can. I will even buy a quart and compare it to other oils. I went on Honda website and of course no info.

I was told by the dealer 4 years ago they(Honda) uses mobil products, I will find out.

 

I'm on track for that, 1400 mi. @ 40%mm. 95% city, short trip driving with a cold winter. Minder goes down 10% at every fill up. I only live a mile from work(I'd walk or bike, but I've got a bum knee). Bought 12/15/09 with 214 mi on the odometer.

 

5hit fit Like your sig - should add 10 windows_

 

I'll try not to add any more fuel to my overly heated (esp on my end) "conversation" with JDMxGE8. The conversation might already be over... *shrugs*.

I'd say 20% is fine too. I wasn't saying that a person should wait until exactly when it turns 15%. Heck, if I had bought this car used, I'd probably wait until it's 0% or negative! Mostly out of laziness.

I mean, sure, having something "tell" you it's time for an oil change is like having your handheld when doing things, but I see it more of...

That once you get a better idea of what you can do with the car, then you can know WHEN and HOW much is actually needed.

If you're super aggressive and the MM tells you its time at 2.5k or something... that's one thing. But if you're so-so aggressive, and the MM is on a relative track for 6k and you change it at 2.5k anyway... that's another.

For the first 900 miles, it seemed on track for a less then 4k mile oil change (90% @450 mi, 80% @900 mi). But, it's still at 80% with 1550 miles now. So, who knows when my MM will get to 15%.

That being said... since you track... I'm actually kinda surprised (in a good way) that the MM took your track time into account.

When I was at the dealer last weekend, I saw the Honda oil and Mobil1 oil stacked next to each other. They have similar packaging, but the definite proof... both say made by Exxonmobil.

Actually, at the rate you are going, you're hitting the 1 yr "recommended" limit first.

Uh... dang, you're right... 10 windows!

 

What's the argument about... didn't that one guy post his Oil Analysis from Blackstone labs, it showed that even with his dino oil he could of gone longer than 10K.

I'm on Mobil1 0W-20 changed yearly, don't drive enough every year to make the MM go down to 15%, I'm pretty sure the engine is going to outlast the body.

 

The engine should definitely last years... Also, Changing yearly you are likely to save enough money to replace the engine at 200K miles over someone who changes every 3000 miles. Prices online I've seen for an R18 are around $1400-$1500 so I'd guess the fit's L15 should be in the same price range.

At my current rate, I'll have spent $724 on oil changes (using mobil1) when I hit 200K miles. Someone doing the same every 3K miles will have spent $2533. even someone changing their own oil (with mobil1) will have spent $2000. (If I did it myself, my number would be $571).

We are going to keep the fit for as long as it will last. My prelude was just under $200k miles when I traded it (Black/Black Lude with a dead A/C - had to go) and I'm sure the fit will last just as long if not longer. The plan is to make it my son's first car (he's almost 4) so in another 11 years we'll be teaching him how to drive a 5MT on a 12 yr old car. At that point, I'll have saved enough money by following the MM to drop in a *new* engine if need be. Maybe that's the time to upgrade to an R18.

~SB

 

But then it would be the 6hit fit.

 

Say that 10 times fast.... I saw that after the post but figured with all the fives the ten made sense, plus it was getting a bit sticky around here. Sort of was reminding me of this Guns N' Roses

 

Got mine changed at about 8400 mi- 40% oil life. Comes out to about twice a year with the amount of driving I do. Once at inspection time and once in the middle of the year.

 

I can relate to this. When I had my DB8, I would change the oil before and after track days.

 

When cylinders were honed iron and rings were chromed, break in was slow and required techniques to speed things up. Plain iron or moly rings helped. I believe Honda's alloy block is finished with some kind of hard coating, not an iron liner. The finish on that coating should need little or no break in, almost perfectly smooth, but with enough pockets or voids to retain a little oil. Also, the upper compression ring should be moly-filled or coated, again needing little or no break in.

 

The oil life monitor in my Corvette has an algorithm that uses just 2 variables. Oil temperature and engine revolutions. The more you run the engine cold the harder it is on the oil, and the more high-rev driving (like at the track) the harder on the oil.

I wonder if Honda uses the same algorithm? I understand that GM has licensed it to other car makers.

 

Ahh, the days of detailed engine break-in procedures. That was then...

The L15 cylinders are unlined and honed at a 60d cross hatch pattern [not much different than the NorthStar - aluminum block as well].

Pistons have 4 rings and one spacer [between the bottom two rings]. I do know the piston skirts are moly coated from the factory, not sure on the rings, however, though I doubt they coat wear surfaces.

Engine break-in should not be much different from any contemporary engine, but is not complete at 500miles. From what I gleen it's closer to 10K in Honda's mind. What makes life easier is the quality of manufacturing technique and tolerance.

It seems that Honda is very confident with how they build their new engines and thus recommend not changing the initial oil till the MM indicates so. They recommend this to assure proper engine break-in.

I'm not at all suggesting the need for aggressive driving to facilitate the process. I'm simply trying to explain the mechanics and point out that others do take a slightly different approach - as is quit evident throughout this forum and confusing to many.

"Not that there's any thing 'wrong' with that." Seinfeld_

 

From my experiences on other car forums on this subject, there are still lots of people that will stay with the old-school of an initial change at ~1K and every other change at 3K no matter what some engineer at the factory says.

The company will honor the warranty on the engine if you stick to their recommendations so I think they must be pretty confident in them.