I got just a touch over 10,000 miles (set the record at my dealership) before the first oil change. My service advisor and I think I could have made 11k or maybe even 12k, but since it was in for an unrelated repair (squirrel chewed an ABS sensor wire) we figured we'd do the 10k service.

I drive 80% highway miles commuting back and forth betwen San Antonio and Houston.

 

The oil monitor is a great system. But it's no substitute for the owner taking an active role in preventive maintenance. Just make sure you don't forget your car has oil until that little reminder comes on. It's a good idea to check the oil level regularly. Miant minder will NOT tell you that.

 

i agree, but unless there is something horribly wrong with your fit, you wont have low oil level issues.

but the maintenance minder deal is different than just visually checking your oil...its this endless debate on wether to wait to change it when honda says or when your silly gut feeling tells you to.

listen to honda and all goes well.

 

You're missing the point. Sometimes things CAN go horribly wrong and oil level might be the only indicator. Additionally, a blown head gasket might first manifest itself by gooping up the oil a bit.

Our engine specs approximately 3.8 qts of oil. I'm at 50% oil life with 6,000 miles on the odo. If I wait until 0% to change the oil, thats 12k miles. For someone not to check oil level in 12k miles is nutty. Hondas are not immune from burning oil. Matter of fact, I and several other k24 series owners have reported fairly significant oil consumption. Mine hasn't been that bad (CR-V), but after 5k miles, I can be down as much as a 1.5 qts.

All I'm saying is yes, trust the maintenance minder for overall oil life (it's actually fairly conservative), but verify level and look for other tell-tale issues with frequent level checks. This is standard operating procedure for most folks who have been doing long drain intervals.

 

Leave it to the cpu to decide when to change the oil and other maintenance. Honda spent money and R&D for us to worry other things.

 

how am i missing the point? i AGREED w/you on visually inspecting the oil. and just because you are at 50% oil life with 6000 miles does not mean you are going to reach 0% right at 12, it always varies. besides, honda reccomends to change it once its at 15%.

and k24 engines are different beasts. and my point still stands: if a car this new is burning oil that quickly, then something is defintely off-kilter.

 

chjanged oil at 8000mi, 40% on indictor. blackstone lab analysis. said too try 11,000.
at 30% now at 9200mi they might be right on.

 

I realize the k24 is different and I realize I may not make it to 12k miles. I'm just saying I've noticed a lot of near-zombie-like belief in here buy some folks regarding the reliability of their cars. Honda engines can burn oil like any others and you'd be surprised at how much consumption is considered "within manufacturer specs." I'm a true believer in the maintenance minder. People really underestimate the capability of today's API SM, ILSAC GF-4 oils. They are fantastically robust in engines like ours.

Just reminding people it's good to check levels fairly regularly and to look for signs of trouble like coolant-induced sludge or other such nasties.