Probably been asked before, but I didn't have any luck searching.
When to do first oil change? Wait for oil % indicator to get low - how low? Or after X miles? Called dealer service, continual busy line.
Which new oil is recommended?
I also read somewhere that the factory oil in a new Fit has special additives for break-in (Moly DiSulfide?) and should not be changed early.
How does the oil % work? Again, somewhere I read it is based on counting Revs of the engine and engine temp. Friend says it is just based on mileage.
09 Fit, 7 months old, 2500 miles, oil @70%. Nice car.
Thanks,
912

 

I did my first oil change at around 6,xxx miles. I don't pay attention to the oil life indicator.

 

Like which oil to use, opinions are all over the place, from 600 miles to 90% on the oil meter (probably around 10,000 miles). I plan to change at 5000, switch to synthetic at 10,000, and change thereafter at 10,000 mile intervals (unless the oil meter says sooner). As to what oil to use: the slippery kind.

 

Just back from the dealer. The 1st Oil change was free!
I had 4979 Miles on my Fit Sport, but the oil was getting dirty.
Bought with Cash for Clunkers $$

Then, when I stopped for gas on the way home, I pulled a 43.8 MPG.
That's our best ever.

 

I have 5w-20 synthetic in now, and I will put 0w-20 synthetic for the cold months ahead. I changed it so far at the 15% mark which was 10k. I will continue to follow the maintenance minder.

 

When search doesn't work, RTFM.

 

Switched to Mobil 1 at 4K miles... MONSTER difference in the northeast

I did a 300 mile trip before oil change & same trip a week later after & it was clear that oil indicator is a useless as the MPG gauge.

4 mpgs better at least on that trip alone same weather conditions, temp, speed

 

just had my first oil change at 11500 km(7000 mi) on my 2009 fit lx auto

oil on dipstick was still fairly clean before hand

the service had come on the day before at 15% oil life

went full syn 5w20 quakerstate winter

 

I did my first oil change at just over 1 year from date of purchase. During that time I accumulated a total of 6600km (about 4000 miles) and oil metre was still at 40%. Normally I change the oil in my cars every 6 months, so it just killed me to go a year without an oil change, even with the oil metre still pretty high. Stuck with regular dino oil. This is not a high performance car, so no need to synthetic in this engine. It's bad enough that my other cars require synthetic oils.

 

i've used synthetic after oil change..

 

If no one else has said it here, Honda recommends NOT to change the oil until the Maintenance Minder wrench illuminates at 15% oil life remaining. If oil changes are done too early fuel economy, oil consumption and engine performance may be compromised. As a senior service advisor at a dealer, we have seen nearly all newer vehicles that have either oil consumption issues or lower than average fuel economy numbers to have had an oil change done at 3000 miles or less. The Honda engineering teams we talk to on the phone say that until a small amount of breakdown occurs in the oil the break-in does not occur correctly, if rings don't seat within a certain amount of time from new it is likely they will not ever seat correctly.

Just my .02 minus taxes.

 

I'm at about 7900 miles and the oil minder meter is at 40% at this time. (4 months of ownership)

I'd like to see how many miles it gets to when it hits that 15% that the manual says. :-) And since it's from the factory, why not try and follow it and see if it works well.

I also wanted to see how my mileage changes from the early stages of oil life down to the lower levels. I'm averaging about 36-37 (actual) at this time within the 60% down to the 40% oil life but the weather has changed too so it hasn't been a big difference plus I've been driving a little more aggressively (from the avg of about 39.5 before).

I might go to the dealer for the first oil change since they gave me a $50 gift card. :-) Use it when you got it, right?

The new car fun is still going.

 

The Honda maintenance minder thing has been out for quite some time now. My other car is a Ridgeline. I bought it in 2005. Back then there was a lot of confusion as to when oil change should be done. Lots of old timers debating over who is right, the MM or traditional, tried and true, rules of thumb. I'm an old timer myself, but I keep an open mind about things. People kept saying the MM was just a glorified odometer and there was no way it was complicated. Well, it is not a glorified odometer like the old Honda's were, where a light went on in the dash and you used your key to turn it back to green. Things have evolved since then.

Anyway, I've been following the MM faithfully on my Ridgeline and there have been no issues whatsoever. Why would Honda engineers risk damage to their motors by introducing a maintenance system that is not reliable?

One of my buddies is a Honda Certified mechanic and he says there are a couple of things the MM is flakey about and that is the tranny fluid change interval. His feeling is that the MM tends to group things together and tie it in with the oil change. He did say though, that it was all within specs - just a few times where it was stretching it. Anyway, I'm not a mechanice, so I'll just leave it at that.


EDIT: Forgot......... some people think the opposite - that the MM is a fantastic piece of engineering. That it also keeps track of fluid levels, LOL. You have to continue to keep checking your oil levels and such.

I'm one of those people who miss having a temperature gauge and would like to have an oil pressure gauge as well.

 

Welcome aboard. It's nice to have someone from a Honda dealership contribute to the discussion -- presumably, you know a few things that we don't.

 

I think this forum is wonderful. I do have a bit of a short temper with people who adamantly state nonsense as fact, but I always try to be kind. I hate flamers (I've been flamed tons asking questions I've researched copiously). I know less than most of you but have access to more, hopefully we can make an information exchange that benefits everyone. I love my 09 Sport AT, so far I've done the following mods.

Download Fit MPG.pdf from Sendspace.com - send big files the easy way
Blue parking lights front (NOT STREET LEGAL... but coool)
Philips NightGuide headlights
Right front wiper delete
Honda Leather Shift Knob
Accord (low tone) horn
Yellow Halo H11 fogs
Silverstar 7507 blue/amber turns front/rear
Ridiculous tint from prior owner (scheduled for metalized Llumar)
Navi in left corner window
LED interior lights
Intake resonator mod

So far so good for three weeks.

b

 

click search.

click advanced search.

enter key words: oil change

choose thread titles only.

click search now.

 

Just had my first oil change. Only one surprise. I had the tech save the filter for me. It said Filtech-Assembled in USA. What, are they making them here and sending them to Japan for installation? The OEM filter saga continues.