Had a fun weekend with the fit driving though western mass and upstate ny.

Lots of nice twisty roads and beautiful weather.

On my way home on a particularly fast and twisty mountain road my low oil light flashed on a couple of times mid corner.

I slowed down the pace and as the light didn't stay on, drove the rest of the way home and checked the oil level which was barely registering.

I changed the oil, as I was at 20% anyway and only got about 2 qts of really dirty oil in the collection pan.

So... ...anybody else have anything like this happen? I'm think I'm officially DONE with trusting the service minder.

Also, didn't see any leaks which would imply I burned about 2 qts over 6kish miles?

I don't drive like an asshat that often.

Thoughts?

 

Jamy did in this thread.

How many miles do you have on yours?

 

Lil less than 50k

 

Might want to get it checked at Honda. Could be a warranty issue in your future.

 

Thanks for the link.

Just read through the thread and I'm praying that I don't have to go through all that.

Looks like I'm scheduling a checkup...

 

I know you said "over 6k miles," but how many miles do you think it's been since you last checked the oil level?

How many miles ago did you change the oil?

What grade oil do you use?

Just curious.

Yeah, I think it best to take it in. Even if they say it's OK you want it documented.

 

Embarrassingly enough, I haven't checked the level since the last time I got it changed.

Guess this will change that.

I use a full synthetic 5w-20 and usually get it changed around every 7k, which is when the service minder is getting to be around 15% or so. This time I think I was around 6300.

 

You might want to alter that first bit for the trip to Honda. Be good if you have receipts for the oil/filters from the changes you did yourself.

2+ quarts disappearing in 6300 miles is a lot of oil, I think.

 

There might very well be outward signs a closer look will see. Bottom of engine, tail pipe, that is a lot of oil. Possibly not taking it to full on the last change... If all was/has been consistently good till now it might be something you did wrong, but that link does seem to point in a different direction.

Good luck and be sure to keep us posted.

 

This is very common. Jiffy Lube and other quick change oil places use low cost labor and mistakes can be made.

Always, always check your oil level after an oil change before driving away. And then check your oil level every 2,000 miles thereafter. Or use the mileage minder and check it at 80%, 60% and 40%. Nothing more important for your engine than proper oil and level.

Since you didn't check level after oil change or anytime in between you now have no idea if your car used or leaked oil.

_

 

I will take another look at the engine and tailpipe, but I haven't seen any signs of anything leaking. (No oil spots in the places I park, none on the bottom of the engine, etc.)

I've had the car up in the air a few times since the last oil change, including once to throw on a new muffler and again the weekend before last. No oil on anything exhaust related.

At least not then....

I'm going to keep an eye on the level for a few weeks and try to see if I notice significant consumption.

Will definitely keep this thread up to date with what i find or don't.

 

Our Fits are not smart cars. They benefit from owners caring a bit

How can one not check oil? Duh. Then light comes on and we do not stop to check it? No sympany here for stupidity.

 

Unfortunately, if that light came on, the damage could have already been done. At the least, the life of your engine may have lost a few thousand miles.

The light comes on to signal a loss in oil pressure. Even a second with low oil pressure could ruin rod or main bearings. One microscratch, over time, will wear away and eventually lose enough clearence to cause a spun bearing.

This is obviously worst case scenario, so you might be lucky, and not have any issues. This just shows why it is so important to check your oil. I make a habit of checking mine once every week. Even on my brand new fit.

 

I'm with you on that... I do the same.

I also make a point to check on the ground under the engine bay to see if there have been leaks.
This behavior drove me nuts with my last vehicle as it was always developing leaks... but at least
I was on top of the situation.

I get teased all the time about being obsessive compulsive with respect to the car...

Peanut Gallery... "What... checking the oil AGAIN!"

Me... "Yes, you never know... that is why there is a dipstick."

Peanut Gallery... "Yes, but it is a new vehicle... stop being so anal."

Me... "I'll tell Honda to stop being anal and stop installing dipsticks."

I've also experienced issues with oil changes as well... mostly dealerships

Things like leaving the dipstick laying across the engine and filling with the
incorrect oil. Good thing I was checking under the hood before driving away.

Quickie oil change places have never screwed me on oil changes but one
place did open the rad cap on a hot engine... so they can test the coolant.
Then they also check the pressure on warm tires and set that incorrectly.

 

3 reports of Fits starting to lose oil rapidly have me spooked. I'm checking every fill (weekly) now where before it was once a month (if that often).

Honda is anal; show the peanut gallery the manual where it says to check it every time you fill with gas.

 

First and foremost. If you ever have the oil light come on or flicker regardless of the road you are on; STOP IMMEDIATELY AND CHECK THE OIL LEVEL.
If its low, and certaintly the lower fill mark is indicative of low, drive VERY convervatively to the nearest gas station or anywhere that sells oil and refill to at least halfway between the lower and upper marks. Don't overfill it either.
Hate to let you be aware but you may have damaged bearings or valves so watch out.
You should change oil again soon with filter to hopefully cleanout as much of the gunk that may have accumulated.
And of course find out why your oil was low and keep a close eye on the oil level, at least every day or 100 miles.

Good luck.

 

Service minder doesn't tell you oil is low, that's what the dipstick's for. Oil pressure indicator isn't designed to measure volume of oil in the pan, just the pressure.

 

Thanks for the advice guys. I will keep posting when/if anything happens in regards to this.

In the mean time some advice to people out there like me who are lackadaisical in some aspects of car maintenance:

CHECK YER OIL RIGHT FRIGGEN NOW.

 

Most cars I've owned got to the point where I always carried a qt of oil on board. Right now I would like to think I'm 100K miles from that concern. Dropping 2qt like that is hard to imagine - but totally possible. Would think though that a keen ear would have picked up on the valve clatter - can only imagine it would be noticeable with close to 50% of the crank empty, but then again, I've become a bit obsessive at listening to the engine's voice through the years.

You do offer good advice M.R.Fit - check er now!

 

this is hilarious. people continue to insist on listening to the MM to tell them when to change oil. if you guys had any idea how many oil consumption problems came through the honda dealer you would all be doing your LOF every 3k like it should be done. dont bother going to honda though, honda considers a vehicle that consumes 1qt or less every 1k miles to be acceptable. so 2qt over 6k is really nothing in the eyes of honda. good luck though