New to fit freak. hello all! Do you think the mm is to long for oil changes? Great site! lots or imfo.

 

No.

However many people will start to have stress disorders if they go beyond the 3,000 mile jiffy lube recommendation. If you're in this group feel free to change often. It's cheaper than a shrink.

Oh, and welcome to the forum!

 

Guy I work with changes the oil in his 2005 Civic SI every 10,000 miles. It has 160,000 miles on it and not a lick of trouble ever.

If it makes you feel any better, my first Iand only so far) oil change in the fit was ~9k miles and the oil came out cleaner than any 3k oild change in my subaru. Hondas are very easy on their oil.

 

I agree. I do once a year or 10,000 miles synthetic. I have for most of my cars in the last 15 years.... they've always made it to 200k with no engine problems.

 

Follow the MM, it's your friend.

 

If you are reluctant to follow the MM, get a report from blackstone oil analysis. It'll show if the long oil change is working.

Also don't forget to check the oil dipstick occasionally.

 

revious:

I still am in the habit of checking the dipstick EVERY time I fuel up (habit from owning many, many cars which burned oil). With 8000 mi. between changes, I often worry if wiping off the dipstick each week is slowly draining the pan. LOL

 

My Fit is the first car I feel comfortable with going so long between changes, reason being, Honda is much smarter than I, and we aren't in the dinosaur age of oil anymore.. Anyway I always change when the light comes on at 15%, averaging right now 3 changes every 8550 miles or so. And just cause I trust it, I stick with Hondas recommendation on oil as well, 0w20 Mobil 1.

 

Glad I came across this thread.

I still have yet to do my first oil change on my Fit. Bought back in Sept '11, I've put about 6500kms on her, and I'm only at 50%!!

From what I've read, the oil Honda puts in the car when it's new has more additives in it for the break in process (any truth? or just BS?), etc. So I'm just gonna follow the MM. The oil still looks pretty clean on the dipstick, so I just need to calm down, and quit being so worried lol

I'm in the same boat as others, where I'm still used to the old school oil change every 3 months or 5000kms, whichever comes first. Glad that's not the case anymore! (at least with the Fit )

 

Put 9k on my fit since purchased used before I did my first oil change at 10% on the MM, then did my next one 11k later at 5% with a switch to full synthetic with that change, I expect 15k on the full synthetic oil now. If you calculate average of $25 for oil and filter every 3k saving that 4times over ($100) is a NICE savings by owning this car for sure.

 

Takes a lot of us old dogs to get used to the extended cycle. It's not so much Honda puts extra additive in the factory oil as that the piston skirts are moly treated and Honda prefers to see the factory fill go the full cycle to assure a good start to engine break-in.

Fit4Spl That's the suggested cycle I got from my Honda dealer for the switch to synthetic. Research showed me that many oil mfg suggest similar on new engines.

Dig into the forum and you'll find a few classic oil debate threads. It's a topic that gets kicked around frequently. We're due for another heated ebate soon I'm thinking ;-)

K_C_

 

I have exactly the same problem. It's a bit OCD and a bit um, well ok it's all OCD. But in our defense the owner's manual does say to do it. Doesn't it?

But to reduce the stress of incessant dip stick wiping (probably something VERY Freudian here), and, since I'm all about reducing stress (I'm lying), I have this to offer:

How much oil is on the dipstick? A couple drops.

Well how much is a drop?

• the "metric" drop, 1/20 mL (50 μL).
• the medical drop, 1/12 mL (83⅓ μL).
• the Imperial drop, 1/36 of a fluidram (1/288 of an Imperial fluid ounce, or 1/1440 of a gill) (approximately 99 μL).
• an alternate, possibly apocryphal, definition of the drop is 1/1824 of a gill (approximately 78 μL).
• the U.S. drop, 1/60 of a US fluidram, 1/80 of a teaspoon or 1/480 of a U.S. fluid ounce (approximately 62 μL).
• an alternate definition of the U.S. drop is 1/96 of a teaspoon or 1/576 US fl oz (approximately 51 μL).

(carefully lifted from wiki. OK I know DSM recommends not lifting from wiki because it will get you mocked on your doctoral thesis, but I'm lazy.)

I'm gonna go with the metric drop because I haven't the slightest idea what any of the other ones are talking about and/or doing the math with fl oz or teaspoons makes my head hurt.

So with 2 drops @ 0.05ml per gives is 0.1 ML per stick wiping (which isn't a metaphor for anything dirty).

At 8,000 mile oil changes (your figure, I'm about 10K these days) and assuming you burn about 8.5 gallons and you get 34mpg that's 8,000/(8.5*34) wipes. Or 27.68 wipes to be more accurate. At 0.1ml per wipe that's 27.68*0.1ml of oil wiped off between changes or 2.768ml.

Because I'm still a yank brought up in the dark ages and live in the south, I need to picture that in quarts.. 2.768ml is 0.0029 quarts (I cheated) or a little less than 3/1000ths of a quart. So we're safe.

I think. Better go check the level again, I may have screwed up the calculation.

 

You forgot to factor in that a drop on a cold day is bigger than a drop on a warm day. Get back to work and figure in these conditions, then get back to us with some variable equation we can all use. LOL.

 

Or if the same volume in spite of the temperature differential, it will be denser at least

 

whimper...

but unless it changes the result by a factor of more than 100 we can rest easy.

(runs off to check oil again)

 

Also to consider is if you're a double or triple dipper. I rarely trust the first dip after wiping.

 

Pull dipstick, wipe, reinsert, check level and wipe, reinsert, and check one final time. Yup, I'm a triple dipper

 

Same for me I got 9K on the first batch of oil and changed it with conventional. The little wrench just lit up today, so I'll let it get to 10% and then put in some Mobil 1 just like I use in my Vette. But I'll still change it when the MM gets down near zero even though I know it could go longer.

 

Check before start-up each day. No dipping at all.

 

Impressive OCD!

Wait, you reinsert a drippy dipstick with no wiping? shudder.