Hey guys,

I purchased my 2012 Fit in June (approx 6 months ago). I haven't driven it that much yet. I have around 1800 miles on it and the oil life shows 80%. Is there any maintenance that should be performed at the 6 month mark or should I just wait until 1 year/MM light comes up?

Thank you for your advice.

 

Hi,

When the oil life indicator reaches 15%, its time for an oil change.
I'm not sure if this applies throughout North America but the first oil change at Honda is free.
When my oil indicator reached 15% my odometer read (~8200 km/~5125 miles).
Your car may hit more or less miles than mine did, keep that in mind as it is only an unofficial indicator.

My first oil change is next week so I will post a follow-up after the oil change.

Hope this answered you question.

 

Thanks for the reply.

I guess my question is--Besides the oil which I will wait for the oil indicator to reach 15%, is there any other maintenance that I should do at 6 months?

 

FYI: the mm won't pop up at 1 year, you have to track it yourself. But yeah, nothing to do at 6 months.

 

Read the manual to see what codes will come up. It will always be a letter followed by a sequence of numbers (eg A 1).

The first code to pop up will be A1, so that means oil change and rotate tires.

The codes are predictable and this list has been correct so far for me:
https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/fit-...ce-so-far.html

 

Personally i like to change the oil the first 1000 miles as there is a lot of assembly contaminates floating around the oil from machining and assembly. The oil itself is sometimes old if they car just sits around as well. On my new bikes i change the oil 2 times by the time i hit 1000 miles, you'll be surprised at the crap that comes out in the oil at just 500 miles.

 

From what I read the oil change is when the MM reports it's time or 12 months whichever comes first. I don't do allot of driving now that I am retired so I know my oil changes will likely be yearly.

 

By doing so (1K mile-initial oil change),,,you are also defeating the purpose of the "first fill (i.e. "break in") oil Honda put in the motor. Generally, it is a high boron-containing oil that helps the motor during break in of piston rings, skirts, et. al. Molybdenum exists in the first fill oil but it is actually sourced from from molybdenum disulfide assembly lube and moly-coated piston skirts.

1,000 miles is way too early of an oil change on this motor (follow the MM and the owner's manual!).

If it means anything (I think it does), here is an excerpt August 2006 edition of Honda Service News, this is what Honda says about their factory fill:

"What’s really important to remember here is this:
Don’t change the factory-fill engine oil because it
looks dark; just make sure it’s at the right fluid
level. To ensure proper engine break-in, the
factory-fill engine oil needs to remain in the
engine until the first scheduled maintenance
interval."

Article goes on to say

"At PDI, does the factory-fill engine oil look less
like Texas Tea and more like Oklahoma Crude?
Don’t worry, there’s nothing wrong with the
engine. The engine oil looks that way because of
molybdenum (that’s “moly” for short), a special
lubricant applied by the factory to critical engine
components during assembly.
When the engine is test-run, that molybdenum
mixes with the engine oil, turning it a dark
metallic color often within the first 5 minutes of
running. And just how dark that engine oil turns
seems to vary between vehicle models, engine
types, and engine assembly plants."

 

I am actually getting my oil change again had car 6 months 12k will be driving another 3k next week but figure it is free at my dealer and rotate the tires before my trip.

 

The way i drive mine, it will be well broken in by 500 miles. I break in my machines like i stole it. I dont baby anything i drive/ride.

 

Due to circumstances beyond my control (6000 km roadtrip) I didn't end up getting my first oil change until 13000 km. This was at around the 6 month point of ownership. I did always monitor the level (didn't ever go down) and the colour (didn't ever look too bad).
However, at the time, my maintenance minder was still reading 40% on oil.
My fit gets pretty much all highway kms though and I never wail on it until it's good and warmed up.
Just rolled over 20000 km yesterday and the oil minder is still at 70%. I'm coming up on one year of ownership in a month, so I may get a change when I head to the dealership.

 

My is reading 50% at 6,000 miles since my last oil change. I am use to going by a set standard milage for oil changes. On my wife's 2012 Camry the dealer recommends every 10k miles.

 

I don't know about the rest of you, but one of the reasons I bought a Honda is because they know how to make a damn good engine. That said, I trust their recommendations on when to change the oil, particularly the first oil change, which the manual explicitly states not to change early.
What you are used to does not apply here. I was once used to dialing up and waiting through a series of strange noises before connecting to the internet. Technology changes.

 

Many like myself have been hesitant to rely on the MM. I keep a maintenance log on my cars. After all, they used to be called "idiot lights" in my younger days. Definitely takes getting used to. Since having the Fit for a while, I'm now okay to call it "smart light" .... so far so good.

Here's an older thread you guys might be interested in: https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/fit-diy-repair-maintenance/19215-maintenance-minder-sequence-so-far.html

 

A maintenance log is a good idea if only for resale value. When selling the car to an individual this will be a strong selling point (not so much on a trade). I've gone electronic at least. A spreadsheet with scans of all my receipts.

Some stuff the maintenance minder can't really cope with. 10,000 mile tire rotations are too infrequent. Any non-maintenance work or extra maintenance.

I do trust it more than any other method for oil change intervals.

 

Coming from daily driving a 17 year old BMW, I still haven't gotten used to the concept of listening to the MM in the Fit. I'm at ~3200 miles of almost all highway driving and still at 80% oil life. Will be interesting to see how long it takes for it to pop up.

 

Keep in mind that the 0w-20 is a synthetic oil. It's not designed to be changed as frequently as conventional oil.

 

My 2010 Fit (base) is seeing 90% highway driving @ 75 mph......

My Maintenance Minder is usually 5% Oil Life remaining around 12,000 miles with Mobil 1 5W-20 synthetic motor oil. This seems "in line" with your MM 80% at 3200 miles (so far).

Consider adding a 2.6-quart transmission fluid change every 10-20K if you are running a lot of highway miles.

 

Do you wait until it's at 5% to change the oil? 12k seems like a lot lol

 

Used oil analysis has shown that the oil is still functioning within spec for viscosity, contaminate holding ability, and acid buffering capacity.