I've been changing oil for 40 years and haven't screwed up yet. But I'm a realist. We all make mistakes, even with things we do all the time. It's not impossible to get distracted and forget something, whether it's to make sure the gasket is intact on the oil filter, or to put the bolt back in (with a new washer) before adding oil, or something else.

If you think you're perfect maybe you shouldn't even be driving.

 

My driving is perfect...just don't ask the other motorists. LOL

There are sooo many factors to oil change intervals. The two largest being the quality of the oil and how much stress the vehicle puts on the oil. The ultimate answer is to send off a sample to be tested. I use Blackstone Labs and have been happy with their service. It showed that 6k was too far to go on my turbocharged GDI car even with full synthetic because of fuel dilution resulting in viscosity breakdown.

I sent off a few samples in the early days of our Fit and the oil was OK at 5k. It could have been used for more miles at the 5k mark, but there was some viscosity loss. Not much though. That was with Castrol Syntec Titanium. I'm sure it would have still been usable at 7,500 miles even. But, usable is not what I'm after. Once I see the oil has fuel dilution and viscosity breakdown, I want it changed.

 

Interesting, because just about everybody else who's had their oil analyzed here reported that the results were that their oil could have gone a lot longer. And usually when a car falls apart it's not engine wear, just the continuing cost of replacing stuff that breaks in a car that's not worth much.

 

Honda took time and effort to put in a maintenance minder. While there is no wrong doing extra maintenance, I doubt the car will last any longer.

 

The thing to watch is the viscosity numbers. Blackstone, for whatever reason, always says the oil could go longer. However, the user needs to do their own analysis and look at the viscosity and decide whether or not they should. I would/will not run oil that has viscosity breakdown or shearing.

That being said, with how little stress a Fit motor puts on oil and with most Fit owners driving styles, I'd guess that won't happen for quite a few miles. We live in the mountains and have the throttle pinned wide open daily with the car under full load going up mountains. Even with that, our Fit oil analysis wasn't so bad.

***Note...below does not apply to a Honda FIT***

Here's an analysis from one of our other cars. Note that they say everything is fine in my report, but it's NOT fine. The oil is done. I gave this analysis to the tuner that I use on the car below and they said...use different oil and change it more often. They are correct. Here's the analysis...

 

though I am one who prefers longer 7500+ mile oci .... I wont ever go as far as telling other people they have to do the same as I do. people who prefer 5000 mile changes, will do as they feel, and I respect that 100%. if it works for them .... go for it, right?

Gafit, I predict at the end of my experimentation, I may eventually join you on 5k oci, by virtue of a fresh oil change makes my car just feel more powerful. maybe its my imagination.... but a fresh oil change makes the revs smoother / appear to rev more smooth


I beg to differ on this comment, from the stand point that practice makes perfect. I feel like the more you do these kinds of things, the better you get at it... and the lower your chances are of screwing up. I sure hope my dentist doesnt screw up on my next visit .... because he's seen so many teeth over his career that there's a small chance hes going to make a mistake

I would like to say, "you make a good point" but it just has stupid written all over it

 

Sure, you get better with practice but you can't skip to 'good' without first going through 'learning."
In other words, to get to 20 changes you still have to do the first 10, THEN another 10. The second 10 can't have negative errors to compensate for the mistakes in the first 10. You're just adding more opportunities for error. Even if you reduce the chances of error in the second 10, you're still at risk in the first 10. And then a bit more for the next 10.

The only argument would be that you need to do oil changes more frequently because if you don't do them often enough you're more likely to make a mistake. But really, is there much difference between 6 months and 12 months?

Furthermore, errors are so rare that you're not really learning much from doing extra oil changes. It's just the minor risk of making a mistake and you're giving yourself more opportunities to make them.

 

You are not more likely to screw up an oil change than the guys at Mr Lube.

 

just wanted to share a 7500 mile uoa at 37500 miles on the odo

next sample involves using the same oil brand/weight but rated for 15k, and the same oil filter brand but also rated for 15k ... depending on the maint minder .... next uoa will either be 10k or 15k

when that next report comes in, I'll be sure to share my results.

wish me luck .... on doing an oil change without the following errors:

• fail to fill oil level all the way
• over fill oil level
• leave the filler cap off
• drop something into the engine bay
• not put the oil filter on correctly and have the oil leak out
• have the car fall off the jack stands
• a mustang running into me, mid oil change

 

According to YouTube, that would be the most likely of the events you listed. LOL

I've driven 5.0 Mustangs since I was 15 and haven't run into any crowds yet, but it sure seems to happen quite often in videos!

That fuel dilution is due to Direct Injection. For how awesome it's supposed to be for the environment, it sure pollutes a whole lot of ancillary things. Including oil and the back bumpers of cars due to running pig rich. I just don't understand.

Note that your viscosity at 1500 more miles and starting with thinner oil is higher than mine was. I suspect that the L15 is pretty darn easy on oil.