New to the fit family, just picked up a brand new white 2015 honda fit lx last night. I traded in my 2010 civic lx for it.

I have a question regarding the first oil change, does this need to be done before the regular mileage change due to motor break in ?

I have heard a few people say you should do one at 1k but have heard this is not needed.


thanks for the help in advance

 

This has been discussed and argued around here ad infinitum. I do know that Honda is one of the only manufacturers that uses a special break-in oil containing extra molybdenum disulfide. My dealer advised me NOT to change it early. It went against everything I thought I knew about engines, but on my '09 Fit I ran the original oil until the maintenance minder hit 20% (around 10,000 miles). that car ran perfectly, with negligible oil consumption as long as I owned it (one pint in 7,000 miles at 85,000 miles).


I'll break in my '15 the same way.

 

thanks for the response, is there a actual break in procedure in the manual ?

I have read its in the manual but I don't see it anywhere

 

There was for my '09 Fit, but I've looked all through the owner's manual for the '15, and any reference to "break-in" is conspicuous by its absence in the new manual.


From the '09 Fit owner's manual;
"Break-in Period-
Help assure your vehicle's future
reliability and performance by paying
extra attention to how you drive
during the first 600 miles (1,000 km).
During this period:




● Avoid full-throttle starts and rapid
acceleration.




● Avoid hard braking for the first 200
miles (300 km).




● Do not change the oil until the
scheduled maintenance time.


You should also follow these
recommendations with an
overhauled or exchanged engine, or
when the brakes are replaced."

 

The only thing mentioned in the 2015 manual is this from page 317 (sidebar):

- During the first 600 miles (1,000 km) of operation, avoid sudden acceleration or full throttle operation so as to not damage the engine or powertrain.
- Avoid hard braking for the first 200 miles (300 km). You should also follow this when the brake pads are replaced.

So very similar to what is mentioned above, only it's not specified as "break-in instructions" and no mention in that section about oil changes.

Page 366 mentions:

Change the oil and filter in accordance with the Maintenance Minder message on the information display.

 

Great thanks so much for the help

Luv the new fit by the way

 

The conventional wisdom of an early oil change comes from the days when manufacturing was much less clean and the chance of casting sand or machining debris in an engine was considerable. Machined surfaces were rougher and it was expected that you would find metal in the oil. The routine was to change oil after the initial engine run, after the first 100 (or 300, or 500) miles, and at 2000 or 3000 thereafter.

Modern cars come with much better cleanliness and machining quality and they are pretty much broken in from the initial run. Filtering systems are now excellent and any stray particles will be trapped before they can get to the bearings. Honda's recommendation is very prudent under the circumstances.

 

Not to mention that today's high-detergent oils are vastly superior to what we ran even a few years ago. Lubrication science has kept up with the increasing demands.

 

I'll be running mine down to 15%. As others have said here, Honda uses a special formulation for the factory fill and doesn't recommend changing it early.

 

Three dealer's service departments in the Boston metro (Boch, Bernardi, and Commonwealth) all told me the same information: wait to change the first fill oil until 5000 mi or 15% whichever comes first on my 2019 Fit LX (GX).

 

This question does repeat.
But it's an honest question because I think the recommendation and "ritual" applied to this has changed over the past 20 years.
In the old days, it was pretty much the recommendation with a new vehicle to replace the oil early when you first bought it.
Now with synthetics, and I think engines that reach the consumer with tighter tolerances, better built, that recommendation is no longer considered accurate or needed.

When I bought my 2010 Honda Fit (new), I wanted to have the oil changed within the first 2000 miles, which is what I had done with all my previous new vehicles, but was told to wait until the maintenance minder told me to change the oil.
It was really hard for me to adjust. But I waited.

I did the same thing-waited with my 2016, and now it's not as hard for me to accept.

So anyway, my recommendation IS to just follow the maintenance minder, but I understand why this question re-appears, because there was a time when the accepted best policy was to change early. That's changed.

 

New news:

I called American Honda - the first fill oil change (first oil change) on the GK should occur per the Maintenance Minder and not what the Dealer claims (Boch and Bernardi Honda in Boston both said 5000 mi). That's because the oil used from the factory is Honda Service Replacement Oil. They even sent me the blurb they train their service case workers:


Q: My Honda is equipped with break-in oil, should I change it early?

A: No. To ensure proper engine break-in, the factory-fill engine oil needs to remain in the engine until the first scheduled maintenance interval.

The factory fill oil is the same as Honda Service Replacement Oil. The difference is the Molybdenum lubricant that is applied to specific internal engine components.

 

Personally, I'd change the oil at 5K. I used the maintenance minder thinking the engineers were smarter and had it all figured out. I was wrong. My POS 2017 that I bought new with less than 50 miles on the odometer blew up at 80K miles. Honda told me to get F'd, my insurance told me to get F'd so I bought an engine from the junk yard. I've owned 80+ cars and trucks. This is the first car I've had blow up unless you count the worn out $400 car I had at age 17. Only thing I can attribute to it is using the maintenance minder instead of my usual 5K full synthetic changes. It's your car do what you want, but if you're going to use the maintenance minder buy an extended warranty.