I have close to 6K miles on my GE8 right now. Going to be changing the oil this week. Then I'll be changing every 3K miles and will be using synthetic oil.

Remember we used to be told to change every 3 months or 3K which every comes first, due to the moisture that would mix with the oil. Does the 3 month oil change still apply?

as far as i know....no.

my oil changes on the fit average about every 4-5k miles using mobil 1 figure if the fit is going to tell me when to change it...why not. i usually change it when the oil life light comes on. i think its when its at 20% ? may be 15%, it will tell you to change it at 5% i think. its all in the fit manual.

The oil change light adapt tou your driving conditions, temperature, etc... a lot of short trips in cold temperatures with the pedal to the metal will yield shorter oil life than a 2000 miles trips on the highway at 60mph in california!!

Marko!!

Synthetic oils are "supposed to be" better , or at least last longer than conventional oils. They cost about twice as much as conventional oils. They also claim to produce less sludge deposits than conventional oils. They also give you a nice fuzzy feeling when put into your Fit. All that being said I use synthetic oil (currently Castrol Syntec, but will probably switch to Mobil 1 when my current supply is used up) in my Fit and change it according to the maintenance minder. IMHO the "designer" oils (Amsoil, Royal Purple, and their ilk) are a waste of money. I'm in my 50s, have owned many cars (domestic and Japanese), changed oil at 5K miles, (or according to the MM on the Fit) never used synthetic oil until the Fit, and have never had an engine failure.

Synthetic oil - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I change mine every 100 miles with the most expensive oil I can buy. I replace the battery every 5-6 months-cheap insurance I figure. Filters every other weekend and tires twice a yr (I don't drive much). And the one thing I won't compromise on---front end alignment and radiator flush monthly.

Seriously folks, Jiffy Lube still says 3000 or 3 months, it's called "Marketing"

Change your oil when your car tells you to and use any oil meeting Honda spec and you will not have a problem.

Oil change
 

The standard for changing oil every 3000 miles was set way back around 1939 when the quality of the oil was very poor by today's standards. If you want to change your oil that often it will not hurt anything but your pocket book. With the quality of the oil and the precise engineering tolerances with the motor on the fit, its no surprise it will go 15k using synthetic oil before a change is needed.
Auto shops recommend every 3000-4000 miles because they want to make money and it certainly wont hurt your car. Unless you are driving the car extremely hard it should go around 5000 miles on standard oil. The computer on the fit is very accurate and adjusts depending on how you drive. Remember that a car dealership is another shop trying to make money by getting you in there every 3000 miles. I have over 100,000 miles on my 2009 fit sport(stock) and I change it every 15000 miles roughly. I have had no issues with oil getting dirty or having viscosity problems. I expect I will drive it like that until 300k miles. I have owned Toyota's, Nissans, Chevys, Fords,Suzuki(lol) and many other foreign cars and none were even close to the reliability that I have experienced with Honda's.

while working as an 63 bravo small wheeled vehicle mechanic instructor /writer, a retired chervon engineer lectured my students about engine oil.
this man, who had worked with chervon since he was 16 yrs old had risen to field engineer, he being the first person in the history of the company to achieve this position without an engineering degree. in a nut shell the lecture revealed people's perceptions on oil are based on markenting just like other products such as beer, cigarettes, and most anything that people can make a choice over. opinion stated any brand name quality oil meeting the specs for your vehicle will, in normal routine use, provide service to 100K or more. with hydrocarbon based oils changes of 5K were suggested unless conditions were servere. synthetic oils were touted as the optimal if affordable. experience with early synthetics suggested oils changes at 7800 mi with this being a start point.
industry additives such as STP , marvel mystery oil ET.AL were considered mouse milk. a term he used to relate that these products were unnecessary when using a quality name brand oil. seems mouse milk products were a huge layered after market money maker for the oil companies.
he went into a 3-4 hour block of lecture on all aspects of oil. it's history as a automotive lube , development of the multi viscosity oils & synthetics. too much to relate and too long ago anyways...circa (2000)

point of note, the advantage of synthetic oils is that varnish build up & wear on seals is greatly reduced with the use of synthetic oils. the older american vehicle seals weren't engineered to contain synthetic oils that's why in the earlier years seepage/leakage was a major disadvantage for use of synthetics in older vehicles due to the cost of oil replacement. the lecture pointed out that the europeans had seen synthetic in the future, since Germany had used them during WW II and started engineering synthetic compatible seals ten years before detroit got the mesage. today my opinion is if a person can afford it synthetic is the only way to go...reduces start wear and pour point resistance is nill.......as well as keeping residue off the seals for longer seal life.

after first 5,500 mi I use synthetic with a stock filter and never look back.......the older cars used in business still get the standard oils.........with a 5-6K change schedule.

GMD

I use Toyota 0W20 Synthetic oil, its cheap at work and has a fairly high moly content which is rare for today's oils. I change mine every what seems 7500 miles, i rack up around 20/25k miles a year.

Which engine oil grade
 

Hi , Just a quick one I hope . What grade of oil is best to use in my 2003 jazz 89,000 miles , i'm in the N.Ireland so not overly warm , should it be semi syn or full etc. Also is there a fuel filter under the bonnet of just in the fuel tank.

Thanks

greetings..

full sythentic is what you should be using if you can afford it.

synthetic clings to the engine parts after shut down, this allows virtually no start up wear as compared to conventional oils.
start up is where 99% of wear takes place in engines.
also synthenic oils have supeperior flow at lower temps..(pour point resistance) which is what you would want in colder climes.

i have an 09 which uses 5W20 oil...the 013s are using 0W20.
if you don't have a owners manual i suggest google oil viscosity for 2003 honda fits...you should get the answer OR call a honda dealer near you for direction to the proper oil.

even with 89K you will beable to make a change to synthetic from conventional oil without fear of seal leakage .....my 91 mazda miata had 229,000 on the clock and burnt a small amount of oil when i purchased. after using 5W40 rotella T diesel synthetic it has cleaned the varnish from the rings and does not use oil!...BTW diesel oils both synthetic or conventional have larger amounts of anti-wear products in the additive package...if you can use 5W40 i'd use rotella T. i use it in my motorcycles too.


cheers...
GD

Oil Change
 

Thanks for getting back G.D, I have the owners manual ok but it isnt giving specific type of oil just different temp ranges to various viscosity, manual says us oil for API service SJ or SL ?? no idea what this means, my thought was to go for semi-syn 10w 40 or full syn 5w 30 . Do you think 5w 30? . Do you know anything about the fuel filter? . Thanks for your help

this is what SJ & SL means........

Thats great thanks for your help.

kendo 51,
there does not appear to be a replacement in line canister fuel filter on this car as with many others.....

i looked at a honda factory repair manual and it says on pg 11-318 when fuel pressure drops below a certain spec ...remove fuel pump assembly from tank and replace filter.
from the illustration i couldn't recognize a filter per'se, unless honda is calling the sock filter screen on the pickup tube, a filter.

cheers,
GD

Thats great thanks, i am getting a small hesitation on the throttle response at about 50-60mph just thought it may have been a filter issue , will feep checkig see if i can work out what it is. Appreciate your help

I was at the dealer for my first service appointment this past weekend...

Bought car in Feb 2013
Bought Honda Care Maintenance plan at time of vehicle purchase
Had approx 5,000 miles at time of service

I took it in because I got a recall notice about the stability control software needing to be reprogrammed, and I figured it was about time for my first oil change. The service writer asked what my oil life was and I said around 50% last time I checked it.

He informed me that until it's less than 15% they won't cover an oil change under the maintenance plan and, furthermore, that I should wait that long anyway just because that's how the engine was designed and the 0w20 synthetic oil they use is engineered for low stress/extended usage applications such as an efficient commuter car engine.

I expressed my concern at waiting until what looks like it'll be around 9,000 miles to do the first oil change and the guy assured me I'd have zero problems, especially since it will all be documented and serviced by Honda...

I was a bit surprised, but I guess the old adages learned from our father's generation of backyard mechanics don't always apply to these new super efficient engines. And I figure if the engine doesn't like it I'll at least notice a drop in fuel economy before anything terrible were to happen.

Just wanted to share in case others have the same concern. It's going to be pretty hard for me to wait so long between oil changes since I like to be very conservative in my maintenance (track car gets new oil every event or 1,000 miles; whichever comes first), but I guess I'm covered in case of catastrophic engine failure because I'm just doing exactly what Honda tells me :ohnoes:

my spin on this.......a new way to sell ECO friendly to the hip generation.

my chevron fld engineer suggest about 7,800 miles most synthetic oils....amsoil may go a little further..

stop & go is what breaks down the additive package in any oil...conventional or synthetic.

i'm sure there are folks out there who can feel the difference after an oil change.....i try to catch mine at 50% on the maintenance computer.

0W20 refers to the base oil viscosity ...which is 20! just a little heavier than ATF or hydraulic oil. with NO polymer package to thicken as the oil heats and thins.....much less of a problem with synthetic.
20W50 means 20 base oil with polymer package to thicken the oil to 50 weight as operating temps increase.

my 09 use 5W20.....my son's 013 uses 0W20....hmmmm...would really like to know why honda went to thicker oil??....my warrenty recall was with the valve assembly where these little rollers were moved off seat by oil pressure to help advance valve timing from either RPM or oil pressure.....the book wasn't too explanative.... seems honda had a problem with weak springs .....the unit sets on top of the valve train and the factory manual says it is replaced as a unit.
who knows.....
anymore cars are so complicated the average joe can only put gas & oil in them....all a carefully managed plan to get the joe to pay for most all repairs...........

gd

Wife has 2013 Fit base, which should use 0W20 motor oil (please correct if I'm wrong).

Looking around, all I have found so far (Advance Auto, Autozone, Walmart) is synthetic oil in the 0W20 weight.

Is there such a thing as traditional (dino, non-synthetic) oil in 0W20?

Not that I have a problem with synthetic, been using it in my Impreza for 10+ years.

Just wondering what my options are.

JP

This is why I love Internet forums, to share our experiences and this is a great contribution.

I worked as a service advisor for a few years at Audi. Some of the 2 liter Audi motors were susceptible to sludge build up. It's a $1000-1500 repair to clean it out and replace some of the pcv parts.. Well some owners sued vw and won. Audi dealerships would do the repair free of charge. The only condition was that you had to have receipts or some kind of record that you used Audi specified oil. So some people were turned away. However....a lot of people did change their oil as specified and still had sludge problems so we fixed their cars.

The above is just one example of why I drive/service the car per the manual and keep records. CYA....