My car always goes for regular maintenance and has had, on the maintenance report, 5W-20 oil put in it. The regular Honda dealer I took it to closed down, so I started going elsewhere, I had my car in for maintenance about a month ago at the new location, and they put 0W-30 in it. It has never had this type of oil before, and recently I noticed the car would start funny and rough idle. I took it back today due to a starting issue and they thought it was the oil causing the issue, so they removed the 0W-30 and put 5W-30 in it. Even though the owners manual and cap says 5W-20. Is 5W-30 still ok?

The good news is the rough idle/starting issue seems to have resolved with the switch in oil. So far anyway... knock on wood.

I'm a dumb woman so I have no idea about cars lol.

 

Your go to Honda Dealer closed down? That's unusual.

Go with the Honda recommended oil for your Fit.

 

You are not a dumb woman.. and your car can use 0W-20, 0W-30, 0W-40, 5W-20, 5W-30, 10W-30, 10W-40 just fine.

 

I'm annoyed because it's only ever used 5W-20, and they didn't at least ask or tell me beforehand that they were putting in 0W-30 initially, so then today they switched it but used 5W-30...but again only told me after the fact. I'd prefer to use what's always been used in my car, which is 5W-20.

If the 0W-30 oil they put it wasn't a problem, why would they have thought it was the 0W-30 oil causing the problem? It's only been 3 weeks since my maintenance was done.

 

I can't tell you what is going on through the minds of people working at the dealer.. usually they will just say anything for the sake of blaming something that is not the true cause.

In other countries outside North America the Honda Fit / Jazz is reccomended using these oil types

Jazz 1.5 i-VTEC (2008 – 2011) L15A7
0w-40
5w-30
10w-40

While in North America they recommend 0W-20 or 5W-20 due to fuel efficiency standards. It really depends on the region you are in and how hot or cold the climate can get.

Your car will be fine on the 5w-30 if you prefer 5w-20 you can always switch it out at the next oil change or even now.. that is up to you.

 

Thanks. For peace of mind I am taking it back to the dealer during the week and having them put 5W-20

 

In fairness to the new service people they will put in what they feel is best for your car. That may not agree with what you feel is best or what has previously been put into your car. It is your responsibility to specify what you want used when you take in your car. In fairness they should really have discussed this with you ahead of time but sadly in many places that rarely happens which is something to keep in mind with any work you get done.

 

Yep. but since most people here say 5W-30 is ok over the 5W-20 my car specifies, I might just leave it.

I'm just so upset over how things have gone.

 

Any of the Honda recommended oil weights and blends should be just fine. More important is how much you drive your car. If it takes over a year of driving for the automatic oil change message to come on, then I'd suggest using a full synthetic oil that meets the Honda specs.

I'm in a situation where I only drive about 2000 miles per year and use fully synthetic oil to prevent aging of the oil. At the end of the year the dash display says I still have 90% of oil life left. It will be a little more expensive, but worth it in my opinion, to change it once a year.

 

When they switched me to the 0W oil, my oil life dropped from 100% to 80% in 2 weeks and I wasn't driving my car any differently than I was.
They removed the 0W and switched me to 5W-30, and oil life hasn't dropped at all since switching back to 5W.

 

Whatever oil you put in doesn't change how the maintenance minder works. Maintenance minder works by driving conditions. There is no measure taken directly in the oil...

 

I know that. I think you're misunderstanding what I'm saying.

 

What Frenzal means is that the Maintenance Minder has no idea what type of oil is in the car, or even if any oil is in the car. It only reads metrics like miles, speed, engine rpm, and engine temperature. You could fill the crankcase with Coca-Cola and your Maintenance Minder wouldn't drop over the next mile, despite the fact that your oil life (and engine life) just went to 0%.

You didn't tell us how much you drive, or your typical driving conditions, but I don't see how 0W-30 vs 5W-30 oil, which are both 30 weight when warm, would produce any different Maintenance Minder results over the same number of miles, especially over a period of weeks.

 

That makes sense... but then what would suddenly cause it to drop in such a short time?
I don't drive a lot. To nearby doctor appointment, few x/ week. Grocery store once a week. I don't drive to work.

And why would the tech say he thought the starting issue WAS the 0W oil then?

 

Oil % life is based a lot of variables such as time, mileage, # of start ups, operation temps, duration of start times. No one really knows the algorithm except for the developers who created it.

And tech will say anything to appease the customer because they are unsure themselves and don't want to waste anymore time that is not needed.. They are not paid by hour per say.. but per hour by the job.

For example.. tech get a job to service a car lets call it "tire rotation".. job by the book pays 1.5 hours.. if tech completes it in .5 hours.. they get paid by the book hours 1.5.. they are rewarded for the completing the task faster than book time.. but get paid by the book time.