Yeah, the oil reomendation from Honda has to cover me in -40 temps and a guy in Tucson in 120f temps. If you run Hondas oil recomendation year-round you will be fine. Just at -40 i like 0w-20 oil.

Ever start a car that sat all night in -30 temps? Damn, it rough. The stick feels like the other end in in a bucket of half dry glue.

 

I will research the Honda manual transmission transaxle oil/fluid recommendation. More than likely I will replace it with Redline MT90 which I have in my '97 Maxima, 2001 Miata and son's 2002 Protege5.

If you put in a fresh dose of MT90 in a transaxle every 30k miles (overkill, 60k is adequate) not only will the transaxle last forever, but on those cold winter mornings it shifts just like in mid-July.

 

Just got my update letter from Honda. First oil change 3,500.

 

SergeantWiz - What "update letter" are you referring to? I've had mine a few weeks but haven't gotten any letters from Honda...

 

The fit I saw in the showroom says that it takes 0w-20 which is only made by Mobil 1 and the dealer says that anything else will void the warranty -he originally told me any castrol type will do untill I pointed out the oil fill cap. It says it on the cap. He was rather speechless. My civic hybrids take the same oil and the book says the same about the warranty on the hybrids.

 

I totally agree with ex MGB. Trust the maintenece monitor. The ECU tirelessly tracks how the car is driven and will let you know when serivce, including oil clange, is required. My Fit manual and oil cap cap indicate use 5w20. Honda says "dont change the initial oil early" in the break in section. We speculate that Honda might use a different oil, etc., but this is only speculation. Why not follow the directions? Why would Honda take a chance? I will do what they say...not what the saleman told me. He knew far less about the car that I did!

 

Again to remind everyone. I sell Honda's for a living and I own a Fit. Honda has stopped putting suggested oil change intervals in the owners manual when they came out with the maintenance minder system. the Maint Minder is based on the style driving, use, area,.... basically it tests the viscosity of the oil and adjusts the percentage based on that. In addition, it tells you what service you need, ie. Serive A1. A really neat system, and it is more environmentally friendly. Since you dont need to change your oil every 3 months or 3k miles anymore. I have 1200 miles on our fit and it is at 80% oil life. I dont need to change it until it gets to 15% or the first year.

Also the only Honda to use 0w-20 is the Insight, the fit uses 5w-20. So your dealer was wrong.

Also the letter you got is probably from your dealer, not Honda. The dealer and quick lube places want you to think that you need to come in every 3 or 3 but the cars and oil have become so good, you dont need to waste money anymore.

Man I love Honda
Neal

 

The user's manual says change oil when computer tell you. period. Not 5000km nor 1000 km nor when dealer tells you nor when mom tells you. It's simple: When computer tells you. It uses an algorithm according to your driving habits and others parameters. Don't waste your time and money. A fit is bright so use it.

 

I'm at 2300 miles and 80% oil life... I don't think I'm driving 10,000+ miles on the initial oil...

 

Woow I've just got 1140 miles and now 80%.

 

I am one to be subjective when it comes to oil change intervals. It all depends on the car's enviroment. A car that seee heavy stop and go traffic should have it's oil changed earlier than say a constant speed highway mileage car. Also the temperature equation should be considered. An Oil change is cheap insurance, if you pay close attention to any synthetic oil, every brand suggests that you can extend the interval between oil changes with a synthetic oil. I would dare to disagree strongly about this assertion. While I use synthetics I still choose to change oil within the 3,000 range due to my southern high temp climate and the daily stop and go commute traffic that I must endure.


GWD

 

Even the mkiv trolls over at vwvortex.com were brilliant enough to know that every 3K miles is burning money... at least get to 50% around 5K...