my oil life monitor drops 10% per 800 miles during the cold season

and drops 10% per 1100 miles during the warmer months.

put another way, in winter for the oil monitor would hit 20% at 6400 miles

in summer it would hit 20% at 8800 miles.

does that make sense?

it uses 5w20 year round.

 

Do you let your car sit and warm up longer in the winter? One of the variables Honda uses for the oil life is engine rotations, so if it sits in one place longer in the winter while you let the car warm up you'll get less miles out of your oil.

 

Mine went down a lot quicker in winter too. I was near 10000 miles by my first oil change (which covered April through October), and about 16000 at by my second (which was November through February). I think the engine taking longer to warm up has a lot to do with it too, especially if you're in a cold climate like me. It doesn't just count revs, but also considers the conditions under which the car is driven. Colder starts+longer warm up time=shorter oil life I guess.

 

Mine did the same thing this winter, and no, I don't let the car sit and warm up any more than I do in the summer (just long enought to get out, shut the garage door, and take off). I figure the MM must be making some allowance for colder weather.

 

Somebody on here a while back posted an actual Honda recommended service interval sheet that had a bunch of different schedules based on normal, hard, and extreme conditions (or something like that). I think it mentioned cold weather as being one of the big factors in determining these conditions. Essentially what it seemed like was that the maintenance minder used those as the extremes of when it would say the oil should be changed, kind of like each time you drive, it keeps track of it as fitting in one of those categories.

 

thanks for the replies.

i dont let the car warm up in winter. i start it, wait 5 seconds and go.

one always hears heat takes the greatest toll on oil... so in theory summer would be tougher on the oil, but i guess that's not the case.

 

my service reminder was flashing like -250 or something when i did the oil change earlier this month. hahaha. no issues. i use the factory filter and mobil1 silver cap (synthetic).