Originally Posted by polaski

I'd like to share some info about the oil pressure lights if I could.

The oil pressure system works like this: assuming fully warmed oil, the oil pump generates the lowest pressure at idle and higher pressure as it spins faster, to a point. It will get to the relief pressure and a valve will bypass some of it to keep it at the set pressure.

On older Hondas (and I don't see why they'd change it on new ones) the warm relief pressure was in the neighborhood of 65-80 psi, and the engine would have this from middle-high rpm on up. Pressure at cruising speed would be in the 30s, up into the 40s psi on the highway.

However, at idle, the pump would keep about 10 psi of pressure in the system. Because of this the pressure light would have to trigger lower than this (typically 5 psi or less) to avoid the light flashing and scaring drivers during hot summer red lights.

This is why when if you're going down the highway and when your oil runs out your engine's pressure drops from 40 psi down towards zero, the engine will starve for oil for a few seconds as it damages all the rod bearings before the pressure drops low enough to trip the light. Sorry fact but that's the way it tends to go.

Originally Posted by Schadenfreude

You're right, that's about twice as often as you should be changing it. The 3000 mile oil change is a long outdated standard. Not only is it a waste of money, It actually does more harm than good.