Please forgive a question from somebody who has never been under the hood...

I've had my 08 Fit for 3+ years and love it. I know that when the "Oil Life" indicator comes on and starts at 15% and clicks down, that means it is time for an oil change.

But what is that indicator based on and what does it mean? Does it mean I've gone a certain number of miles and it pops up or does it actually sense my oil level? What happens if I continue to drive the car past 5%? Will adding another quart (as a stopgap, not a replacement for a legit oil change) bump it up?

I know from reading that there are a lot of savvy guys here so thanks in advance for the response.

 

It's a formula based on a lot of factors of how the car's been driven- number of cold starts, hot starts, miles, speeds, etc.

It doesn't actually measure the oil.

Adding an extra quart when the oil pan is already full is a bad idea.

And when you pass 0% it just displays negative miles, i.e. miles since you passed zero.

 

Thanks so much for the response, Brian. I guess what I'm asking is can I continue to drive the car? I won't let it go much longer but I want to make sure the oil isnt actually LOW so I wont seize the engine etc. Just need to do a trip out to the suburbs and back tomorrow and havent found time to get it looked after.

Thanks.

 

It's the first day of winter so you will want to get your oil changed before it gets any colder anyway... I know you guys up there have already seen more winter weather than I am likely to see in 2 or 3 years down here.

 

I think they use 15% just to give a heads-up that time to change is coming. It does NOT say anything about quantity of oil, just probably quality.

You could drive the car a zillion miles beyond 0% until it falls apart, but it's obviously not recommended.

 

The way to make sure that the oil is not low is to use the dipstick under the hood. The Oil Life Monitor doesn't directly measure anything about the oil, just makes guesses as to how the oil is doing based on what happens with the engine. If you are nearing 0%, you should get the oil changed (plus all other indicated services) as soon as practical. An extra 20 miles shouldn't matter much, however.

Two asides: First, you should be regularly checking the oil level via the dip stick. A good idea is every time or every other time that you get gas. The car doesn't have a way to indicate low oil until you basically run out.

Second, when the service indicator comes on at 15% is when you should start thinking about getting the car serviced. That should give you at least a few weeks to find the time.

 

I remember years ago when I bought my 08, I had asked the salesman about the oil gauge % indicator. The idiot, trying to impress me, with his knowledge, told me that the engine had a viscosity meter built into the oil pan to verify the proper quality of the oil that remained. Fortunately, I know a decent amount about car mechanics and shrugged it off as "another salesman dolt."

The gauge is only an approximation based on operating conditions... mostly revolutions of the engine since the last oil change.

My suggestion is, check your oil level every two months and change the oil, at least, once a year even if the % indicator is not near 0%.

 

You could open the hood and pull the dipstick to see how much oil is in it. That is how we did it when Coyote was a pup. The word computer was not invented back then.

 

Yeah, that was back in the day that race cars had a riding mechanic to add oil, pump up the oil,adjust the wick inside the carburetor and act as a rear view mirror ... Speed was adjusted by a kill button that shut down the engine and had to be released before the plugs fouled.... I think Wild Bill would be a great riding mechanic...

 

I try to get the oil change in November and then early spring. So far the winter is mild and 16 percent less snow than normal and temps in the low 40s. We would have to have storm after storm to break last years record now. I hope we dont get them.

 

Maaannnn.... that's a loooonnngggg time ago!
Yeah OP, it's never too late to pop the hood open and start looking around. ID the oil dip stick. Pull it out, wipe once then put it back in and pull it out again. Whatever oil on the stick is your approx. engine oil level.

All this should be performed of course on a level surface, gear in P for auto, 1st or R for manual, E-brake handle up and engine turned off.

 

See, I never know what to make of that. I drive about 15K/year, 90% freeway. I just had my oil changed NOW, last time was April, minder was down to 20%. Being used to the old months/miles method, this is a little hard to get used to.

 

Heheh... another old-school like me... Yeah, takes getting used to for sure. I still try to keep the 5k window with my other cars.