I was reading the sticky thread about engine break-in period and saw a post about not changing the engine oil before 5000 miles. This was also mentioned by the salesman when I bought the car. Why is this the case?

With the past three new cars I've had, I have changed the oil early at b/w 1500-2500. I'd heard that as new cars break-in, debris from the new parts can get into the oil and it's good practice to drain those out. This is the first time I've heard NOT to change the oil early.

Thanks for any advice!

 

There is no break in protocol other than the following -

During the first 600 miles (1,000 km) of operation,
avoid sudden acceleration or full throttle operation so
as to not damage the engine or powertrain.

Avoid hard braking for the first 200 miles (300 km).

Change the oil and filter in accordance with the Maintenance Minder message on the information display.

If a message SERVICE does not appear more than 12 months after the display is reset, change the engine oil every year.

My Fit will be serviced this week for the first time in a year. The system shows 60% oil life remaining after 2700 miles.

 

I did my first oil change at 5k which was in the first month and a half of ownership, drove to NYC and back the first week of ownership and Atlanta a couple of weeks later. Since then been doing it around 5k at the same time rotate the tires. Now days that works out to about every 3 months. I know a lot of people go by the maintenance meter.

A couple of threads

https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/2nd-...il-change.html

https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/2nd-...ance-info.html

 

Lots of explanations in other threads, but basically the break-in oil is different from regular oil and should be left in as per Honda's recommendation. Filter will catch debris.

 

just follow the maintenance reminder on the car. or change oil once a year if the car runs low milage. my first change was 6500miles at one year, reminder showed 30% or somthing left.

i did the oil change (mobil1 green cap 0w20) and reset the reminder.

 

This is great info. 5K first oil change it is.

I appreciate the links, will do more reading!

 

why 5k? Do it when the maintenance minder calls for it. It could be at 2,500 miles (more likely 8,000 miles).

 

Did mine at 6500 miles too. Basically once a year for me.

 

I am actually waiting right now I hit the 5k mark and the meter says 60%, but i also just put new tires on the car about a month ago so probably need another 3k miles to get the tires rotated.

 

While I appreciate Honda's consideration with the MM and doing their best to provide as good a predictor as possible about oil life, I'm going to stick to 5K intervals. There was a MM on my 2009 Civic and I still changed it every 3K with full synthetic. Call me old fashioned, but infrequent oil changes is one the easiest ways to mess up an engine, and I refuse to let a computer tell me when it's time to change the oil. Besides, the there is no harm in over-maintaining.

I found this useful explanation of how the MM system works off-forum: How does the Honda maintenance minder oil life indicator work? - Yahoo! Answers

 

Ok: you're old fashioned.

Much better to let jiffy lube and the honda service salesman tell you.

If the mm called for an oil change at 2,500 would you still wait till 3,000 or 5,000?

 

Thanks for your concern, but it appears we're getting off topic. My post asked for clarification on the reason for waiting till 5K for the first oil change - not how religiously folks follow the maintenance minder.

That said, here's my two part answer: Honda gives a free first oil change between 5000-7500 miles and says to leave the special oil in there for at least 5K. Part two - in my experience with the MM on my 09 Civic, it would reach changing time around 8-10K miles (I averaged 25K miles/year). I'll be surprised if the MM goes off before 5K (their previous spec'd oil change interval before the MM).

I worked PT for a mechanic through high school, college and grad school, and do all my own maintenance. I trust my years of experience there and will continue to stick with a 5K oil change interval.

 

I'll bet it's not Honda but your dealer giving you the oil change.

And nothing is free. They'll offer you additional services, place the 3,000 mile change sticker, and convert a certain percentage of customers to loyal customers.

If you do it yourself, I agree, there's no harm; it's your money and time (I won't proselytize on wasting oil, what with the amount of hydrocarbons we're burning daily). I'd worry about the high incidence of lube monkeys over-tightening drain plugs. Your Honda service salesman will also oversell brakes and other services (more reason to diy).

I too worked at an auto center through college (in the last century) and gained a keen understanding of marketing practices (more in college than Sears though).

 

While old school is cool things change. I'm 61 and use full syn. in both our fits. Wifes car is fast approaching 200,000miles and oil gets changed approx. every 7,000. More stop & go than the fit I drive and maint. minder let's me push the 2012 fit near 10,000 miles. Waste of resources to change oil at intervals we used 'back in the day' and a waste of $$$.

 

There are two issues with more frequent oil changes.

The first is economic- if you change it, say, 50% more often than the MM says (let's say 5k instead of 7.5k, which is a low # if you do mostly highway driving) and use synthetic oil, an oil change is, let's say, $30. Over 200,000 miles that's 13 extra oil changes. Or $390. What are the chances you'd have, say, $3000 in engine damage resulting from oil problems, that you could have averted with more frequent changes? A lot less than 390/3000. Not to mention the extra time spent.

Second reason- we're all geniuses here but we still make occasional mistakes. Maybe every 500 oil changes you don't screw the filter on tight enough, or forget to make sure the gasket came off with the old filter. Or something flies in when you're adding oil... or whatever could possibly happen. The more times you change the oil, the more likely something goes wrong. Still unlikely but not impossible.

 

Prior to my last car I did my oil changes every 3k then my last car using non-synthetic oil had a reminder that went off every 5k. At the same time I rotate my tires. So I continue it with the Fit works out to 4 to 5 times a year.

 

Thanks for providing the most persuasive argument yet for a longer interval. Hard to argue with 200K trouble free (I'm guessing) miles at every 7K!

 

^^ Trouble free miles, all of them. We also had a 91' Chevrolet Silverado 1500 reach 389,000 miles before donating it to the salvation army using a synthetic oil with not so frequent oil change intervals.

 

oh! well, if it's anecdotal evidence you're looking for, the last Honda I had was a 97 Odyssey (4cyl). I changed religiously according to the mileage minder, a dumb mechanical device that flipped every 7,500 miles, using conventional oil. No oil related issues after 12 years and 225K miles. It went on to live a life as a delivery van.

The best argument for using the maintenance minder is the link you provided. Where I find fault with this guy's answer is stating that the manual called for 5,000 mile changes before the mm. As already mentioned the interval was 7,500 on my 97. Maybe it was 5,000 for severe service. Also Honda's engineers didn't swag the logic behind the mm. We don't have to wait for validation.

 

Yeah the dealer where I bought my Fit said to change the original oil at 5k miles as well. She told me that I would find metal shavings in the first oil change and I in fact did find that. I guess it is from the engine initially breaking in. I read an article in popular mechanics that suggested changing the oil at literally 20 miles to remove these shavings from the initial break in. I wonder if it really matters either way as you don't really see these cars falling apart prematurely?