Oil Change - Maint Minder vs Miles

[carpenj]

Hey guys, this may be an ignorant question bit I've never had a maintenance reminder system before. My '13 Si just went over 5k miles on the factory oil, but Maintenance Minder says I have 60% oil life left. How does the system determine my oil life, and should I probably go ahead and change the factory oil soon regardless of what it says?

 

[silver04v]

My friend that works at honda told me to do 5k miles or 15 percent, which ever comes first.

 

[squiggy]

Hey guys, this may be an ignorant question bit I've never had a maintenance reminder system before. My '13 Si just went over 5k miles on the factory oil, but Maintenance Minder says I have 60% oil life left. How does the system determine my oil life, and should I probably go ahead and change the factory oil soon regardless of what it says?

Wait until the it hits 15%. Most people should be able to get around 7,500 miles on an oil change. Oil life is determined by a combination of miles, rpms, cold starts, etc.

My friend that works at honda told me to do 5k miles or 15 percent, which ever comes first.

Changing at 5,000 miles is bad info from your friend. If he works at Honda, they probably tell customers this to increase their own revenue by having customers come in more frequently.



You will definitely get many opinions on this, but I feel that it comes down to old habits and paranoia leading people to disregard the maintenance minder and change their oil sooner. Who are we as consumers to question the engineers and R&D? They are the experts. Not us.

 

[carpenj]

Thanks Squiggy! Sounds like I have a few more weeks to flip-flop on whether the Amsoil is worth the price or not. Haha.

 

[squiggy]

Thanks Squiggy! Sounds like I have a few more weeks to flip-flop on whether the Amsoil is worth the price or not. Haha.

I have been running Amsoil and go a year at a time on it. Last oil analysis came back great considering it was only the second oil change and really low miles!

 

[silver04v]

Wait until the it hits 15%. Most people should be able to get around 7,500 miles on an oil change. Oil life is determined by a combination of miles, rpms, cold starts, etc.



Changing at 5,000 miles is bad info from your friend. If he works at Honda, they probably tell customers this to increase their own revenue by having customers come in more frequently.



You will definitely get many opinions on this, but I feel that it comes down to old habits and paranoia leading people to disregard the maintenance minder and change their oil sooner. Who are we as consumers to question the engineers and R&D? They are the experts. Not us.

While I agree with you I've been doing my change at about 5500 and the oil is pretty damn dirty. I know looks doesn't mean anything but it makes me feel better. I think 10k on oil is a bit excessive.

 

[Monk]

I started years ago doing oil changes every 2,500-3,000 and oil filter every other change. As @squiggy said everything has changed, and this old dog has learned some new tricks.
With my Honda MC I go 5000 on a oil change(and mc's(mine) run their oil though clutch scum and the chopping of the gears), cars only run oil though the engine. The oil it self has moved up to another class all together,
I would trust the Maintenance Minder.......

 

[Dragos]

One thing I learned is that although i trust the minder and the long life of the modern oils they do say not go more than 12 months with it. Manual states the same so if you do low mileage in a year change it before the year passes. I am in this case and did not wait to see what the minder would have said after one year. Changed it at 10 months 5 and something k miles.