My wife and I drive 2012 civics. With about 2000 miles on each since oil changes the EX shows 80% left on the oil monitor. My si reports 60% left on the oil. Quite a difference on two cars that are both driven very easily. The ex has about 20,000 miles on the clock and the si has about 4,000, that may be a factor. Any thoughts?
Food for thought - oil
- Thread starter mlhil
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9000 RPM
Well-Known Member
they are completely different engines that wear oil differently.
Monk
Well-Known Member
Also the difference in how they are driven.
- Staff
- #4
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It just monitors cold starts, the rpms driven, and short trips etc. It's not actually sampling oil.
9000 RPM
Well-Known Member
And metered air through the MAF, which the Si naturally uses more since it is larger and revs more.
- Thread starter
- #6
It's would be interesting to know the exact information collected. I wonder if there are time considerations as well, for instance total time in cold start mode. Winter use would be harder on oil. Interestingly I think the maf would factor in hard hard one accelerated.
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Nix
Jötunn Moderator
I just change it around 5k no matter what. I don't trust the maintenance minder yet.
- Staff
- #9
Nix
Jötunn Moderator
I wish it was that accurate! Mine always says like 30-40% left at that point. That's why I just go change it.
If you do a considerable amount of highway/ steady speed driving, you can go longer on oil changes. At about 5000 miles on my 2012 SI I was at 15%. My wife's 2013 EX-L V6 Accord Coupe has 5600 and at 30%. They are definitely driven all together different. On my SI, I will start to pay attention to the minder at 5000 miles intervals. I figure that Honda spent large amounts of money developing this system and they are the ones going to be paying for my engine if it goes boom, why not go by what they recommend. If your really concerned, pull an oil sample and send it to Blackstone labs and let them tell you how well its doing. I may do this at around the 10,000 mile mark and go from there. Its about $20 or so and it gives you a break down of your oil contents and a recommendation on how long you can go on your oil changes safely. check em out here http://www.blackstone-labs.com/
the insider
Well-Known Member
What happens when its out of warranty and goes boom? I would look around and see how many vehicles Honda produces with the Maintenance Minder have warranty extensions for excessive oil consumption...nuff said...
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This is the reason for the blackstone report. It will take an accurate analysis of your oil and you tell them how many miles on it. They will give you a recommendation on how often you can go between oil changes. With this sample, you can also keep an eye on your engines wear pattern and catch something before it becomes a major problem. You can see if the bearings are wearing out by the amount of copper, aluminium and tin. You can see excess carbon from blowby. If you have an idea of how it is normally, you get see a pattern and see how far you can go in between changes. I agree you cant just say, Ohh I can go 7500 and not worry about it, because you may not. Then again, if your oil is still clean and clear at 7500 and you can to 10000, why wouldn't you? If the oil is still doing its job and its clean and the additives are still there, then why would you want to change it?