Number of cold starts (more condensation in a cold engine), Ambient temperature (how long before warm enough to stop serious condensation), Effectiveness of crank case scavenging (more of that anon), State of wear of the engine (piston blow-by multiplies the problem), Accuracy of carburation during warm-up period (extra gook produced), Distance travelled (well, lets get that one out of the way). It only takes a minute to sign up. Most Honda and Acura car owners heed this advice, understanding that preventative maintenance is the key to the long service life and reliability. Is topping up the oil enough of an oil change? Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. Car engines and oils have improved a lot since then. Is an “oil life indicator” a reliable indicator for when to change the oil? That's useful for planning road trips - don't go on a 2000km trip if the oil life remaining indicator shows 10%. Tap to unmute. In these situations the light will indicate an oil change is due in as little as 1500 miles. If this helped you out and you want to show your appreciation, YouTube now allows me to receive tips! Almost fried the engine relying on the 10,000 mile dealer oil changes. … Some Hondas with the VCM (variable cylinder management) use oil. Simple tutorial on how to reset the A13 wrench/spanner oil service maintenance reminder indicator light on Honda Accord from the year 2008-2009-2010-2011-2012. Several articles and studies have been done disproving the necessity of the 3k change. That’s it. This is a short and sweet video that explains how easy it is to reset the oil life indicator light on any 2013 - 2017 Honda Accord. btw, I've never had to add oil between my 10,000 mile/annual synthetic oil changes. In effect, they hardly ever changed the oil. Film strength is of the utmost importance. It's still slippery oil, even of the dinosaur variety. But it's still true. As an example, the worst we've heard of was a Ford Fiesta of the mid 70s or so. All rights reserved. There are 2 methods to reset the oil life/maintenance reminder on your Honda HRV. Historically I have always changed oil in my vehicles every 3000 miles, using good quality non-synthetic oil. Motor Vehicle Maintenance & Repair Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for mechanics and DIY enthusiast owners of cars, trucks, and motorcycles. Items 1 to 3 have to be taken together since a given number of "cold" starts in the Dakar in summer is not the same as an equal number conducted in Fargo in January. That said, I'll be waiting until 0% before even thinking about an oil change. These are the engineers who built these cars. All experienced Honda and Acura automotive technicians will tell you that keeping fluids and lubricants changed regularly in Honda and Acura vehicles is a wise investment. The long expected service life and reliability is precisely the reason most consumers buy Honda products. read the oil bible from SO HOW OFTEN SHOULD I CHANGE MY OIL? The effect in either case will be modified by how much gas gets past the pistons. To reset the oil life indicator in the 2009 honda crv, turn the ignition to the on position. Press and hold the “Select” knob for more than 10 seconds until the display blinks. Continue to press the TRIP button until the OIL LIFE is displayed. I am still cautious and change the oil at 5000 miles if the light hasn't come on. I'll keep $1,800 every 60k. For street cars, a sub-micron Oberg screen makes little sense. But it might just register just fine with true tribologist gurus. The oil itself still lubricates. The system typically monitors driving style (in terms of how long is the throttle open for any given duration of driving), air intake and external temperatures, coolant temperatures and variations and engine timing (determined by load on the engine and octane of fuel). Maintenance/Repairs. During the November to March period it may accumulate only two or three thousand miles, all low temperature starts and mostly short runs. For 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 models of the Honda Civic, there are two methods you can use to reset the oil life sensor. My maintenance minder in the car goes between 7,000-9,500 miles between changes, depending on my driving, but usually it’s at 15% life around 7,500 miles. Now the dealership uses either 5w20 Pennzoil Synthetic Blend OR 0w20 Pennzoil Full Synthetic. On a street car, this would be ludicrous. air filters. I’ve done ALL recommended maintenance including oil changes, brake pads/rotors, couple batteries, drain and fill all the fluids every 60k miles, valve cover gasket and seals, and two valve adjustments. My VWs got oil changes at 8000 miles or so. Now this Honda has an "oil life indicator" and it reports the oil still has 60% of it's life left. Your email address will not be published. If the manufacturer specifies synthetic use synthetic. When it gets to the point where the system decides that time is up, a light will come on on the dash - typically "Maint Reqd" or "Service Reqd" (Note - this is NOT the "check engine" light). The maintenance minder indicator will also come on, and the maintenance item code(s) for other scheduled maintenance items needing service will be displayed next to the engine oil life indicator. Step 4 By clicking “Accept all cookies”, you agree Stack Exchange can store cookies on your device and disclose information in accordance with our Cookie Policy. Copy link. Your Honda technician has been trained on the Honda Maintenance Minder and will use the Forced Activation mode to determine what the next recommended services are. In the winter my vehicle will frequently not run long enough to reach normal operating temps for days at a time. The oil gets dirtier if I do a lot of very short stops and extra condensation builds up. At the end of that period, the car will be getting close to the manufacturer-recommended oil change interval - but all that distance will have been done at reasonable temperatures, including long distance runs during vacations and good weather. 1. Accurate Automotive Repair What we are really after is the severity and duration of the initial condensation period. It never hurts to change the oil and in some cases if your engine does use a little oil then your more likely to not run it low. Given a predictor that explains 10% of the variance in an outcome, how accurate can my prediction be for a person with a known score on the predictor? Welcome to the site. ... to exceed 16,000 km or 12 months between engine oil changes. July 4, 2016, 9:53pm #1. This is bad enough in itself, since water is not noted for its lubrication qualities in an engine, but even worse, that water dissolves any nitrates formed during the combustion process. The way I understand that it works is the computer looks at a variety of inputs to determine oil life. Press the “Select” knob to toggle the setting to “Engine Oil Life“. How the Honda Maintenance Minder system works. Most dealers will instruct the Honda or Acura car owner to change the oil and filter when the oil life indicator drops to “15%” oil life remaining. But I would still suggest changing at "frequent" intervals. We don't know how far a car is driven in a year, where it lives, the driving style of the owner, and many other things, so we can't tell what's right for any particular car. When the system tells you to change the oil, just do it. Should I stick with my every 3000 mile habits or will the "oil life indicator" accurately indicate when the oil should be changed to prevent engine damage? Hold the knob until the display starts to blink (may take ten seconds or more) hold the knob for approximately five more seconds, and display will reset to 100%. You can never change your engine oil too frequently. It's a fact of IC reciprocating combustion and piston rings and moon phase and a lot of stuff I will never understand. Turn the ignition On (before starting the engine). Because of the fact that it doesn't come on at a regular interval I have to assume it works. Hold the button for about 10 seconds until the indicator goes off. So, that's just me: and old curmudgeon that insists that clean cheap oil in your engine is always better than dirty hyper-expensive oil, no matter your budget or engine technology... To answer the actual question [Pffft... Just now?] Turn the ignition to the “On” position. I see it all the time. Required fields are marked *. Even if you have your Honda dealer do this,your wallet and engine will be happier. Press the SELECT/RESET knob located in the instrument cluster, until the engine oil life indicator is displayed. Changing oil every 3000 miles made sense in the mid 20th century. Especially on cold starts, extreme conditions, and high-sheer applications like racing. The oil life indicator is a periodic timer that is used to monitor maintenance servicing schedules on Honda vehicles. Once the information display number reduces from 100% (fresh oil) to 15% (dirty oil), a wrench-shaped light will appear on your dashboard, along with maintenance codes that indicate that your vehicle is due for servicing, giving you ample time to plan ahead to have your vehicle serviced. Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience. Now this Honda has an "oil life indicator" and it reports the oil still has 60% of it's life left. A good crank case breathing system ensures the water gets removed from there PDFQ, but even so, in cold weather a lot of condensation will take place. Since the maintenance minder is based on engine cycles (at best) and takes no account for the type/quality oil filter is used, I feel a degree of caution needs to be applied. @JamesJenkins good point I will quote it then. update: With my use changing to shorter trips and less frequent,once I passed 100,000 miles, the oil now gets sootier faster. It matters not one wit whether this is "Wolfbrains 10W-30" at $6.56 a gallon, or "Forumla One Extra Virgin Goat Synthetic" at $40 a quart. To subscribe to this RSS feed, copy and paste this URL into your RSS reader. When the car reached an interval of 3000 miles, the light came on. And NO! oil. after every oil change or maintenance, the oil life is expected to be reset to begin another period of servicing count down. The 15 and 10 percent oil life indicators remind you that your vehicle will soon be due for scheduled maintenance. then, press and hold the reset or select button for ten seconds. Its crank-case fume extraction was via a tiny orifice directly into the inlet manifold which obviously could not handle any significant volume of crank-case fumes without upsetting the carburation. Press the SELECT/RESET knob repeatedly until the engine oil life indicator is displayed. Because the stuff gets dirty (abrasive) at the same rate based on a myriad of variables, NONE of which have to do with what kind of oil you use. I will say to you, if you are willing to believe, that you best bet in your '93 Yugo OR your John Player Special Formula One car, is that you need FREQUENT oil changes. My oil life indicator came on showing 15% and also displayed B12 to the left of the % oil indicator. The algorithm calculates mileage, idle time, engine temperatures, trip times, engine loads, and ignition starts and stops. Doing these things Honda called Severe Use, and recommended 5000 mile changes. through MAINTENANCE MINDERS - WHEN THE CAR TELLS YOU WHEN TO CHANGE THE OIL. When the remaining engine oil life is 5 to 1 percent, you will see a ‘‘SERVICE’’ message along with the same maintenance item code (s), every time … I would agree with @Nilabja here. First generation systems were nothing more than mileage counters. Filthy, sludgy, disgustingly dirty. And this is NOT a function of the oil, this is a function of the engine and the filtration processes. Please follow the following instructions according to your vehicle type. EX husband is trying to find out my banking info. I've found that my 8,000 mile guesstimate above is pretty close to when the maintenance minder in my cars has indicated an oil change was due. The engine oil life indicator should be more than sufficient. In the USA, do college courses deeply differ from high school courses? 4. If our memory of chemistry serves us right, that leaves a mixture of Nitric (HNO3) and Nitrous (HNO2) acid circulating round the engine! Hang on a moment - if you really want the answer, there's a couple more factors that need to taken into account: Crank-case scavenging (that's the clever term for sucking the nasty fumes back out of the crank-case) - or lack of it - is a crucial multiplying factor affecting all the other items listed above. They also had some kind of water or acid indicator attached to the end of the dipstick and went by that rather than distance. Where must the glider tow line connection be? Step 3. Did you make this project? What is the efficient way to sync TextureProgress with a Timer not in the UI? The pore size guarantees ultimate filtration, at the expense of a complete tear-down and wash every other trip. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top, Motor Vehicle Maintenance & Repair Stack Exchange works best with JavaScript enabled, Start here for a quick overview of the site, Detailed answers to any questions you might have, Discuss the workings and policies of this site, Learn more about Stack Overflow the company, Learn more about hiring developers or posting ads with us. Absolute Directions and Coordinate Systems. Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers. Turn the ignition to run (one position before starting engine). This author changed the oil and filter in his 1985 Audi Coupe every 5,000 miles. Most dealers will instruct the Honda or Acura car owner to change the oil and filter when the oil life indicator drops to “15%” oil life remaining. VDCdriver. The engine oil life indicator and the maintenance item codes blink. I check the level on a regular basis to ensure it isn't getting too low. It then establishes an oil change interval as low as 3,000 miles (4,800 km) and all the way up to 10,000 miles (16,000 km) and more depending on severity of conditions. Below is the step by step instruction on how to reset your oil life indicator on a 2006-2007 Honda Accord . NOT because some oils last longer than others; just because you need to get the dirt (abrasive combustion products) out of the mix. I say that the Oil Life Monitor is reliable. Press the SELECT/RESET knob for more than 10 seconds. Any "oil" accumulates fine particles from the combustion process that can act as abrasives to an IC engine. The whole debate about exactly when to change the oil is somewhat of a grey area. No problems. :D Be the First to Share. 2012 Honda Pilot Oil Life Indicator – Many Honda and Acura dealership service departments instruct the car owners to change the oil when the oil life goes to 15% – That’s based on approx. change outlets and dealership service departments), the Fit would have The maintenance interval must be reset after performed the maintenance service on your vehicle. To the Mechanic suggesting 3000 mile changes, that recommendation has changed considerably. Service and preventative maintenance is CHEAP compared to major car repairs. Does cell culturing contribute to dangerous antibiotic resistance to the same degree as livestock? The oil life indicator is a measurement of how the oil is performing, not the quantity of the oil in the engine. Share it with us! If the engine oil life is less than 15%, the spanner light will appear on the display. Here is my selection in rough order of importance: If very clever (or obsessive) owner could probably come up with a really clever formula incorporating all those factors. Call Us Now: (615) 220-0333. Your oil maintenance light is part of the Maintenance Minder system. Honda / Acura Piston – Oil Control Ring Drain Holes – When these get clogged-up, the excess engine oil that has been wiped from the cylinder walls with the oil control ring has no where to drain through. Not in pore size, not in bypass pressure, and certainly not what a nice Oberg filter screen will give you (provided you wash every 250 miles). How to get contents between two strings using same number of repeated characters? As far as the "rant" tone, I doubt you will ever read an answer from me much different. what would happen if do an oil change now after 10,000 miles with no oil change? release and hold again for five seconds. Close all doors. I know in my case it works as advertised. All of these gauges (range till empty) seem to err on the side of caution. Buy the best possible filter you can afford. The important thing is to use the type of oil the program is designed for. What is the purpose of identifier-first login screens? Dodging the issue? Now they're more involved. Synthetic oils have longer chains that last longer and are much more "betterer". All other things being equal, that will indicate how much condensate will be produced and we would suggest that more than anything else determines when the oil should be dumped. I recently purchased a Civic X Si, I'm closing in at 7000 miles with 30% oil life left on a sewing machine engine (1.5l Turbo). I will give you some opinions, and I faithfully allow you to evaluate what is fact. If you use something other than what is specified you won't get the benefits of the program. This sounds reasonable, but is it? I agree that engine oil has improved but what about the oil filters? Most Honda and Acura vehicles now have an ‘oil life indicator’ and the remaining ‘oil life’ is usually measured in a declining percentage. Based on 160,000 miles experience with Hondas of the same model,one new without the Maintenance Minder, the second one used with 80,000 miles on it. Recommendations. Step 2. What Allied Signal (Fram) sells may not be the same as what a WIX or MAN filter provides. Follow it unless a dipstick test comes out gummy, milky or gritty or surprisingly low at a gas fill-up check. If you want to run synthetic (or have a turbo) that's certainly "better", in a way, but that does not relieve you of any obligation to change the oil when it is dirty! All of the factors quoted can be directly monitored or estimated by a modern ECM. It turns the environment to change the oil unnecessarily, and it also hurts one's wallet (although perhaps it helps yours, as you are a mechanic). Hondas built before just before oil monitor were added to dashboards had owner's manuals, and recommendations for engine oil changes every 10000 miles or at least once per year. So not only does it suffer a high rate of wear at start-up and when the engine is cold, it suffers a high rate of subsequent corrosion during normal running or even when stationary. For Models With a Multi-Information Display If your Honda Civic brand, such as the Sport or DX, has a multi-information display, you should first turn the ignition key to position II (on) without starting the engine. Don't rely on the maintenance minder. I actually typed my own answer, rather than excerpt a published work. NOT the dealerships who try and press more maintenance than what’s really needed. Can Newton's gravity equation explain why black holes are so strong? To reset the oil life indicator in your 2018 honda crv hold the trip knob in the instrument panel until the engine oil life option appears. Like all gasoline engines; keeping the oil changed in Honda and Acura cars is vital for long life. Ole' Bob with the bad breath who drives a truck says he's never once changed the oil in his ve-hicle. Daily, they encourage their Honda and Acura car owning customers to simply keep the fluids changed. undergone four unnecessary oil changes per year (assuming 15,000 miles Accurate Automotive still strongly recommends changing the engine oil & filter on all Honda and Acura cars every 3500 to 4000 miles. @JamesJenkins Apologies. External oscillators for a microcontroller.