1st oil change

[SiSoldier]

I was at 20% before i decided to change out my oil today at 4,700 miles. So i take it to a shop with a k&n filter and castrol synthetic oil and have them do it but when i drove off i got the 15% warning and the little wrench symbol. My oil is full but its not reading it. How can this be?

[Itchytoe]

It's reading your oil level just fine. You have to tell the ECU that you did the maintenance that it suggested. You should read the manual, it tells you how to reset it in the oil change how-to area.

[HsOffRoad]

To clarify, nothing but your dipstick (Or your oil pressure light and temp guage if it's REALLY low... ) is giving you any information about the amount of oil in your engine. To my knowledge, there is no low oil cutoff switch, or oil level sensor on our engines. That percentage meter is just a mileage based counter that counts backwards from 5000 miles until you reset it. Since I change my oil at 3K miles, it is essentially useless to me.

Hans

[SiSoldier]

so reset it(according to the the manual) and it should be ok?

[homeboyv]

ya u have to reset it manually....

[HsOffRoad]

Yes, all it is is a counter to help you keep track of how many miles you have driven since you last changed your oil. You can drive around with it on for months and it won't do anything but annoy you by having to look at it. It is handy if you run synthetics and do 5K oil changes. If not, it's just an annoyance. If you run synthetic oil, reset it every time you change your oil, and you will know when you need to change it next when the light comes on.

Hans

[Itchytoe]

It doesn't count down from 5,000 miles. It uses an algorithym based on the number of hot and cold starts, average oil temp, highest RPM peaks, and average RPM. If it did just count down from 5,000 miles, mine would have told me to change my oil 1,000 miles ago and wouldn't be telling me I'm at 20%.

[fsxbob]

to reset it, turn your car in on (parking brake up or it won't work) and scroll to the oil life meter, and hold the sel/reset button for about 10 seconds.

[HsOffRoad]

Originally Posted by Itchytoe

It doesn't count down from 5,000 miles. It uses an algorithym based on the number of hot and cold starts, average oil temp, highest RPM peaks, and average RPM. If it did just count down from 5,000 miles, mine would have told me to change my oil 1,000 miles ago and wouldn't be telling me I'm at 20%.

Can someone please show me where this information is coming from? I have been told this by others on here before, and I find it quite hard to believe. I would really like to see substantiated proof of this somewhere. For the record, I do not believe our vehicles even have oil temp. senders, anywhere on the engine.

Hans

[Tennisjon2002]

Originally Posted by HsOffRoad

Can someone please show me where this information is coming from? I have been told this by others on here before, and I find it quite hard to believe. I would really like to see substantiated proof of this somewhere. For the record, I do not believe our vehicles even have oil temp. senders, anywhere on the engine.

Hans

Read the manual. You can find more specific info from honda if you search the web too. It is not a gimick, it really does measure your driving habits. Other manufactures also have similar systems.

[Tennisjon2002]

Originally Posted by HsOffRoad

Yes, all it is is a counter to help you keep track of how many miles you have driven since you last changed your oil. You can drive around with it on for months and it won't do anything but annoy you by having to look at it. It is handy if you run synthetics and do 5K oil changes. If not, it's just an annoyance. If you run synthetic oil, reset it every time you change your oil, and you will know when you need to change it next when the light comes on.

Hans

Why do you have to be running synthetic for it to be useful? Any quality Oil will last the duration the maintenance minder tells you. A quality full synthetic will last much longer than 5k.
The maintenance minder was developed for regular old dino oil. Change it when it tells you, reset it and do it again. It is very simple.

[HsOffRoad]

Originally Posted by Tennisjon2002

Why do you have to be running synthetic for it to be useful? Any quality Oil will last the duration the maintenance minder tells you. A quality full synthetic will last much longer than 5k.
The maintenance minder was developed for regular old dino oil. Change it when it tells you, reset it and do it again. It is very simple.

To each their own I guess. Call me old school, but for me, conventional oil gets changed at 3K intervals. I know mine is dirty by the time it has 3K miles on it. Honestly, I am even leary about letting synthetics go past 3K. Guess it comes from the years I spent racing cars. The oil got changed in our race cars after every event - no questions asked. Everyone I know who was competitive did the same thing, thats just how that works. I have buddys who are Amsoil dealers, who tell me this and that about 20,000 mile oil changes for street driven vehicles. I'm certainly not saying ayone is wrong, but I myself know I just can't buy into these long oil change intervals. I know changing the oil more often than needed sure can't hurt anything but my wallet. I also know most companies who were touting 7500 and 10K oil change intervals for a while have since gone back to 5K.

But what I am really interested in is how this oil life computer works, if its more than a backwards counter. I'm not saying I'm right, I would really just like someone to explain to me how it claims to work, other than "Well it senses your oil temperature , starting and stopping, speed, and RPMS". If so, what does it deduce from these things? With time and use, Oil gets dirty and carboned from environmental contaminants & ring blow by, whether the engine is idling or at redline, cold or warm, operated in the city or on the highway, in Alaska or Arizona. I guess I am missing the entire basis of how they are claiming this effects my oil life - especially if I pull the dipstick at 3000 miles and the oil is dirty - which I know to be the case. Sure, in extreme heat conditions, oil can have serious chemical breakdown, but I don't think anyone would try to argue that our honda oil maintenece computer is designed to monitor that.

Hans

[Tennisjon2002]

Originally Posted by HsOffRoad

To each their own I guess. Call me old school, but for me, conventional oil gets changed at 3K intervals. I know mine is dirty by the time it has 3K miles on it. Honestly, I am even leary about letting synthetics go past 3K. Guess it comes from the years I spent racing cars. The oil got changed in our race cars after every event - no questions asked. Everyone I know who was competitive did the same thing, thats just how that works. I have buddys who are Amsoil dealers, who tell me this and that about 20,000 mile oil changes for street driven vehicles. I'm certainly not saying ayone is wrong, but I myself know I just can't buy into these long oil change intervals. I know changing the oil more often than needed sure can't hurt anything but my wallet. I also know most companies who were touting 7500 and 10K oil change intervals for a while have since gone back to 5K.

But what I am really interested in is how this oil life computer works, if its more than a backwards counter. I'm not saying I'm right, I would really just like someone to explain to me how it claims to work, other than "Well it senses your oil temperature , starting and stopping, speed, and RPMS". If so, what does it deduce from these things? With time and use, Oil gets dirty and carboned from environmental contaminants & ring blow by, whether the engine is idling or at redline, cold or warm, operated in the city or on the highway, in Alaska or Arizona. I guess I am missing the entire basis of how they are claiming this effects my oil life - especially if I pull the dipstick at 3000 miles and the oil is dirty - which I know to be the case. Sure, in extreme heat conditions, oil can have serious chemical breakdown, but I don't think anyone would try to argue that our honda oil maintenece computer is designed to monitor that.

Hans

Understandable. I make my decisions based on oil analysis's that are done on used oil that brake them down and see whether they really need to be changed. Just because oil looks dirty does not mean it needs to be replaced. Oil is supposed to get dirty.
Oil has come a long way since the old days when it was necessary to change it every 3k. Nowdays the only people that tell you to change the oil every 3k are Autozone and the oil change stickers on your windshield. What a surprise, since they have the most to gain. IMHO people should not change their oil so often and they should spend that money on other fluids that tend to get neglected, like transmission fluid, coolant, brake fluid etc.
Personally I usually use Penzoil Platinum and a Purelator Pure One filter and change it every 8K or so, which I know is still an overkill.

I tried to find some articles on the maintenance minder system but I couldn't find to much, although i have read alot of stuff on them before. Here is the best I could find at the moment.
Taking the Mystery Out of the Maintenance Minder System - Honda Ridgeline Owners Club Forums

This site has everything you could ever want to know about oil, and a lot more:
Bob Is The Oil Guy - Powered by Motor Oil

[SiSoldier]

Originally Posted by fsxbob

to reset it, turn your car in on (parking brake up or it won't work) and scroll to the oil life meter, and hold the sel/reset button for about 10 seconds.

Just did what you said...thanks bro

[HsOffRoad]

Good Info - thanks for the leg-work.

It would appear from that excerpt that it works off of two models, either normal or severe, and depletes theoretical life from the oil using one of those two dependent on which the characteristics at the given time are closer matched to.

I still don't trust it. And it certainly cannot account for severe track use and such using those models. But I will agree that by that token, it is in fact more than a simple mileage count down device - I stand corrected.

One comment regarding changing your filter at 8K miles - I would certainly be concerned that by that time the filter has become clogged to the point where the bypass valve is always open, cycling unfiltered oil to the engine & rendering the filter useless. I can understand doing such a thing on diesels which hold 20+ quarts of oil and where the filters are a foot long - but taking into account the size of a honda civic oil filter (especially the fancy ones with tiny, easy to clog holes), I certainly would be concerned.

If you are unfamiliar with how a filter bypass valve works, good info can be found here:

All About Oil Filters

Kudos on sending your oil & a filter cutting out for analysis though, that is pretty hardcore for daily use.

Hans

[Tennisjon2002]

Originally Posted by HsOffRoad

Good Info - thanks for the leg-work.

It would appear from that excerpt that it works off of two models, either normal or severe, and depletes theoretical life from the oil using one of those two dependent on which the characteristics at the given time are closer matched to.

I still don't trust it. And it certainly cannot account for severe track use and such using those models. But I will agree that by that token, it is in fact more than a simple mileage count down device - I stand corrected.

One comment regarding changing your filter at 8K miles - I would certainly be concerned that by that time the filter has become clogged to the point where the bypass valve is always open, cycling unfiltered oil to the engine & rendering the filter useless. I can understand doing such a thing on diesels which hold 20+ quarts of oil and where the filters are a foot long - but taking into account the size of a honda civic oil filter (especially the fancy ones with tiny, easy to clog holes), I certainly would be concerned.

If you are unfamiliar with how a filter bypass valve works, good info can be found here:

All About Oil Filters

Kudos on sending your oil & a filter cutting out for analysis though, that is pretty hardcore for daily use.

Hans

I think a big part of it that you are forgetting is it can easily calculate how much you are doing interstate driving instead of city driving etc. If you are driving only on the interstate you would be stupid to change your oil every 3k. But if you do a TON of idling it could be needed. This is really not hard for the maintenance minder to calculate. Also if this system was so simple everyones maintence minder would be going off at the same time. If you look around the forums everyones system tells them to get their oil changed at different times, usually ranging from 4-6.5k miles.

I am aware of the filter and I think that is one thing that people over look to much. They focus so much on what oil they are putting in but don't worry about the filter. I use Purolator Pure-One and Mobil 1 filters which are some of the best filters on the market. There is no way they would have trouble going 8k.

Amsoil makes some of the best oil and filters and here is analysis from deltatechx on his LX with 23K on a single oil and filter. He does do all highway driving, but it shows that oil really has come a long way in the last 50 years and 25K miles on oil is not crazy.
23,000 miles on single oil change, Lab recommends 25,000 miles for next change :)

And I have never actually sent my oil in before, but I have read enough to convince me that I am fine on 8k intervals. Some day I will probably send my oil in though