First oil change for an 06 Civic?

[Kroze]

check out honda owner's link. the dealer shoulda signed you up for it.




Why should I wait to change the oil the first time?

Your Honda engine was delivered with an oil that is specially formulated for new engines that have not yet developed their "natural" wear patterns and may contain minute particles from the manufacturing process.


American Honda strongly recommends this special oil be left in the engine long enough for these wear patterns to develop, usually until the first maintenance interval specified in your Owner's Manual, based on your specific driving conditions.



How often should I change my oil after the first service?

Refer to your owner's manual for the recommended service intervals. Separate maintenance schedules are listed for "normal service" and "severe service." Read the description of severe service carefully. Most vehicles will fall under the normal service category. Note that the service intervals are listed by time in addition to distance. Your oil should be changed at whichever interval, time or distance, occurs first.


There is absolutely no benefit in changing your oil more frequently than recommended in your owner's manual. This will only increase your cost of ownership, and create an unnecessary burden upon the environment by increasing the amount of disposed oil.


Do not exceed the recommended maintenance interval. Oil eventually deteriorates and loses its ability to protect your engine, due to heat, friction, and exposure to exhaust components. Engine oil contains special additives to enhance the oil's performance, and these additives are also broken down or consumed with distance and time. Engine damage can occur if the proper maintenance schedule is not followed.

[Jrfish007]

Originally Posted by Kroze

chemical engineer still in college with vast resources to test and study >>>>>>> those dumbass 70 year old japanese engineers who's been working/testing at honda's their entire life and been making some of the most reliable engine in the world

See, this is interesting because I never said I know more then them, but you automatically said I do, thanks for the compliment though

Read more carefully, I said the engineers AT HONDA told me this is just a guide line.

What makes you think there are 70 year Japanese engineers designing your cars? Your engine orginally designed in Japan and then modified to fit US standards by US engineers in Maryland Ohio, one of those modifcation was the oil weight, Japanese R18's use 5w30, I happended to work there on an internship, I know a few of them. Of course they know more than I do about cars, never said otherwise.


Okay, so you want to wait untill it goes to 15%, it's not exactly like I'm holding a gun to your head and saying change you oil now or I'm going to blow your head off, there is no reason to insult anybody. You simply stated your point, and I reasonded with mine, do I not have a right to say what I know/think?

[silent]

OKay, i just got my oil changed today...
My mileage was 4156 miles,
and the indicator said my oil life still got 40%....

but finally, i got an oil filter from Honda Dealer,
and get 5W-20 Synethic oil from Pepboy....
then i bring my car to my friends store,
he helped me to change it.....

But my friend told me that, actually i should use 10W-30 instead of 5W-20, and the concentration of the synethic oil for 5W-20 is kind of low,
so should i listen to my friend next time or i should continue to use 5W-20?

One more thing wanna hear from u guys,
is it good to get my engine oil change around every 4000 miles?

thanks guys!

[Jrfish007]

Originally Posted by silent

OKay, i just got my oil changed today...
My mileage was 4156 miles,
and the indicator said my oil life still got 40%....

but finally, i got an oil filter from Honda Dealer,
and get 5W-20 Synethic oil from Pepboy....
then i bring my car to my friends store,
he helped me to change it.....

But my friend told me that, actually i should use 10W-30 instead of 5W-20, and the concentration of the synethic oil for 5W-20 is kind of low,
so should i listen to my friend next time or i should continue to use 5W-20?

One more thing wanna hear from u guys,
is it good to get my engine oil change around every 4000 miles?

thanks guys!

I do mine every 4,000 miles.... but really it is up to you. As I mentioned, I waited the first time untill the indicator said to change it, and the oil stunk so bad I about gagged. The problem with the indicator is that it uses a formula of RPMS and engine stress to determine when the oil is gone, it IN NO WAY actually measures the oil. Further, it is only tuned for Honda OEM oil, so if you put synthetic in, it will think the oil dead way before it actually is. I live in Ohio, and we have high sulfur gas, this kills oil very fast (hence the reason my oil stank so bad) and the indicator had no idea about this.

As for which oil to use, I would say use 5w20 for now. Later say around 60k miles when all the bearing are a little looser and everything is more worn, switch to a slightly thicker oil like 5w30 or 10w30 (only go with 10w30 if you live in a place that is warm all year around, like Florida or something). AS for 5w20 having less synthetic than 10w30, I have never heard of such a thing. Certianly some brand have more synthetic than others, but if you have the same brand just different weights, I'm pretty sure it is the same precentages or close to the same. Honestly if you change your oil every 4k miles, it doesn't really matter how much is synthetic and how much is dino, infact my dad goes 4k miles on normal dino Valvoline and his oil tests always comeback fine. If you want to go longer, then synthetic is the certianly the answer.

[silent]

Originally Posted by Jrfish007

I do mine every 4,000 miles.... but really it is up to you. As I mentioned, I waited the first time untill the indicator said to change it, and the oil stunk so bad I about gagged. The problem with the indicator is that it uses a formula of RPMS and engine stress to determine when the oil is gone, it IN NO WAY actually measures the oil. Further, it is only tuned for Honda OEM oil, so if you put synthetic in, it will think the oil dead way before it actually is. I live in Ohio, and we have high sulfur gas, this kills oil very fast (hence the reason my oil stank so bad) and the indicator had no idea about this.

As for which oil to use, I would say use 5w20 for now. Later say around 60k miles when all the bearing are a little looser and everything is more worn, switch to a slightly thicker oil like 5w30 or 10w30 (only go with 10w30 if you live in a place that is warm all year around, like Florida or something). AS for 5w20 having less synthetic than 10w30, I have never heard of such a thing. Certianly some brand have more synthetic than others, but if you have the same brand just different weights, I'm pretty sure it is the same precentages or close to the same. Honestly if you change your oil every 4k miles, it doesn't really matter how much is synthetic and how much is dino, infact my dad goes 4k miles on normal dino Valvoline and his oil tests always comeback fine. If you want to go longer, then synthetic is the certianly the answer.

Thanks for telling me so much...
as this is my first car...

so i just kind of ignore what it said on oil life and get my oil change in 4000 miles?

i really don't think i will trade this car as i got Navi. and it's wonderfuL!! =)

[Jrfish007]

Originally Posted by silent

Thanks for telling me so much...
as this is my first car...

so i just kind of ignore what it said on oil life and get my oil change in 4000 miles?

i really don't think i will trade this car as i got Navi. and it's wonderfuL!! =)

I ignore it because it doesn't actually measure the oil, but that's just me, I know some members think it is great and go by that alone. It's really up to you, but I just see it as a marketing ploy and way to remind people who really don't care much about their car (or maybe just don't know any better). The only real way to know is to get the oil analized at a lab, that costs about $30 each time, I will be doing that in a few months.

[madeguy]

Originally Posted by twistedframe

once a year!?!?!?!?!? even if you only drive 10k miles a year that still seems way too long even on sythetic. and my oil indicator only reads in powers of ten.

That isnt far feched! when i had my bimmer.. Oil changes were EVERY 15,000 MILES.. NO JOKE!!!!!! ONCE A YEAR.... but u would pay the dealer $225 bux for that oil change

[Silver8th]

Originally Posted by PhoenixDown

Thats another good question... does it alert you when you need to change the oil or do I just have to periodically check the percentage on the dash? At what % should you change it?

(This is probably where it helps to rtfm)

Yes, a maintence light will appear at 10%. Then its time to change it.

[mike c]

You don't change the oil because it is "breaking down", you change the oil because you want to remove the contaminents that get into it. Oil can last a long time, 10-20K miles, but that's like saying you can go two weeks without food. yeah it will work, but is it healthy? Change your oil every 3,000 miles and you will be good, even every 5,000 is probably fine, but for the price of it, why not be better safe than sorry? Like someone said earlier, if it is all black and smells of chemicals and metal, it's good that you are changing it.



Synthetic. Why is everyone so hell bent on using it? What is it doing that is so great? If you change your oil every 3K miles anyways, you are wasting your money.

And to all the people out there that "trust" the engeneers for Honda, that's great, I just hope you don't have that same mindset for the Honda "techs" that you trust to change your oil. A lot of times they are just normal people that know how to turn a wrench, and that does not take a lot of skill. Trust me, they aren't ALL that great(and there are some real good ones). On my dad's Honda that he bought from a dealership, to fix a cross threaded oil plug that they screwed up, they just put some caulk or something like that in there so it wouldn't leak. How's that for brains?

Mike C

[Jrfish007]

Originally Posted by mike c

You don't change the oil because it is "breaking down", you change the oil because you want to remove the contaminents that get into it. Oil can last a long time, 10-20K miles, but that's like saying you can go two weeks without food. yeah it will work, but is it healthy? Change your oil every 3,000 miles and you will be good, even every 5,000 is probably fine, but for the price of it, why not be better safe than sorry? Like someone said earlier, if it is all black and smells of chemicals and metal, it's good that you are changing it.



Synthetic. Why is everyone so hell bent on using it? What is it doing that is so great? If you change your oil every 3K miles anyways, you are wasting your money.

And to all the people out there that "trust" the engeneers for Honda, that's great, I just hope you don't have that same mindset for the Honda "techs" that you trust to change your oil. A lot of times they are just normal people that know how to turn a wrench, and that does not take a lot of skill. Trust me, they aren't ALL that great(and there are some real good ones). On my dad's Honda that he bought from a dealership, to fix a cross threaded oil plug that they screwed up, they just put some caulk or something like that in there so it wouldn't leak. How's that for brains?

Mike C

Humm... yeah oil does break down. Trust me, you can not go on the same oil for 10k miles without adding oil and additives. Truckers do it, but they add oil every few thousand miles because some gets burned as "blow by" and some gets just burned off. The key to having oil last that long is making sure the oil is synthetic.

First you have to understand that oils viscosity is do to the size of the carbon chain present. Dino oil uses a range of sizes to make sure the AVERAGE size is the correct size for the viscosity that you want. The problem with this is that smaller molecules burn easier than larger ones, hence the small oil will burn off leaving only the larger molecules. This will make the viscosity go up, or make the oil thicker, making for less protection over time. Synthetic oils molecules are all one size, so they all have an equal chance of getting burned off. And when they do, the average size does not change, so viscosity does not change. This is why synthetic oils can last longer than dino oils. This is why dino oil generally last a little over 4,000 miles and synthetics 5,000-10,000 miles depending on what you add and what oil it is.

The reason you change your oil (you are partially correct) is because of additives. The 3,000 mile oil change comes from a time when no additives where used, creating carbon build up and sludge. Today, oil additive made by companies like Lubrizol allow the oil to keep this carbon and other harmful contaminant in suspension so that it does not deposit in the engine. However, these additives burn off (just like the oil) and the oil over time will loose its ability to suspend the contaminates and result in depositing them in the engine, this is bad. Hence the reason you change your oil. You can (like truckers) replace these additive and add oil for the oil that has burned off, but generally people don't drive their car that much and the time factor (aka oxidation) ends up killing your oil.

Why does oil and additive burn off? Just like anything else, if you add stress to it, it breaks down. When you run your engine, you are putting thermal stress on your oil and sheering stress. Thermal stress comes from the oil cooling the bottom of you engine, like antifreeze cools the heads, oil cools the crank and pistons. Sheering stress is when two molecules try to move past each other, think of a crowded hall way. Now say you are traveling at 100 MPH and hit some else going the opposite direction in the shoulder, you break you shoulder off probably, same idea with sheering stress and oil.

And yes, I don't trust Honda's techs considering what they have done to me in the past.

[safetyron]

How do you re-set the the oil light indicator? I can not get my oil changed by Honda.
Thanks,
Safety Ron

[twistedframe]

Originally Posted by safetyron

How do you re-set the the oil light indicator? I can not get my oil changed by Honda.
Thanks,
Safety Ron

here ya go
http://www.8thcivic.com/forums/showp...5&postcount=26

[projekZERO]

nevermind, not worth it

[XeNonCiViC]

Originally Posted by projekZERO

nevermind, not worth it

all you have to do is press and hold the select button for a few seconds while your display is showing how much oil life is left....

one push and 3 seconds isn't worth resetting the oil life meter yourself?

[ntwrkguy]

So, I got my first oil change today. The dealership recommended my next one to be 5000 miles from now, which is now at around 3200. Should I still maintain the 3k or go with the 5k?

[av911]

Originally Posted by ntwrkguy

So, I got my first oil change today. The dealership recommended my next one to be 5000 miles from now, which is now at around 3200. Should I still maintain the 3k or go with the 5k?

Use the Maintenace Minder, that's why it's there.

[AtmcBlueEXNav]

I had my oil changed last Friday and I followed the MM. But how come the dealer still placed a sticker at my windshield for my next oil change, July 2006/ 12000? My MM went on at 7600/ 15 %. Maybe they are making sure you don't forget. Also 38 bucks for an oil change for a regular honda oil, i think that is kind of expensive.

[XeNonCiViC]

Ouch, $38 is expensive, even for a dealer. My local Honda dealer only charges $29.89.

Lately, I have been buying my own synthetic blend oil and taking in to the dealership. $14.50 for 4 quarts of Castrol Synthetic Blend (technically 4.2 quarts, but I just have the dealership top off with regular oil), then only $20 to the dealership since I brought my own oil. $34.50 total for a synthetic blend oil change this way.

Generally, 5000-7000 miles is the recommended mileage between oil changes, depending on the driving conditions. The maintainence minder should be sufficient for most people to follow. I've already done 3 oil changes (20,459 miles on my EX), and the MM usually went off every 6,000 miles of driving. The reason any auto service shop gives you an oil change sticker is so you change oil more often then needed. The mileage and date they write on the sticker is always going tell you to change your oil before it is needed. There is a common misconception that oil changes should be done every 3,000 miles or 3 months because your "quick" lube type places have really pushed their misinformation to increase their profits.

[Jrfish007]

Originally Posted by XeNonCiViC

Ouch, $38 is expensive, even for a dealer. My local Honda dealer only charges $29.89.

Lately, I have been buying my own synthetic blend oil and taking in to the dealership. $14.50 for 4 quarts of Castrol Synthetic Blend (technically 4.2 quarts, but I just have the dealership top off with regular oil), then only $20 to the dealership since I brought my own oil. $34.50 total for a synthetic blend oil change this way.

Generally, 5000-7000 miles is the recommended mileage between oil changes, depending on the driving conditions. The maintainence minder should be sufficient for most people to follow. I've already done 3 oil changes (20,459 miles on my EX), and the MM usually went off every 6,000 miles of driving. The reason any auto service shop gives you an oil change sticker is so you change oil more often then needed. The mileage and date they write on the sticker is always going tell you to change your oil before it is needed. There is a common misconception that oil changes should be done every 3,000 miles or 3 months because your "quick" lube type places have really pushed their misinformation to increase their profits.

3 month 3000 miles thing came around a while ago and was a good idea before additives. Today's oils can last longer no doubt, but I would not trust a normal dino oil more than 4,000 miles without getting it tested. To say a dino oil can go 6,000 miles seems a bit off from what I've seen, most UOA's show most dino breaking down and having a TBN of 1.1-1.2 around 4,500-5,000 miles, hence the reason I go about 4,000 miles between oil changes. Like I said MM in no actually measures the oil in you car, it's like some controlling the heating/cooling in your house, but they are in a different country, and don't know the temperature of your house, but they know the temperature out side and that's it. Not very accurate for me, and the car is a huge investment compared to a couple extra oil changes, but that's just IMO.

[Jrfish007]

Oh, yeah, $38 seems a bit high, I think my dealer charges $29, or you can buy 10 oil changes for $149.99, so then it becomes $15 for an oil change, which is reasonably cheap IMO.