[waltross]

Hello out there,
My oil life is at 30% right now (4500 miles) and in 2 weeks I am planning a 2000 mile road trip. I have some Mobil 1 and a Honda oil filter ready to go before I leave. My question is on resetting the Maintenance Reminder. If I reset it early, am I going to miss out on anything else I should have done? Or should I just reset and forget Any concerns that I should have?
Thanks in advance.
-Walt

 

[Island E]

30% left and you've got 2,000 miles to go? Do the oil change after. It's mainly highway miles. You'll be fine.

 

[Honda Tech]

My question is on resetting the Maintenance Reminder. If I reset it early....

When you go through the 'reset' procedure, (oil life displayed, pressing and holding the reset button) once the MM enters into the reset mode (where you'd have to release and then re-hold the button to get the oil life to reset to 100%) the system will also display a Main Code (A or B) and sub-code(s) if a maintenance item was being recommended.

So, as long as you pay attention to the MM screen while you are doing the reset, you will not "miss" anything at all - as long as you note any sub-codes that display during the reset procedure.

 

[1fastvx]

Is this your first oil change at 4500 miles? If so you may want to not run a synthetic oil yet.

John

 

[waltross]

Is this your first oil change at 4500 miles? If so you may want to not run a synthetic oil yet.

John

Thanks everyone. John, how long should I wait to go to synthetic and why?
Thanks again,
Walt

 

[GaryS]

Is this your first oil change at 4500 miles? If so you may want to not run a synthetic oil yet.

Old wives tale.

Waltross- Run what ever you want.

 

[1fastvx]

I prefer to wait until 10,000 before switching to synthetics to ensure the motor is 100% broken in. If you pulled apart your motor right you would likely still see the crosshatch on the cylinder walls from the factor hone. If you wait until 10,000 you can be sure that the rings are fully seated/broken in. If you search any Honda board you will likely see the same answers.

Some people disagree, but i have been working on and racing Honda's for a while now and that is how I do it. My E got synthetic at 10,000 and is at 50+ now and does not burn a drop of oil between changes...ever!

John

Thanks everyone. John, how long should I wait to go to synthetic and why?
Thanks again,
Walt

 

[waltross]

Thanks again guys! I think I am going to wait it out and change it when I get back. This way, I'll have about 7000+ miles.

 

[1fastvx]

You are OK to change it now, just use a non-synthetic. I changed mine to a non-synthetic Castrol at 5,000 and then went Mobile 1 synthetic at 10,000

John

Thanks again guys! I think I am going to wait it out and change it when I get back. This way, I'll have about 7000+ miles.

 

[AztecRol]

You are OK to change it now, just use a non-synthetic. I changed mine to a non-synthetic Castrol at 5,000 and then went Mobile 1 synthetic at 10,000

John

Thats EXACTLY what I did, and for the same EXACT reason. You have to put at least 7500 on regular oil for everything to seat correctly. After that, you can go synthetic. I have done this with my 90 Eclipse GSX, which I ran Castrol Full Synthetic in after 10K miles, my 96 Civix, and my 01 Acura CL Type S. I NEVER had an oil leak, and all those cars I drove past 120K miles. I use Mobile 1 in the E because the guy that changes my oil just switched. As long as its synthetic, Im happy.

Have fun on your trip!!

 

[Island E]

Just to squash all you guys' "break in" theories
http://www.mobiloil.com/USA-English/MotorOil/Synthetics/Myths.aspx

Maybe way way way back when it was a good idea to do this. This is the 21st century folks. My engine builder that's built a TON of race engines even told me this. Break in really isn't even necessary nowadays.

 

[eversavage]

good stuff

I'm not a car expert, but i waited until a year before i switch to full Mobil 1 synthetic. I waited on the part that i free oil change from the deal for a year.


I just did my oil change and switch to Mobil 1 Extended Performance. i'm going to try to run it for 15k miles before i change oil again...

 

[07lmnt]

I just did my oil change and switch to Mobil 1 Extended Performance. i'm going to try to run it for 15k miles before i change oil again...

I wish you the best of luck. Keep us posted.

Oil changes every 5000 are less $ than engine repair.

 

[Mark C]

Oil changes every 5000 are less $ than engine repair.

...and completely uneccessary and wasteful with today's oils. All my Used Oil Analysis guidance after testing my M1 is to continue to 12000 mile intervals.

 

[Buckskincolt]

...and completely uneccessary and wasteful with today's oils. All my Used Oil Analysis guidance after testing my M1 is to continue to 12000 mile intervals.

So why do you use clean water to wash your hands? I mean dirty water probably would pass a test too! and of course you use soap...so? Sure old oil works but clean oil works better and keeps the engine cleaner. A good filter $5.00 and five quarts of the best oil $25.00 + 30 minutes of time = peace of mind. to do this every 5000 miles is less than 1 cent per mile. I would not call that wasteful as a matter of fact it cheap protection for a 25k vehicle! How much do you spend having you oil tested? what about half the cost of an oil change? Then when something does show up it's to late.

To each his own but clean oil in a high rev 4 cyl engine is good practice + you get under the rig and see maybe other things before they become big things.

I for one will run synthetic after the first 5000 miles. run factory oil for 2k then a blend for 3k then synthetic for 5k there after. Sorry for wasting all that oil.;-)

 

[ElementaryEd]

Everyone has there opinion so heres mine

I have 5200 and just changed my oil today with still 30% on the maintence minder. Used Mobil 1 as the engine is broken in by now imo. People will argue this untill the end of time. I have mantained hundreds of thousands of dollars in motors from marine, aviation, motorcycles and autos. I'm not calling myself an expert by any means but I'm not going to stress too much about the E's four banger. I will change her oil and do all the recommend maint every 5k.

 

[Mark C]

Well, Buckskin, it's like this.... Your little parallel is flawed. Soap and water wash away dirt. Oil lubricates and keeps impurities in suspension. As long as the oil is doing its job, its worth keeping doing thus. Lab tests confirm its doing its job. (That's from a mechanical engineering standpoint.) Anything less than that is a waste. How about $0.004 per miles, and not throwing perfectly good oil into the system? It matters not how much I spend on having my oil tested, it is a hobby and I am confident that my oil is working properly. It also helps predict large problems in the future.

 

[macmini05]

I changed my factory fill at 1300 mile and have had Castrol Syntec or Mobil 1 synthetic ever since. All depends whats on sale. Change it every 5000.

No issues at all....

 

[Buckskincolt]

Well, Buckskin, it's like this.... Your little parallel is flawed. Soap and water wash away dirt. Oil lubricates and keeps impurities in suspension. As long as the oil is doing its job, its worth keeping doing thus. Lab tests confirm its doing its job. (That's from a mechanical engineering standpoint.) Anything less than that is a waste. How about $0.004 per miles, and not throwing perfectly good oil into the system? It matters not how much I spend on having my oil tested, it is a hobby and I am confident that my oil is working properly. It also helps predict large problems in the future.

Well Mark,

Sorry but soap puts impurities in suspension as well, why do you think they call the additives in oil detergent??? remember oil's job is to also keep your engine clean (soap aka detergent) and cool, dirty oil does a substantially worse job at both of these even if it "lubricates". And if I'm using true synthetic oil then I'm not using any Dino oil so no gain there. So is your filter plugged and bypassing @ 12,000 miles? I bet you don't know. I don't know of many filters that will last 12,000 miles so it's probably bypassing? Most guys I know who run extended oil changes have very complex aftermarket filter setup's for that very reason. Spend your money on a lab if you like. but do a test. Send 2 samples from the same oil change to the same lab and see if you get the same results. A friend and myself did that very thing on his diesel pickup, one test said "normal" the other said "extreme limits" on some metals. A very well known lab. I put good oil in every 5k you go ahead and put your faith in a lab and a oil filter that is beyond capacity and we will see who's runs longer. And I stand corrected less than 1/2 cent per mile for a 5k oil change.

 

[Mark C]

Well Mark,

Sorry but soap puts impurities in suspension as well, why do you think they call the additives in oil detergent??? remember oil's job is to also keep your engine clean (soap aka detergent) and cool, dirty oil does a substantially worse job at both of these even if it "lubricates". And if I'm using true synthetic oil then I'm not using any Dino oil so no gain there. So is your filter plugged and bypassing @ 12,000 miles? I bet you don't know. I don't know of many filters that will last 12,000 miles so it's probably bypassing? Most guys I know who run extended oil changes have very complex aftermarket filter setup's for that very reason. Spend your money on a lab if you like. but do a test. Send 2 samples from the same oil change to the same lab and see if you get the same results. A friend and myself did that very thing on his diesel pickup, one test said "normal" the other said "extreme limits" on some metals. A very well known lab. I put good oil in every 5k you go ahead and put your faith in a lab and a oil filter that is beyond capacity and we will see who's runs longer. And I stand corrected less than 1/2 cent per mile for a 5k oil change.

Of course, but soap and water is meant to washed away, and is not lubrcating your hands. Oil is meant to keep in circulation.. And yes, I know my filter is working just fine at 12000 miles. In fact, none of my engines have ever "dirtied up" any filter, even under the worst of conditions.

The lab returns good results and like anything tolerances vary. It is the trends you are looking for, not finite numbers. Since I have always praticed extended OCIs, and have never worn an engine out over 35+ years, and had well over 400000 miles on some... Well, I do not need to listen too closely to your advice.

Incidentally, I am a Mechanical Engineer with extensive experience in oil and mechanical engines and compressors. Today's Mobil 1 oils are better then they ever have been and really can go much longer than 12000 miles in a modern, well kept engine.... even with the use of a FRAM filter.