[Paul December]

I too was going to wait until 10k
...but...
I bought my E at the end of the year. Since the vehicle only had 14 miles on it at the time of purchse, that means it sat without moving for a year.
What do you guys think?

 

[LEGO MY E]

Re: 10,000 miles before first oil change?

...I bought my E at the end of the year....that means it sat without moving for a year.
What do you guys think?

Well, not necessarily... my 2004 was actually manufactured in May of 04. You can check the actual manufacture date in the driver's side door to see when it rolled off the Honda factory floor. Still, I see nothing wrong with the "E" sitting for 1 year or more without being started; The oil and moly additives that are in the oil pan should still be plenty stable after sitting for this amount of time.

If you do change the oil with less than 5-6,000 miles you'd be HIGHLY advised to fill it back up with Honda's (very expensive) break-in oil. Without it your new engine won't break in as nicely, and it may shorten the length of its life.

I'm not sure what your odometer now reads, but it sounds like you might want to wait until you've put more miles on (as per Honda's recommendation).

LEGO

 

[closer9]

I was told to wait for the oil monitor to reach 20% or something like that. We're at 4500. I figured I'd read the owner's manual, and see if the oil monitor actually says to change or just keeps dropping percentage... and probably get it changed this weekend with the other cars...

 

[peaceridge]

The 2007 owner's manual says to follow the oil monitor display - that is the one showing 50% on my car. I actually would much rather follow a "real" owner's manual suggestion - but Honda decided to hold our hands and put a monitor on the car.

Lynn

 

[Elemental Glory]

Yeah I have seen this monitor almost all the new cars now have them and I think that I would stick to the traditional means of changing your oil.

Think of it this way...

If you change it every 5K what do you have to lose you may change the oil more than you need to.


If you follow the gauge and it is incorrect your E could break down may or may not be under warranty. Would cost you time and or money.

I would play it safe.

 

[mkh]

My oil minder has me change mine about every 5K, with a pretty even mix of highway & stop and go driving, with a 50 mile a day commute. Coming up on 10,700 miles, and warning me that I'm at 15% - and this will be my second oil change (with synthetic).

 

[Kiwi_Box]

I am around 4-6K depending on my driving style. I listen to the oil reminder.

 

[ZOMBIEinvader]

My oil minder has me change mine about every 5K, with a pretty even mix of highway & stop and go driving, with a 50 mile a day commute. Coming up on 10,700 miles, and warning me that I'm at 15% - and this will be my second oil change (with synthetic).

I would be interested in hearing from others that have "oil life" indicators. What milage interval are you averaging when the indicator reads 5% or less?

It might make me rethink how often I do my oil.

 

[_jea_]

After a year and a half of owning our precious we only have 8500 miles on it and we had the second oil change quite some time ago. The reminder is set for around 6 months if the mileage is low.

 

[TubaLeiter]

I figure Honda knew what it was doing when it made the maintenance minder system, so I just follow that. Works out to about every 8-9k.

 

[BecaBoo]

0-3

I've always done my oil changes on my old cars every 2k-3k miles. When I got my E, I asked the mechanic at the dealership when it when in for it's first service, what his thoughts were on the oil usage gauge thing and he suggested that he personally would be religious about doing it at 3k and not rely on the gauge for optimal performance and overall life.

I've been good about staying on top of the changes, which has turned out to be 3 since November. Yes, Wall-E has gotten alot of time on the road. He doesn't like to be parked.

 

[Russ]

10,000 Miles Between Oil Changes?

I bought my used '07 E in December and have put @ 5,000 miles on it since. The maintenance minder says I still have 50% life on the oil (it was changed by the Honda dealer when I bought it)

I've been assured by the service dept. that I need not worry about the interval & although I am still not comfortable with this L-O-N-G stretch between changes I guess I need to get used to it.

I should also mention that this is my first Honda & I'm not used to the Honda way

Long story short........has anyone gone close to 10k between oil changes? I've searched the forum & see that 7k or even 8k happens quite often but 10k?

 

[Bowzer]

Now coming up on 13.7k miles and my indicator just got to 15% for the 2nd change. I change it as soon as it goes to 15% so I seem to be getting 6-7k per change. Going with Synthetic this time for some extra assurance...

 

[T'S TSTRWGN]

I change mine when the oil life monitor gets to about 20%. Usuall around 7k miles.

 

[jdiane]

The Maint Minder tells me pretty much every 5k for the E.

Its funny, on my 1991 Accord, the owners manual says every 7.5k (but we rarely drive her, so every 6 months she gets an oil change). Its strange that the 3k oil change is still out there if 18 years ago Honda was recommending 7.5k changes...

 

[jazzy007]

07+ E has maintenance minder. I had always let it made decision for me on my wife's 07 CR-V. Honda recommended replace engine oil when maintenance minder reach 15% engine oil life. CR-V come out to be ~9k miles when it reach 15% of oil life. I will let maintenance minder determine for me also for my E. I am at 50% for my E, but only drive ~3k miles. I have a feeling my E will need to change oil more often.

Just got my 07-09 E service manual, here is from E service manual how 07+ E maintenance minder determine oil life & when need service:
"....Based on engine and transmission operation conditions and accumulated engine revolutions, the Element's onboard computer (ECM/PCM) calculates the remaining engine oil and automatic transmission fluid life. The system also display the remaining engine oil life along with the code(s) for the scheduled maintenance items needing service"

I like accumulated engine revolutions is also part of formula for engine oil life.

It does also mention engine oil should be change at least every 12 months, regarding mileage.

 

[_jea_]

My reminder again states we are at 5% and it has been roughly 6 months since the last change. We don't drive much, so after almost 2 years (will be in July) we are roughly at 11000 miles. Till now we went with the reminder (every 6 months) but in miles only about every 3500. Is it still best to change the oil every 6 months, or should I just reset the reminder? Thanks for your help.

 

[gizzard]

Oil change

Had my 09 E for about 2 months now. I have put some miles on it aprox. 3050 and the oil life indicator is now at 50 %. Should I trust this sensor or just change my oil every 3000 miles? I plan on having done at the dealership. I purchased the extended warranty and, I am concerned about it being voided for some reason. I have searched this forum as well as my owners manual and can't find the info. Please help.

 

[lizzurd]

Had my 09 E for about 2 months now. I have put some miles on it aprox. 3050 and the oil life indicator is now at 50 %. Should I trust this sensor or just change my oil every 3000 miles? I plan on having done at the dealership. I purchased the extended warranty and, I am concerned about it being voided for some reason. I have searched this forum as well as my owners manual and can't find the info. Please help.

Welcome to the EOC gizzard.

Honda cannot void your warranty as long as you keep your records of all maintanence done on your E.

There is a lot of good info on the Maintenence Minder (MM) system here in the
maintenance and service forum.

You will find many differing opinions on oil changes but i would suggest doing what you feel comfortable with.

My E does not use the MM system...but my Accord does. Under the old maintanence schedule my Accord would have been due for its 3rd oil change next month based on time. My second oil change should come some time next month.

 

[ksholt2]

Oil Change

Quick question:

When getting the oil changed for your 2010 Element, do you change every 3,000, every 5,000, when the little thing on the dash tells you to change it, or what does everybody do?