Question about oil life

[apl360]

At a minimum, with normal driving, change the oil every 5k miles or yearly, whichever comes first.

If you watch Lake Speed Jr.'s latest video on "The Motor Oil Geek" YouTube channel, he presents data saying to change oil more frequently on low mileage engines.

I highly recommend 5W-30 for Honda engines, which you'll find is totally okay per the Honda UK owners manual.

Same. Or 0w30 if U live somewhere with intense winters.

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[cyirush]

At a minimum, with normal driving, change the oil every 5k miles or yearly, whichever comes first.

If you watch Lake Speed Jr.'s latest video on "The Motor Oil Geek" YouTube channel, he presents data saying to change oil more frequently on low mileage engines.

I highly recommend 5W-30 for Honda engines, which you'll find is totally okay per the Honda UK owners manual.

Agree, no harm to change early.

And now you’ve raised the other question of 0W or 5W! I’ve read those who say Honda only specs zero weight for fuel economy. But does the UK/Europe not have equally stringent regs?

Wish Honda would give the owners more info.

Ultimately, though, I don’t see why they would recommend following the MM if it harms the engine and thus their reputation? To save owners oil changes?

 

[AZCWTypeR]

Europe doesn't have EPA CAFE (corporate average fuel economy) penalties.
You'll find all the major auto companies here switched to 0W oils for this reason. And we are talking less than 1mpg in real world driving. You'll also find the same companies recommend 5W-30 when engine bearing problems crop up (GM L87 V8's, Honda V6's for example).

 

[Rhorn]

Sorry to spam this post a bit but I actually The Motor Oil Geek (the guy from the last video I posted) just released a video thats actually kind of relevant here and I think its good information.

I didn't know this but apparently the most amount of of wear and contamination occurs during the break-in process of the engine, and changing the oil frequently will actually reduce the contamination.

I have seen guys changing their oil very early during the break in process but I always thought it was them just being extra with their car, but there is a valid reason to doing this. Its not just frequent oil changes but doing it during the break-in is the most important for the long term health of the engine. Really interesting to see that engines past 100k miles have less contamination then new engines.

 

[apl360]

Sorry to spam this post a bit but I actually The Motor Oil Geek (the guy from the last video I posted) just released a video thats actually kind of relevant here and I think its good information.

I didn't know this but apparently the most amount of of wear and contamination occurs during the break-in process of the engine, and changing the oil frequently will actually reduce the contamination.

I have seen guys changing their oil very early during the break in process but I always thought it was them just being extra with their car, but there is a valid reason to doing this. Its not just frequent oil changes but doing it during the break-in is the most important for the long term health of the engine. Really interesting to see that engines past 100k miles have less contamination then new engines.

One thing folks forget. Do an autopsy on your filter. Cut the bitch open and hit the pleats with a flash light! Look for glitter. There shouldn’t be any at all!

when I’m feeling lazy. I have my mechanic put the old filter into a ziplock. In a ziplock. Within another ziplock. And when I get home I take a look

also. The most powerful tool that’ll give U the most insight. Send the oil in for testing. Fuck the additives and wear packages. Let’s look at the metals fuel dilution and condensation! Mf’s here probably swap their oil too frequently to even have their wear and protection packages take more than a 40% hit lol

 

[PNEUMA]

Mf’s here probably swap their oil too frequently to even have their wear and protection packages take more than a 40% hit lol

And I am proud of it !

 

[apl360]

And I am proud of it !

I do not blame U at all dude. It’s cheap insurance. By the time I change my oil. My wear and protection packages literally look damn near new but according to analysis, my condensation and fuel dilution get bad around 8 months due to taking so many short trips

 

[CRX-CTR]

I do find it curious that Honda/Acura MMs- for our house/multiple vehicles over time- used to signal for an oil change about 6-7K, but now that Honda/Acura gave away two year free maintenance, it signals around 10K+ miles (in two 2024 Honda/Acura products, both with turbos). Kind of reminds me of BMW, who used to have rigorous fluid change intervals in their owner's manuals that were changed (extended) when they went to x number of years of free maintenance back around 2000.

You can read that either way, that we were either changing fluids too early or now too late.

 

[getRIGHT]

That’s because the MM system was created for the purpose of giving the illusion of a lower cost of maintenance by making you believe you could extend out your regular maintenance services. This was done to solely satisfy government regulations at the long term expense of the consumer.

 

[jcm]

if you are on 5700 with the factory fill you should change your oil immedaitely
highest instance of wear metals incurred within the motor is during the first 10k miles of the life of the engine but particularly within the first 500 miles of the life of the engine.

source: the motor oil geek youtube channel - this guy is a professional in the field of engine lubrication and has over 7k dyno runs under his belt

you should change it.

 

[apl360]

if you are on 5700 with the factory fill you should change your oil immedaitely
highest instance of wear metals incurred within the motor is during the first 10k miles of the life of the engine but particularly within the first 500 miles of the life of the engine.

source: the motor oil geek youtube channel - this guy is a professional in the field of engine lubrication and has over 7k dyno runs under his belt

you should change it.

This is probably gonna be the only thing everyone’s gonna agree with. Everything else would just start fights

 

[s219]

I have some experience in lubrication (ad nauseam, with three M.E. degrees) and the most important thing I tell people is that fixed oil change intervals, especially in the old days when some people said every 3000 miles, were often just a very conservative guess and were almost always overkill and wasteful. So if you hear anyone reciting those old wives tales without any data or basis, take it with a huge grain of salt.

I don't know what Honda is doing for their algorithm, but I've been involved in oil testing where we did periodic engine tear downs to assess wear, and that generates the sort of data that can be used to come up with a very realistic model for oil life and performance. If Honda did something similar, it's probably reasonable and trustworthy to go by their oil life estimates.

There can be environmental effects (pro and con) that will not be included in oil life models, as the manufacturer has no way to measure or predict that stuff. I know some collectors who don't put many miles on their cars and change the oil annually based on time, but we're talking about vehicles stored in climate controlled building, so that is a complete waste of time. If I had a modern car in a collection that only accumulated a few hundred miles per year and the oil minder was set to pop annually regardless of mileage, I would 100% ignore that and stretch out the interval with some common sense. You can look at and sniff the dipstick and get an idea when it's time in situations like that. Conversely, with adverse environmental impacts, oil testing or an educated look and sniff of the dipstick will tell you quite a bit.

I will say this, modern direct injected turbo engines like we have in the CTR run very hot (intentional since it improves efficiency) and that is both good and bad from the standpoint of lubrication. I think someone mentioned condensation earlier, well that is not something I'd worry about at all on this engine. If you get the engine up to temp on even a very short drive, it should be fine. These things run extremely hot compared to older engines.

 

[FL2_6mt]

More frequent oil changes than the MM indicates is better for your engine.

It's up to you to decide if it's a waste of money or cheap insurance.

 

[cyirush]

I have some experience in lubrication (ad nauseam, with three M.E. degrees) and the most important thing I tell people is that fixed oil change intervals, especially in the old days when some people said every 3000 miles, were often just a very conservative guess and were almost always overkill and wasteful. So if you hear anyone reciting those old wives tales without any data or basis, take it with a huge grain of salt.

I don't know what Honda is doing for their algorithm, but I've been involved in oil testing where we did periodic engine tear downs to assess wear, and that generates the sort of data that can be used to come up with a very realistic model for oil life and performance. If Honda did something similar, it's probably reasonable and trustworthy to go by their oil life estimates.

There can be environmental effects (pro and con) that will not be included in oil life models, as the manufacturer has no way to measure or predict that stuff. I know some collectors who don't put many miles on their cars and change the oil annually based on time, but we're talking about vehicles stored in climate controlled building, so that is a complete waste of time. If I had a modern car in a collection that only accumulated a few hundred miles per year and the oil minder was set to pop annually regardless of mileage, I would 100% ignore that and stretch out the interval with some common sense. You can look at and sniff the dipstick and get an idea when it's time in situations like that. Conversely, with adverse environmental impacts, oil testing or an educated look and sniff of the dipstick will tell you quite a bit.

I will say this, modern direct injected turbo engines like we have in the CTR run very hot (intentional since it improves efficiency) and that is both good and bad from the standpoint of lubrication. I think someone mentioned condensation earlier, well that is not something I'd worry about at all on this engine. If you get the engine up to temp on even a very short drive, it should be fine. These things run extremely hot compared to older engines.

To me, this is the heart of the debate - do we trust that OEMs have done this kind of testing and can rely on their service intervals? Or, as others have argued, are they extending the service intervals to make it cheaper for the consumer (and to offset the cost of their free oil change offers)?

I can see it either way, though if it’s the latter, I think it’s short sighted as they’ll take a reputational hit when their motors start going pop.

I am getting my oil changed at 50% oil life as I feel that it’s been too long on the factory fill. But it sure would be nice if we could all trust the OEM info 100%!

 

[25FL5]

At 1k miles, it shows 30% oil life for me.

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