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how many miles before first oil change

14K views 19 replies 9 participants last post by  littlewing1208 
#1 ·
how many miles was it before you had your first oil change?
 
#8 ·
I pay attention to it, but it doesn't make me jump up to change oil. Honda changes it for me every 5k, just because I want no question about extended warranty work if needed. With 75k miles on the car, it runs just as good as new!
 
#9 ·
I've been having my family and work customers use the MM.

On family's cars it's been coming on regularly at 5200 to 5500. Usually at 15% left.

I see it about the same at where I work as well. Only those cars that are much more highway seem to go more. I've not seen one yet go past 8000.
 
#11 ·
Robert,

Your car doesn't have a maintenance minder like the new cars. Yours, and my gen 7 are nothing more than lights hooked up to a mileage counter. I don't go by mine either. My car gets 2 changes per year, every 5k or so.

The new ones are oil life monitors that take into account, engine temp, inferred oil temp, avg speed, avg revs, peak revs, miles driven, and outside air temperature. The timer or clock is sped up or slowed down as needed per the algorithm in the PCM.

This only works when you use an oil that's exactly as Honda specifies. A better oil is not going to work with it.

GM is soon to be going to Dexos oils, they are capable of very extended oil changes.

They are also, from what I understand going to be a very good oil, better than M1 in most cases. You know there's going to be an issue when the GM is encountering quite a bit of resistance from oil companies and quick lube places over it. There's going to be a spark ignition engine oil and a light duty diesel version.

The oil is backwards compatible to most of their engines. However the cars that use the GM oil life system won't know this and will base this on the original oil. GM may or already has in the works a reflash for the PCM to allow the monitor to work with that oil.

There are/were cars that have actual oil quality sensors in the pan, some do work, but reliability has been an issue so far.
 
#13 ·
Your car doesn't have a maintenance minder like the new cars. Yours, and my gen 7 are nothing more than lights hooked up to a mileage counter. I don't go by mine either. My car gets 2 changes per year, every 5k or so.
FredSVT:

Exactly as you say, it's just a resettable satellite counter, running in tandem with the odometer. There's no oil pan sensor feeding the PCM. The counter activates the "Maintenance Required" indicator lamp (as I recall) around ~7,500 miles. I don't pay much attention to it, since the information it furnishes is not particularly important to me.
 
#14 ·
Hi Robert,

The Hondas that have the oil life monitor don't use a sensor in the pan. I don't recall ever even seeing an oil level sensor in a Honda pan. It's strictly calculated "life" via the parameters I mentioned.

The manufacturers that have used or use the in sump sensors have had reliability issues with them, either leaks or electronic failures.
 
#15 ·
The Hondas that have the oil life monitor don't use a sensor in the pan. I don't recall ever even seeing an oil level sensor in a Honda pan. It's strictly calculated "life" via the parameters I mentioned.

The manufacturers that have used or use the in sump sensors have had reliability issues with them, either leaks or electronic failures.
FredSVT:

I am not overtly familiar with MM specs of the newer Honda/Acura products. But I take comfort in Honda's strictly PCM algorithm-based approach. My friends who turn wrenches on Beemers and Volvos sure give me an earful about those systems. They're JUNK.
 
#17 ·
Toyota uses a counter on some cars, and I'm really not sure if the '07s and up have a monitor or not.

The Sequoia/Tundra seems to come on much earlier around 5k. The smaller cars, around 10k. I'd have to look up to see if Toyota is using an oil life monitor or not.
 
#18 ·
Looks like the 05 Matrix has a counter. I'm a few hundred miles away from the 5k oci and I'm getting the flashing maint. req. light on startup. Guessing it will go solid when its been 5k(last oci which was done at dealer so they prob. reset the mileage).

Pretty sure dad's 07 Camry and brother's 08 Rav are the same way. I went thru the o.m. on the Camry and Matrix pretty carefully awhile ago. From what I recall both state to change oil at 5k intervals. Nothing really said about severe service.
 
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