Ok, so its almost time for my second oil change. Im currently at about 10k, my MM says 20% oil life, and im considering using synthetic over dino oil since i do a lot of city driving and commuting. Im hoping that since ill be using synthetic, my oil changing intervals will be a little farther apart, so far they are at about 5-6k. will this be true? is it that much of a difference? Another thing that ive been thinking about is this...ive read in the manual that our MM works on our driving style and will let us know when its the best time to change our oil. but if i add synthetic will it know? does it go by how clean the oil still is or how does that work? :scratch: sorry about all the questions but im pretty new at using synthetic oils and dont want to spend more money on synthetic and have to change the oil at the same intervals of 5k because of my driving habits. anyone know???

The MM assumes that you are using conventional oil. There is no way for the MM to "learn" that there is synthetic oil being used.

Ask 100 people and you will get 100 opinions/responses. From my perspective, if you are going to follow the MM, synthetic is probably the way to go. OCIs are undoubtedly going to be longer. The MM has been allowing me to go 7500 miles between oil changes. Because it is 1.5 times longer that what an actual "schedule"is (based on my 2003 LX-G), synthetic is worth the extra few dollars.

Thanks for the help...i always follow the MM so i figure ill give synthetic a chance and see how it goes from there. hopefully ill be able to ge the same or close to the same results as you. :yes:

If you're going to follow the MM for oil changes, then you'll be fine with conventional.

Let's see.... you're "currently at about 10k" and your "MM says 20% oil life"... that means that you're averaging roughly 5K miles per oil change. Using synth oil for 5K mile OCI's is a waste, IMO. If you're doing 7,500+ mile OCI's then use synth.

However, if you can get synth oil for the same or close to the same price as conventional, then of course go synth.

The MM will not adjust it's calculations if you use synethic oil. The MM is based upon driving style and other factors such as outside temp, etc. Honda's website has an explanation of this.

If your OCI (based upon the MM) is under 7K, use dino. If it is over 7k, then consider synthetic oil.

My MM signals an oil change usually around 9,500 miles because I do so much highway driving for my commute. I use synthetic oil because I have yet to find a UOA that would support using dino for that interval.

thanks for all the help guys! :thmsup: im gonna change my oil next week and just stick with the dino. no sense in wasting money and using synthetic.

Just change your oil and filter every 5,000 and you will be fine....regular or syn....Forget about the MIL

Just change your oil and filter every 5,000 and you will be fine....regular or syn....Forget about the MIL


Nah, Honda's MM is pretty good (except maybe at the extremes), so use it.

However, if you're hell bent on changing your oil at 5K, save yourself some money and use regular 5W-20; running synthetic at that interval is a waste.

Better yet, do some UOA's and get some objective data as to when is the proper interval for your application.

thanks for all the help guys! :thmsup: im gonna change my oil next week and just stick with the dino. no sense in wasting money and using synthetic.

If your going use dino oil. May I suggest using the MotorCraft 5w-20 semi syn. The oil is dirt cheap and one of the very best oils one can use on a dino schedule. Use a name brand filter and enjoy.

It really is very good oil and a great bang for the buck! Truth be known I should be using it in the Honda and Mazda. Im sure with all of our HWY miles. Im kind of wasting money on the M1. I use it in our Ranger. Change it once a year. The Ranger rattles on M1. Really strange.

If your going use dino oil. May I suggest using the MotorCraft 5w-20 semi syn. The oil is dirt cheap and one of the very best oils one can use on a dino schedule. Use a name brand filter and enjoy.

It really is very good oil and a great bang for the buck! Truth be known I should be using it in the Honda and Mazda. Im sure with all of our HWY miles. Im kind of wasting money on the M1. I use it in our Ranger. Change it once a year. The Ranger rattles on M1. Really strange.

+1 :thmsup: Had 5W-30 Pennzoil Platinum in the Ody, everybody loves that oil so much. The J35 just straight up hated it...bad fuel economy, ran a little rougher, just wasn't as smooth over the rev range.

don't mean to be off subject here but it sorts of relates to this plus i don't saves starting a new topic.

first experience with the maintenance minder/honda cars...first oil change at 5k...used m1 oil & filter. coming up on 15k...MM reads 50%. are you supposed to change your oil when your MM reads a certain percentage?

also if you switch to syn. i'm also assuming you ignore the MM and just go by extended change intervals i.e. 10k

thanks in advance

don't mean to be off subject here but it sorts of relates to this plus i don't saves starting a new topic.

first experience with the maintenance minder/honda cars...first oil change at 5k...used m1 oil & filter. coming up on 15k...MM reads 50%. are you supposed to change your oil when your MM reads a certain percentage?

also if you switch to syn. i'm also assuming you ignore the MM and just go by extended change intervals i.e. 10k

thanks in advance

Yes (~0%, zero), and yes.