2009 Honda Fit Sport 1.5L - 4,818 OCI - 150,000 miles - Pennzoil Ultra Platinum 5W-20

[DavidDoes]

I've been using Pennzoil Ultra Platinum pretty much since it came out. It hasn't gotten easier to find, and perhaps has gotten more difficult to find, depending on the viscosity or weight. As such, we have bounced back and forth between 0W-20 and 5W-20. We've had this vehicle for 4 years / 30,000 miles. It has spent most of its time sitting in Seattle traffic. When we purchased it, we didn't know anything about it other than what I'd gleaned from the test drive and my own inspection. It's got a less-than-stellar history that I've since learned about, and it needs a valve adjustment, so I wanted to get this analysis done to see if the car is worth keeping.

Normally, our OCI is ~5,000 miles, but I think I'll start bumping that up to ~7,500. Before this car, I'd done 8-10,000 mile OCIs, but this one has the Honda Maintenance Minder that comes on around 4,500 miles, so I've done it sooner with this vehicle.

I'm very happy with this report, and will extend the next OCI out, and do another analysis. For a lifetime maintenance cost of $4,632 over the last 4 years, I'm very happy with this vehicle, so I'll definitely be keeping it.

 

[cptbarkey]

Have always had a soft spot for honda fits. Fun fact, it has 8 spark plugs.

 

[DavidDoes]

Have always had a soft spot for honda fits. Fun fact, it has 8 spark plugs.

What?! Oh, boy... I installed spark plugs just 300 miles after we bought it, and only did four. Watched several videos, because I'd never had to remove unrelated parts of the vehicle to do spark plugs before and wanted to make sure I did it right. All the videos show only four. Where are the other four?!

 

[cptbarkey]

Wait, I think i was wrong, some had 8 but yours is 4, sorry about that. I think it was the civic hybrid.

 

[DavidDoes]

Wait, I think i was wrong, some had 8 but yours is 4, sorry about that. I think it was the civic hybrid.

Those are the only ones I've seen. I went through the process of removing the cowl and everything. There aren't other spark plugs besides those 4 on the back.

 

[DavidDoes]

It appears that there are 8 spark plugs on the 1.3L Fit/Jazz.

 

[Rygrego]

Have always had a soft spot for honda fits. Fun fact, it has 8 spark plugs.

Not my 09, just 4 in the back.

 

[Rygrego]

It appears that there are 8 spark plugs on the 1.3L Fit/Jazz.

Which country? Not the U.S.

 

[fantastic]

6500 miles will be the "Sweat Spot" for silicon. If you're referring to the valve in the head, that needs adjusting, I'm fairly sure anything half modern is hydraulicly adjusted so not sure how you're going to do that. Thanks for sharing

 

[joekingcorvette]

Gotta love those Honda Fit's. Glad to hear they only have 4 plugs I was a little confused there at the start of the conversations. Keep on keeping on.

 

[JoelB]

I never really got the desire to go out of your way to use the ultra platinum. In this case it would be easier to just walk into the store and buy the platinum and I bet the results would be the same.

 

[reemoeMO]

Per Professor Google:

 

[VTECOverRated]

Nice results. Suck the L15B has fuel dilution like its life depends on it.

 

[reemoeMO]

Nice results. Suck the L15B has fuel dilution like its life depends on it.

More on that engine type:

What is the meaning of IDSI engine?

The L12A, L13A and L15A use (Japanese: i-DSI), or “intelligent Dual & Sequential Ignition”. i-DSI utilizes two spark plugs per cylinder which fire at different intervals during the combustion process to achieve a more complete burn of the gasoline.

 

[cptbarkey]

More on that engine type:

What is the meaning of IDSI engine?

The L12A, L13A and L15A use (Japanese: i-DSI), or “intelligent Dual & Sequential Ignition”. i-DSI utilizes two spark plugs per cylinder which fire at different intervals during the combustion process to achieve a more complete burn of the gasoline.

Now i am more curious on how effective it is vs 4 spark plugs. The pvc system must be squeaky clean.

 

[odie]

Only 4 spark plugs .

 

[Triple_Se7en]

I've been using Pennzoil Ultra Platinum pretty much since it came out. It hasn't gotten easier to find, and perhaps has gotten more difficult to find, depending on the viscosity or weight. As such, we have bounced back and forth between 0W-20 and 5W-20. We've had this vehicle for 4 years / 30,000 miles. It has spent most of its time sitting in Seattle traffic. When we purchased it, we didn't know anything about it other than what I'd gleaned from the test drive and my own inspection. It's got a less-than-stellar history that I've since learned about, and it needs a valve adjustment, so I wanted to get this analysis done to see if the car is worth keeping.

Normally, our OCI is ~5,000 miles, but I think I'll start bumping that up to ~7,500. Before this car, I'd done 8-10,000 mile OCIs, but this one has the Honda Maintenance Minder that comes on around 4,500 miles, so I've done it sooner with this vehicle.

I'm very happy with this report, and will extend the next OCI out, and do another analysis. For a lifetime maintenance cost of $4,632 over the last 4 years, I'm very happy with this vehicle, so I'll definitely be keeping it.

View attachment 170615

I like that add-pack, in combination with Natural Gas base.

For almost 5k use, that 1.5 engine didn't dilute too much. That's another

A boost in Magnesium helped and that 5w20 stayed in it's viscosity margin. That makes 3

Wait..... I only have two thumbs.....

 

[Artem]

Over $1,000 a year in maintenance on a tiny little Honda Fit?!?! what is being done? Goodness gracious.

My 2014 Mazda 3 with 120k miles has gotten nothing but oil changes over the last 4 years. Maybe $200-300 at best and I change it every 3k miles. i can’t imagine a maintenance bill north of 4 grand over the same period. Wow.

 

[DavidDoes]

I never really got the desire to go out of your way to use the ultra platinum. In this case it would be easier to just walk into the store and buy the platinum and I bet the results would be the same.

I've thought about this as well, whenever it's time to get oil. However, I know it works, so there's that.

I like that add-pack, in combination with Natural Gas base.

For almost 5k use, that 1.5 engine didn't dilute too much. That's another

A boost in Magnesium helped and that 5w20 stayed in it's viscosity margin. That makes 3

Wait..... I only have two thumbs.....

Yeah! I don't know the impact of if any of those are outside the range, but I was impressed by that as well.

 

[Graham Piccinini]

6500 miles will be the "Sweat Spot" for silicon. If you're referring to the valve in the head, that needs adjusting, I'm fairly sure anything half modern is hydraulicly adjusted so not sure how you're going to do that. Thanks for sharing

This is from memory, but plenty of owner's manuals available online if someone wants to verify. But Honda recommends inspecting the valves clearance every 25k miles, and adjust them at 100k miles or if they become noisy, whichever comes first.