Am I going too long between changes?

[TomYoung]

Agreed with the second part., assuming everything is in proper working order, and you have minimal fuel dilution, and no antifreeze. The OLM will not know these factors.

It does seem that new oil makes the engine sound a bit differenent, but I suppose that is all subjective BS.

If a car is running properly, and the outgoing oil is being changed within it's oil change interval, there is simply no chance that the new oil sounds any different than the old oil. If oil suffers dilution, or is highly contaminated, that may seem to change things, but a corollary is that new oil will never fix a mechanical problem.

 

[weaponoffreedom]

If a car is running properly, and the outgoing oil is being changed within it's oil change interval, there is simply no chance that the new oil sounds any different than the old oil. If oil suffers dilution, or is highly contaminated, that may seem to change things, but a corollary is that new oil will never fix a mechanical problem.

Agreed.....however I will add that new oil and old oil will likely have different viscosity, due to contamination. I could see how it might change the sound. No chance, I disagree, slim chance yes, obviously excluding using a different weight of course

 

[wlk]

It works out to about 13,000 km with 70% highway driving but a lot of stop and go traffic.

As far as I know the Honda OLM compensates for short trips.

It is a general question as well: will audible clues correlate with oil performance? Of course in extreme cases they do, but does it matter in normal cases?

As someone else said K20s are noisy to begin with and you want them that way. Quiet ones can have tight valves and are at risk of burning them. Have you gotten them adjusted? Every 80-100k miles is what they need done. My k24 in my Element is noisy, 5w30 helped and 5w40 helped even more. If K20s are like K24s and have stuck rings I wouldn't push the oci and change it sooner than later and keep it full for the timing chain. I have been doing 5k oci but trying to resolve stuck rings and consumption, which has taken me ~2 yrs to get it to minimal now. I have a decent stash of sale/clearance oil now and may cut it back to 3-4k to try and clean up the residual varnish.

 

[doublebase]

As someone else said K20s are noisy to begin with and you want them that way. Quiet ones can have tight valves and are at risk of burning them. Have you gotten them adjusted? Every 80-100k miles is what they need done. My k24 in my Element is noisy, 5w30 helped and 5w40 helped even more. If K20s are like K24s and have stuck rings I wouldn't push the oci and change it sooner than later and keep it full for the timing chain. I have been doing 5k oci but trying to resolve stuck rings and consumption, which has taken me ~2 yrs to get it to minimal now. I have a decent stash of sale/clearance oil now and may cut it back to 3-4k to try and clean up the residual varnish.

It probably doesn’t help that Honda (if I remember) had owners going 7,500 miles on conventional oil for their intervals.

 

[camrydriver111]

The car is a 2020 Civic with only 85,000 km. Thats why I was surprised at the difference. I am doing dealer service until the warranty expires, which is pretty soon actually.

There is less of a sowing machine like sound. At idle its subtle, but past 4000 rpm you really notice the difference.

I always drive with windows up because I don't want to get cancer from diesel microparticles from all the trucks on the 401.

The oil was in service between Dec and May so maybe the winter driving was harsh on the oil.

 

[TomYoung]

Lubricity is greatly diminished after about 5,000 miles, regular or synthetic. Rub new oil between your fingers and some of that old oil between your fingers. Which do you think your engine prefers?

That "lubricity" is greatly diminished after 5,000 miles, is simply not correct and is based on serious misconceptions. The oil itself and its "lubricity," will last a long time, certainly longer than the oil change intervals. Oil gathers and holds contaminants from combustion and from the air, and it's additive packages are used up. Sometimes oil holds some water when the engine is not sealed or working perfectly. Those are the reasons that you change oil... not because its "lubricity" has diminished.

 

[wlk]

It probably doesn’t help that Honda (if I remember) had owners going 7,500 miles on conventional oil for their intervals.

Yes, the olm/service light is 7500miles and there was no calculator just plain miles. A lot of these motors got stuck rings bc most people just did what Honda said to and had no education otherwise to do better maintenance. Believe it was conv at first, then went to blend oils- my owners man says blend.