I'm in charge of servicing a 09 Civic with the R18 engine. The OLM seems to be really good at compensating for varying driving conditions. Oil was last changed in early Dec 2014 then the cold cold winter hit with morning temps regularly at -10 to -20C. Daily commute is about 7KM each way which means the oil NEVER gets up to operating temp.
I just checked the OLM now and it's sitting at only 60% after 3000KM (about 1860miles). I've never seen any OLM go down so fast with such low mileage. If the oil life were to continue decreasing at this rate, it would hit 15% at only 6375KM! (~4K miles). Most civics that do mostly hwy mileage usually only hit 15% after 8K miles or more.
The previous OCI for this car was in March 2014 and the OLM didn't hit 15% until 9 months, 8500KM later (~5.3k miles) since it was all warm weather driving (still mostly short trips). So the difference between spring/summer & winter temperatures is enough to cut the OCI from 5.3k miles to ~4k miles in the same car with nearly identical driving style/daily route according to Honda's OLM. Keep in mind that this OLM will normally take 8K+ miles on mostly hwy driving before hitting 15%, so there is a huge mileage spread possible.
I'm pretty impressed by Honda's OLM system, but I know that not all manufacturers are accurate. For example GM had to recall their V6 engines due to OLM being too generous, causing timing chains to fail. Toyota's older cars also have a 'dummy' OLM that turns on every 5k miles regardless of driving conditions. I'm not sure about their newer cars.... anyone know?
Moral of the story: too many people are worrying too much about when to change their oil. If you have a car with a decent OLM, just follow it by the letter and you can't go wrong. Life is stressful enough, why add another thing to worry about? If your car doesn't have an OLM, just read the manual and follow the "severe" interval if you do mostly short trips.
Follow your oil life meter
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The OLM on my 06 Saturn Relay goes about 4500 miles no matter what oil I use. I switched from Synpower to PPU and it still says around 4500 miles to change it. I simply reset the indicator and keep going. I ran a 11k oil life on the PPU and have no regrets doing so. I'm on my 2nd use of PPU using the same wix filter. I'm hoping it won't use up as much oil as it did the first switch.
my '12 Fusion 2.5L uses the 5w20 MC blend oil, I'm at 9% life remaining and am up to 9600 miles using a Wix 51085
I'll be using Wix's XP 51085 filter this time.
Many cars today still use dummy OLM, that's why there is an owner's manual.
I go by it and nothing else b/c of warranty work, nothing says otherwise if sh*t hits the fan.
We 
get the worst weather of all.
get the worst weather of all.
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OLM don't test or track the oil itself, they're calculating things like number of cold starts, miles driven, oil temperature, number of engine revolutions, etc. So if you put in a conventional oil, or a high quality extended drain synthetic oil, the OLM will count down at the same rate. It's calculating other factors based on the type of oil recommended in the manual. So if the car says to use conventional, then it's not counting for synthetics. If the car specifies synthetic, and you put in conventional, there's a chance the oil will be depleted before the OLM says to change the oil.
I will tell not to automatically trust a machine like this. I work in a hospital and if I used a electronic blood pressure machine to take your BP and it said it was 230\102 and your heart rate is 130. If I blindly treat that and give you 20mg of labetelol IV along with 100 mg of lopressor by mouth and your BP really was 126\80 and HR was really 76 if I had taken them manually.. Not good at all. So the correlation here is not to blindly trust a computer monitor that "checks" the condition of your oil. I am not saying it is NOT helpful. IT CAN BE. But it is really a good helpful assist tool to help you. And that is really good and helpful. But it is not to be taken has the Gospel either. Fuel mileage, engine performance, and even how it sounds and runs are helpful hints too. And good old fashion tracking the mileage and since last OC is another part of our analysis has well. No hard set rules for everyone. I firmly believe in that. Because we all can different circumstances that can dictate another plan for maintainence. And that's a good deal too 
just my thoughts on this.
just my thoughts on this.Originally Posted By: bbhero
I will tell not to automatically trust a machine like this. I work in a hospital and if I used a electronic blood pressure machine to take your BP and it said it was 230\102 and your heart rate is 130. If I blindly treat that and give you 20mg of labetelol IV along with 100 mg of lopressor by mouth and your BP really was 126\80 and HR was really 76 if I had taken them manually.. Not good at all. So the correlation here is not to blindly trust a computer monitor that "checks" the condition of your oil. I am not saying it is NOT helpful. IT CAN BE. But it is really a good helpful assist tool to help you. And that is really good and helpful. But it is not to be taken has the Gospel either. Fuel mileage, engine performance, and even how it sounds and runs are helpful hints too. And good old fashion tracking the mileage and since last OC is another part of our analysis has well. No hard set rules for everyone. I firmly believe in that. Because we all can different circumstances that can dictate another plan for maintainence. And that's a good deal too just my thoughts on this.
just my thoughts on this. Ahh it is an apt comparison. And BP cuff is far more likely to have an issue than my stethoscope.. My is a litman that is simply amazing.. A machine is a machine.. No matter what we may think. I did say it is part of an analysis but not the main factor.. If this function machine we are talking about is not a machine than why have I heard of them either a. Failing leading to false readings a d people going way over what they should have for a OCI ?? They are helpful which is good. A patient in my facility almost died from a failing Pain pump. Pt got a massive and I mean massive doses of IV pain med. Took ALL of the narcan in the hospital to reverse it. And yes it was monitoring the med when it failed.. .don't always trust mechanical equipment.. Not always 100%. Just like these oil monitors.also when that pt left recovery that pain pump was in good working order. When it got to the floor it was working properly too.. Then failed. In my first scenario I made the obvious natural assumption that the person using a faulty BP monitor thought the machine was in good order.. If some dimwit took a monitor like that knowing it was jacked up and trusted it... Then would you want that fool having your family member as their patient? I don't that 1000%. So again comparison is an apt comparison. With that being an the case
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"Doveryai no proveryai", a Russian proverb.
Russian for, trust by verify. It worked for Reagan and it works for me as well.
Have no problem with the OLM thing, if I was operating my vehicle in normal user situations. The OLM can't account for the very dusty conditions my pickup has to operate in running up and down gravel roads just to get to and from the house. And several other issues. So I just stick with a miles/hrs thing. Seeing the percentage thing on the OLM on my dash is an interesting novelty, but that is about it for me.
Originally Posted By: EricF
The OLM on my 06 Saturn Relay goes about 4500 miles no matter what oil I use. I switched from Synpower to PPU and it still says around 4500 miles to change it.
Originally Posted By: EdwardC
Originally Posted By: bbhero
I will tell not to automatically trust a machine like this. I work in a hospital and if I used a electronic blood pressure machine to take your BP and it said it was 230\102 and your heart rate is 130. If I blindly treat that and give you 20mg of labetelol IV along with 100 mg of lopressor by mouth and your BP really was 126\80 and HR was really 76 if I had taken them manually.. Not good at all. So the correlation here is not to blindly trust a computer monitor that "checks" the condition of your oil. I am not saying it is NOT helpful. IT CAN BE. But it is really a good helpful assist tool to help you. And that is really good and helpful. But it is not to be taken has the Gospel either. Fuel mileage, engine performance, and even how it sounds and runs are helpful hints too. And good old fashion tracking the mileage and since last OC is another part of our analysis has well. No hard set rules for everyone. I firmly believe in that. Because we all can different circumstances that can dictate another plan for maintainence. And that's a good deal too just my thoughts on this.
just my thoughts on this. 
I do use my OLM and I think it's a very good tool but I do supplement the information it gives me with other observations as well. Knowing the type of oil in use and the condition of the air filter and appearance of the oil also factor into when I'm going to change oil. The point of all of this is to use the most intelligence that is readily available in order to determine when to change oil. A lot of factors affect the condition of the oil and the OLM tracks many of them for us automatically.
At the other end of the spectrum is to use only one factor in determining when to change oil. Commonly this is mileage, and it has given rise to the 3,000 mile oil change myth. I myself, prefer to use far more of the information that is readily available to determine the most efficient use of my resources and an OLM is one of those resources.
From what I've heard and read the Honda OLM is the best in the business but is kinda blind if you ask me. On the factory fill which is a blend with moly the OLM is reading the same with the same driving conditions with Mobil One AFE. After observing this I'll change my oil at 4k being the second oil change and 5k afterwards. I feel this is a good mileage for my driving conditions which is about 35% highway and 65% city. FWIW I'm at 3700 miles and 50% left on the OLM which included sub zero conditions and my driving mix.
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I have tracked OCI, oil consumption and the OLM on our 2011 Accord VCM V6 very closely as it was included the the VCM class action lawsuit and settlement. The OLM is spot on. 0% takes our car to 7500-8000 miles and UOA confirms that is the correct interval for Honda brand 0W-20 full Syn and TGMO. BTW, my testing in this vehicle proved to my satisfaction that TGMO is noticeably superior to the CP produced Honda brands.
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Originally Posted By: Droopy
From what I've heard and read the Honda OLM is the best in the business but is kinda blind if you ask me. On the factory fill which is a blend with moly the OLM is reading the same with the same driving conditions with Mobil One AFE.
Not had a OLM. The Camry has a 5K maintenance reminder.
I think it just records mileage then reminds you. Great for my 5K OCI.
My OLM got down to 20% at 3776 miles. The color was getting dark and I was getting nervous about it. Drained it out so I could sleep at night.
If I didn't have an OLM, I might change oil after 15 fill ups or something like that. This would track oil degradation better than mileage.
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