Honda Has an OLM?

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Basically, it looks like I'll go with Havoline 5w20 dino for my first oil change and simply follow the OLM thereafter. I was leery of the OLM at first. However, after reading a lot about it and how it works, even from an engineer who posted here a while back as to how much better it is than some arbitrary mileage/months interval, I decided to use it for my first couple oil changes, send in for a UOA and adjust if necessary. Problem is that two oil changes after the factory fill will probably be close to a couple years from now.

WOW! Honda has an OLM too! I wonder how IT works? Anybody know? Most of the discussion here pertained to the GMOLM, just wondered if there were any major differences.
 
JohnnyG,

It has not been discussed to the extent of the GM OLM what with the dude who invented the thing posting away, but it has been mentioned a few times.

I am not following mine, but I believe a few people are following along with theirs.

I would like to see a thread with people reporting where their Honda OLM is at after X miles, but it would be a pain as not everyone lives for wondering when that bad boy drops a click or two.
 
HondaMan - I believe other Honda models besides the Ridgeline have an OLM but I am not positive of that. On my Ridgeline the OLM is part of the service chip known as "HAL" that monitors almost everything that needs servicing (even telling you when to rotate tires).

Although much has been written about the GM OLM (we even have a thread somewhere here where a GM engineer who worked on developing their monitor spoke at length about how it works), very little is known about the Honda version. Since the Ridgeline was developed by several former GM engineers, I would not doubt that it is similar. And knowing Honda, they have probably made it even better.

The old OLMs were nothing more than mileage counters and idiot lights but the Honda OLM is much more and, like GMs', bases its estimates as to oil life expectancy on driving habits. It even "deducts" for things like cold starts and short mileage trips by taking into account engine temps and revolutions.

The Ridgeline is designed in such a way that the VTEC engine needs only to rely on the OLM to guide it (and us) as to OCIs. That is, the manual does not tell us to change oil at any given set mileage or number of months within a year. What it does say is change oil (including the factory fill) when the service due on the OLM shows between 15% and 0% oil life expectancy. It goes on to say that if you drive so few miles that the service due notice does not come on, then go ahead and change oil once a year.

The members of the Ridgeline forum I frequent who drive much more than I do have indicated that the service due notice comes on around the 5,000 to 7,000 mile mark depending on their driving habits. In my case, I currently have 60% life expectancy on my factory fill at a little more than 3000 miles on the truck.

There are some factors of course that neither Hondas nor any OLM can monitor. For example, if you replenish oil by adding a quart every so often between OCIs you will be adding life to that fill. The monitor does not know you topped off and continues on its way as if it still has a full fill of original oil. Nor does it know if you use synthetic oil which of course will last longer and extend the drain. The Honda OLM is programmed to assume only dino oil because that is all that is required. I believe the Corvette OLM is based on synthetic oil because that is what it is recommended to run with.

The beauty of the OLM is that it is matched exactly to the engine you have and Honda engineers are known to be pretty bright fellows who know how to make a motor. There are other more complicated methods for determining OCIs that may be even more accurate overall but for most people, following the OLM is a safe, easy way to go. Of course the old 3000 mile or 6 month mentality will sure work fine but for most normal driving it is no longer necessary, expensive and wasteful.

There have been some recent threads that go into this issue rather deeply so I suggest a search of OLM. Also, I will try to find the link for the GM engineer's comments and if I can find it I will post it.
 
I think the algorithm is patented, and I thought I saw a link to the patent on here somewhere.

With regards to bboynski, he ran into the people on this forum who delight in trashing anything GM.
 
Yeah, I still talk to bbobynski via e-mail and he has taught me a lot.
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Martyi, the corvette OLM isn't calibrated any differently because of M1, M1 was only used for the elimination of the oil cooler and for better oil performance at oil temps >305F.

In addition, if you drop to 1 quart low, the OLM will usually tell you to check the oil. At that point, once you top off the oil, it will take into account the added make-up oil. (I think, at least some of 'em do)

MW
 
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