Honda Oil Life - how works?

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car: 2014 Honda Civic EX-L, 1.8L engine, still on original break-in oil

When I hit 6,000 miles on my car this morning, the moment it hit that it also went from 50% to 40% on the oil life.

I thought that there was some magical sensor in the engine that actually "looked" at the oil and determined when it was getting dirty.

My neighbor is a certified Honda mechanic and he recommends folks not go by that indicator. He recommends 5K OCI on synthetic and 3K OCI on dino oil.

Does anyone know exactly how that oil life sensor really works?
 
Originally Posted By: sasilverbullet
Does anyone know exactly how that oil life sensor really works?

Depends on the car. In most cars it's just a more or less elaborate algorithm that can take into account things like number of cold starts, temperature, rpms, amount of fuel burned, etc.

Apart from BMW and maybe MB, I'm not aware of any other manufacturer that actually has a physical oil condition sensor inside the oil pan.
 
I don't know anything specific to honda, but in general oil life monitors accumulate statistics on number of miles, number of engine starts, length of engine operation, engine temperature reached,time engine remains at full temp, etc. in order to calculate when the oil is used up. There's typically no "sensor" whatsoever. Lots of short trips, not getting up to full operating temp, etc. will cause the OLM to decrement faster than long highway runs, but mileage is still a factor so its no surprise that the OLM will decrement at a particular mileage.
 
Originally Posted By: sasilverbullet


My neighbor is a certified Honda mechanic and he recommends folks not go by that indicator. He recommends 5K OCI on synthetic and 3K OCI on dino oil.



LMAO!
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete


Depends on the car. In most cars it's just a more or less elaborate algorithm that can take into account things like number of cold starts, temperature, rpms, amount of fuel burned, etc.



^^This. The OLM on Honda vehicles decreases in 10% increments. If your OLM shows 100%, then the oil life is anywhere between 91-100%. If the OLM shows 90%, the oil life is 81-90% and so on.....

Use the OLM and don't listen to your neighbour.
 
OLM's represent a culture change for people that are used to changing their own oil on some kind of predetermined mileage schedule. The more time spent in the mileage paradigm the more difficult the adjustment. Just agree with your neighbor and follow the monitor if you have one.
 
As others have said, it is an algorithm.

I'd ignore the 5k/3k advice and rely on the IOLM. If you think it my be extending things too much, change it when the monitor gets to 30% oil life remaining or wherever you're comfortable. This will better recognize actual driving conditions than a simple 5k/3k plan.
 
Your neighbor's advice is pretty good.
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Yes, it is an algorithm that predicts oil life, based on engine revolutions, temperature, driving habits, etc.. Does not do any direct evaluation.

A Honda Master Technician on another forum was noting that he has see cases of stretched timing chains and gunked up VTEC solenoid valves on vehicles where people have followed the OLM.

Personally, I changed it every 5K on my CR-V, regardless of the OLM. I just used the OLM to see what other services were called out and reset it at 15% when it turned the light on.
 
Unless your neighbor designed the Honda OLM, I wouldn't listen to him.

Check out the UOAs I posted for my '13 Accord EX-L 4cyl, I will post my latest UOA this afternoon, ran 10064mi with TGMO this time.
 
Originally Posted By: HKPolice
I find newer Hondas to be very optimistic on the OLM. After 6K miles it should be closer to 20% unless you drove 90% highway mileage.



What makes you say that?
 
Well, many UOAs found on this forum would prove you wrong, mine included.


Originally Posted By: HKPolice
I find newer Hondas to be very optimistic on the OLM. After 6K miles it should be closer to 20% unless you drove 90% highway mileage.
 
Originally Posted By: sasilverbullet
OP here - 98% of my driving is highway.

Then following your neighbor's advice sounds like a waste of time and money.
 
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/3044859/1/Honda_Factory_Oil,_2013_Accord

5653 Miles also factory fill, 15% OLM and only 1.6/1.5 TBN. I wouldn't run this oil below 2 TBN since the TAN is almost 3, so this oil is past its useful life @ only 5653 miles.

OP's 98% highway driving is an extreme case and running up to 9k miles on factory fill is probably ok. This proves how important driving conditions are to oil life. There is no guaranteed safe amount of mileage even if an oil like Mobil 1 EP claims 15K miles. If you idle your car in traffic everyday, 5-7K miles could easily deplete TBN down to 1.

Originally Posted By: Leonardo629
Well, many UOAs found on this forum would prove you wrong, mine included.


Originally Posted By: HKPolice
I find newer Hondas to be very optimistic on the OLM. After 6K miles it should be closer to 20% unless you drove 90% highway mileage.
 
FF oil gets beat up during wear in. So does OCI #2. I wouldn't follow OLM until oci #3 at the earliest.

Disclaimer: But I blow up my poorly made engines in a matter days - so what do I know. I know not to recommend a Nissan Versa Note ... ... ... that I pick out
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posting factory fill UOA is not helping the OP here


These paint a better picture for the OP

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/3317349/Searchpage/5/Main/214334/Words/accord/Search/true/Re:_2013_Honda_Accord__M1_AFE_#Post3317349

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/3326570/Searchpage/5/Main/214795/Words/accord/Search/true/Re:_2013_Accord_K24W1_DI_-_TGM#Post332657
 
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I bought my 2010 Accord with 34k miles. The first OC was done at 9k, than at 18k, then at 28k, and then at 34k at the dealership. I'm sure it was all done with dino oil. Kinda makes me sick.

Car runs great.

I have 54k on it 1.5 years later. I'm about to change the oil for the 4th time this weekend....averaging about 5k mile OCI's. The first OC I run 15% MMO with M1 oil. I've ran 3 OCI's with M1, and the oil about to come out is the old PU.

It's just me, but I refuse to run 10k OCI's on my car. I just don't want to do it. Personal choice.
 
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