Good oil change routine for 2013 Honda Civic EX?

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Hi,

I plan on purchasing a new 2013 Civic EX in June and my plan to to keep the car long tem, around 12+ years and around 225,000 miles.

Should I just follow the Honda "Maintenance Minder", which tell you to change at 15%, or
is a better option to just do maybe 7500 OCI, with Mobil 1, Pennzoil Platinum, etc?

What you be the best course for long term ownership?
 
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I just did a valve adjustment on my neighbors Honda Odyssey with 144K on it. He just uses the maintenance minder and it looked ok. The back bank with the PCV system was a little varnished, but looked ok. For oil, he used whatever oil change quick lubeyjob place he had a coupon for. I seen no reason why, in Honda's, the maintenance minder is a problem when using a good oil.
 
Yes, follow the Maintenance Minder for your new Civic. I would keep the factory fill in the motor until your MM hits about 15%.

Then change it with which ever 0W-20 that you prefer. Pennzoil Platinum, Mobil 1, Toyota Genuine Synthetic, QSUD, Valvoline SynPower. NAPA has 0W-20 for $3.49 a qt. So many choices just like the ice cream store.

The owners manual should have a good writeup on how the Maintenance Minder works and which services are kept by it.
 
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Thanks,

I seem to be reading that these newer Civic engines are very easy
on oil and even using a top quality dino oil, a 7500 OCI would be
totally fine for great protection.

Im wondering if a FULL synthetic may just be a waste of money, as I am a
conservative driver, mostly in the suburbs of Central NJ. Would a FULL
synthetic me overkill for my driving style?
 
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I am getting the feeling the owners manual must rewritten so that new owners can read and understand it.

Too may questions recently regarding BITOG experience to override the OEM manual, maybe I am just hallucinating.

Whilst under warranty (3 - 5 years) imo FOLLOW the OEM manual.
 
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On every new engine I've owned, I personally like to get the Factory fill out early. If it was my car, 3k first oil/filter change. Second oil/filter change at 7.5k. Then 5k or 7.5k changes depending on % of city/hwy driving on quality synthetic oil. Either way, you'll get the time/miles out of the engine regardless I believe.
 
Just follow the minder's suggestions.

A full synthetic won't be too much overkill since Honda brand oil is a synthetic blend anyway, and full synthetic is often on sale and/or rebate.

For example, Napa synthetic is $3.49/qt until the end of the month (it is rebranded Synpower). I think PP is still on rebate but not sure.
 
QSUD 0w20 with 1/2 qt T5 10w30 as a booster workes OK in my FIT. I would get thet FF out at 3K - the oil will be sheared down - my engine was bearing knocking the oil was sheared so much at 3K ( < 50% on the OLM) - i couldnt imagine the car going to 15% on the OLM for OCI #1 or #2.
"Full synthetic" isnt synthetic in N.America, but since QSUD is 22 bucks for 5qts at walmart for a gp iii blend - dont cheap out on oil for the price of 1 gallon of gas! I would skip Castrol, Valvoline and Mobil Clean 5K - havent found the NA package to my liking.
 
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I would change the Factory Fill at 50% and then fill it with whatever bulk 0w-20 Honda has. Change that at 30%. THEN use a synthetic 0w-20 of your choice, run it down to 5% Everything will be A-ok
 
Diggercivic posted a UOA with the factory fill at 7500miles...it is not sheared...

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2973985#Post2973985

Follow the MM until your powertrain warranty is up. Period. Honda knows a thing or 2 about maintaining their engines.

Funny that most of the people that recommend you don't follow the MM don't own Hondas.

I'm on Civic #5 and while under powertrain warranty I take it to the dealer. After the warranty is up is when I take over the oil changes.

That being said, it is your car. Take care of it as you see fit.
 
Originally Posted By: Gotch
Diggercivic posted a UOA with the factory fill at 7500miles...it is not sheared...

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2973985#Post2973985

Follow the MM until your powertrain warranty is up. Period. Honda knows a thing or 2 about maintaining their engines.

Funny that most of the people that recommend you don't follow the MM don't own Hondas.

I'm on Civic #5 and while under powertrain warranty I take it to the dealer. After the warranty is up is when I take over the oil changes.

That being said, it is your car. Take care of it as you see fit.


This is the most sound advice.

I always change the oil in my Honda when it reached 0% - 5%. Since I used synthetic I have no worries about changing it when it reaches that point as it usually does so at 6800 - 8100 miles.
 
You DO NOT have to take your Honda to a Honda dealer to maintain
your warranty!! Just chose a well respected independent shop and,
of course, save all receipts. In my case, I use a AAA approved shop
for the last 15 years. All Master Mechanics at this shop.

My plan is to follow the MM with the factory fill, or 6000 miles, than switch to Mobil 1 and do 7500 OCI for the life of the Civic. I think this is a pretty common sense approach without going overboard.
 
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Javier,
Why would you let it get all the way down to 0%?? Isnt the 15% mark the lowest you should go??
 
Originally Posted By: flinter
Javier,
Why would you let it get all the way down to 0%?? Isnt the 15% mark the lowest you should go??


The whole MM system is based on Honda synthetic blend oil. So the Honda oil should run out around 15%. However you use a higher quality fluid, you can go to 0%
 
I have used the following in my 11' Civic which has the same motor as the OP's year model. In this order:

Factory Fill - 3k
Castrol Edge w/Titanium 0w20 - 5k
PYB 5w20 - 3k
QSUD 0w20 - 3k
Mobil1 0w20 - (2) 5k

I dumped the factory fill early (always have).

Edge w/Titanium was pretty quiet in this engine. But UOA's of this oil disappointed me and I stopped using it.

Couldn't wait to get PYB in my engine. Already made up my mine to do 5k OCI's until the wheels fell off this car. But the engine was very noisy with this oil. I am still upset I can't use PYB like I planned.

I thought maybe it just liked the synthetics, so I got the QSUD. Again it was a very noisy motor. I can't stand a noisy motor.

I am now on my second 5k run of Mobil1 0w20. It is very quiet in this engine.

Not real sure why this engine doesn't respond better with the SOPUS products. I would love to use them on this application. But I don't feel let down whatsoever with having success with Mobil 1 0w20. Once I hit 30K, I am going to use the MM more extensively.
 
The only reason I don't go down to 0% on my Honda is because it annoys me to see that prompt come up on the display every time I start the car and then I have to toggle it back to get to my usual favorite of having the trip odometer and outside temperature showing. If it weren't for that annoying feature, I'd run mine down to 0% every time, but instead I find myself changing the oil as soon as possible when it hits 15%. And yes, I do realize I could just reset the monitor and keep going for a little bit but then that's just going to get confusing so this is the pattern I'm stuck doing.
 
Originally Posted By: flinter
You DO NOT have to take your Honda to a Honda dealer to maintain
your warranty!! Just chose a well respected independent shop and,
of course, save all receipts. In my case, I use a AAA approved shop
for the last 15 years. All Master Mechanics at this shop.


No, you don't have to take it to the dealer to maintain warranty coverage...That being said, if it IS serviced at the dealer, really hard for them to claim anything due to lack of Maintenance.

As for the early factory fill change outs, in my opinion you are wasting an opportunity to have a thorough and complete break-in on a brand new engine.
 
Originally Posted By: flinter
Javier,
Why would you let it get all the way down to 0%?? Isnt the 15% mark the lowest you should go??

The MM is based on conventional or syn blend oil and I have been using synthetic all of its life. PU, PP, Mobil and currently Peak. Heck once I went over by 250 miles. Oops.
 
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Hey I searched and found this thread, so for the factory fill what is the ideal % to change at I am reading different answers...
 
Smart thing would be to follow what your warranty and Honda requires.
Might be worth finding out if the dealer uses Genuine Honda oil, especially 0w20 SM GF4.
If your going to be short tripping around town then a high VI (200+) oil will greatly benefit you, so Honda or TGMO would be the oils top of my list.
Enjoy the new car.
 
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