First oil from factory and oil change discussion

[t3hub3rk1tten]

Went to two dealers today that just got inventory today or yesterday.

Second dealer had a salesman that was super excited about the Civic, he's getting one himself. Literally 5 or 6 salesmen were hovering around looking at it when he parked it up near the front. He showed me an EX and I got to sit in it and turn it on. Display didn't work, they probably hadn't put the cabin fuse in it. He made it sound like it was still partway through PDI, still had the factory oil you're not supposed to drive with in it. Couldn't take it out for a drive because it hadn't been through Texas inspection/emission testing so it wasn't street legal!

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[Slickone]

Second dealer had a salesman that was super excited about the Civic, he's getting one himself. Literally 5 or 6 salesmen were hovering around looking at it when he parked it up near the front. He showed me an EX and I got to sit in it and turn it on. Display didn't work, they probably hadn't put the cabin fuse in it. He made it sound like it was still partway through PDI, still had the factory oil you're not supposed to drive with in it. Couldn't take it out for a drive because it hadn't been through Texas inspection/emission testing so it wasn't street legal! He also showed me another EX with metallic silver, looked great, he floored it in the parking lot. F

There is no "factory oil you're not supposed to drive with". If you don't drive with Honda's break in oil, the engine won't be broken in as Honda intended. The factory fill oil will have a higher molybdenum content that is supposed to be left in until the normal oil change interval, to help prevent the engine from using oil, which is a problem Honda has had in the past.
http://owners.honda.com/help/faqs#faq-2

 

[t3hub3rk1tten]

There is no "factory oil you're not supposed to drive with". If you don't drive with Honda's break in oil, the engine won't be broken in as Honda intended. The factory fill oil will have a higher molybdenum content that is supposed to be left in until the normal oil change interval, to help prevent the engine from using oil, which is a problem Honda has had in the past.
http://owners.honda.com/help/faqs#faq-2

Thanks for the info! That makes a lot more sense. I knew it was special somehow!

 

[17CivicTypeR_Brian]

There is no "factory oil you're not supposed to drive with". If you don't drive with Honda's break in oil, the engine won't be broken in as Honda intended. The factory fill oil will have a higher molybdenum content that is supposed to be left in until the normal oil change interval, to help prevent the engine from using oil, which is a problem Honda has had in the past.
http://owners.honda.com/help/faqs#faq-2

I usually run my new engine for about 1000 miles before I swap the oil-only.

 

[Slickone]

I usually run my new engine for about 1000 miles before I swap the oil-only.

Why? Honda says not to change it early.
http://owners.honda.com/help/faqs#faq-2
Why should I wait to change the oil the first time?
American Honda strongly recommends this special oil be left in the engine long enough for these wear patterns to develop, usually until the first maintenance interval specified in your Owner's Manual, based on your specific driving conditions.

 

[17CivicTypeR_Brian]

Why? Honda says not to change it early.
http://owners.honda.com/help/faqs#faq-2
Why should I wait to change the oil the first time?
American Honda strongly recommends this special oil be left in the engine long enough for these wear patterns to develop, usually until the first maintenance interval specified in your Owner's Manual, based on your specific driving conditions.

My thought was always that anything in the bottom of the oil pan is stuff I wouldn't want to get sucked up and recirculated. It could be an extra glob of sealant or dust or anything else. I also don't crack that VTEC until I get up over 1000 miles.

I swap to the recommended weight of Mobil 1 and go from there. My Si is at about 155k and now consumes about 1-1.5 qts between changes. I am no longer using the Maintenance Minder because of FlashPRO, so I just try to target about 5000 miles.

 

[Slickone]

My thought was always that anything in the bottom of the oil pan is stuff I wouldn't want to get sucked up and recirculated. It could be an extra glob of sealant or dust or anything else. I also don't crack that VTEC until I get up over 1000 miles.

I swap to the recommended weight of Mobil 1 and go from there. My Si is at about 155k and now consumes about 1-1.5 qts between changes. I am no longer using the Maintenance Minder because of FlashPRO, so I just try to target about 5000 miles.

The oil filter would catch that stuff, so it couldn't be recirculated.
So if you insist on doing something early, you should be doing the opposite of what you're doing - changing the filter but not the oil, vs. just the oil as you do.

 

[17CivicTypeR_Brian]

The oil filter would catch that stuff, so it couldn't be recirculated.
So if you insist on doing something early, you should be doing the opposite of what you're doing - changing the filter but not the oil, vs. just the oil as you do.

Yeah I understand the thinking both ways. The truth is that at 1000 miles, I may as well just go to the normal change interval.
I've only had 3 new cars now - the 09Si, the '12Pilot, and the '16 MDX. The Pilot - I changed that primarily because I knew the car was on another lot for like 3 months - didn't realize it was sitting that long until after I bought it. The MDX wasn't stale, but still - it had about 1900 on it and I was about to drive it to Miami from PA so I wanted synthetic.
Pilot was traded for the MDX so I'll never know if I made a horrible decision to change the oil early. In any case, I believe the engine is pretty much broken in by the time you exhaust your first tank of fuel. The rings are seated and everything else has heat cycled a couple times. I realize Honda says to leave it in but I don't think it matters all that much.

 

[Design]

If you feel you must change early, like some do, wait until the factory fill is down to at least 20-30% on the maintenance minder. From there you can resume normal OCIs based on your own schedule or Honda's.

 

[RSXer]

So there's no longer a certain xxxx miles for break in? It's all calculated and recommended by the on board computer?

And you just don't rev past a certain RPM until the first computer recommended service / oil change, which represents the end of "break-in"?

 

[Slickone]

So there's no longer a certain xxxx miles for break in? It's all calculated and recommended by the on board computer?

And you just don't rev past a certain RPM until the first computer recommended service / oil change, which represents the end of "break-in"?

http://www.civicx.com/threads/picking-up-ex-at-dealership-now.674/page-3#post-7320

 

[RSXer]

So no break in period. Awesome.

 

[CdnColin]

Engines and the material in them are always changing. What was true 30 -20 -10 -5 years ago may not be true today. Honda MOTOR Company know their engines. I follow their maintenance minder. Think they know best. Also only have the dealer do the oil change. Maybe I'm anal but it works for me.

 

[Slickone]

Engines and the material in them are always changing. What was true 30 -20 -10 -5 years ago may not be true today. Honda MOTOR Company know their engines. I follow their maintenance minder. Think they know best. Also only have the dealer do the oil change. Maybe I'm anal but it works for me.

Unless you can do it yourself. The only way to know your oil change is done correctly is to do it yourself. I know I do a better job changing my oil than the dealer would.

 

[HondaMan]

Honda MOTOR Company know their engines.

Exactly!

I always tell people that Honda is the largest engine company ion the world! They make engines for:

cars, motorcycles, atv's, jets, lawn mowers and lawn equipment, generators, etc

They know how to get the most out of the engines and do it efficiently!

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