I'm 57 years old and I've been taking care of my own oil changes all my life, but what I've learned in the last 12 hours is just about the dumbest thing I've ever heard of. My twenty-something daughter bought a 2006 Civic Ex new. Apparently, she was told that the 'car will tell her when to have the oil changes, and that is what she has been doing, regardless of mileage. Last night she called me and said that her car had told her that the oil life was at 15%, so she 'reset' the indicator and kept driving. While driving, it came on again informing her that the oil life was now at 10%. She thought this odd, but 'reset' the indicator again and kept driving. Again the indicator came on informing her that the car was at 5% oil life left. All of this happening within a 15 mile span of driving. Thankfully, she pulled over, and called me. She wasn't far, so I just had her stay there and I drove up to check it out. I gathered several pieces of information and learned a lot about her Honda Civic.

1. Since she purchased the car new, she always had the oil changed the day after the indicator informed her that her oil life was at 15%.
2. She had no idea of how far she went between the numerous oil changes that that she had gotten on the vehicle during its life.
3. According to the mileage listed on the oil change sticker on her windshield, she had driven the car over 8K miles since her last oil change.
4. Trying to find out information about the car like, 'What are the manufacturer's recommended oil change intervals', I learned that nowhere in the owners manual does it tell you that information; only that you should change the oil when it's indicator tells you that its at 15%.
5. Pulling the dipstick to check the oil level, I learned that there was in fact NO OIL showing on the dipstick. Going the nearby service station, I purchased three quarts of the recommended oil. I returned and slowly added the oil checking it at 1/2 quart levels added. I ended up pouring all three quarts of oil into the engine and STILL did not FILL the oil level to the top of the dipstick's cross-x's showing on the dipstick.

From these findings it should be obvious that:

1. Whatever sensor it is that sends information to the dashboard indicator telling you that the oil life is at a certain percentage, IT DOES NOT TELL YOU WHAT THE OIL LEVEL IS!!!
2. If you are losing, or burning oil, this indicator may possibly let you DESTROY your engine before it tells you what the oil life is!!!
3. THESE OIL SENSORS CANNOT BE RELIED UPON!!!!!

I strongly advice any and everyone to change your oil and filter at no more than 5000 miles. You cannot go wrong by changing it at 3000 miles.

 

The light on the dash is not a sensor at all. It is strictly a timer run by a little bit of software in the engine computer. It adds up miles, hours of running, time spent idling, and whether you tend to drive conservatively or floor it all the time. All these factors degrade the oil, so using a mathematical estimate it decides when the oil is "worn out".

It's usually a good idea to change more frequently than the light says. Honda only cares if your engine outlasts the 36,000 mile warranty. The main factor in manufacturer's recommended oil change intervals is J.D. Power's car ratings. If frequent changes are called for, the "maintenance cost" goes up and the car gets a lower ranking.

Even the old school method changing oil by mileage, it is very possible to run out (or at least low enough that you should add more) between changes. Oil changes are not the only time to be thinking about oil.

 

My cobalt had that crap I still changed my oil every 3-4k miles I thought it was nonsense!

 

Nice, yet another idiot light type bit of dash information.

Regardless of such nonsense, all drivers should be taught very basic auto maintenance procedures, tire pressures, oil and brake fluid levels at a minimum.

I had a customer who drove to the nearest gas station to buy more oil when her oil pressure light came on, good news for me, bad news for her.

 

I allways check my fluid levels atleast once a week and I don't burn or leak anything

Casue ya never know

Just my .02

 

I still only trust mileage, regardless of how I drive.

However, i drive a higher mileage Civic that burns oil... so I have to do a weekly checklist of stuff to make sure its still good.