HA0589

Oil life just hit 0%.... Not going in until this coming Saturday.. Won't harm anything right? I drive 25-30 miles per day in moderate stop and go traffic. I'm just asking since I've honestly never let it go down to 0% before in the 6 years I've had my Accord.

Tyler Dirden

iTrader: (3)

If you have the correct ammount of oil in the motor, you can go5-6kmi on an oil change. The percentage of oil use is probably a 4kmi interval so your fine for a while.

You do use the good stuff right?

CM6

No, it doesn't use a 4k mile interval. He's probably not changed the oil for at least 7500 miles. Takes forever to get down to 0%, or so I've been told. I always change it at 60% or about 2-3K miles.

Bakemono36

You'll be fine for a little while after you hit 0%. I personally wouldnt push it much past 500 miles though.
If it makes you feel any better, several times that Im aware of my fiance has driven for over 1,000 miles with her Ford Escape with the oil life at 0% and that thing is still going, so if that hasnt killed a Ford engine yet, Id think a Honda engine would be OK.

94vtecmn

Here's an idea, write down the mileage when you change it, so you know exactly how many miles are on the oil change, and go by that, not an idiot light on the dash. Just my .02

BLKFLSH

At least make sure the oil level is still good. Running the oil level low, especially on old oil, IMO increases the likelihood of oil consumption issues in the future. Any idea how many miles are on the oil? Personally, I never go over 5,000 miles between changes. Since I can't see much of the inside of my engine, I over, rather than under maintain it.

pumafeet10

You will be perfectly fine

GoLowDrew

This. The MM is a reminder, not a ticking clock.

HA0589

The oil will actually probably be changed on Friday, so I should be okay.

HA0589

No... Oil was changed about 5k ago when it had 84k. It'll probably break 89k sometime this week. Doing little highway driving and a lot of constant stop and go doesn't help much.

pumafeet10

Won't hurt it at all, the reason historically for changing oil so often was for corporate gains, not bc the oil was bad. Motor oils these days, even dino oils are formulated to last quite a long time.

I would also suggest changing it yourself and using full synthetic, if you really want piece of mind and better performance.

dan_g

I follow the 5k interval, its easy to remember and follows a consistent pattern. I also get the tires rotated at the same time. The MM is based on some computerized formula of starts, speed and some other factors. It is not based on oil sample.

Now if you do some heavy higway driving you can go longer and your MM will take longer to hit 15%.

johnsc2235

I think a lot of these comments are funny. Oil is formulated better…lasts much longer…ect ect……don't believe the crap you read….Do the people telling you this stuff work on cars? Like actually get their hands dirty and work on these things day in and day out? Doubtful…..You can send any oil in and get it sampled…means absolutely nothing. Just because the ppm of metal is low does not mean it is lubricating your engine properly. I have been working on Honda/Acura cars for 20 years now, and the last 14 have been in one of the busiest Honda dealers in the midwest. I can tell you from experience that oil does not last 7500 miles, it just doesn't. When if comes out looking like diesel oil it is way past dead, no lubricating factors, it is caustic. The oil after about 4000 miles has lost/used up most of its additive factors and after that starts corroding your engine. Timing chains start to stretch especially when they are not lubricated properly and the oil level gets low. Once oil breaks down, your engine starts to use it, oil gets low, loses it lubricating factors, does not lubricate the chain ect…..eventually after say 70-100K miles your chain is stretch and you will get a vtc/cam out of phase….Save yourself some time and money and change your oil every 5K or sooner. I have seen more damaged engines due to lack of oil changes it would make you never miss an oil change….Ive seen and replaced lots of timing chains, pistons and piston rings and camshafts for lack of oil changes…we do at least three piston or piston ring jobs a week and two to three chains a week due to lack of maintance, something that could easily be prevented…$30 now or $1500-2500+ later…

Bakemono36

Cool story, bro.

furious94ls

Those % don't measure oil condition. They measure driving style and then base the oil change accordingly.

Next time, just pull the dipstick out and check the level/condition. As stated oils are good for a 5-7500 depending on driving style.

_MMR_

I don't care how long I'm told my oil is good for I never let it go past 5k without a change. Like stated before it could lead to much worse and much more costly problems. A few more miles aren't going to hurt you though.

furious94ls

Personally I change mine every 3k because it's cheap enough for me to do it myself. I don't care how long it's good for. If I'm doing a lot of driving and at 3k the oil looks perfect I'll leave it for another 1k or so. That's as far as I go. I like having a clean engine.

132k

johnsc2235

That is very clean!! Hats off to someone that cares about preventative maintance!

DCFIVER

Tribology technology has lept forward by leaps and bounds. Oil can very well last to 7500 miles. In fact a quality oil can go well past that mileage and still be completely effective. I dont know who told you that lie about the additives depleting in 4k,but thats plain bull. EOT results conducted by OEMs are the proof. I suggest you get out from under the hood and take some training courses. I have been working on cars professionally for over 20 years myself, difference between you and I is,Ive kept up with the changes in the industry and technology.



Chain stretch is not caused by the oil losing its viscosity,it is caused by the oil level being low,due to depletion. While oil can retain its viscosity and additive package for some time, it has no provision to protect itself from an engine that burns oil. And THAT is the primary fault with many modern engines. 1qt per every 1000 miles is considered normal today. If the consumer does not check their oil regularly their engine will eventually pay the price...




(BTW I change my oil every 7k and have done so for over 15 years)

94vtecmn

And if you really want to stretch it out, run fully synthetic AmsOil, with a by-pass filter system, you can go to 25k oil change intervals. I have a 1995 Accord my brother bought brand new, and after a 3k break in on the "factory" oil, it has been following this since new. Currently my 16 year old drives the car daily, and it has 279+K on it. Runs like a champ!

johnsc2235

DCFIver... I am 100% factory trained and have kept up with the times. When we send in our oil to be tested it comes back with numbers you don't want to hear about. I agree that chain stretch is from low oil and I never said differently. However how can you tell me oil doesn't break down? We've tested lots of oils at different oil change intervals and they all comeback with particles from different parts of the engine? 0-2500 miles very few particles, 2500-5000 miles more and it keeps going up. The viscosity of the oil was also thinned by 40-65% so how can you state that?
And the AMSoil thing. We've already replaced 6 engines because of that theory. I just call it like I see it.

johnsc2235

People can do as they please. If they want to believe oil lasts forever then they can follow that, if they want to change their oil more frequently then that is fine as well. I personally change my oil every 4000-5000 with full synthetic on the tsx and 3000 on the Gsr just because its supercharged. I would rather pay $25 for a oil change now than $1200 for a chain later or $5000 for an engine. Ive had lots of Hondas, most with well over 200K, one with over 300K and one that hit 412K, never had an engine issue with any of them maybe its just dumb luck.

94vtecmn

Funny, my kids 1995 has had new spark plugs three times, and a that's it. Our family has owned about 25 different Honda cars since 1980, not one engine failure, zip, zero, nada. If my memory serves me correctly, I think only one ever had the valves adjusted. I can list MANY that went 200k+. My brother had a 1986 that we sold at 365k, still running AmsOil. My sister has a 1999 V6, with 265k, yup, still running AmsOil. Borther-in-law drives it ~140 miles/day to work at the moment.

Its all in the filtration to remove those ever increasing particles. Yes, we used to send out oil samples for testing as well. We just don't waste our time with it anymore.

Are you sure those 6 engines were because of the oil, much less AmsOil? I'm doubting.

johnsc2235

Those 6 were part of a fleet company that strictly uses ams oil and filters. They did their own oil changes ect.. They brought them to us when they had issues and after the first two engines we put in they wanted to know why they were failing so they sent the next three engines out to get torn down and looked at by an independent company and they were told it was due to lack of lubrication/breakdown of the oil. They told us that we did not come up with that. So they still use AMSoil but change it at 10k intervals vs 25k.

94vtecmn

Must not be changing their filters often enough.