2021 Honda Accord Sport. Exactly six months after the purchase date, the car had 3,086.2 miles on it, and the oil indicator was at 50%. I had an oil change while the car was at the dealership for the semi-annual application of the Zaktek sealant. The tech who was my contact at the dealership tried to save me money by talking me out of the oil change. I went ahead with it for two reasons. I was worried that the indicator would advise me to change the oil before the next six-month scheduled treatment and didn't want to deal with taking additional time for the change. Also, a trusted local mechanic has always advised me (different make and model and much older car) to change the oil (synthetic) every 5,000 miles or six months, whichever comes first.

At the rate I'm driving, the oil change indicator will either be 60% or 50% when I take it in for the second Zaktek treatment at the one-year mark. So, if I get another oil change then, will it indeed be a complete waste of money, or will it be better for the car. I'm most-likely going to buy out the lease at the end of the three-year term, so it's in my interest to maintain it as well as possible.

Ty

 

my wife has a 2018 Accord EX and I change her oil every 5K miles, no matter what that maintenance minder says. I'm also a honda technician, so that helps, too. I try to tell all of my close customers to do it every 5K miles mostly because the 1.5 only holds 4 quarts of oil and it runs through a turbo. If you know anything about turbos, you know that oil not only lubes them but it also helps cool them. So imagine running a small amount of oil through a pretty hot turbo on a regular basis and tell me how that algorithm comes up with the fact that after 5,000 miles, that oil still has 50-60% of it's life still left???

Also, I see more oil leaks due to high mileage between oil changes. Oil breaks down mostly due to contamination from combustion gases getting past the rings. Those contaminants are somewhat corrosive and will slowly eat away at things like rubber seals and gaskets.

So, to answer your question, NO, it is not a waste of money to do the oil changes earlier than the minder says to.

 

Hey there fellow Honda Tech. So what you're basically saying is these 1.5L turbos have oil dilution? (Hence the contaminates from gases getting past the rings etc) and if so, how much oil dilution? I wouldn't be typing on here if I wasn't somewhat worried about the reliability and longevity from the 1.5s.

 

Oil dilution is always an issue with almost any internal combustion engine. With the exception of the CNG Civic, there will always be dilution. I was only stating that early oil changes, in my personal opinion, are worlds better than later oil changes. I also think the algorithm Honda is using in the maintenance minder is off a bit. Now, I'm no engineer by any stretch of the imagination, but one would think that a turbo engine that uses only 4 quarts plus whatever is left over in the block, turbo, oil cooler, etc would get a more frequent service. But in Honda's eyes, it gets the same as all the non turbo engines. So I decided to do her oil changes every 5,000 miles no matter what the maintenance minder says (usually it reads between 40-60% oil life remaining)
So let's take into account that a typical oil/filter change only takes (by the book it's 3.7qts) 4 quarts. And if you understand how a turbo engine uses oil (and coolant in this case) to cool the turbo and lubricate the bearing, then you will also understand that the oil is going through an additional heat cycle on top of the normal stuff it does in an engine. Add in the fact that a turbo engine has higher cylinder pressures than a N/A engine does and that increases the slight amount of blowby you would get. Now add in the time the oil sits in the turbo after you simply shut off the engine, because we all know there are no turbo timers on these things and 98% of the people driving them are absolutely not going to sit and let the car "cool down" for a few minutes. So I guess it really comes down to how well you are willing to take care of it as to how long it can last. I know Honda quality isn't what it was 20 years ago, but it is still better than alot of the others in the industry. Like I tell all of our customers, if you take care of it, it will take care of you.

 

I drive my Accord Sport about 500/wk. I change the oil religiously at 4000-5000 mi. I realize it's technically good to 10,000 and that makes me feel good if I go over a bit. But for me it breaks down like this: an oil change with a Royal Purple or a K&M filter, a new crush-washer, and five quarts of Mobil 1 0W-20 costs... what? $50? I do my own changes, so I suppose you could add another 50% or so if you don't. But let me tell you, at 4500 miles, that oil coming out is DARK. It's ready to be changed!

So I figure over a 200,000 mile car-lifetime, that's an extra twenty changes (at 5000, rather than 10,000.) So twenty extra changes is $1000. $1000 is cheap insurance against an engine rebuild. If you get rid of your car at a lower mileage, it's even less of a cost outlay, (and even less likely your engine will die, I suppose.)

But I'm a "long haul" owner and I want to keep that puppy out of the dealer as much as humanly possible. Can you imagine what an engine rebuild costs and the hassle associated with it? Ugh! Ask me how much of a hassle it is getting the emissions code issue addressed at 41,000 miles ?!?!?!?

Anyways, I say change it at 5000 and don't look back!

Andrew

'19 Honda Pilot EX
'19 Honda Accord Sport 2.0
'64 Jaguar E-Type 3.8 OTS