For the first oil change... and the MPG / break-in

[plchan]

I purchased my Honda Pilot in Feb 2007. It has around 1300 miles on the clock. Few days ago a person from the dealership where I purchased from called me. She tried to schedule the first oil change around 3750 miles. Is it normal to have the first oil change in 3.7k miles? I thought I would have to wait until the service minder comes on.

wAdditionally, I tried to drive my Pilot "nice and easy" during the first 1000 miles break-in period. Occasionally (less than 5-6 times and less than 5 miles), I drove the car at around or > 65mph while the other times I only drove 55-60mph during the first 1000 miles break-in period.

Did the way I drove, around or > 65mph, hurt the mpg and mess up the break-in period?

It is my first brand new car and I am learning everything from the ground up.

Thanks

[TheEaglePilot]

Originally posted by plchan
I purchased my Honda Pilot in Feb 2007. It has around 1300 miles on the clock. Few days ago a person from the dealership where I purchased from called me. She tried to schedule the first oil change around 3750 miles. Is it normal to have the first oil change in 3.7k miles? I thought I would have to wait until the service minder comes on.

wAdditionally, I tried to drive my Pilot "nice and easy" during the first 1000 miles break-in period. Occasionally (less than 5-6 times and less than 5 miles), I drove the car at around or > 65mph while the other times I only drove 55-60mph during the first 1000 miles break-in period.

Did the way I drove, around or > 65mph, hurt the mpg and mess up the break-in period?

It is my first brand new car and I am learning everything from the ground up.

Thanks

The dealer is trying to make extra money off you. Follow the maintenance minder.

Of course, it doesn't matter anyway because your Pilot is ruined by being driven over 65 during the break-in period. You should sell it to me ASAP before everything starts to fall apart. I will match whatever price your local salvage yard offers you.

Chris

[whizmo]

You small indiscretion probably did it some good. For most drivers, you're far more likely to harm things by babying it than pushing it.

Most of us had the MM come up around 5-6K. Don't let the dealer browbeat you into extra service, either by doing it more often than necessary or doing things that the OM doesn't say you need.

- Mark

[plchan]

Originally posted by whizmo
You small indiscretion probably did it some good. For most drivers, you're far more likely to harm things by babying it than pushing it.

Most of us had the MM come up around 5-6K. Don't let the dealer browbeat you into extra service, either by doing it more often than necessary or doing things that the OM doesn't say you need.

- Mark

Hi Mark,

I contacted to the sales guy whom I purchased the Pilot from. He told me I would not need to do the oil change until the MM comes up (or the oil drop til 20%). However, the lady called me the other day from dealership seems like "reading stuff from a script to me". She said it is good to do the first oil change in the 3750 miles (for the very first time) and inspect the car to determine if it has any issues.

I might cancel the appointment, and save my first time oil change till I actually need to use it.

Additionally, I read that if owner does the oil change more often than it should be, it might schedule the actual MM scheduling for other stuff (such as check timing belt..etc). is it true?

Thanks for your reply.

[whizmo]

Originally posted by plchan
Additionally, I read that if owner does the oil change more often than it should be, it might schedule the actual MM scheduling for other stuff (such as check timing belt..etc). is it true?

Yes, I believe that if you reset the MM prematurely for simple things like oil change, it will cause the major services to arrive sooner. If you do a premature oil chainge, I recommend that you NOT reset the system - just wait until it comes up normally and reset it then. You're essentially taking the oil changes off the MM system and doing them on your own, but keeping the MM system for the major stuff.

I'm getting approximately 5K oil change intervals for my MM and this seems quite conservative to me, especially if using synthetics.

- Mark

[plchan]

Originally posted by whizmo


If you do a premature oil chainge, I recommend that you NOT reset the system - just wait until it comes up normally and reset it then.

Can I reset the system manually? Or would I have to bring the car back to the dealership having them to reset it?

I might have just stick with the MM for oil change.

However, my friend even suggests to do oil change in the first 1000 miles because he said he would have no idea how long the oil been staying in the car prior I purchased it. It sounds a bit crazy to me since it is not 1970s anymore. However, I would like to get some inputs from others on this as well.

[Sportymonk]

For the break-in,you did great. You don't want to drive steady speed. You varied speed. The speed is not so much the issue as engine rpm. 70 mph is only about 2400 rpm if I remember correctly. The danger is if you gun it from a start or down a entrance ramp and zing it to the 5-6000 range. Don't worry, enjoy and relax.

As for the oil change. most have heard somewhere that there is a special (especial?) additive in the oil that should stay in for the first 7500 miles and that you don't want to change at 3750 miles. Then again .... this has been a point of much discussion. I waited until about 700 and changed and then changed at 14000. Thereafter adjusted to 5000 mile increments.

[whizmo]

The procedure to reset the MM is in the owner's manual.

I'm not a believer that Honda ships cars with a "break in oil with special additives". People have done oil analyses and the original fill appears to be off-the-shelf everyday motor oil. I think Honda says this because they want to keep customers out of the dealer's hair for as long as possible, as most customers at 1K miles will walk in with a mile-long list of little nitpicky things at the first service visit that they'll forget about after a couple thousand miles. It's all about controlling warranty costs.

So do an early oil change if you like, but it's certainly not necessary and I'd be surprised if it makes any difference whatsoever in the ultimate life of the engine.

- Mark

[Pup'sPilot]

Originally posted by Sportymonk
For the break-in,you did great. You don't want to drive steady speed. You varied speed. The speed is not so much the issue as engine rpm. 70 mph is only about 2400 rpm if I remember correctly. The danger is if you gun it from a start or down a entrance ramp and zing it to the 5-6000 range. Don't worry, enjoy and relax.

As for the oil change. most have heard somewhere that there is a special (especial?) additive in the oil that should stay in for the first 7500 miles and that you don't want to change at 3750 miles. Then again .... this has been a point of much discussion. I waited until about 700 and changed and then changed at 14000. Thereafter adjusted to 5000 mile increments.

I'm somewhat confused about the "maintenance minder" since the owner's manual indicates (at page 229 for 2007) that the percentage of remaining oil life is computed based on "operating conditions and accumulated engine revolutions" rather than only/mere mileage.

Apparently, the "actual" condition of the oil and filter is not tracked.... only the "assumed/estimated" lubricating system condition becomes the percentage of remaining life. So if the oil becomes unusually dark or dirty, is it time for service regardless of what the "maintenance minder" says is the remaining life?

[humanoid]

Originally posted by Pup'sPilot
~snipped

Apparently, the "actual" condition of the oil and filter is not tracked.... only the "assumed/estimated" lubricating system condition becomes the percentage of remaining life. So if the oil becomes unusually dark or dirty, is it time for service regardless of what the "maintenance minder" says is the remaining life?

How would you know if the oil is dirty? The only way to know is to do an oil analysis. Dark oil doesn't necessarily mean it's dirty. Just follow the MM and you'll be fine. With the way oil is made these days, you can get 5K miles or more between oil changes.

[whizmo]

Originally posted by Pup'sPilot
I'm somewhat confused about the "maintenance minder" since the owner's manual indicates (at page 229 for 2007) that the percentage of remaining oil life is computed based on "operating conditions and accumulated engine revolutions" rather than only/mere mileage.

Some cars with MM systems have some kind of sensor in the oil (I think it measures acidity), but I've never heard the Pilot's have one. From what we've heard, the MM uses an algorithm to compute oil life based on cold starts, engine revs, calendar time, and miles. It's not perfect, but it probably is better than the typical system of changing at a set number of miles or calendar time, whiichever occurs first.

Based on my experience, I think cold starts play a huge role in the algorithm. Folks I know who take long trips are getting 9K+ between oil changes; my family car, which takes lots of short trips, is averaging slightly less than 5K.

- Mark

[mercara]

I definitely think that engine RPM does come into play. I stayed under 3000 RPM for the first 1000 miles and after 100 miles I had about 90% oil life left. After about 1000 miles, I started to occationally push the RPM to about 5000 RPM just to allow the engine to set correctly. I noticed that at about 1300 miles there is 80% oil life left.

[larryziegler]

I have heard on several different Honda sites, that for a new Honda, its best to wait to at least 5,000 miles to change the oil as Honda does use a special break-in type oil. After the initial oil change, then do whatever feels comfortable. Myself, I am changing the oil between 4500-5000 miles.