Greetings,

I'm at the year mark with the factory fill engine oil, and would like to put a few more miles on the motor before changing the oil. I know many don't subscribe to the whole magic properties of the factory fill anyway, but regardless here is my question:

I thought I saw a link from a member who did a UOA on the factory fill on an S2000 at the 12 month mark, and the analysis indicated he could have gone farther. Can't seem to find it now. What I am strugling with is the time interval specification for oil change. My S only has 2700 miles on it, so if I can put another 1K on it in the next several months and get a little closer to the 3750 on the factory fill I'd like to. The oil still looks so clean it's hard to see on the dip stick and it's never used a drop of oil.

My theory is that the stress on oil can vary so greatly depending on usage patterns, the 6 or 12 month time interval seems a bit arbitrary. A vehicle that has 2700 miles on it after a year, but has been driven every day on short trips, has far more heat cycles and potentially more moisture in the oil etc. I only drive every week or two on weekends and am usually out for 50-60 miles at a time.

So, my thought is I could probablyy wait a bit longer, but would like any UOA on factory fill oil at the 12 month or longer interval to provide some scientific back up for my wild theory. Any UOA's you have or links you have found would be helpful, as I don't want to neglect my S, just want to give it the benefits of the factory fill as long as I can.

Thanks for your help!

 

My personal feeling is that you'd be alright delaying the first change. The main problem is your Honda warranty which states (in effect) 6,000mi or one year. Should you have problems, this would give them an argument that you didn't properly maintain your car. There is a posibility that some additives are volatile and could be lost over time through evaporation. I don't know this as a fact but in the end ,I believe your much better off doing the changes on schedule. GL

 

Yep, its due diligence. The oil is fine, unless you just drive 5 km at a time. BUT your warranty is arguably void.

 

I have a diff opinion,and opinions vary and that's good.

To me Oil & Filters are cheap.....motors are not.Why take a chance.

The OCI in all my cars is 3-4k,change brake & clutch fluid then too.Change Trans,diff,plugs and Coolant every 12k.

\rlr
Carolina

 

Trust the maintenance minder. I think that's all your manual sz. As long as it shows you have % life left, no warranty issue.

 

You're just throwing away money by changing brake fluid, clutch fluid, plugs, and coolant that often.

amusingly, your interval for tranny and diff fluid seems about right!

 

The point about the warranty made by several is well taken. Didn't really even think about that. Although I don't think there is any record in the maintenance minder chip about time, so no way for Honda to know how long I waited. Probably does record dropping below the oil life 0% threshold though in the computer system.

Even so, points are well taken. Risk of waiting probably isn't worth it. I'll go ahead and change as the benefits of leaving factory fill in are debatable anyway I guess.

Thanks, and if anyone comes across that post I was thinking about with UOA on low mile 12 month S, let me know.

 

Factory fill is a DINO 10w30 with assembly grease in it (High Molybdenum content) .

You can replace your oil with a non-synthetic oil, Castrol GTX, Valvoline, Mobil 1.

That's my take on it.

 

My manual says nothing regarding the maintenance minder and OCI. It specifies the time/mileage. Speculation will not help you, date stamped bills will.

 

Actually, it doesn't say anything about mileage... it just refers to the maintenance minder for oil life left. Then in very small print it says "If the message SERVICE doesn't display more than 12 months after the display is reset, change the oil every year".

In the break-in information, it says "Do not change the oil until the scheduled maintenance time". A bit of room for interpretation and hence why I asked the question about benefits of running with the break in oil through the engine oil life on the dislay, even though 12 months has elapsed.