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2016 AWD Oil Life Indicator - Ignore?

9K views 31 replies 11 participants last post by  carli123 
It's not that big of a deal to just change the oil when the indicator says to. The cost is negligible compared to what you paid for the vehicle and if you change the oil yourself it's even less expensive - like pocket change.

As others have said, stop/go, especially where the engine doesn't come fully up to temps for a while, is harder on oil life. The indicator is basically telling you the truth about when to change the oil and it's best not to ignore the truth.

I use Mobile 1 full syn also and I make sure I don't get caught up in second guessing by thinking that oil is so great it can really go longer. In fact, I have no doubt it could go longer, likely much longer, but that's not the point - the point is to meet the manufacturer's recommendation and to not push it regardless.

Just a data point - I actually hit 0% left once on a long coast to coast trip (almost made it back by 0%) and that hit at almost exactly 10K miles. Previous changes would have ended up close to 9K-10K at 0% as but I generally change sooner than 0% and only hit that due to being on the road at the time. Those were not majority stop/go miles.

Note - go ahead and rotate your tires at the same time you do the oil change.
 
Do second guess the MID ...
Maybe I'd go along with your statement if you modified it to state - "After the warranty period...do second guess the MID...". There's a good reason to not push something like this while under warranty just to save a few bucks and not much hassle on the proverbial $50K vehicle. After the warranty period it's a different story.

Should I meet in middle and take it 2k miles after it reaches 0 pct? Or just use oem oil and follow oli
You're trying to pinch pennies on maintenance for that proverbial $50K vehicles I mentioned (although mine cost less than that). It'd be foolish to not just follow the manufacturer's recommendations - especially during a warranty period.

You don't need to use 'OEM oil' - you need to use 'manufacturer's recommended oil' which would include full syn oils like Mobile One and others - this is in the owner's manual.

... and, your used oil will be recycled as long as you don't dump it down a drain so it won't be wasteful.

I don't understand why people want to ignore the recommendations of the people who design and back up with warranty the vehicle in favor of soliciting advice from random people on the internet whose credentials and context (such as perhaps referring to a vehicle not under a warranty) they have no idea of - just to save next to nothing at the potential risk of a denied warranty claim on an expensive component such as an engine.
 
Is that what you do, or change the filter with every oil change?
I change the filter every time I change the oil. The Honda filter only costs $7 or so IIRC and it's easy enough to change and it's what filters contaminants from the oil (no matter how great the oil is it'll still get contaminants).

I think any potential warranty issues are much easier to handle by being able to simply show Acura the recommended intervals were followed rather than trying to prove their engineers' recommendations are wrong and the oil analysis (if one's really willing to pay for that each time) basis should supersede Acura's recommendations. Manufacturer recommendations aren't trying to go to the extreme end of life point on something like oil - but some reasonable lifetime with a likely significant safety margin in their favor as far as protecting the engine and avoiding warranty claims.

Once one's past the warranty period then it makes more sense for someone to do simply what they want based on whatever methodology or beliefs they may have - it's all the same cost to them one way or the other post-warranty. Like I've said before - most likely one could go 100K miles on the same oil (with topping up as needed), but it's not worth taking the financial/hassle risk to see if it can handle it that long.

But people can do what they want - the worst case is there may be an engine problem someday and Acura might deny a warranty claim and the owner will need to deal with the cost and hassle of the issue. In addition, the issue might have been caused directly by trying to stretch the oil change too long in which case they're just being foolish to save a few bucks - nothing significant relative to the cost of this vehicle.
 
I am curios how any of you that DIY you engine oil show proper MID interval changes as Acura has no way to know you are doing it exactly when the MID says you to but still has to honor the warranty or face a lawsuit.
Good question. I keep a log of the date and mileage of everything I do to the vehicle so I could produce it and demonstrate intervals that would align with the way the MID generally would indicate the maintenance but of course it wouldn't indicate exactly what the MID indicated - i.e. I don't take a pic or anything but I do note in the log the oil life left on the MID. Acura could always call me a liar but it's reasonable evidence.

The vehicle's computer could fairly easily keep track in non-volatile memory of when the MID's reset and I'd be a little surprised if it doesn't so Acura could see if it went negative and by how much. Of course, one could cheat and simply reset the MID without changing the oil/filter, etc.

Honestly, the chances of getting into a warranty dispute on the engine would hopefully be very small. My last Dodge, Ford, Jeep, Datsun, and other vehicles I've put well over 100K miles on each have never had an internal engine problem and the Dodge I put 235K miles on with no internal engine issue. But maybe part of the reason is because I've followed the manufacturer's recommended oil change intervals. I do know that some vehicles have had engine sludge issues and if one googles almost any make/model and the word 'sludge' there's a good chance they'll get some hits on it.

But why debate the point when a vehicle's under warranty? It's a risk/reward and cost/benefit equation where it's just so trivial to change the oil at the recommended intervals versus the 'possible' issues that could result if one doesn't. Outside of warranty the equation's different because of the lack of the manufacturer backing the item to the tune of thousands of dollars (the cost of an engine replacement).
 
When people use ANYTHING other than OEM Oil they are going AGAINST Acura Engineers already.. They are proving there is no need to use OEM OIL but will defend with all their might the intervals like Acura Engineers tested all Oils in the Planet and tuned the MID for them.

Unless you only use OEM oil in everything you are already going against Honda & Acura Engineers
I only use the Acura recommended oil - which is not the same as 'OEM oil'. The owner's manual states one can use 'any' oil that meets their stated specifications - not that they must use oil branded Honda or Acura. I use Mobile 1 0W-20 - which complies with their stated specs. I also comply with the recommended interval as I stated. Do what you want and second guess the oil spec, the intervals, and perhaps other recommendations. I've seen others suggest using non-recommended Trans oil and that really can cause some problems but people will swear their perspective is more correct than the manufacturer engineers.

There's the principle involved of waste - wasting oil, money, and time.
I've stated the logic to try to answer your initial questions and put effort into trying to help you but you seem to discount what I and the manufacturer are stating in favor of your own idea of saving a few dollars and what you call 'waste'. So be it. I don't know why you bothered asking. Go ahead and use whatever intervals you dream up - the longer the interval the less 'waste' in your mind. Good luck with that.
 
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