Honda Car Forum

The manuel on my 2004 Civic LX says change oil every 10,000 miles and
filter every 20,000 miles. The dealer recommends changing both every
3000 miles. Is changing both every 6 months (5-6000 miles) a reasonable
compromise?

--
Dennis Marks
http://www.dcs-chico.com/~denmarks/
To reply change none to dcsi.


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In article <250420041956452727%denmarks@none.net>,
Dennis Marks <denmarks@none.net> wrote:

> The manuel on my 2004 Civic LX says change oil every 10,000 miles and
> filter every 20,000 miles. The dealer recommends changing both every
> 3000 miles. Is changing both every 6 months (5-6000 miles) a reasonable
> compromise?

That's what I came up with. 5K miles is an easy number to remember.

If you'll look, your owner's manual maintenance section is split up into
two parts: "normal" usage and "severe" usage. If you read the details,
most everyone in the entire world falls under "severe" usage. (Normal
usage is something designed by the marketing department so that they can
say "look, we're cheaper to operate!" Yeah, sure--if I'm driving on
flat roads in the south in February, all highway driving.)

So make sure you're reading the "severe" maintenance schedule. What
does it say? Not 10k/20k, that's for sure.

But change them both at 5K, and you'll be great. Your engine will love
you. It's the cheapest insurance you'll ever buy for that car.

In article <250420041956452727%denmarks@none.net>,
Dennis Marks <denmarks@none.net> wrote:
>The manuel on my 2004 Civic LX says change oil every 10,000 miles and
>filter every 20,000 miles. The dealer recommends changing both every
>3000 miles. Is changing both every 6 months (5-6000 miles) a reasonable
>compromise?

The dealer obviously wants you to pay them for maintenance more often.

The optimal oil change interval for you depends on your driving conditions
and perhaps what kind of oil you use. It isn't necessarily easy to tell
without sending samples of oil to an oil analysis company every few thousand
miles for one oil change interval.

--
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Timothy J. Lee
Unsolicited bulk or commercial email is not welcome.
No warranty of any kind is provided with this message.

I you do mostly city driving, every 3000 miles, mostly highway driving then
every 5000 miles.

$10 to do your own oil change, cheap insurance.


"Dennis Marks" <denmarks@none.net> wrote in message
news:250420041956452727%denmarks@none.net...
> The manuel on my 2004 Civic LX says change oil every 10,000 miles and
> filter every 20,000 miles. The dealer recommends changing both every
> 3000 miles. Is changing both every 6 months (5-6000 miles) a reasonable
> compromise?
>
> --
> Dennis Marks
> http://www.dcs-chico.com/~denmarks/
> To reply change none to dcsi.
>
>
> -----= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =-----
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On Sun, 25 Apr 2004 19:56:45 -0700, Dennis Marks <denmarks@none.net> wrote:

>The manuel on my 2004 Civic LX says change oil every 10,000 miles and
>filter every 20,000 miles. The dealer recommends changing both every
>3000 miles. Is changing both every 6 months (5-6000 miles) a reasonable
>compromise?

Honda is trying to compete with the other mfrs with unrealistic -- too
infrequent -- service intervals. The dealer just wants to get his hand in
your pocket. Since most people do a mix of "normal" and "severe" service
driving, 5K/6mos. for both oil & filter is a good compromise. there are
similar issues with other service items like transmission fluid, coolant
and brake fluid. Pick a number between the normal and severe schedules
according to your driving habits and truncate down to 60K, 30K or 15K miles
- easy to remember and if you let it slip by a few Kmiles it's not a big
deal.

Rgds, George Macdonald

"Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??

In article <58qp80hap7hijasdp4aks95mmlrcd5sf9o@4ax.com>, George
Macdonald <fammacd=!SPAM^nothanks@tellurian.com> wrote:

> On Sun, 25 Apr 2004 19:56:45 -0700, Dennis Marks <denmarks@none.net> wrote:
>
> >The manuel on my 2004 Civic LX says change oil every 10,000 miles and
> >filter every 20,000 miles. The dealer recommends changing both every
> >3000 miles. Is changing both every 6 months (5-6000 miles) a reasonable
> >compromise?
>
> Honda is trying to compete with the other mfrs with unrealistic -- too
> infrequent -- service intervals. The dealer just wants to get his hand in
> your pocket. Since most people do a mix of "normal" and "severe" service
> driving, 5K/6mos. for both oil & filter is a good compromise. there are
> similar issues with other service items like transmission fluid, coolant
> and brake fluid. Pick a number between the normal and severe schedules
> according to your driving habits and truncate down to 60K, 30K or 15K miles
> - easy to remember and if you let it slip by a few Kmiles it's not a big
> deal.
>
> Rgds, George Macdonald
>
> "Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??
I find it easier to set a time interval rather than miles. I can then
let my computer remind me. I've been doing oil changes every six months
on my 1995 Civic LX and I just bought the new one.

--
Dennis Marks
http://www.dcs-chico.com/~denmarks/
To reply change none to dcsi.


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George Macdonald <fammacd=!SPAM^nothanks@tellurian.com> wrote:
> On Sun, 25 Apr 2004 19:56:45 -0700, Dennis Marks <denmarks@none.net> wrote:

>>The manuel on my 2004 Civic LX says change oil every 10,000 miles and
>>filter every 20,000 miles. The dealer recommends changing both every
>>3000 miles. Is changing both every 6 months (5-6000 miles) a reasonable
>>compromise?

> Honda is trying to compete with the other mfrs with unrealistic -- too
> infrequent -- service intervals. The dealer just wants to get his hand in
> your pocket. Since most people do a mix of "normal" and "severe" service

For 2004, Honda's web site notes that the increased oil change interval is
due to the extremely clean burning engine, where less contaminants are
added to the oil. Generic advice for an older car needs to take this into
account.

---
Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8-122.5

"Dennis Marks" <denmarks@none.net> wrote in message
news:250420041956452727%denmarks@none.net...
> The manuel on my 2004 Civic LX says change oil every 10,000 miles and
> filter every 20,000 miles. The dealer recommends changing both every
> 3000 miles. Is changing both every 6 months (5-6000 miles) a reasonable
> compromise?


Absolutely, I do it each 6 mo / 10000km (6200miles)

I'm in the same boat on my new Civic. I do fall into the "normal" 10K
service interval and intend to use the Mobil one or similar when that
point comes, but wonder if that is pushing things too long. I have
read all the "cheap insurance" threads on this group, but have not
seen a lot of evidence one way or the other, including for the "split
the difference" school of thought. My telephone call to Honda wasn't
real helpful either, so I'll follow the book unless I see something
that says the oil falls apart in the 5k to 10k mile range. I wish for
more objective evidence on this topic, or maybe I'm not looking in the
right place. I'm certainly going to chuck the filter when I do my
change at 10K, though.

George Macdonald <fammacd=!SPAM^nothanks@tellurian.com> wrote in message news:<58qp80hap7hijasdp4aks95mmlrcd5sf9o@4ax.com>. ..
> On Sun, 25 Apr 2004 19:56:45 -0700, Dennis Marks <denmarks@none.net> wrote:
>
> >The manuel on my 2004 Civic LX says change oil every 10,000 miles and
> >filter every 20,000 miles. The dealer recommends changing both every
> >3000 miles. Is changing both every 6 months (5-6000 miles) a reasonable
> >compromise?
>
> Honda is trying to compete with the other mfrs with unrealistic -- too
> infrequent -- service intervals. The dealer just wants to get his hand in
> your pocket. Since most people do a mix of "normal" and "severe" service
> driving, 5K/6mos. for both oil & filter is a good compromise. there are
> similar issues with other service items like transmission fluid, coolant
> and brake fluid. Pick a number between the normal and severe schedules
> according to your driving habits and truncate down to 60K, 30K or 15K miles
> - easy to remember and if you let it slip by a few Kmiles it's not a big
> deal.
>
> Rgds, George Macdonald
>
> "Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??

John Roden <roden@frontiernet.net> wrote:
> I'm in the same boat on my new Civic. I do fall into the "normal" 10K
> service interval and intend to use the Mobil one or similar when that
> point comes, but wonder if that is pushing things too long. I have

How long is it?
The BMWs and Mercedes that have Flexible Service Systems to decide when the
oil needs to be changed seem to like 16-20,000 miles.

<http://www.mbusa.com/brand/container.jsp?/care/service/flexibleservicesystem.jsp>
<http://www.mbca.org/pages/tech/MBCA_flexible_service_system.htm>

> read all the "cheap insurance" threads on this group, but have not

"cheap insurance" is cheap advice. If 6,000 is good, 3,000 must be better.
Why not 1,000?


--
---
Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8-122.5