marcl2001

Hello,
I have a 2008 RDX and now after my last B12 (expensive maintenance service) I am now displaying 50% oil life after approximately 1 month of elapsed time, and therefore decreasing at a rate of 10%/week. At this rate I will be back at the garage in 2 months...which has never happened prior to this was typically 6 months or so... and I have been driving at the normal pace and mileage.

Anyone else experience this perhaps or have any ideas?

thanks,
/Marc.

BigHatch

Supposedly the display adjusts to driving style, conditions etc. Has it been hot where you are maybe?

marcl2001

No I live in Ontario Canada... near upper state N.Y....nearing freezing soon

925mugen

Thats way to fast. I would call the dealer who serviced it. How many miles are on it? Curious to see what the problem is.

marcl2001

about 35,000 miles or so..and yes I will be talking with them this week.

R_D_X

maybe its the cold mine is 70% with 1297KM last summer i think 2000-2500KM and its still at 80-90%
below 0c here first snow last night.

amfsumo

does the mid adjust to type of oil used? if yes, then they might have used incorrect oil, if not, am clueless too

TheRain

Same thing here, also in Ontario. I would have assumed the synthetic would be good for more like 5 to 6,000 miles rather than only 5,000km. That's the same mileage you would get with regular 10w30...Mind you, I guess we could track it on our own and just reset the warning light when it comes on and then change it after 5,000 miles...

Mr Marco

The majority of these systems use algorithms to produce a fluid/component life expectancy. There are no sensors that detect things like oil viscosity or transmission temperature. Choosing qualified shop, other then a dealer, to work on your car (or doing it yourself) will save you money.

marcl2001

OK so here is the exact data, the B12 service was performed on Sept.29.2010 (or approximately 6 weeks ago). Since then I've travelled 3246km (or 2016 miles)...therefore at this rate I calculate to be due by Dec 20 at 6492km (or 4032 miles)...that adds up to a bit short of 3 months... much sooner than prior services.

friesm2000

iTrader: (4)

but then again it has been getting much colder at nights though, and the when you drive it in the mourning, you may not be driving far enough to fully warm the engine up (idk how far your commute is though), which previosly said with the algorithms, it calculates a shorter life due to the cold (and seriously you really want to maximize the oil life with a TURBO motor , no motor takes kindly to a lack of oil changes with a hairdryer on there)

marcl2001

The commute to work is approx. 15 miles each way, but frequently stop/go on the highway... the colder weather is really just starting here...but in another month it will be much colder through Feb/March....ouch I hope it doesn't get worse....and after paying $437.00 Canadian for a B12 service, surely the next service will only be an oil change. This vehicle has cost me a fortune in tune-ups and gas LOL.

friesm2000

iTrader: (4)

so the the car gets a fairly decent warm-up then, but one thing that kills the oil-life, is having that turbo spin up too (aka boosting)(which also happens to kill your gas mileage more so then a naturally aspirated car)


assuming dealer??? if so... you know you still pay for that courtesy car (and big waiting area) and what not, by paying those higher hourly rates, that they charge...

and tune-ups maybe a set of plugs (even then klnowing honda they are probably AT LEAST a 60k mile plug), so really it is just flushing fluids and such (like changing the oil, just not as often for most of the fluids) (and a couple of air filters too, even then probably only 2 of them by that mileage)

and gas... you bought a turbo'd small/mid-sized luxary SUV, it is not an crx/insight by any means (and the best thing you can do for that, is stay off the boost )





and not trying to piss you off or anything, but i work in the automotive field, and hear all the time about how expensive it is to maintain/repair the car is; but if you are not willing to play/pay (and the higher end the vehicle, the more expensive parts become, even though they cost the exact same to produce, so there are cheaper cars out there), then you should not be driving, and be taking mass transit (or biking/walking) instead

Mr Marco

^^I have disagreed with you in the past, but this time I have to say you are spot on with the above. Maintenance costs should be researched when purchasing an item of this complexity and expense. Everyone should have an emergency car fund of about $1000 set aside for maintenance, or just in case you drive your vehicle into the ditch in the snow. Start setting aside some money now, or get a credit card.

phineasboggs

I bought my 07 and then went on vacation. With less than 100 miles, and 3 days (just reviewed my email to dealer) my oil life read 70% with new, SYNTHETIC oil! It continued precipitously until, with much less than 2000 miles, I had a service reminder.

Frankly, I believe the dealers have some odd setting for us--and it seems to be calendar time rather than anything related to driving or conditions. My service reminder and oil change %0 was at exactly 4 months after purchase. I learned how to reset the service reminder (to change the synthetic oil) when my oil% was zero. Since I did the resetting, the oil percentage time is far more realistic.

defajardo

new guy here... just wanted to contribute!

http://www.hondacarforum.com/honda-t...ator-work.html

phineasboggs: although you may think they did something, they didn't. It's impossible for a dealership to do anything other than reset the light.

They can reset certain items if the customer doesn't perform them during the recommended interval using the HDS. EXAMPLE: Some customer's that come in for service may not want to do a diff drain/fill and I make sure to ask them if they simply want me to reset only thing things that were completed. This can help in the event the customer forgets they skipped a service b/c the next times the maintenence minder hits 15% it will recommend it again.

YYC_BoxsterGuy

If you use synthetic oil, does the maintenance minder take this into consideration when doing it's calculations?

YYC_BoxsterGuy

Or does the RDX require synthetic? (Sorry for the questions, but I'm still waiting for my RDX.)

storminvader

rdx requires synthetic. i think the mid will not know what you put in. it doesnt test the oil per se - just guesstimates the need for you to change oil based on operating parameters (rpm, starts, temp outside, aggressive/passive driving, etc) but i dont think that youd want to risk cheapening out on non-synthetics either.

dcmodels

My RDX consistently hits 15% at approximately 4,000 miles (or less). The only exception is when the car is taken on a highway trip, say to Vegas or Yellowstone. Then the milage approaches 5K miles, never more.

The car is driven 95% of the time only on trips of less than 10 miles (city commute), and 25% of those trips are under 2 miles (grocery mart, gym, Costco, etc.). Winters are under 20 degrees, and summers are over 90 degrees.

In addition, the driver (not me), does not really understand the concept of throttle control, versus turbo spool-up. In other words, the commute includes stop-and-go, plus some steep hills. Both of these conditions, plus indifferent operator control, cause consistent turbo-boost during the office commute. Which in turn causes the MID to lower the milage range of the oil.

That kind of low milage trips, and extreme weather conditions, plus lots of turbo-boost, are why the MID is reporting a request for an oil change in 4K miles or less.

Yet the RDX driver would insist that they are a 'gentle' driver, and in some ways, they are. They simply do not understand how a turbo works, and that consistently causing boost, is shortening the oil life. Plus of course, not combining many short trips into one longer trip, causes many cold starts, and shorter oil life.

The MID oil life algorithm may not be perfect, but it definitely is not simply a calendar or milage meter. For one thing, there is no time component in the algorithm. Otherwise, there would be no injunction to change the oil at a maximum of 1 year. Letting the car sit for days at a time is very hard on the oil, especially when most trips are so short that the oil does not get hot enough to vaporize any condensed water.

That was always the reasoning for the 3 month/ 3K miles oil change interval. I personally have some reservations about letting oil sit in any engine for 1-year. But that can wait for another discussion.

JMO.

mav238

since I DIY oil change, I typically change my oil/filter every 3-4 months or every 5000-6000 km. For the mileage we put on the vehicle annually, I typically make about 3-4 oil changes a year. Fairly cheap pennzoil platinum or Mobil 1 from Walmart in the US, costs for about $100 total in oil change per year. MID show oil change required every 5000 km approx. But I typically stick to the 3-4 months oil change guideline. Engine is smooth as it came out of the factory.

freddieb

Hello,

I live in Ontario and consistently get 11000+ per oil change. I use pennzoil platinum, mobil one oil filter and a k & n air filter. I get 600 kms per tank. My commute is not highway--it is country roads with at least 7 stops.

FYI
freddieb