Being that my driving doesn't follow what Honda/Acura has listed as "Servere" in the past owner's manuals, I was surprised when '06 TSX said my oil life was 0% with just 5k miles on the car. I had it changed anyhow just to be safe, but I did wait to 5,7xx miles. I was even more surprised when my oil life reached 0% at 10,7xx miles -- exactly 5k miles since my last change. I then took my car on a long road trip two days after that oil change. I put 1,500+ miles on the car (with 90% of them being highway miles) and yet my oil life is already down to 70% -- which is right on schedule for another 5k mile oil change. It sure seems like Maintenance Minder is hardcoded to 5,000 mile oil changes. I don't know if it's just my car or what, but the information I am getting form my Maintenance Minder is a total joke and is basically worthless.

 

My first oil change in an 06 was around 7,500 with about 70% highway. My second was high 14,xxx with less highway mileage. It might have to due with driving stlye like redline time, mashing down the pedal to pass people, taking short trips etc.

I think someone in a previous thread listed what information the maint. minder system looks at.

I think it may be your car or something cause I drive pretty aggressive and pass people and redline pretty much everytime i drive and still get around 7500 miles to an oil change.

 

That's a pretty persuasive argument you make for a hardwired 5K interval. I wonder if the MM will suggest changing oil at between 5K and 10K intervals based on the useage it calculates. Maybe its looking at other variables like temperature, rpm, trip length, etc.? Has anyone had the MM get to 0% in less than 5K mi.?

 

none of mine have been exactly 5,000, but all have been close. the first was 5,300, and the second was at 11,700. so it might just be that your driving style warrants 5k changes. haven't you already started this conversation a few times?

 

Mine did, at 4300 it was at 5%

 

that would place you 0% around 4,600. that's interesting.

 

Its not hardcoded

 

I'm not sure my first one was exactly 5,000 miles but it was right around that value. I do know I did my first change at 5,7xx miles and the second one came due at 10,7xx miles. The driving style arguement doesn't make much sense because highway miles are always "easier" than mixed city/highway driving. Furthermore, I'm not driving the car agressively very much (if at all -- really) so I don't understand why I am seeing such short intervals -- and ones that almost seem hardcoded to 5k miles.

Nope, I've never started a thread calling maintenance minder a joke. I might have started a thread asking what factors MM was using (or something to that effect), and I have definitely questioned the validity of MM in other people threads. It wasn't until this late bit of data that I felt I could definitively call MM a joke. It is obivous now that (at least my) MM is a sham. There is no way my car should still be on a 5k mile oil change schedule after taking a trip -- right after an oil change -- that racked up so much highway milage. I can't help but wonder if there is some dealer selectable setting for MM, and the dealer that sold me my car set my MM to 5k intervals -- that or my MM is somehow defective (maybe due to a bad sensor).

I guess I shouldn't expect much out of MM knowing the TSX blatantly lies about fuel milage!

 

I know that it is not suppose to be, but so far all the data I am getting (with my car) is sure making it look as if mine is fixed at 5k intervals. Maybe I have a bad sensor or some memory with a stuck bit that is causing the problem. I've thought about bringing it up with the dealer, but I just don't see that to getting anywhere.

 

I put a lot of strictly highway miles on the car right after I got it, and it was right on track for an oil change at 10k with about 2,500 miles.

After that I did mostly city driving, and eventually got my oil changed at 5,800 with 5% left. So no, it's not hard coded and if you really did just all highway driving it would last you about 10k.

 

i know it wasnt the same thread you started, but i don't see anyone else that seem to be having the issues you are. we're now 5,000 miles from out last change, and we're at about 50% so i think it's doing it's job well.

 

bradykp,
I wouldn't be so disgrutled about MM if my mine worked as well as yours. It's pretty obvious that mine is not working correctly, and I don't have much faith that any Acura service department will be smart enough to fix it.

 

Its gotta be due to the wheels.

 

 

i do just about all city driving and im at 3,400 miles.. the gauge thats 10% oil life. When should I take it in?

 

You're the same case as me. My TSX probably doesn't know what a highway is. I still have 15% oil life left at around 3100 miles.

MM is so annoying...it starts warning you at 15%...and it'll probably take me 2 months to get it down to 0% (I only drive a total of 8 miles on my TSX per day). I'm tempted to just reset it

I know it's better to replace it earlier rather than later, but I don't want to replace it too early and just waste money.

 

Does the "oil life" have anything to do with "oil quality" after certain given miles? Does synthetic oil provide a longer oil life?

 

My MM indicated 0% when I got to about 4700 miles or so.

Right now I have about 3000 miles on this oil and it indicates 40%. This illustrates the interval is not fixed or hardwired.

A possible explanation could be this: It is possible that the MM has about 10 basic intervals (I picked that number randomly). Each one of those models might contain a list of parameters. The MM also collects data on the way you drive and the conditions that the engine is subjected to. It is possible that the MM just picks the basic interval that it thinks most closely matches the data it collects, and then modifies it slightly based on other variables. Coincidentally, your driving habits may have fallen into the same model both times.

 

yeah, I'm really not sure when to bring it in. All I know is that I'm not a fan of having to see a huge wrench displayed in my dash everytime I start up the car and Info indicator light to stay on. Acura.. thanks, but tone it down a bit with all these reminders. I'm suprised the navi doesn't route the nearest acura dealership.

 

 

its not fixed, mine hit 0 around 4500, i did however drive it to 5.3k before changing oil. I think, like someone said, its based on a few intervals, 3k, 5k, 7.5k dependent on how you drive, amounts of startups, etc.

 

4.6 for me. First time.

 

I got my oil changed for the first time the other day at 5160 miles. The mm still said 20%, but the dealer said to do the first change at 5k miles and then use the MM after that.

It makes sense to me, and seems to work well.
My driving is probably 50/50 city/highway

 

Not trying to be a richard cranium but 2000 (5000 - 3000) is exactly 40% of 5000...

 

how can it be hardcoded when mine was at 10% at 3200??? I have about 5100 now and it's at 50% already. This is with mostly downtown traffic driving.

 

MM is a more accurate way of determining service intervals compared to the fixed system. Thus, its been shown to actually reduce the service intervals for quite a few people as their driving actually dictated conditions which required a more frequent service interval.

 

Our Service was at 6300, then 13000, both times right @ 0%. We do about 60/40 highway/in town. I would venture to say it calculates pretty ACURAtely, lol.
06 5at.

 

I remember someone posted about this before and said that the maintenance minder has all these sensors that measure oil viscosity, density, etc etc. THAT'S A LOAD OF CRAP. If that's the case, WHY THE HELL WOULD I NEED TO RESET THE MINDER MYSELF IF I CHANGED MY OWN OIL, WOUDLN'T THE MINDER "KNOW" THAT IT'S NEW OIL AND AUTOMATICALLY RESET TO 100%???????????????????????

Ok sorry had to get that out.

 

Easy test to find out --
After you change the engine oil, don't reset the reminder and see what the engine oil sensor tells you. If it is 100% reading, the sensor and the reminder are two independent systems. Having the two systems work independently has its own advantage and disadventage.

Personally, I am glad that I don't have the engine oil sensor in my 2004.

 

it doesn't say 100%, i had to manually reset it myself

 

^ Actually, a good design of the sensor should not give you 100% reading after an oil change, but allow you manually to reset it.

 

I'm at 3846 miles and my car is now showing 10% oil life . . . I too mostly drive city . . .

 

No one uses synthetic oil in their 06 with the MM? What if you put in Mobil 1 EP synthetic oil which gurantees to go 15K miles in today's modern engines and driving condition? Do you still change the oil in 5k miles because that's what the MM tells you?

I'm calling

 

ever think that maybe yours is working correctly, and your interval is just around 5,000 miles? why wouldnt it be?

 

i see what you mean and mostly agree but these systems aren't designed for intelligent drivers. they are designed for bumbling idiots who would forgot otherwise. same reason we have automatics, traction control, lane assist systems, etc etc, popping up in cars. lazy people who don't pay attention drive.

 

i think OP recongizes it is not hard coded but just finds it hard to believe that his interval was 5,000 miles twice.

i don't see anything he can do about it though, most likely the MM is correct in his conditions, and if it isn't, there's no way to prove it's not and make acura "fix" it.

 

i'd love to know the answer to this question also. i haven't changed to synthetic yet, i'm still using the other oil. i get nearly 7,000 miles out of it, so i haven't felt compelled to change yet.

 

I was thinking that might be the case -- until I took this trip right after an oil change. The fact that I drove 1,500+ miles (that were 90% highway) on this trip and yet the MM is still telling my that I'm on track for 5k oil change, that makes it pretty clear that it is giving me bogus feedback (with the last case -- and maybe all the time).

 

In theory I would agree, but it really depends on how well it's implemented. If MM is using only a few factors and making over generalized (or even bad) assumptions then it might actually be less accurate. I serviced my last Honda (which I owned 11+ years) using the "Normal" schedule and the car never had any maintenance issues.

 

I know it's not suppose to be, but so far mine sure seems that way.