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Internal Memo: 500 mile oil check

Engine 
7K views 68 replies 35 participants last post by  cb550 
#1 ·
I have been told that there is an internal memo sent out to all Honda Dealerships that Honda Civics need their oil level checked every 500 miles or the engine could fail. There have been a number of customers that have not checked their oil levels on a regular basis (as stated in the handbook) and their engines have failed! Unfortunately their were liable for the damage caused and have cost them the price of a new engine!

If this is true I am shocked that you have to check you oil every 500 miles! I would have thought that would be excessive! I don't expect to check this type of stuff on a new car!!! or am I wrong?!?
 
#3 ·
I think this mostly relates to the Diesel`s as they do seem to use up the oil, especially in the early days....

They also sport several warning stickers about checking the oil each time you refill with fuel, which works out about every 400-600 miles.

I would not be happy if the engine chewed before the warning light came on though.... not much of a warning... more of a too late light...:confused:
 
#6 ·
I check mine fairly regularly, prob once a month, but, on two instances of long journeys, the engine oil light has come on, i've pulled over to find low oil, so have topped up using the container I now keep in the car.

Might be my driving that uses it up on longer journeys, it's a Vtec Petrol so it's built to be used!
 
#9 ·
I dont check mine, I shouldnt have to between services, never have with any other car, if the warning light did not come on in plenty of time to warn me of a problem then that is down to Honda as far as I am concerned.

My oil light came on a couple of months back and I topped up with oil only to have to have it drained out again the next day by Honda :confused: stupid car !!
 
#10 ·
Cant agree with you on that sorry. Whos to say that you dont have a slight leak?. Its not set in stone that the oil will last from service to service and you cant always rely on the low oil warning light coming on.

If your engine was to be damaged due to lack of oil then Honda would not take any blame for it no matter if the light came on or not.

Its a simple 1 min job to check your oil level and only needs to be done say once a month.
 
#14 ·
Cant agree with you on that sorry. Whos to say that you dont have a slight leak?. Its not set in stone that the oil will last from service to service and you cant always rely on the low oil warning light coming on.

If your engine was to be damaged due to lack of oil then Honda would not take any blame for it no matter if the light came on or not.

Its a simple 1 min job to check your oil level and only needs to be done say once a month.

If I had a leak than that would be a fault with the car, if the oil light doesn't come on then again that would be a fault with the car, the oil warning light is there for a reason.

I only do between 5 - 7000 miles a year if that, as I said before I have been driving for 24 years and have never had to top up my oil, I have already done it once in the civic cos the oil light did came on.
 
#11 ·
so how much is a litre of oil compared to a new engine?
 
#12 ·
Ive checked the oil in mine a few days ago, hasn't used a drop (only done 300 miles tho :oops: )

The dip sticks in a stupidly awkward place, got to bend it in and out :rolleyes:

Seems strange Honda expect it to be checked every 500 miles :confused:

I normally check oil, brake, clutch, power steering fluid, rad, antifreeze, screenwash and battery monthly...[smilie=cheeky-grin:
 
#15 ·
I check mine weekly. My diesel has used a little (sitting between minimum and maximum mark on dipstick), but hasn't moved for around 1500-2000 miles. Hopefully it should stay that way.

<rant>

Engines can consume oil. Your manual tells you to check the fuel everytime you fill up with fuel. If your engine is destroyed due to oil starvation because you haven't checked the levels and topped up as necessary, then there's only one person to blame.

</rant over>
 
#17 ·
I had the oil light come on in my 1.8 ES after 2,500 miles; the first time in 45 years motoring this has happenned to me.
I kept the engine load down, stopped at the next garage and managed to put in a litre.
That means there was 2.7 litres in the sump; very unlikely to cause engine damage.
So I now check more regularly and am reassured that the oil light comes on so early.
Regards
Tony:oops:
 
#18 ·
Tony, it's good to hear that the Civ oil level light works - I got caught out by the first car I had with this system (it didn't work at all). I view it as a secondary warning system, but the dipstick is still the primary indicator.

If the level is low, the important thing is to not rag it round corners hard, this may cause the reduced amount of oil to slosh away from the pickup. Remember that 2.7 litres of oil when the engine is stopped will mean much less in the sump when the engine is running.
 
#19 ·
I went away for the Easter weekend and the multifunction display beeped and a warning message appeared, "Engine Oil Level Low". I have only done about 7,000 miles in it and after checking the oil, it was well beneath the minimum mark. I was very surprised as this is a new car and shouldn't need a whole litre of oil in it after just 6 MONTHS. It's a petrol engine too!

Can anyone shed any light on why my oil has gone so low? It's definately NOT a leak...!
 
#20 ·
Yes. Oil escapes naturally through the piston rings, valves and a few other places. The rate of escape is normally in line with the efficiency of the piston ring seal, which is often determined by the running in method.

Your rate of oil loss is miles better than the specification, so nothing to worry about. It's true that diesels have different materials that can need more time to run in, but ultimately should use no more oil than a petrol.
 
#21 ·
Just an intereting point to add here.
I was talking to a motor oil expert once and he said an engine was working at full efficiency when burning 500miles/pint. Lowest friction figures, I guess.
However he qualified this by saying that engine oil consumption falls away rapidly after this point is reached.
The low oil level v cornering speed point by Potsy is very relevant and is the reason that racing engines have dry sumps.i.e separate oil tank pumped directly back to the engine to avoid oil starvation in corners.
Regards
Tony
 
#22 ·
Thanks Pottsy - much appreciated. However, before my Civic, I had the new shape Accord (2003 model) from new, which had a great 2.4 engine. That didn't need a new oil change until its first service, which was 12 months later...!?!?
 
#23 ·
Holy cripes!

I've driven over 1000 miles in about 2 weeks and haven't checked the oil!!!!

I must admit I don't really cane it on the motorway, I very rarely use full chat, but I think I will have a look before I go home, the car does seem to be driving rather strange (but it has done that since I got it!)

Ironically the dealer doesn't mention this, I thought if it were a high consumption engine, they should also TELL you when you buy a car, not just rely on you to RTFM?

After all, if I am not TOLD but it goes foom, then whose fault is that?

And I also had an old accord, two preludes (sorely missed) and they NEVER used any oil, much as I can remember I checked the level!!!!

Have we come to the general assumption that older engines were better made then? I have.....

*footnote - may explain why me gearbox is a bit whiny (but only just, like a motor)
 
#24 ·
I will not said that old engines where better build than newer. The building tolerances are smaller yet than before. The quality of the oil is better. On older engines you need to change oil every 7 500 Km (My first Opel Corsa) Then every 12 000 Km (My second one) then to 15 000 Km (my old Peugeot 307) and yet every 20 000 km... And I did add far more often oil in the first corsa than in he Civic... Already 10 000 Km and only 1.0 l added I have to add about 2.5 l between service in the first corsa and none or quite none in the 307 (once after having made about 10 000 km in less than one month...)

Checking oil depend on the driver.

I think the oil consumption is good on the civic and that's the first car where the Oil warning signal is almost reliable (but will not avoid to check it with the dipstick)
 
#25 ·
But I don't understand why a new car should use more oil than an older car!!

A few months ago my oil light came on I called the dealership and they said it would be fine to drive home, I drove home and according to my dipstick there was absolutely no oil at all in my engine it was dry. I put in 1.5 litres as it was going to the dealers the next day.

They checked it for me the next day and drained the oil out I had put in and said they didn't know why the oil light had come on but I now had too much oil.

And also, I never ever put oil in my focus in the 7 years of owning it between services. Yet I do the same mileage in the Civic.
 
#29 ·
But I don't understand why a new car should use more oil than an older car!!
Because the piston rings (that keep the oil from escaping) take an age to run in and become good at sealing.

One problem with modern cars is that oil is now very good. In the old days oil was poor at its job, and the piston rings wore quite quickly and soon bedded in and sealed. Trouble was, they also wore out again, and you had to change the oil regularly.

Now we have good oil, so it takes longer for the rings to bed in, but your engine will last longer and you don't have to change the oil so often.

This bedding in process can be assisted by giving the car strong acceleration bursts in the first few hundred miles (warm engine only) and conversely by avoiding "glazing" the bores by driving the first few hundred miles at light continuous load on the motorway. If you have poor oil consumption now, I'd still suggest warming the car up thoroughly and taking it for a good razz - full throttle to max revs through the gears a few times will help the situation.

Good running in (ie good piston rings) will give more power, better fuel consumption and less oil consumption.
 
#26 ·
Having picked up an EX (petrol) at the weekend, the dealer said to check the oil level every 600miles, top-up as required and the oil shouldn't need further topping up after 10K miles or so.

As long as the oil usage settles down around 10-12K I'll not be that bothered.
 
#27 ·
Well I have already 11 thousand on the clock (admittedly I think I put 2500 on it, the rest were there already!) and I'm not sure if the previous owner would have checked it religiously...

So I'm hoping that my oil usage settles, if not, there could be a problem here... I guess if I did 1000 miles or more and didn't use SOME oil, I would be wary - probably due to the fact that the crank will be sloshing it about like mad due to the high revs, its bound to burn off a bit....

The only car I had that used probably more oil than petrol, and it was meant to - was my old Talbot Samba!!!! :cool:

Those 998cc PSA units sounded like diesels but went forever......

Never checked the oil religiously in ANY car I owned.... especially not the Japanese stuff, even my dad had a Nissan Buebird (the UK built one) and it never EVER drank oil in 4 plus years of ownership - in fact the dealers commended him for keeping the oil nice and clean, he said he'd never looked at it - the only thing that went on THAT was a seal on the clutch cylinder (gearbox end) - a common fault back then.

Still, as long as everything is ok in my engine (I will check tonight) I am not fussed, still doesn't detract from a nice car. Just hope it will last me as long as the older ones did. Somehow I can't see that, they seem built down to a cost these days civics.
 
#28 ·
TC, Definitly you must have gremlins in your car !
Adding 1.5 l in your motor whith a 0 level indicator, and having too much moil the day after it is very surprising :rolleyes:
Because you are not a racing lady (I'm not wrong, am I ?) I suppose your car could have been parked in a slope and the oil drained at the back of the motor or parked on an unleveled ground so the sid where the dipstick is could be above ... That's a more logical explanation (happend a lo of time with my 307 in my former job. I did park my car in a slope, nose Up, so nearly each time I put my key in the computer said "Check oil level". I did check the first times and added some oil just to be sure but after a momen I did'nt bother anymore...
The Civic level probe seems to be more accurate. It did light once and level was at the minimum... So I added 1 Litre

Older car didnt use as much oil as newer becaus the friction are less important up to a moment where they ask for more and more oil (the gap are bigger and it is after more than 180 000 km usualy) time to change your car or you engine ! [smilie=cheeky-grin:
 
#31 · (Edited)
TC, yes Pottsy is really a usefull mine of information, and in the same time it is very usefull to teach me the Technical words I did'nt know in English (So Thanks Pottsy [smilie=cheeky-grin: ).

PS. If your not too far from your dealer, ask them to check the oil level from time to time... And they do the level for free !
 
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