Oil Change Experience, might worth to share…

[Purplegate]

I had a weird oil change experience this week, let’s beat that topic once again…

I went to the dealer (…and I know, some peoples here will beat me on that…), as I did the previous time, and everything seems find. The MID was showing a B1 service required. They did offer me the $150 check up listed as B1, which is roughly : checking the breaks, tire rotation, checking the exhaust for rust or defect, top off the fluids, etc. I refused the service (I rotate tires myself and use his as good timing to wash them thoroughly, and doing so, I check the breaks, which by the way show about no signs of wears whatsoever…).

So anyway, job done, bill comes : $24.95…. I’m like, WTF… that’s when I became suspicious… Not that I like being charged more, but I was a bit skeptical on one thing : what is the oil they put in there ?

Asked the guy why their prices were inconsistent (last oil change was $39.99). He told me this time they use the oil from the big barrel, which is cheaper and therefore can reduce the price of oil change. So I asked : “You have a barrel of 0w20 oil ?”. There was a pause… then he said yes. It accentuated my suspicions. They probably sold 5 insights and 7 Civic Hybrid, why the heck would they purchase 0w20 oil by the barrel…

Took off with the car, went to work, average MPG started to drop slowly, but consistently. On highway, every slight acceleration was requesting fairly drastic assist, which I’m now usually good at controlling and do without (I am at one year of learning and practice).

There is few things : They had dropped the tire pressure to 32. I usually keep them at 42. But more over, I’m pretty sure they put their common 5w30, which was probably in the barrel…

Am I paranoiac here or is a 5w30 oil will draw such behaviors from the IMA equipped powertrain ? Would the ICE be that affected so it would request that much more assist on slight accelerations ?

So anyway, I didn’t wait any longer, bought four qt of Mobil1 0w20 Advanced Fuel Economy, and re-did the oil change myself. Again here, few comments : the owner manual says 3.4qt required. I put the first 3 and checked the level. I was right in between the 2 holes on the stick. The car has not burned one single drop of oil in 20K miles. Why should I bother opening the 4th qt ?

So now, here I am, will be running the next stretch on Mobil1. I will report if I see any difference in behavior. And this has convinced me I will most probably do all the oil changes myself from now on. The only thing is they request a proof of maintenance to keep the lifetime powertrain warranty. I will have to find out what is a valid proof that I did it… any suggestion ?

And for those I2 owners who wonder if it’s easy to perform the oil change ourselves, the answer is definitively yes. There is 6 screws, 2 push pins and 2 screws pins that holds the undercover, then the drain plug and the oil filter are very easy access (compare to some other cars). On that, thanks Honda for making sure maintenance is easy !

[MN Driver]

The 42 PSI versus 32 PSI is going to have a bigger improvement over your gas mileage than the 5w30 to 0w20 difference. I'm assuming you've handled both issues though but the going lower in tire pressure is going to add plenty of assist and less speed loss where you otherwise wouldn't use the assist. Reduced rolling resistance at higher tire pressures provides a pretty serious advantage.

[satchel]

Originally Posted by Purplegate

The only thing is they request a proof of maintenance to keep the lifetime powertrain warranty. I will have to find out what is a valid proof that I did it… any suggestion ?

Keep a written record, date/mileage, and receipts for the oil and filter. They can't deny the warranty with this proof. You cannot legally be forced to use their incompetent and/or overpriced service.

Local dealer's service department recently failed to return a voicemail I left. I assume they don't want my business and am going to do the work myself or have an independent I use do it. Flushing brake & clutch fluid is a little trouble without a lift. Adjusting the valves I can do, tranny fluid I did and I've always changed the oil/filter(on the to do list today).

[UseTheEarth]

I would get that oil out of my engine ASAP. Eat the $40. It'a a $21,000+ vehicle for pete's sake!

2010 Honda Insight Manual Page 355:

A very low-viscosity, fuel-efficient 0W-20 oil is the engine lubricant for your Insight. This oil is formulated to help your engine use less fuel.

As far as synthetics go (also page 355 of manual):

Synthetic Oil
You may use a synthetic motor oil if it meets the same requirements given for a conventional motor oil: it displays the API Certification Seal and it is the proper weight. You must follow the oil and filter change intervals shown on the multi- information display.

As soon as my break-in oil is kaput, I am switching to 100% synthetic. Seems common sense that synthetic would be even lower viscosity and perform at the advertised low viscosity longer than regular motor oil..