Hi. We have a low mileage automatic honda civic. 2017 model. On average, only used 3K kilometers per year.
When is the best time to change the engine oil and automatic transmission fluid?
Every year for the engine oil? Every 3 years for the ATF?
I would say with variable valve timing, change every 5000 miles or once a year. I've heard Scotty say in the past that 10,000 mile intervals is too much for the cam phasers in these engines due to very tiny and precise oil channels.
@wse
I agree 100%.
You can always check the manufacturer recommendations in the owner's manual, if you don't have the manual you can probably get the info from the Internet or call Honda and maybe they'll mail you one for free, can't hurt to ask. I personally look at my oil, I check it at least once a week, good to know if any oil is being burned/lost and what it looks like, etc. I use Mobil1 in all my cars, it's a good oil, there is some back and forth as to if its really a full synthetic but that is the topic of conversation for another thread. Just about any commercially available oil is good oil, Castrol, Pennzoil, they're all good oils. I change my oil twice a year on my cars, I run about 4000 miles on an oil change, so about 8000 miles/year on each car (we have 3 cars in the family). I would never go beyond 6000 or 7000 miles on synthetic oil, that's just my opinion. To be honest, I once bought a brand new 2012 Mazda5 with the 2.5L MZR engine, brand new car. I had horrible fuel economy from the get go, before 2000 miles on the odometer, I checked my oil, it looked like molasses. I changed the oil at 2000 miles, way before I was supposed to. Instantly my MPG shot up by almost double! I was like.... NO WAY. Before 4000 miles the oil again looked like molasses, so I changed it again. I changed the oil 4 times in 10,000 miles. That was the dirtiest engine I have ever seen, never seen that before. I've own so many new and used cars I couldn't list them all, and I've worked on all of them, never saw something like that. Eventually the oil cleared up and the oil change intervals became more normal. That being said, always look at your oil, you want to check the level, check to see if it looks like molasses, get to know your engine on a personal level, I know that sounds corny, but that's what I do, I don't always follow the manufacturer recommendations, my judgement supersedes. Under any circumstances, I would never go 10,000 miles on an oil change. And you want to change your oil at least once a year, I do twice a year because I work outside, I do the last oil change in November (for the winter) and the next one in the spring when it gets warmer outside, I'm not going under my car in January in New Jersey in 9F degree weather. Remember that there is a small amount of water that gets into the engine oil due to condensation of parts, most people would say it's negligible but just something to be aware of, you don't want water in your engine oil.
Personally I'd still stick to the recommend intervals.
@jimbob ty. Given the low mileage use, will just follow the calendar based interval? So every 6 months then for engine oil?
Maintenance schedules are usually so many months or so many miles whichever is the sooner. Lack of use is bad for cars slso
I have a couple of low mile per year vehicles and I just bite the bullet and do once a year change. From reading up on the Bob is the oil guy forum though, the consensus from what oil analysis show on full synthetic is it can go 10K miles without problem on most types of driving. I would have no worries going 10k on Mobil1 in any of my vehicles after looking at the lab results others are getting.
Change the oil once a year for such an infrequently used vehicle. And make sure you give it an Italian tune-up a few times a year too.
Change the oil every year or every 5000 miles.
Change the ATF based on your car manual.
I have a 2013 Lexus ES350 with about 3,500 miles on it. I drive it weekly but not very far. It does get some 70 mph freeway driving. I have the oil changed once a year and have the vehicle safety/emissions inspection done while they are at it. I'm sure I've overspent on oil changes but I can afford it and it makes me feel better.