Hello. I do my own oil changes with synthetic oil in my 2007 Odyssey, and my oil life monitor is showing 10% right now, but I still have 1K more miles to go before I hit my normal 7,500 mile interval. I’m pretty sure I reset the system after the last change, but I suppose I could be wrong. Should I just change it early or stick to my schedule?
Seriously , a lousy 1000 miles . Good grief , just change it because as far as I am concerned 10 % is to low. How long does it take to reach 7500 ?
2 Likes
You are being a tiny bit OCD. Drive it until the light comes on. Your engine will be fine. You are using synthetic oil which is better than Honda recommends, you have been diligent about changes. All is good. Relax.
2 Likes
I’d just change it now.
1 Like
It may have come on quicker because we’re heading out of winter. In the winter you’re more likely to let the car idle longer, make short trips…these things wear out the oil faster than cruising down the highway at 65. If your Odyssey’s OLM is set the same it is on my 05 (pretty sure it is), you should be fine running it down to hit that extra 1,000 miles if you want (you’ll want to change it when it hits 0, we usually change between 0-10), but you’re also fine to change it a little early now.
Why worry about it? Just change it, reset it and forget it.
I have only seen my light go off when it was not reset. I am at 2x a year, 4 to 5k miles. Reguar old dino oil, now I have taken to loosing a quart every 3k miles, could have done better sure, but at 200k this is acceptable.
1 Like
7500 miles between oil and filter changes is too many imho. Suggest to revert to 5000 mile intervals. Especially true if your engine uses variable valve timing, which I expect it does. The use of synthetic oil isn’t a reason to extend the oil change interval. Oil – even synthetic – is very cheap compared to the cost of even a minor engine repair. Let alone a major repair.
I change mine at 50% or 5000 miles with synthetic. Its just a computer program. It doesn’t look at the oil or sample it. It just looks at number of starts, mileage, maybe engine temp and outside temp, etc. Short trips and cold weather will do it. So I’d change it.
I’m and OLM guy. IMO, you should change the oil between 20% oil life remaining and 10%. OLM systems have been around for 30 years or more now, and they are a mature technology. You should change your oil now.
I had a 2005 Accord with a V6 engine, similar to the engine in your Odyssey. The OLM at the time was a mileage monitor. It flashed for about ten seconds after starting the car between 7000 and 7500 miles, then stayed on at 7500 miles. By drawing a comparison between your OLM recommendation and the old practice, I’d say you probably do not do mostly highway driving. It is a severe service application, and that is why the OLM tells you to change now.
Using synthetic oil does not extend oil life, unless there are sufficient additives to prevent the oil from breaking down. It isn’t the base oil so much as additives that serve this function. My guess is that you don’t have the extended mileage additive package in your oil, and should not extend the change interval just because the oil is synthetic.
I have read on several sites, including one from GM some years back, that GM put a 20% safety margin into the OLM. So when it reads 0%, by their estimation it actually has 20% life left. Unfortunately, I seem to have lost the links I had saved but here’s an interesting summary if you are interested- https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=printthread&Board=1&main=72644&type=thread
1 Like