We all know we should regularly maintain our car, but knowing how often it needs to be done is much harder. Some manufacturers try to simplify that answer with special devices, including the Honda Oil Life Percentage.
In this guide, I will explore the Honda Oil Life Percentage Indicator, answer how it is useful for your life, explain how accurate it is, and show you the best way to reset it.
What Is The Honda Oil Life Percentage Indicator?
The Honda Oil Life Percentage Indicator alerts drivers when the oil requires change. The indicator counts the oil quality down from 100% (which is new oil) as oil quality reaches drastically low levels a light comes on signifying that oil needs to be changed.
Changing oil regularly is critical to ensure the engine operates at its best. Typically, the average person has a good sense of how many miles it takes before its time for an oil change but with busy schedules often maintenance can be overlooked.
With the Honda Oil Life Indicator the driver gets reminder when an oil change may be soon necessary and will never forget to change their oil again. Instead of taking a guess from an odometer reading and date you know when service is due.
The Honda Oil Life Percentage Indicator is not strictly based on mileage. In addition, it primarily identifies the current health of oil and therefore changes only occur when oil is actually ready to be changed.
How Accurate is the Honda Oil Life Percentage?
Honda uses an algorithm to notify you to replace the oil, similar to other systems offered by many manufacturers, that performs fairly accurately, but is often too conservative.
If you have a regular oil change for 7,000 miles, and your system says you can go longer, it is probably just a result of you changing the way you drive or where you drive. For example, if instead of only driving in the city, you now have some highway miles, the mileage can be extended.
There are also times when the system is reset. The problem arises when the oil life indicator is reset, as it may think that you just performed an oil change, even if you didn’t. This can also create an inaccurate reading.
On the positive side, when the system is working, it can save you money. If you have to change your oil every 5,000 miles, it doesn’t mean that every 5,000 miles it needs a change. You are simply allowing the car to determine the condition of the oil.
If you blindly change the oil based on the mileage, you may be saying goodbye to perfectly good oil which is potentially still usable.
This uses money unnecessarily and makes you spend more of your time on taking care of the car than needed. With the maintenance minder systems, the mileage isn’t the only thing they look at so they will only ask you to do an oil change when it needs it, not based on the mileage.
How to Reset Honda Oil Life Percentage
The process takes different steps depending on the year and model of your vehicle. Your car owner’s manual will have the exact directions to follow but here are a few simple steps you can usually take to do this.
- Put the key in the ON position without starting the engine.
- Locate the knob on the dash or a button on the steering wheel that turns on the Select/Reset option. Press it to select options until you get to Engine Oil Indicator % or Engine Oil Life.
- hold the Select/Reset button for ten seconds and the Engine Oil Percentage Indicator should blink. When you see the Engine Oil Life, push the Info Button to enter the Reset Mode.
- Once you are in Reset mode, you can again push the Select/Reset button and the engine oil life should return to 100% after the oil change.
You should only need to know how to do this if you change your own Honda oil. If you take it to the dealership for maintenance and service, the person servicing your vehicle will reset it as part of their service appointment. If your vehicle is not reset, you can take it back to the dealership and they will reset it.
Oil Pressure Indicator vs. Oil Life Percentage
The Oil Life Percentage Indicator and Oil Pressure Indicator often confuse many individuals. These two symbols are very different, although they both have to do with oil.
The Oil Life Percentage Indicator indicates when it’s time for maintenance; the Oil Pressure Indicator tells you that there is a problem.
The warning light has a red symbol similar to what a leaking oil can look like. This light should never come on with a motor is running. If the light starts flashing that means the system is trying to tell you the oil pressure has dropped low.
If the light goes off, the system recovered but when the light is still lit it means there is a loss of oil pressure and the pressure must be immediately addressed. You must stop driving immediately so the engine will not experience severe damage.