Everything but oil quality. It has no analysis equipment on board.

 

mileage, time since last change and your specific driving patterns/conditions.

 

Type of driving you do is the major factor.
If you many short city runs with minimal highway you'll see just over 6k miles or about 15% drop per 1000 miles. Pure interstate driving and it drops about 7-8% per thousand.

The pure interstate runs surprised me. But proven through repetition.

 

Thanks for the clarifications. When I checked earlier this week, it was 70% which coincides with my mostly interstate driving and almost 4k miles since I bought it. This assumes (I know I shouldn't) the dealership did in fact change the oil.

 

I have used synthetic oil but once the shop put conventional oil. There was absolutely no difference in the approximately 7500 miles that my minder service interval indicator went to 15%.

 

Are you typically seeing it's time to change the oil around 5000 - 7500 miles? I couldn't find a recommended interval in the manual, so it seems it is based on the Maintenance Minder.

 

Having grown up in the era of 3,000 mile oil changes as well as being the owner of a Dodge Intrepid whose engine was notorious for sludge buildup, I was pretty anal about that 3,000 mile mark. I'm now up to a 5,000 mile interval (2015 Highlander same) and regardless of the optimistic suggestion from the maintenance minder, I will have the oil and filter changed approximately every 5,000 miles. At the rate I'm driving my '20 CRV Touring, that's 2 oil changes per year. Synthetic oil goes into both vehicles and the Highlander had 65K miles and uses no oil between changes.

 

It's an algorithm, not able to indicate condition, I use it seldom as UOA's have shown degradation indicating that changes should fall into the 4-5000mi range. I use Either Mobil1 EP 0W-20 or Castrol Edge EP 0W-20. Did the Diff at 15K, will do the transmission at 25-30K Intervals, brake service at 3 years or a bit sooner. I change cabin filters twice a year and intake filters annually or every 10K. Possibly a tad pro-active, but it fits my comfort level. After a 25-year career as a Biomedical Technician, servicing life-support equipment, I am a firm believer in pre-emptive maintenance schedules. My experience with two previous 1.5t engines in Civics has proven, through UOA'S, that the 1.5t in the CRV is significantly harder on oil than the Civics, which, IMHO, suggests more frequent intervals. A UOA done at 4300 miles on Mobil1 0W-20 AFE with 60% remaining on the MM, showed it had thinned/sheared/diluted below expected viscosity ranges at that point. Now with another 4400 miles on Mobil1 0W-20 EP, I've submitted another sample to see if the EP stays within grade, if not, I may try the EP in 5W-20 next or possibly a 0W-30, my goal, other than keeping my CRV alive and well for as long as possible, is to have an acceptable UOA at the 5k intervals I used in my Civics.

 

You're the man Phil! I like your approach to owning & maintaining your cars. If more people had your mindset the dealers' service departments would go out of business. Doing your homework/research has lots of benefits. It's a good thing you don't own one of those Toyotas that burn a quart of oil in between oil changes & the manufacturer says that's normal.

 

I searched the manual which refers to the 'dust and pollen' filter with recommendations when to change it, but instructions to do so. Even where it's located would help on my 2012. The manual says to contact the dealer for replacement. I'll do some searching.

Of course found the process on YouTube. I've never had a vehicle with such a filter.

 

Very common in virtually all cars these days. As you've probably discovered it's behind the glove box. Very important to change if you want your climate control system to work.

 

This is my first 'these days' car in a while. I traded in a 1999 Accord for my CR-V! Yes, saw where it was and glad the CR-V has it. I should see of the local auto parts stores have them and buy one to have on hand. Already replaced the driver's side headlight. The filter looks a bit easier.

 

Check Rockauto.com site. I find them to have WAY better price on all filters. Have been buying from them for a while now.

 

I've heard good things about Rockauto.com.

 

All I can recall about them is some TV ads featuring what appeared to be a bunch of dozy potheads.
If they think that sort of thing will attract me they are wrong.
But I've never dealt with them, they may be great.

 

I change when my oil life shows ~20% and miles usually is right around 8000 miles at that point. wife drives 25 mile round trip to work 5 days a week. Just came in from changing oil as it it reached the 20% and had 7799 miles on the oil. pretty sure it would be around 10,000 miles if I let it go to 0%. this maintenance interval called for a tranny fluid change as well. I had changed it at 45000 but the fluid looked really good and no fuzz on the magnet so I will not change again until at least 95000 miles on the car if I keep it that long.

 

Just as a reference, our crv is only used in short distance trips, the MM light comes up at around 5000 miles for us.

 

Bit of advice - change the oil at the 50% life mark and then again (with filter change) at the 5% life remaining mark. The EPA and competition has caused car makers to push the limits on oil change intervals - but potentially at the cost of long engine life. I suck the oil out at the 50% mark via the dipstick tube using an inexpensie fluid suction extractor and refill with fresh oil. Takes under 10 minutes and no crawling under the car needed.

 

I suck the oil out at the 50% mark via the dipstick tube using an inexpensie fluid suction extractor and refill with fresh oil. Takes under 10 minutes and no crawling under the car needed.

That sounds like a very practical device. I used to change the oil in Subarus I had myself since it was easy to access the filter and oil pan drain. Was going to look into the process for the 2012 CR-V. But I've heard of the occasional stripped threads or lost washer for the drain plug. The suction device sounds interesting. Due to my somewhat long commute, I'll be needing to change oil often, and would prefer to do it myself.

 

If you are going to keep the vehicle for a long time, then consider gettign a ValvoMax oil drain valve, or a Fumoto oil drain valve.

I installed a Fumoto with the right angle hose connection additional option (and bought the additional hose that fits it properly) on my 2016 EX with the 2.4 gasoline engine. It does hang down about a half inch, but that is not a problem any place I drive. If I wanted to I could have installed it with the hose connection not turned down at all, and maybe the valve section not facing down. I installed it oriented for easy use.

The Fumoto is a good product, but the angle that the actual activation lever of the valve ends up at is more or less a crapshoot based on how the threads of the oil drain plug hole and the threads of the valve start and stop, which is something machined into those parts and you have no control over. I did manage to adjust where the valve lever ended up a little bit by tightening the valve more than recommended when I installed it, because when tightened the recommended amount the valve lever was not easily accessable. At least all I was doing is crushing the gasket that valve came with a little more than recommended. It is not like I was over-tightening with it already bottomed out with metal on metal. But still, the Fumoto is made of brass so over-tightening with my wrench on brass was a little scarry, as I was concerned about breaking the valve completely off. Also, the width of the Fumoto is more than the ValvoMax, and I had to use an angle grinder to remove about 1/8 of an inch from a corner of an exhaust flange so it would clear that flange and be able to be turned when being threaded into the oil pan, which is something I would not have had to do if I had installed the ValvoMax.

If I had it to do over again I would have gone with the ValvoMax version, becasue I would not have had to modify the exhaust flange, and it also would not be hanging down at all, and it is made of stainless steel instead of brass.

Both the Fumoto and the ValvoMax allow you to drain the engine oil without spilling a drop. Both of them are slower that removing the oil drain plug, but that is not a big problem. Both of these seem to have a good history of being reliable.

And if you install the original oil drain plug and keep the valve when you are doing the very last change on the vehicle, there is a decent chance the valve will fit your next vehicle.

There is another make called EZ Oil Drain Valve but it uses a Viton O ring seal and I am not sure that is something that will last a very long time for those like me that keep a vehicle for 15 or more years (I had my Olds 88 coupe for 22 years).

Changine the oil-filter can still be messsy. One good way to handle that to reduce the mess is to first loosen the filter just a very small amount of turning it to verify it is not stuck on, and then use something like a screwdriver to punch a hole in the filter on the lowest section a little towards the center to drain it before removing it. If you look at YouTube videos of oil filters being taken apart, you will see that the spring on the bottom often overlaps the outter edge of the end of the filter, so you want to punch that hole somewhat towards the center to avoid hitting that second piece of metal ( the spring ) inside the filter and having that interfere with the hole you are making, and the oil drainig from the filter.

There is a product called the Oil Udder. But they are not worth trying to use on oil-filters that are mounted at a 45 degree angle like the one on my 2016 EX. The oil just runs out too fast and most of it misses the Oil Udder and still get on you. The only good thing I can say about the Oil Udder regarding using it on my CR-V is that the thick rubber it is made of does provide some thermal insulation that is nice if you are changing a hot filter.

 

I plan to keep this CR-V a while. Wow, 22 years for your Oldsmobile! I'll investigate those oil draining options. I changed the oil on every Subaru I had - even my son's '99 Legacy without jacking them up. The filter on those flat 4 engines were easy to get at. Whenever I reinstalled a filter I'd tightly hand tighten it. I haven't looked at what access is like for the model CR-V I have.

 

I'm sure i've gotten fatter and the front struts have weakened since purchasing my 2015 CRV but i used to be able to slide under and change the oil without jacking the car up. I can't do that anymore now

 

Get a good set of car ramps & the problem is solved. Unless you trust every mechanic to do the right thing & not strip any threads, or forget to tighten the drain plug.