[SteelBlue]

I have now put 1,900 miles on my RL in 3 weeks.

The truck drives awesome, still comfy, A/C is second to none, and the truck pulls wonderfully.

I pulled my 22' Basscat today, and went up hills, down hills, tight curves at a normal rate of speed, and the RL SHINES. I tried regular drive mode, and D3.. they both worked wonderfully.

I have to say this has to be the best truck money can buy in terms of comfort, and ease of use. ( no king of the road feel like an F250 )

I have only one complaint.. I only get 18mpg..... I don't go over 3k either.

 

[doubledutyemt]

You've only got 1,900 miles on it! It'll loosen up alittle! My only advice is to change that oil when HAL says 60%..That is closer to the regular interval of 3,000 miles and if your towing something, you'll want to change your oil regularly. And whatever ya' do..DON'T use anything other than 5W-20. The oil that is in there from the factory comes from Mobil, but to each his own.

 

[captmiddy]

You've only got 1,900 miles on it! It'll loosen up alittle! My only advice is to change that oil when HAL says 60%..That is closer to the regular interval of 3,000 miles and if your towing something, you'll want to change your oil regularly. And whatever ya' do..DON'T use anything other than 5W-20. The oil that is in there from the factory comes from Mobil, but to each his own.

Why? There is no reason to cut that much time off the oil change unless it is near 100% towing. The other fluids should be changed more frequently if you are towing but the load on the engine should really be part of the HAL calculation. It is already going to be lower than several of the people on the forum are seeing (I am at 40% left and about 50 miles short of 5000 miles). I think if your read the Gary Flint interview he said something very similar, that the system will account for the engine load but won't know to make you change the other fluids more frequently. In fact here is a brief quote from that article: http://www.ridgelineownersclub.com/flint6.htm

If you are towing a heavy trailer, the system does not compensate for the transmission or rear differential service interval.

 

[kd4z]

I'm with doubledutyemt. I don't care what HAL says. It will be every 3000 for me. It has worked for me on my past three vehicles totalling over 500K miles. It is simple. When the odo is divisible by 3000 evenly.. it is time to change. (or three months, whatever comes first) Oil is the cheapest insurance for engine longevity you can buy. Why chance it on a computer algorithm?

 

[swampler]

I'm with doubledutyemt. I don't care what HAL says. It will be every 3000 for me. It has worked for me on my past three vehicles totalling over 500K miles. It is simple. When the odo is divisible by 3000 evenly.. it is time to change. (or three months, whatever comes first) Oil is the cheapest insurance for engine longevity you can buy. Why chance it on a computer algorithm?

If you're going to follow the severe duty service, which is where the 3000 mile oil change got started, I would recommend at least following Honda's severe duty schedule which is at 3750 miles.

 

[captmiddy]

I'm with doubledutyemt. I don't care what HAL says. It will be every 3000 for me. It has worked for me on my past three vehicles totalling over 500K miles. It is simple. When the odo is divisible by 3000 evenly.. it is time to change. (or three months, whatever comes first) Oil is the cheapest insurance for engine longevity you can buy. Why chance it on a computer algorithm?

Because the computer algorithm is based on this vehicle's actual needs and current build quality and systems in modern vehicles. And you are wasting resources unnecessarily. Imagine how much oil would be saved if everyone used more reasonable change intervals. With the average miles per vehicle per year somewhere over 12000 miles, we are talking about millions of gallons of oil essentially gone each year. There is no reason for a current vehicle to need 3000 mile oil changes. I change the oil on my hybrid once every 10000 miles. And on the truck I will follow the interval recommended by the system. I haven't done 3000 mile oil changes since my last Chevy which was over 15 years ago. One of the vehicles in that time is still on the road, still having oil changes about every 7500 miles and has over 150k miles on it. The other vehicles I traded in with fairly low mileage because the utility they provided didn't match what I wanted.

So I have to ask, do you have any proof that your interval is really improving or increasing the lifetime of your vehicle?

Call me a crazy environmentalist, I bought the Ridgeline because it was an ULEV, if it wasn't I may not have bought a truck at all. I also bought it because I knew that the interval for oil changes would be between 5000 and 7500 miles usually and this means less oil waste. So if you feel you really must, then go ahead but I really think it is a horrible waste of oil that could be used for other reasons.

 

[Webwader]

I'm with captmiddy and I do a lot of towing. I plan on listening to "HAL".

 

[SSquire]

Because the computer algorithm is based on this vehicle's actual needs and current build quality and systems in modern vehicles. And you are wasting resources unnecessarily. Imagine how much oil would be saved if everyone used more reasonable change intervals. With the average miles per vehicle per year somewhere over 12000 miles, we are talking about millions of gallons of oil essentially gone each year. There is no reason for a current vehicle to need 3000 mile oil changes. I change the oil on my hybrid once every 10000 miles. And on the truck I will follow the interval recommended by the system. I haven't done 3000 mile oil changes since my last Chevy which was over 15 years ago. One of the vehicles in that time is still on the road, still having oil changes about every 7500 miles and has over 150k miles on it. The other vehicles I traded in with fairly low mileage because the utility they provided didn't match what I wanted.

So I have to ask, do you have any proof that your interval is really improving or increasing the lifetime of your vehicle?

Call me a crazy environmentalist, I bought the Ridgeline because it was an ULEV, if it wasn't I may not have bought a truck at all. I also bought it because I knew that the interval for oil changes would be between 5000 and 7500 miles usually and this means less oil waste. So if you feel you really must, then go ahead but I really think it is a horrible waste of oil that could be used for other reasons.

I'm with the Capt. (not Morgan for a change! ) on this one. I'll change it when HAL tells me to.

 

[swampler]

I sense an opportunity for a poll here!

I'm following HAL as well. I always went 5,000 miles anyway.

 

[shingles]

You've only got 1,900 miles on it! It'll loosen up alittle! My only advice is to change that oil when HAL says 60%..That is closer to the regular interval of 3,000 miles and if your towing something, you'll want to change your oil regularly. And whatever ya' do..DON'T use anything other than 5W-20. The oil that is in there from the factory comes from Mobil, but to each his own.

HAL takes it into consideration. There's really no reason to change oil at 3000 miles and to doubt HAL.

 

[shingles]

I'm with doubledutyemt. I don't care what HAL says. It will be every 3000 for me. It has worked for me on my past three vehicles totalling over 500K miles. It is simple. When the odo is divisible by 3000 evenly.. it is time to change. (or three months, whatever comes first) Oil is the cheapest insurance for engine longevity you can buy. Why chance it on a computer algorithm?

There's been COUNTLESS number of oil analysis done on COUNTLESS number of cars that CLEARLY say that 3,000 miles is almost always nothing but a waste of money. There's really no reason to doubt what Honda engineers tell you. After all, they trust that enough to waranty your vehical if you go by it.

Why chance it on a computer? Beacuse the computer takes a lot more into consideration than just time and distance. Heck, it might be possible that the "computer" wants you to change it earlier, but you don't and ruin the engine because you are stuck on the "3k or 3month" bs line that Jiffy Lube feeds the consumers.

 

[Truckin']

On the first oil change we went a bit before the HAL notice for convenience sake. We were getting close and about to leave for a three week drive through the Canadian mountains. From now on, we will wait for HAL. We also went synthetic. I feel good about saving oil.