[pixantz]

Originally Posted by petroguzzler

I'm sorry, could you please elaborate on what would be the risk.

It's obvious. The airbag blows up in your face! And believe me, you don't want that happening to you when you are not restrained by the seat belt like in a typical situation.

Other than that, you won't get a free replacement, of course. And they're costly mate. Maybe around 50k apiece. That's an extra expense after fixing up your face. Don't get me wrong. You don't want to do this. Don't take it lightly. It's not meant for owners to fiddle with. Rest is your choice. Have fun.

[petroguzzler]

Originally Posted by pixantz

It's obvious. The airbag blows up in your face! And believe me, you don't want that happening to you when you are not restrained by the seat belt like in a typical situation.

Other than that, you won't get a free replacement, of course. And they're costly mate. Maybe around 50k apiece. That's an extra expense after fixing up your face. Don't get me wrong. You don't want to do this. Don't take it lightly. It's not meant for owners to fiddle with. Rest is your choice. Have fun.

I never meant that I would open it up and check it out. I want to have HASS to open it up and show me the make of the airbag inflator in my car. I just want to confirm that I do not have Takata inflators in my car. Would HASS be competent enough to do this job?

[laluks]

Originally Posted by petroguzzler

I never meant that I would open it up and check it out. I want to have HASS to open it up and show me the make of the airbag inflator in my car. I just want to confirm that I do not have Takata inflators in my car. Would HASS be competent enough to do this job?

HASS is competent enough to do this as it is a very simple procedure.

Question is given that they have so many models of cars jostling for a slot in HASS for service, will they oblige to this need of yours which might give them only some 100's as revenue for the time spent.

[petroguzzler]

Originally Posted by laluks

HASS is competent enough to do this as it is a very simple procedure.

Question is given that they have so many models of cars jostling for a slot in HASS for service, will they oblige to this need of yours which might give them only some 100's as revenue for the time spent.

Thanks for the response laluks.

HASS has obliged to do it.

[nik0502]

Hi Guys,

Do we use synthetic oil only in Civic or we can use mineral oil as well ?

My 2nd question is if we are using synthetic oil shouldn't the service intervals be 15 K Kms.

[sgiitk]

Originally Posted by nik0502

Hi Guys,

Do we use synthetic oil only in Civic or we can use mineral oil as well ?

My 2nd question is if we are using synthetic oil shouldn't the service intervals be 15 K Kms.

I think Honda are being ultra safe in permitting 10,000km / 12 months on synth. They recommend 6 months with semi-synth/mineral. The argument that their engines run higher revs than the competition does not cut much ice with me. A colleague owned a FIAT 128 in the last 1970's and than had a red line at 8300rpm.

[coolvenk]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

I think Honda are being ultra safe in permitting 10,000km / 12 months on synth. They recommend 6 months with semi-synth/mineral. The argument that their engines run higher revs than the competition does not cut much ice with me. A colleague owned a FIAT 128 in the last 1970's and than had a red line at 8300rpm.

One question I've always had is why the 6 month oil change irrespective of km run for say, mineral oil. If I've only run a couple of thousand km for six months, why do I still need to change it? Does oil degrade with time? I can see that it could gather impurities with kms run, but what does time do?

[sgiitk]

Originally Posted by coolvenk

One question I've always had is why the 6 month oil change irrespective of km run for say, mineral oil. If I've only run a couple of thousand km for six months, why do I still need to change it? Does oil degrade with time? I can see that it could gather impurities with kms run, but what does time do?

I just do not understand. I am running my Brio for 12 months / 12-14,000km with the normal mineral/semi synth stuff. Both my cars go in for service once a year. Once I am out of warranty then I take my own decisions. Did the same with my Hyundai's (Accent & Santro) also.

My son has a City which drives much more. He runs on synth and gets a service / oil change after 10 months of so, when he has done 12,000-15,000km.

[nik0502]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

I just do not understand. I am running my Brio for 12 months / 12-14,000km with the normal mineral/semi synth stuff. Both my cars go in for service once a year. Once I am out of warranty then I take my own decisions. Did the same with my Hyundai's (Accent & Santro) also.

My son has a City which drives much more. He runs on synth and gets a service / oil change after 10 months of so, when he has done 12,000-15,000km.

Hey,

This is what my problem is. I drive 2500 kms in a month. And with this 10000 kms the service bills are becoming a pain to maintain the car. Though my car is out of warranty. Can I continue without service till 12 - 15000 kms with synthetic ? I clean the air filter myself every 5000 kms. Also I hardly drive above 2000 rpm. My car is never driven in the high RPM band.

[sgiitk]

Originally Posted by nik0502

Hey,

This is what my problem is. I drive 2500 kms in a month. And with this 10000 kms the service bills are becoming a pain to maintain the car. Though my car is out of warranty. Can I continue without service till 12 - 15000 kms with synthetic ? I clean the air filter myself every 5000 kms. Also I hardly drive above 2000 rpm. My car is never driven in the high RPM band.

I will say stretch the oil change to 15,000km with impunity. Forget, their calls and maybe even tick them off, but the girl has a job to do. Why is Honda not extending the service interval sure beats me. Their dealers have enough work now!

[Ace F355]

Originally Posted by nik0502

Hey,

This is what my problem is. I drive 2500 kms in a month. And with this 10000 kms the service bills are becoming a pain to maintain the car. Though my car is out of warranty. Can I continue without service till 12 - 15000 kms with synthetic ? I clean the air filter myself every 5000 kms. Also I hardly drive above 2000 rpm. My car is never driven in the high RPM band.

Originally Posted by sgiitk

I will say stretch the oil change to 15,000km with impunity. Forget, their calls and maybe even tick them off, but the girl has a job to do. Why is Honda not extending the service interval sure beats me. Their dealers have enough work now!

I somewhat disagree with you here, Professor. I fed Shell Helix Ultra 5W40 synthetic to my Civic all its life it was with me, however I followed the 10k oil change rule religiously. Indian driving conditions are harsh and ten thousand kms itself is a generous mileage calling for an oil change IMHO. However, I do agree with you on 6 months service interval. A lot of folks who drive less can surely ignore Honda's request for bringing their cars in and easily extend their service intervals to a year at least, after warranty period is over that is.

For you Nik, 10k oil change is what I would recommend. BTW, are you running on petrol or switched to CNG? 2500 kms/month is a lot of mileage on a petrol fed Civic, aren't you feeling the pinch there?

[nik0502]

Originally Posted by Ace F355

I somewhat disagree with you here, Professor. I fed Shell Helix Ultra 5W40 synthetic to my Civic all its life it was with me, however I followed the 10k oil change rule religiously. Indian driving conditions are harsh and ten thousand kms itself is a generous mileage calling for an oil change IMHO. However, I do agree with you on 6 months service interval. A lot of folks who drive less can surely ignore Honda's request for bringing their cars in and easily extend their service intervals to a year at least, after warranty period is over that is.

For you Nik, 10k oil change is what I would recommend. BTW, are you running on petrol or switched to CNG? 2500 kms/month is a lot of mileage on a petrol fed Civic, aren't you feeling the pinch there?

Hi Ace F355,

I agree Indian conditions are harsh, however VW and Skoda both have 15K service interval with synthetic oil in the our Indian conditions and do just fine. I am surprised why not Honda. I have switched to CNG.

I am glad to see someone from my hometown on the forum.

[sumeethaldankar]

Originally Posted by nik0502

Hi Ace F355,

I agree Indian conditions are harsh, however VW and Skoda both have 15K service interval with synthetic oil in the our Indian conditions and do just fine. I am surprised why not Honda. I have switched to CNG.

I am glad to see someone from my hometown on the forum.

I would say the 15k service interval is just a marketing gimmick. I would not push the engine oil in what is described as harsh driving conditions that Indian roads are known for. Personally i would not push the oil in the cng Civic for more than 10k. In theory cng burns hotter than petrol i think, this might expedite the degradation of the engine oil making it lose its properties sooner. Just an assumption but i change oil every 9k or six months just because my Civic's on cng too.

[nik0502]

Originally Posted by sumeethaldankar

I would say the 15k service interval is just a marketing gimmick. I would not push the engine oil in what is described as harsh driving conditions that Indian roads are known for. Personally i would not push the oil in the cng Civic for more than 10k. In theory cng burns hotter than petrol i think, this might expedite the degradation of the engine oil making it lose its properties sooner. Just an assumption but i change oil every 9k or six months just because my Civic's on cng too.

Hey Sumeet,

I will probably keep on getting it serviced at 10K interval just for the peace of mind however I do not think 15K interval is a marketing gimmick. A close friend has a Rapid DSG and it does fine for those 15 K Kms. There is no change in the behaviour of the car. Moreover what I know long service intervals and better protection of engine is supposed to be USP of synthetic oil. I may be wrong here. Also about CNG, I have driven about 1 Lac Kms on CNG on different cars before Civic. I have not seen any difference in the engine oil degradation even on cars running with mineral oils. Though the air filter does get dirty in CNG cars as compared to petrol ones.

[sumeethaldankar]

Originally Posted by nik0502

Hey Sumeet,

I will probably keep on getting it serviced at 10K interval just for the peace of mind however I do not think 15K interval is a marketing gimmick. A close friend has a Rapid DSG and it does fine for those 15 K Kms. There is no change in the behaviour of the car. Moreover what I know long service intervals and better protection of engine is supposed to be USP of synthetic oil. I may be wrong here. Also about CNG, I have driven about 1 Lac Kms on CNG on different cars before Civic. I have not seen any difference in the engine oil degradation even on cars running with mineral oils. Though the air filter does get dirty in CNG cars as compared to petrol ones.

Yes it might be true for other cars but my experience with different engine oils which i tried in my Civic has led me to believe that the civic engine is sensitive to the type of oil used. I once tried Mobil 10 W 30 mineral oil. I let it run for more than 6 months since i was not doing much running just 3k kms a year. As i pushed more than 6 months i found the engine sputtering and i found overall performance had come down. I immediately went in for a oil change.

After converting to cng i once tried Total 10W 40. This is a thicker oil than recommended but considering the cng runs hotter i tried it. The effects were immediately noticable. The car felt sluggish and lethargic than before. I was so unhappy with the performance i changed the oil in just 3 months and went to Honda for a synt oil.