HI
I am in Canada, shoud I do my first maintaince in 3000km or 5000km?

Currently, my car is in 2xxx, the oil life is 50%... Does this mean I only need to do my first maintance when the oil life is 0%?


Cheers

 

As long as my car is stock I plan to let the car tell me when I need service.

 

you should wait for the first service indicator, your manual specifically states to wait until the indicator tells you to do the first service otherwise you might hurt your engine.

 

indicator tells you ?

Do you mean a msg will popup to tell me what should I do?? That sounds soo cool

 

Yes, you should get a maintenance icon on the display, and the percent life remaining will blink at each engine start.

 

As Madison already stated, the maintenance reminder will tell you exactly what needs to be serviced.

On my '04 TL, I follow the MID to the letter and it will tell you when an oil change is due, tire rotation, etc...

 

I had 5200 miles when I took my car in. It had 20% oil life left but I was going on a trip so I decided to go early. The window stickers says wait until oil life is at 15% before brining you car in.

 

Yes, between 0 and 15% is when you want to do your maintenance, usually between 0 and 10% when it gets pretty annoying. It is only moderately annoying at 15%.

 

I agree...it's really really annoying. Every time you start the car you get the notice and even when you get rid of that notice, the info light on the dash stays lit. This goes on until you get the service done. I hear it's worse when you hit 5%.

 

Concur: That is extremely annoying. The service "soon" indicator has been on for two months. By the time I delete it and press the ok on the nav screen, switch the nav screen to audio, I could be well on my way.

 

Ok what about this scenario... 3400 miles and the indicator has been at 30% for a while. I am guessing it will be at 20% any day.

Over 110 degrees

Traveling 6 hrs across the desert at 85 ave... Would you still wait till it was 15% or 10%, or would you have the oil changed before the trip?

 

I'd wait till you get back. I figure you have about 850 miles left till 0%. Driving 6 hours at 85mph is 510 miles. I think the oil life indicator takes into account the operating temperature so it is unlikely that you will be at 0% before you get back.

On the other hand that reminder thing is sooooo annoying.

 

See that scares me and I don't know why. I would feel so much safer changing it a little early, knowing what it is going to go through in a few weeks with that trip.

What are the downsides of changing it early? (besides spending money before I have to?)


THANKS!

 

There's no downside to changing your oil early, as long as it's changed properly. Some moron may overfill the engine with oil, underfill the engine with oil, or forget to tighten the oil filter....

If you're that worried about it, just change it now.

 

KEWL. That is what I thought.

 

There are downsides to changing it too early because they put additives in there from the factory to help it break in. Not sure if you are beyond that point for the oil additives or not. My guess would be after 3400 miles you should be good to proceed with an oil change, but the owner's manual hints otherwise.

From the Owner's Manual......(interpret it how you want):

Help assure your vehicle’s future
reliability and performance by paying
extra attention to how you drive
during the first 600 miles (1,000 km).
During this period:
-Avoid full-throttle starts and rapid
acceleration.
-Avoid hard braking f or the first
200 miles (300 km).
-Do not change the oil until the
scheduled maintenance time.
-Do not tow a trailer.

 

In fact, it is even in one of the Acura ServiceNews bulletins, from the past year or two, on how the factory first load oil looks different, because it is, and has a higher moly content or something for break in. Not sure what it said about the RDX since it is the only one recommended to use Mobil 1, which was another ServiceNews article. You can look this up on the TL threads where they have all the bulletins back several years, like 5 +. Interesting stuff in there!

My apologies to sasair who has actually posted RDX related ServiceNews bulletins in the Problems and Fixes, just remembered that after I posted.

 

Oh yes! The warning you need to change the oil is a f'n PIA. I fear a plot to make you bring your RDX into the dealer more often then you should. Mine started bugging me to change the oil at 3800 miles. It's worst then my wife nagging me!

 

I waited until the indicator got down to 5% before I changed my oil. I was at 5500 miles.

The indicator is no big deal actually. I usually like to have the Range appear in my MID so by pressing the button once to bring that up also brings down the popup message. I can live with a single button push when I start the engine...

And I gotta say that following the maintenance suggestions was good for me. When I started driving the RDX I was getting about 18mpg. Now I am getting 22mpg and all I am doing is driving to and from work (50 miles each way) taking the same route everyday.

The engine is breaking itself in very well. Can't wait until I can take it on a long drive and see what the mileage will be...