Couple of questions after reading the manual cover to cover this weekend:

Although I did a search and read about first oil change, I am concerned. i dont put many miles on my car and will not get near 10K in 12 mos. It doesnt seem reasonable not to change oil for a year on a new car. Yet the manual is adamant about it. What is problem with doing it before that?

In terms of washing car, is there anything wrong with taking it to a car wash?

Manual states blue "courtesy" lights can be adjusted via reset button...mine doesnt seem to change. Am I misreading the book or am I doing something wrong.


FYI - There is a blurb in there that lower octane fuel can damage car....not simply result in lower performance.

 

On the courtesy lights, its not the reset button (assuming referring to trip odometer), it's the OTHER one, on the right. It's a tad confusing because there are two settings, one for when headlights are on and one for when not on. AND, they (instrument panel lights) come on BRIGHT when doors open anyway.

The consensus on oil change is that most of us are "severe" users and oil should be changed under the severe schedule or every 5000 miles.

And on car washing, I suppose any wash is better than none. HOWEVER, if you have a dark-colored car, you should avoid automatic washes at all cost, especially those with brushes. Those that use only pressurized water are slightly better. Careful hand washing as described in the "Car Wash" section is the best way to maintain your finish, combined with the wax/protectant of your choice.

 

One of the things that determines the oil change interval is the number of cycles (started and warmed up) and the amount of fuel used by the car. If you make a lot of short trips, especially if the car doesn't get a chance to warm up all the way you can get condensation in the engine/oil and that will mess things up.
Some people say that Honda puts some sort of "special" oil in the car for its break in period - I think that's crap - the car is broken in after 500mi and very little you do after that (including changing the oil against what the book says) other than abuse will affect engine wear.

 

So, let me answer your last question regarding using low octane fuel. Here is the analogy.

Lower octane fuel is less environmental friendly. It produces harmful exhaust, leading to health-threatening air pollution. The more air you breath in, the sicker you get. Your weakening condition subsequentlly impacts on your mental fitness, rendering a slower shifting and a crappier driving technique. Needless to say, the performance goes down. Potentially, when you hit the jackpot, you might run your car into a tree unconsiously.

This is how lower octane fuel ultimately damages your car.

 

Lower octane cannot be compressed as much, and can prematurely detonate. This causes pining and knocking in the engine. I think the ECU is smart enough to automatically retard timing and lower performance, but I think its a bad idea in general.

 

Thanks for an utterly worthless post.....

 

Not to sound like a broken record... opinions on oil changes, break-in procedures and octane will vary throughout the net.

But you go against Honda's published procedures at your own risk. It's your car, do what you will.

 

What reset button?

 

In the gauge cluster there are 2 "buttons".
One is for resetting the trip odometer and switching between odo A and B.
The second one is for adjusting the illumination - that one you have to turn and not press.

 

On the issue of oil additives. Some have said, credibly I believe, that abrasives in the oil from the factory are no longer necessary and that they are not provided in TSX factory oil.

Well, here's what Owner Link has to say:

Why should I wait to change the oil the first time?

Your Acura engine was delivered with an oil that is specially formulated for new engines that have not yet developed their "natural" wear patterns and may contain minute particles from the manufacturing process.

American Honda strongly recommends this special oil be left in the engine long enough for these wear patterns to develop, usually until the first maintenance interval specified in your Owner's Manual, based on your specific driving conditions.

 

well i put over 2k miles on my car in 3 days...im pretty sure it got the wear patterns by then and now im over 22k and i have more power than anyother dyno out there so i think the changing oil thing is garbage. just change it every 2.5 to 3k miles and u will be fine....