OK so I searched the forums and got waaaay confused. One guy says his cap said 5w-30 but the computer that points to Acura says 5w-20. Now, my cap says 5w-20 and when I took it to a local lube shop, they said the computer says 5w-30. So what the hell? I have a 2007 TSX, if that helps. What exactly is the right oil to use for our TSX's?

Oh and here's the link to the thread I was looking at: https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...&highlight=oil

How the hell does his cap say 5w-30 when mine says 5w-20. And why the hell is that stupid sticker on the top left of my windshield says 5w-30 (lube shop reminder sticker). Help me guys.

 

as far as I am aware of as of this day:

2007-2008 = 5w-30
2009 = 5w-20
that's what my dealer said Honda is currently recommending them to use.
they told me (2008) that if it was their car, they would use 0w-30.

 

5w-30 is the correct answer. Its on page 288 and on the last page of your owners manual. Don't go by what some lube n' tune shop put on your sticker. I bet they told you to come back in 3000 miles too.

https://techinfo.honda.com/rjanisis/.../BTS0707OM.pdf

 

OK thanks guys, that clears up a lot about my confusion.

But then again, does anyone else have their oil cap say 5w-20 on them or am I the only one?

 

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...=659069&page=2

The same sort of question came up in this 2005 thread. There's some more detailed explanation in here from a couple of oil experts (Michael Wan if some of you are familiar). Interesting stuff, if you can get past the oil jargon.

It looks like the Cliffs to that thread are: 5w20 and 5w30 aren't different enough to lose sleep over. However, it seems you can tailor your oil weight to the conditions that you drive in.

For instance, now that some of our vehicles are getting some serious mileage on them, I'm more interested to see what oil is best for cars with over 75000 (and still driven pretty hard).

I'm leaning towards switching from 5w20 to 0w30 in my next oil change. I live in cali so it doesn't get too cold and my car has over 75000 miles on it.

 

i know i've had some confusion b/c one thing will say 5w-30 (oil cap), but i've also seen 5w-20 possibly in my owner's manual or the helms book.

i'm just going to stick with 5w-30.

 

FYI, the W part of the oil weight only matters for the first 10 to 15 minutes of driving. Once the oil is at operating temperature it's at the higher viscosity. In a place where it doesn't get very cold like socal, the W part of the viscosity doesn't make much of difference at all. If you lived somewhere where it's regularly very, very cold, you will see some benefit from a lower W viscosity such as easier starting and probably a little bump in fuel economy because you'll be doing significantly more driving with cold oil.

 

Ugh. OK so I went to the dealership for some warranty stuff today and asked the service guy about oil. He pretty much slapped you guys in the face cause I told him that I saw on forums and on Honda/Acura manuals saying that the TSX need to use 5w-30, but he responded and said no, use only 5w-20 because it's thinner and so that's better for the engine and he used to build engine blah blah. This confuses me sooo much. I never had an oil change at the dealer before so I really don't know what kind they use. Inputs?

 

Thinner and therefore better for the engine?

 

"Better" is a multifaceted term in this context. A thicker oil will protect better but it will also exert more drag on the moving parts. The oil has to be light enough that the pump can push it through all various ports. Honda also likes using oil pressure for non-lubrication related purposes as well such as the cam chain tensioner (form what I understand, don't quote me on that), VTEC activation and cam advance. This puts some serious constraints on how thick the oil can be.

Honestly though, the difference between 20 and 30 isn't much to worry about.

 

What benefit would 0w30 be over 5w30? Better protection at startup/warmup (since the oil will start out thicker)?

I've ritually followed what the owners manual has specified for the various vehicles I've owned. My first car was designed for 10w30, my last car along with this car call for 5w30. If that's what the manufacturer states, it should be fine.

I don't know what would've changed between 2004 and 2008 to have some 1st gen TSX's spec'ed for 5w30 and some for 5w20. Perhaps a $$ thing?

 

0w is thinner than 5w at start up and therein lies the advantage. The cold oil will more quickly and thoroughly get where it needs to go. In severely cold conditions, the oil can actually cause quite a lot of drag on the engine. To the point where a nearly frozen battery may not be able to get it started.

The 20 vs 30 is most likely done to meet some government fuel efficiency mandate (or just to bump the fleet average up). Thinner oil means less resistance on the motor which translates to less fuel being required for the same power output. It's only good for maybe half an MPG at most so they were probably just trying to squeak by something or other. Might have been so they can put the ULEV sticker on the window actually. I think the thresholds for those various placards changed somewhat recently. Actually I think it was somehow related to how the SAE HP numbers were adjusted a couple years ago. Some simple research should clear it up but it's about beer thirty so...

 

Your owner's manual has a chart of recommended viscosities for various ambient temperature ranges. My '06 says 5W30 on the oil cap but the OM allows 10W30 if the ambient temperature does not go below 30 (?) degrees. Manufacturers have been building engines to tighter tolerances which operate well on lower viscosity oils. And then there's the fuel mileage issue - lower viscosity = less drag and better fuel economy so the EPA numbers on the Moroney label look better.