MikeyDNY

I just helped my sister get a new CL. The salesman adamantly claimed that you do not need to do the 1st oil change at around 1000-1200 mi but instead should do it at the normal interval (3750+).

I don't believe that he is correct. I've always understood that the 1st oil change should be done early. What do you guys recommend?

Nashua_Night_Hawk

3750 miles is correct!

dfreder371

Do what the dealer says. On my 92, 94, 96 and 97 acura integras, they stressed 3000 miles, the manual said 3,750 miles. My 2002 RSX-S, said to change at an incredible 10,000 miles in the manual. The dealer said no, change every 5,000. Intrestingly enough, when I rejected that and wanted the oil changed in the new RSX, the dealer specifically refused to do so. And if you read the manual carefully, they ask that you respect Acuras' wishes especially for the new oil change. Acura is using a special break in oil apparently. Before I move on to the new CL, here is what I observed:

I traded the RSX-S (2002) for a new 2003 CL-s. The RSX had 18,600 on the odo when traded. For the 15,000 mile oil change, I hung around the dealer and watched the oil being drained. Wow! I am used to seeing jet black oil come out of the engine, but this time, with 5000 miles on the oil, it had darkened a little, but it was still transparent! The best I can convey is that the used oil looked like pancake syrup. Clearly there have been some advances in filtration technology going on here.

More mysteriously yet, The CL manual suggests another increase in duration to 7,500 miles. The dealer advises going back to 3,750, which I will observe.

Being a part time Certified Flight Instructor, I understand the importance of clean oil. And this may suprise you; how do you break in a new airplane engine (which has much wider tolerances because air cooled engines heat up and cool down much more than our water cooled cars)? Fly them at full throttle for the first 25 hours! (to get the rings to seat).

Seriously, an engine is an assembly of reciprocating and rotating parts, hell bent upon destroying itself, but preventing from doing so only by a thin film of oil. Do as the dealer says. Or, call Acura General Information at 1-800-382-2238. You will get that number from acura on a credit card like device about one month after the purchase. The CL is a pretty nice car, isn't it?

6spdCL-S

In my manual it said every 7,500 miles and the dealer also recommended this. I went ahead and did my first one at 6,000

Slimey

Follow the manual -- 3750 for severe conditions and 7500 for normal.

I chaged at 3750 - I had a decent amount of short trips, it was a hot summer, I was consistently driving in city traffic...

devnull

I did the 3750 thing on my TL, and will do the same with my CL.

russianDude

6-7K miles using synthetic oil.
Or 3-4K miles using regular oil.

Also time is a factor, never keep the same oil for more than 6 month....

darrinb

3750

russianDude

It's funny how every person has it's own interval.... the truth of the matter is that no one exactly knows the exact time to change oil. For that you need chemical analysis and stuff like that.... Exapensive Mercedes has oil change indicator that tells you when to change oil (takes chemical sample for analysis ).

From what I heard, modern engines and oils are much better than 15-20 years ago... So you should be OK with whatever manual recommends.... the bottle neck is an oil-filter....
But ofcourse, if you want this extra protection you can change oil every 3K miles/3 month.... (which is most likely waste of money...)

My previous car Toyota Camry 88, had 190K miles, and last 50K miles I was changing regular oil every 7-10K miles (due to the highway driving). Nothing broke, it worked like a champ when I sold it.... so go figure out what is waste of money and what's not...

MikeyDNY

Thanks for the responses. I was mostly concerned with when to do the 1st oil change. I'm going to tell her to do it at 4k and continue to use that interval from there on. I'm a fan of synthetic, but she probably won't want to spend the extra cash.

Stock03CLS

Just for contrast, I specifically asked my dealer this question when I picked up my car. He said that I could bring it in at 3750 if I wanted but they probably wouldn't change the oil, since the initial oil is some special "break-in" oil and filter. His recommendation was 7500 unless I fit the "extreme" profile.

Pappy

On my cars, the first oil change was at about 3500 miles. My plan is to change over to synthetic oil at about 12,000 miles on both cars and then change oil every 4000 miles after that. Florida can be very hot with extreme heat at times.

Slimey

Yes, there is a 'break-in oil', but it is unknown what this actually is and how lond it actually needs to be in (probably 1000 miles is OK). Do a search to find out about this debate...

I thought that I'd do my first change at 7500 but upon perusing the severe conditions list I found that 3750 made more sense. It's not that hard to fall into severe conditions if you live in a city.
I live in a city (stop & go traffic); it was a hot summer; it's been a cold winter; the roads have been de-iced and there's a lot of crap on them.

Nihilistan

I took my CL in to my local dealer for an oil change at 3500 miles for an oil change (a little early I know but it was convenient). They highly recommended that I wait until at LEAST 6000 miles due to this "break-in oil". I insisted they change it but again, they recommended I not do it. I buckled and decided not to do it despite knowing it's in the scheduled maintenance for an oil change (note it does not mention anything about special break in oil).

So about a month later, I'm in AZ for Thanksgiving. I run it down to the dealer I bought it from (Bell Acura) for some unrelated service. I ask their shop forman about the first oil change. He recommended oil changes every 3750-ish (half of the 7500) including the first. I asked him about the "break-in" oil and waiting until at least 6000 miles. Not to quote the guy, but he basically said that is complete shit and they don't use special oil.

During the first few thousand miles is when your engine is supposed to "break-in" the most. That means burrs are coming off, any metal deposits are being disolved, etc... all that stuff ends up in your oil. Why in the hell would you want those types of things in the oil that is meant to lubricate and protect your engine? Those are my words, if you want a more accurate and technical explaination, call Bell Acura and ask for the shop forman.

I think the "break-in" oil is an urban legend. If anything, the factory is going to use the cheapest damn oil that meets their specs, otherwise they'd use something like Mobile One. Change it out at 3750 if not sooner.

-- Nihil

MikeyDNY

That's exactly the reason I posted this question! Everything you said is what I always believed to be true. You do want to do the first oil change early to drain out any metal shavings/deposits that come out during the first 1k miles or so. I'm not sure what to believe anymore.

The problem is that cars are advancing--some experts (i.e. mechanics) keep up w/ the latest tech. and others do not. For example, the old adage that you should change your oil every 3k/3months no longer applies to many cars today. However, many service shops continue to preach that interval either because they don't keep up w/ new info., like to stick to what they've always done, or because more frequent oil changes equals more $$$.

Slimey

Do a search in these forums for break in oil. It does exist. I think it was EricL that cut/paste a picture of the bottle that's only available to people that re-build the engines.

The issue of how long to keep it in is an unknown. The manual states the first change is at 3750 miles for seveve conditions.

Slimey

Oh, I said that someone found the bottle, but no one knows what's in the bottle. It may be regular old 5W-xx. Who knows?

Break in oil is usually a lighter weight oil. Our 5W-20 is already light weight to begin with.