Hi Guys,

I just got past the first 600 miles with my new 6 speed Type S and am loving this car! Anyway, to the oil question. I was planning on doing the first change at a little over 1000 miles because I had heard it was good to change the first oil out soon. I was also going to use 5w20 but changed my mind after doing some digging on this site.
Should I just wait until the recomended interval of 3750? Is there special break in oil that should be left in for a while? Also I'm planning on using Mobil one 0 or 5w30. Should I do the first few changes with mineral oil to make sure the breaking in process is completed? Sorry if I'm being way too anal about this but it's my first new car. I had a 1992 Prelude before and ended up getting a 1993 Audi S4 which I liked but got tired of working on. The 6 speed Type-S is awesome!

 

There are no answers but a lot of opinions to your question.

I'd follow the manual and wait until 3750 miles under severe conditions.

From what I can tell, there is a break-in oil. Honda recommends that you keep it there until your first scheduled change.

Synthetic or dino - your choice.

Waiting 10,000 miles before synthethic - your choice.

Changing out break-in oil at 1000 miles with synthetic -- it's been done and posted on these forums without any ill-effects.

I think the key to understanding oil and oil changing is to read, read, read and come up with your own opinion, or just follow what it says in the manual. There's a lot of opinion out there.

Congrats on the car! and welcome!

 

There's no real need to change the oil this soon. Mine is getting changed in two days and I will have about 3800 miles on it then

 

id say wait on the first change then i love mobil one 0-30 5 30 ive used both...currently 5w30 my wally mart has the 5 qt jug for 18.88

 

It USED to be true to get the factory oil out at 1k miles. That WAS to remove all the metal shavings that had been created. That WAS because engine tolerances back then were so sloppy the moving parts created shavings. Today's engine tolerances are so tight and today's motor oil is so good that it isn't necessary to remove OEM oil until specified.

 

just changed mine today at 3700; used Mobil 1 5W-30 and Fram extra guard filter; will probably do future changes at 5000 mile intervals; its all a personal comfort thing

 

My dealer told me in no uncertain terns to leave the original break in oil in the car for at least 3,500 miles.

Something has changed here guys. In my last car, an RSX-S, I observed my last two oil changes, all done at 5,000 miles. I was always used to seeing pitch black oil come out of the car. In both cases, the oil had darkened to about the color of rich maple syrup, but you could still see through it!

 

There sure is a lot of good info on this. I think I will leave the original oil in until it gets dirty and then switch to Mobil 1. I would just like to keep the oil as clean as possible. I remember a friend of mine had a 1989 Prelude and the oil was always clear as can be. The oil in my 1992 Prelude, on the other hand, would be filthy after a few hundred miles. I always have to ponder the oil choice when I get a new car. Thanks for the info guys.

 

I'm from the old school. I plan on doing my first change at 1,500 miles (I'm at 1,300 now)

 

There are shavings in modern cars... The rings are being ground down in the first 1,000 miles... That is what happens when rings seat.

 

u need to wait till at least 3500....the initial oil DOES in fact contain chemicals to aid in the breaking-in period of the engine

 

DO NOT CHANGE THE OIL UNTIL 3500 MILES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There is a special blend of break-in oil that is CRITICAL to normal engine break-in peroid. If u do...and u do it at a dealer...you may have engine problems and if u do IT'S NOT COVERED UNDER WARRANTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Highly recommened and pushed by my dealer.

 

2700 miles in 95-100 degree weather with Royal Purple synthetic 5w-20 no problems so far!

sidemarker

 

i did mine at around 6k and switched to mobil 1 synth and now have 14k and plan on taking it in for another change at the 15k service soon

 

where is it documented by ACURA (not your dealer) that talks about the break in oil and 3,500 miles.????

 

The manual and the Acura website. Also, I've talked to Honda of America headquarters in Torrance, CA and the representative (FWIW) also verified a different break-in oil at the factory fill and the oil change interval. If you are following the normal service schedule, your first change is not unti 7500 miles (and your first oil filter change is not until 15000 miles or 1 year!!).

Additionally, I believe it was EricL who actually found a source for Honda Break-In oil, packaged as such.

Now what's actually in that bottle is a different question that no-one seems to know the answer too. For all we know, it could just be regular 5W-20 dino motor oil with 'Honda® Break-In® Oil' on the label!

 

Mobil 1 5w30 syn...every 3k for me

 

damn typeR, thats a good price for the mobile one, when i went to walmart they only has the case of six 1 dt bottles for 28 dollars, i'll look around for the big 5qt jug next time

i did my first change @ 3700
2nd @ 7500
3rd @ 10500, switched to mobile one for this ol change

 

My oil has been changed 5 times in 7K miles.

 

y soo much titand

 

Slimey..where on the website?

 

Look on the FAQ list in your ownerlink. Here's the quote cut-and-pasted:

 

well i think what i might do is not change to oil but just change the filter.. to help get those "minute particles" during break in. Top off the oil level of course. would be nice if one could get this special oil.

 

As you can see... So many opinions and so very little fact to back up anything.

As far as what ANT7701 said... Your engine is not going to suffer any ill effects nor would your dealer have the ability or intelligence to now whether or not you were running crappy
K-mart oil, $5 dollar mobil or their "Honda Break-in Oil" The last thing any honda/acura dealer is going to do is void your warranty because you didn't use their oil. Just as long as it meets the specifications required for the engine. Its that little API service SL/SJ listings on the back of the oil.

General Motors "Highly" suggests using their "specially" blended Limited Slip differential fluid in my Z28 and Roadmaster... It costs too much and I instead use an additive I buy from Pep-Boys that costs half as much and is the exact same thing.

To go even further I have three quarts of different oil sitting in front of me right now.

5w30 Mobil 1 Fully Synthetic
10w30 Valvoline Conventional
10w30 Valvoline Max Life

They all meet and exceed API Services SL/SJ and all preceding API Gasoline Categories, ILSAC GF1, GF2, and GF3 Mobil one exceeds all those and then some... --- Now to me those numbers and letters are a bunch of gibberish, but the fact remains that they meet and exceed all requirements for your Honda engine. I can use any of these oils and Honda would be would have no business even questioning my intentions. As a consumer I am not obligated to purchase and or use only honda products. We have all heard the know the law by heart so I'm just going to call it the MM Consumer protection act.

The point of the matter is everyone here has their own opinion and to be honest with you I don't think any of us have blown up our engines nor have we experienced any major mechanical break downs due to removing Hondas Oil and replacing it with something better.

Dustin

 

I change often because I don't drive my car often, but when I do, I drive it hard. I had a crack in my oil pan at around 1000 miles. then I did 3 changes between 1k and 6k. I just recently put in Mobile1 at 7100.

 

The numerous thread on oil makes me wonder whether anyone on this board has had an engine failure due to oil. I don't think think I've read of one!!!!!

 

What I was told was that Honda/Acura performs an extra de-burring step when machining the engine parts. This dramatically reduces the amount of stray metal shavings that accumulate during break-in. The net results of this are a relatively short break-in period (600 miles) and being able to keep the break-in oil in for a longer period of time.

When I picked up my car, the dealer told me that even if I brought it in, they wouldn't change my original oil until the first scheduled interval.

 

Where is EricL????? I want to hear his researched opinion on this subject. We want Eric. We want Eric.

 

Finally, someone that agrees with me (see my post above, second in the thread). I find these oil topics more of a religious conversation then a scientific one. As long as you use an oil that meets the SAE/API standards (ie: any oil with a label on it), you'll be fine. There's too many oil zealots on these boards.

 

Gotta love the OIL CHANGE threads !!!

 

yes and no here's some science, I have more if you want it,,

http://www.unofficialbmw.com/all/misc/all_oilfaq.html

 

Honda also claims to require special transaxle fluid which obviously doesn't help, JK.

I never fully agreed with the claims or statements and changed my motor oil over to synthetic at 1500 miles with the second change at 5000 miles, etc. But as mentioned, this is more religious than anything as long as you use a quality oil and filter.

 

Another thing I found while searching around for info on this is that the Honda break in oil contains a high amount of moly that actually bonds with the metals in the engine during break in. Don't know how true this is. Could be just another opinion. I found it doing a search on the TOV site. It also said that Mobil 1 contains some moly and Redline has a bunch. Just thought I'd throw that into the mix.

 

Just one thing, I said it before...if you do get this early oil change I recommend that you do not get it done at a dealer for one reason...lets just say that in the long term you have engine problems. The dealer has the right to refuse warranty work because they have a record which will indicate that you cxhanged the oil early. I don't think you will have any problems at all, just to take precaustions. Go buy an Acura oil filter and take it to a local trusted shop...

 

Please allow me to throw in another

Acura says to run the car 7500 miles before the first oil change... Since this is clearly the "break in" period, and they know the car better than I, I plan to change the oil to a synthetic then. I also plan to change the filter at that time to get whatever junk is in the system out, and allow the new synthetic to start out clean...

FWIW, having been an airplane and auto mechanic in former lives, and an engineer in another, I think changing the oil earlier than that, other than in a severe operting condition, may not allow the engine parts to seat and wear in as intended by the folks who designed and manufactured the car ....

Best,

Jim

 

1. You need to make sure that TIME is not an issue. For example you would not want a year to go by without an oil change. It is very important to get the first oil OUT of the engine by the first scheduled service (severe or normal) and this is based on mileage and TIME/duration.

2. I've been lurking over on the oil forums for a while and I'm starting to have some serious concerns about letting the factory break-in oil sit in the car for extended periods of time and for extended mileage (7500 miles).

3. If you TRASH an engine and have an Acura dealer rebuild it, they will use "Honda" brand oil (Yes, they really have "Honda brand oil". [I had a picture of it in the archives at one time]) The oil is available and is not the same stuff that most dealers load in their 50-gallon drums -- or in their large underground tanks for “regular oil changes.” After about 1000-3000 miles, the dealer will swap out the oil for any oil of your choice (more of the same, synthetic, whatever).

This issue comes up a lot and my concern is having someone driving around with oil loaded up with a bunch of water, metal, and other junk that is free to continue wearing the engine. IMO, 7500 miles is just too long to go on a break-in IF a person is doing a lot of short-hop driving in town over a year long period. There is just too much goop that can collect and damage an engine in that period of time. Perhaps that explains why Acura now adds the comment about how the "break-in" oil should be changed at the first scheduled service. (And the first scheduled service is based on TIME, MILEAGE, AND SEVERITY of driving conditions!!!!)

BTW, I asked a few Acura dealers around town about kind of oil they used when rebuilding engines, and they claimed they used the "Honda" branded lube. (So, there can be exceptions...)

YMMV

 

I went 5k with the break-in oil, then went with Mobil 1 5w30. Dealer was adamant about leaving the break-in oil in the car for at least 4k.