I'm a little past the 3k miles mark since the last oil change, but I checked the oil on the dipstick, and it looked maybe halfway dirty. It wasn't completely black and it didn't completely have that bronze-ish orange color.

So basically anyone have pictures of how black an oil should get before you'd want to change the oil? Just don't want to change it when it's clean enough, but still don't want to worry about any damage or anything that could come from leaving dirty oil in too long.

 

what do you mean by dirty? You dont base oil quality by color.

 

7250 as per the manual.

 

Umm... when it goes from the normal color to a more black color. mine is about halfway, I suppose.

 

I just do it every 5000 miles

 

Ahh, sounds a bit reasonable. I've been pretty confused ever since I bought my CL, over my oil. My old car really did need an oil change every 3k-3.5k miles, so when people tell me I can "get away with getting it to 6.5k miles" it's a little weird to get used to it. Always kinda paranoid I'm damaging my engine, I suppose.

 

be like me. every 1000 miles.

 

change it based on miles, never color.

 

I'm sure if you get a good oil brand you can go past 5000

 

I do it every 5k.

 

I would do 4-5k with dino oil. I just did 7-8k with my valvoline synpower. I plan to do 10-12k with Mobil 1 extended performance. Of course i would use a different type of filter with the different intervals.

 

As I said, the Acura/Honda factory(NOT DEALER) recommended interval is 7250 miles. And if your using synthetic then you can go to 10 or 12K miles.
There are many updates in oils & engines. Google it. No need to waste your $ on oil changes that are not needed.

 

false. go by the color and how hard you drive it. It will help you in the long run.
On regular driving, u can go by mileage, but again, if its black, you need to change it.

 

only if you drive the car like an average person, if u hit high rpms every day then u need to go by the color.

 

+1

changing it on miles is kinda if you drive hard. say you track your car every weekend you'll hit 1k miles and your oil will be black as night. change it at 3-5 driving like that? yeah right.

 

I use castrol GTX every 5-6 k miles

 

total bullshit. engine oil has detergent that suspends dirt making the oil look darker. its better to suspend the dirt than have it stick to engine parts. THE OIL IS DOING ITS JOB.

This whole change your oil every 3k is pretty much BS in this day and age. we have insane amounts of engineering going into oil so this myth can be thrown out the window. do some research before you post.

 

^agreed, for the last 5 years, I have put nothing but MOBIL 1 synthetic into her engine and change it every 10k miles. Never have had a problem with it....thinking since I am at 181K, I might change to the extended performance.....THOUGHTS?

 

Double agree. I drive my car HARD. I'll put up my oil on a oil test against anyone's any day.
There are tons of people that have sent their oil to a lab to come back & have almost no difference from new oil after 20K & even 30K miles.

 

ok, i might add another 1k or 2k to my intervals now.

 

damn 30k miles on one oil change thats crazy

 

u arguing with the wrong guy. I dont talk about shit I dont know about.

This topic is too wide to answer all together.

if ur using regular oil and drive like an average person, do ur oil changes at 3k miles this way u replace it before it starts leaving sludge in the engine.

if ur using regular oil and get on it quite often or all the time, u need to change it when it turns black, dirty, or loses its viscosity. (which will be definitely under 3k miles)

if ur using synthetic oil and drive like an average person, then u can go for up to 10k miles.

if ur using syntehtic oil and get on it quite ofthen or all the time, u need to change it when it turns black, has dirt, or loses its viscosity.

Yes you can go for 20, 30k miles with out changing your oil, but ur only building sludge and causing wear in your motor. The oil will still work a little, but eventually it'll turn so think and dirty that it wont be able to lubricate bearings which will cause them to fail.

I never disagreed with you. u need to keep using Mobil 1 Synthetic. its the best quality out there and better than anything else. just keep checking your oil regularly to see how dirty it and check the viscosity.

I will like to see proof of that.

 

on a side note. in my 95 accord, I HAD to change oil every 500 - 700 miles, that was just because of the way I drove my car. i was using regular oil.

 

and stupid.

 

hahaha 30k on an oil change thats redonkculous!!!

 

the neweer engines go by a MIDS display and some people are going 10K on dino oil

myself I go 5-6K which is about 3x a year

 

X2! There is NO WAY that oil with 20K or 30K miles on it is the same or close to the same as new oil