6spdCL-S

I took my car in today to have the rotors and brake pads replaced because the steering wheel was shaking at high speeds and I asked them about oil changes. They claimed that I should only change my oil every 7,500 miles and to not use Mobil 1 Syntec. They claimed that it runs better on 5W20 oil and this is what they use on all type S models? Any comments? Any technicians wish to comment?

peiqinglong

From what I read so far...5w20 will not offer the same protection as 5w30 and a few people have came to the conclusion that this is just another way Acura is trying to make money off people. Personally I switched to Redline 5w20 to try for awhile, no difference and so I'm switching back to Redline 5w30. The 5w20 is only better than 5w30 in extreme cold conditions. Your safe with 5w30.

russianDude

BS, your car has exactly the same engine as I have, and my manual says 5w30.... the reason yours says 5w20, because 5w20 is more fuel efficient but provides less protection to your engine.... Honda is trying to push their MPG numbers higher to look good in front of DOT... fuking BS....

You can use synthetic oil right after your break in oil.

You dealer is full of BS. read your manual regardinbg synthetic oil... its very clear...

SleeperCL

For where you live that is fine!!!!!

gavriil

It says it on our oil cap: use 5W30 oil. What is the matter with these people?

Shawn S

Not on the 2003.

Shawn S

I think the 3,000-Mile Oil change rule is a bunch of BS put out by the oil producers.
I’ve always changed at 7,500-mile intervals on all my cars.

On my 6-Speed (and 2001 CL-S) I did the first recommended 3,750-mile change and again at 7,500 to get back on schedule.
It will be every 7,500 now for the life of the car.

Shawn S

russianDude

Just a different cap.... same inside...

Shawn S

I just checked my HELM manual and it says:
10W-30 for the 2001
5W-20 for the 2002 & 2003.

They must have changes SOMETHING under the cap.

Shawn S

Starter

Read the manual. It says synthetic is fine.

I'm using Mobile 1 0-30 and it's great. I'm not aware of ANY automobile where the synthetics are not better than dino oil.

dogfight

I use 5W-30 here in Vermont - year round and seems ok to me. Get the oil changed every 5K as a compromise... just don't forget to check the level every 1K or so.

dogfight

gavriil

Ops. Sorry. I assumed, same engine, same recommendation. Hmm.... I have not even seen 5W20 weight around. What the heck?

gavriil

1. That above is very interesting because there are different recomendations for the 01 and 02 cars. What happened?

2. My car (01) says 5W30 and as an alternate 10W30 (if temps dont go under ....cant remember the exact degrees but when I did the math living in Chicago 5W30 is better).

What changed in the engines folks?

gavriil

I would be a little warry about the 0W30 weight. From what i have heard, it only works well with very few cars. If you have a positive experience with it though....that;s what matters.

gavriil

That's what I do too. I check the oil level at every stop for refueling.

Slimey

I know that Castrol, Pennzoil, and Quaker State make it in dino oil. Amsoil makes a 5W20 in their synthetic line. Redline makes a 5W20 in synthetic racing oil. Mobil 1 is coming out with 0W20 for cars with the 5W20 spec. Amsoil makes a 0W30 for cars with the 5W20 spec.

I replaced at 3750 with Castrol GTX 5W20 and the dealer did the same at 7500.

Get with the times!

Slimey

Unknown, and probably nothing.

I think that we all (Type S) have the J32A2 engine.

I know there are some that think the lower viscosity oil will have an effect on engine life.

The oil recommendation presumably changed to appease the EPA for fleet MPG ratings. If one has a number of SUVs/Trucks in the fleet that are gas guzzlers, then a change of the oil for the whole fleet will lower the MPG average across the fleet by a decimal or so and, viola, the EPA is appeased. Supposedly both Ford and Honda did this.

Do a google search for a more complete explanation.

Starter

One thing that's great with it, it's been one of the coldest winters around here in a while, and the car cranks over real easy in the morning. There is plenty of protection on the "30" side of the range too.

Slimey

My own Google search on various iterations of EPA/oil/5W-20/Corporate Average Fuel Economy/Honda/Ford gives me no answers.

I really found nothing that supports ongoing use of the 'Corporate Average Fuel Economy'. Most of the commentary is just that. There are those that are concerned the 'Corporate Average Fuel Economy' government recommendations are dated, wrong, inappropriate, misdirected. There is an NSF link that suggests there are other ways of improving fuel economy without decreasing oil viscosity.

There's a littering of articles from various Amsoil websites which really only have the goal of selling you some Amsoil. Everything on their website speaks of snakeoil sales -- I have no problems with the product, just the tactics of the sale. They bug me.

What does this mean to me? I'm going to use the recommended oil. I've seen no real data that suggests its use will be bad for my engine (and there's been A LOT of cars sold in the last two years with the 5W-20 recommendation/requirement). I plan on keeping this car 100 - 200K miles, but not a lifetime.

mickey3c

dealers are odd in many ways.. The techs are no better. You can have good ones and bad ones.


Some will say that since the 03 says use something different, it is better for all cars of that type and model years to use the same. The service advisors are worse. Mine told me that synthetic oil damages the seals in the engine. Does it? I have not heard much about this, yet acura dealers now carry mobile 1 where a few years ago they did not. So they will put in oil that is bad for the engine in your car?

I used to have a toyota and provided my own oil for the change and I happened to see a tech try to add another quart. I said hey do not do that. They said it was down almost a quart and the tech bulletin said it holds 4.5 qts. I said that is odd since it really holds 3.7. The bulletin was wrong.

Oh yeah. I write tech bulletins amoung other things for the computer industry. The number of specs that are wrong that are not caught can boggle the mind.

Slimey

It's an interesting industry. (Many of) the people that the public have contact with really know little or nothing of the car specifics. It's not unique to the auto industry either. Really only the engineers that design and test the vehicle know all (or most) of the answers...and they're kept quite distant from the public (which is probably good, or else people like those of us on these forums would be hounding them to death).

Before the backlash comes -- there are exceptions like Jens and Wayne.

mickey3c

well I work in an industry that deploys a lot of hardware to make market... the 3rd version is the one that is usually the one that work providing they did not sneak new feature in...

6spdCL-S

My question after reading everything is what is better for my car? 5W20 or Mobil 1 Synthetic? Dealer told me 5W20 is better but I think this is BS.

Starter

There is no question that Mobil1 is the best oil you can use. Either 5w30 or 0w30 should do the trick. Go 7500 between changes and always use a good filter.

Slimey

There is no 'right' answer to your question. You have to answer it for yourself. Is the added cost of synthetic 'worth it' for you? There are plenty of cars on the road with hundreds of thousands of miles that have never seen anything but dino oil.

Synthetics do have better characteristics (ie: specs) then dino, but does it matter?

Your question also suggests that 5W20 and Synthetic are mutually exclusive. If you see my post above you'll see that Amsoil and Redline make synthetics in 5W20. Mobil 1 is coming out with 0W20 and Amsoil already has 0W30 that both cover the range of viscosities that your car is made for. There are options in the synthetic world that cover the 5W20 recommendation.

Lastly, putting 5W30 instead of 5W20 probably doesn't matter. In all likelihood, the change of viscosity recommendation was a corporate decision rather then an engineering decision (but that's my guess).

Do a search and research the pros/cons of synthetics and come up with your own conclusions. You won't be wrong by putting either dino or synthetic in your car.

Slimey

I reread my post - there is a right answer to the question, but few people follow it. The correct answer is in your manual.

Honda brand oil; 5W-20; Honda brand oil filter.

Change oil/filter at 7500 miles for normal service and 3750 for extreme service.

And yes, Honda brand oil is available. I've seen it at A&H Motors. It is non-synthetic dino oil and probably made by the company-de-jour that Honda made a deal with (?chevron, havoline, shell...).