zamo

The onwer manual link states:

Following the "severe conditions" guidelines won't help your Acura unless you really do drive under those conditions. Many vehicle owners waste time, money, and oil on unnecessary oil changes, for example. The quality of engine oil and filters has steadily improved to keep pace with the requirements of new engines.

Oil FAQ

Why should I wait to change the oil the first time?
Your Acura engine was delivered with an oil that is specially formulated for new engines that have not yet developed their "natural" wear patterns and may contain minute particles from the manufacturing process.
American Honda strongly recommends this special oil be left in the engine long enough for these wear patterns to develop, usually until the first maintenance interval specified in your Owner's Manual, based on your specific driving conditions.

Severe conditions:

1.- Trips of less than 5 miles (less than 10 in freezing weather)
2.- Extremely hot weather (over 90 degrees F)
3.- Extensive idling or stop-and-go driving
4.- Trailer towing, driving with a car-top carrier, or driving in the mountains
5.- Muddy, dusty, or de-iced roads

My situation:

1.- All my trips all well over 10 miles and mostly highway.
2.- The temp displayed is below 90 (averages 87?), although i live in south florida.
3.- Mostly higway - does not apply.
4.- No towing.
5.- Does not apply.

I am at 6,047 miles now (havent changed oil yet), an the maintenance light came up. Dealers told me I should do changes every 3,500.

What do you guys think?

With further rtfm i learned I should do an oil change every year (or 15,000 miles), and I guess that means whichever comes first. Yet another question, what if I do the first oil change at 11 months..... should I also do the subsequent at 12 months as the manual states?

BEETROOT

the manual recommends oil changes every 7500 miles. I don't think they say anything about time, I would say try not to go longer than 6 months without changing oil regardless of mileage. The dealer is full of shit. Probably trying to convince you to come in for an oil change so they make some $$...

If you did one at 11 months you do not need to do one at 12 months also.

dfreder371

I am gonna change my original break in oil at 5000 miles. Now at 4100. I think you are waiting a little too long.

Slimey

Based on the driving habits that you list, I'd change the oil every 7500 miles or once per year, whichever comes first.

CO-CL-S

Your driving is normal, oil change every 7,500 miles. The original oil is supposed to assist in engine breakin (I don't see why anybody would lie about that), so it should follow your normal oil change schedule, 7,500 miles for the first change (plus or minus 5-10% isn't going to make any differance. Your service reuired light starts to blink somewhere in the 6,xxx miles area and will become steady at 7,500 since it was last reset..

phrocker

When I changed my oil about a thousand and a half miles ago, I thought to myself that I am the typical driver, but I've come to find out that most drivers, myself included are not normal drivers.

On the list given by zamo, I've found that in the past month, I've exhibited four out of the five properties every single day. So instead of waiting 5 to 7500 miles, I probably will do it within a 3500 to 4000 mile period.

I'm a college student in MS (where the dumbasses here start school well before the rest of the country ): I drive to school, less than five miles each trip. here, the temps are 90+ EVERY day. driving home from school, I'm always involved in stop and go driving for at least an hour. And, needless to say, the roads here are dusty. The actual school is fine, but the surrounding city is always expanding its roads ( has been for the last decade ) so there is always a time when I'm driving through unpaved roads temporarily filled with gravel.

It's terrible, but I want to try to keep my baby around, so I'm going to take care of it. Unless you're in shitty conditions, these guys are right...don't waste your money.

flint

iTrader: (2)

It does help to change the oil more. I change mine every 3000 or so and I know my engine is cleaner inside because of it. At 100,000 miles internally the engine should look close to new.

fuzzy02CLS

iTrader: (2)

I'm in South FL too, & I do Mobil 1 every 5K miles. The 02 I had, I changed every 7500, or 6 months with mobil 1 also, but I'm harder on the 6 speed. Go by the car makers suggestions in the manual. Dealers are money making places. They will try to sell you anything to get $$.

Bill Faure

I'm not doubting you, but how do you know that your engine is cleaner inside? Did you take a fiber optic camera and look? No? Well consumer reports did that one better. They took 2 Chrysler 2.2 turbos and changed the oil on one like the owners manual states. And the other they changed oil 50% more often. After 100k simulated miles on a dyno they took both engines apart. Using electron microscopes as well as magnetometers to measure minute differences between the 2 engines they found NO, repeat NO measuarble difference in wear between the engines. Being consumer reports they did not reveal what brand of motor oil was used during the test. However, they did say the oil was NON synthetic. Moral of the story: Follow the owners manual. Anything more is wasting money and just for the owners false peace of mind. Just my .02.

Guf0923

I change mine every 3k...never a mile over...Mobil 1 Synthetic

CO-CL-S

Thanks for the research, but people on this board who change their oil early will not listen. YMMV