As most of you know, in the old days, cars had their oil changed as recommended every 3000 miles. As newer cars came, they had extended their oil change intervals per the manufacturer specs. I own a 2003 Acura CL-Type S. Everytime I have the oil changed at the dealership. The tech puts a sticker in the window for the next change in 4 months or 3,750 miles. I recently decided to read the owners manual section on maintance. In normal conditions, the Owners manual says to change the oil every 7,500 miles. In extreme dusty, or cold or heavy traffic, or as they say, exteme conditions, to change it every 3,750. I live in Los Angeles, CA and I feel I fall into the normal driving conditions. Sure I deal with the usual traffic situations, but it's never extreme cold, or extreme dusty, or extreme heat, nothing I would consider the extreme conditions that the manual describes. I would not wait to change my oil until 7,500 miles, just wouldn't do that to my engine. However, changing the oil at 3,750 is costly in these economic times. However at 5000 seems like a good spot to do the oil change. What do you think and do you believe that the dealership was being crooked by doing the extreme conditions interval time?

 

i use mobil 1 full synthetic and mobil 1 filter, change oil every 3k on my cl-s6 and 5k on my tl-s

 

Do you wear suspenders and a belt too?

Seriously, that's extreme overkill. It's your money though. 7500 on regular oil is just fine, assuming it's a decent quality, name brand. Mobil 1 is good for at least 15K (the filter isn't though).

 

5000 easy with synthetic and a good filter

 

i dont think u know what my cl goes through. and its piece of mind. my oil, my money, do what i want.

 

read the owner's manual. 5k to 7k. jiffy lube invented the 3K thing.

 

thats how they get u to keep coming back.

 

yea man I do mine ever 5000KM and it's a big piece of mind... Everytime I do it the oil is blackened up so obv it couldn't hurt to change it out. I don't want crap stuck in my motor, and by changing the oil religiously it avoids that and usually the car treats u better if u do the same to it.

My old car thought me that.. hahaha frigging Probes

 

3k for dino is overkill. Im running 4k on my mom's 92 camry with 222,700 miles.

I recently went 8k for synthetic and ill be moving it to 10k from now on. 15k for the mobil 1 EP, and i know my engine will be running great. lots of people run 7.5k with dino on other engines with no problems.

with extended intervals, i would worry more about the filter then the oil that your running. longer intervals, means more stuff to trap in the same filter.

 

Mobil 1 5w-20.
Check the oil at 3k and then every 500 miles.

If it's not honey colored or better - it's time to go.

It's also going to use a little oil. This is normal, and not helped by hard driving.'

Anything above 3k, keep your eye on the level.

The new TL and TSX have some fancy oil testing/monitoring thing built in - not just a reminder light every 3000.

 

exactly.. if i look at the oil and it's not golden... there's wear and tear on the lubrication and or the inside of my Motor... and I'm not doing any motor work so i'm gonna be religious with the 5000km change.

 

If I go past 5k I start getting clicking sounds...I think that's the lifters or something like that.

So I go 5k now.

 

yea i'd be fixing that.. or running thicker oil...

for me it's for peace of mind

 

7500 miles for me on royal purple, i get the hookup at advanced auto from a friend 5 quarts and a filter for 30 bones so im stocked up.

 

30 bones!!! that's a damn good hookup

Royal purple is $

 

jason, u need to hook me up in a few weeks

 

Yeah I run no less than 7K before I worry about an oil change.

Is the 5w 20 recommended for our engine? I've been thinking about doing the changes myself. Save a little dough and buy better oil. I use a blend for high mileage when I take mine in.

 

might need the valves adjusted. its not normal. If I was to go 5k, i'd do it on dino oil.

 

I change my Valvoline Dura-blend every 5,000 miles.

 

Mobil 1 oil and filter every 10,000 miles. At 110,000 miles now. Car has started using oil, had to add a quart at 108,000 miles.

 

Dayum...

 

My friend that is an acura tech said "regardless of how much you adjust the valves and valvetrain there will be some noise"

 

I change every 2500-3000 with mobile 1. Im boosted tho.

 

hey the lifters are notorious for making a lil tapping noise, but it's shouldn't be substantial. My bro's h22a has 270000km on it and it's still never had the valves adjusted,,, just new seals and it's pretty damnnn quite... COMPARED to a north american car with the same mileage.

 

x2

 

Is it something I need to worry about?

 

na, but get them adjusted, u lose a bit of power

 

I'm do for a 90k service...wonder if I should get it done?

I think it may include getting my valves adjusted.

 

your gonna have to do it at 105k, its your choice if you wanna do it now to then.

valve adjustment is only included in the 105k.

 

Mobile 1 full-synth every 5k. I'd do 7.5k or more per change but pay only $19.99 for the oil, filter, and change so it's hard to argue with.

 

Oh ok...hmmm

 

x2

i have been putting off the valve adjustment on mine. I think i might attempt it myself

 

I say it again & again when this comes up. 7500 miles & I stick to that.
Waste if $ otherwise. And I drive my car hard & it's ALWAYS hot in south FL.

 

oil changed every 7,500 miles on the dot, and has been since purchased (original owner). car currently sitting in the garage with 212,500 on the odometer. no tapping, no nothing.
fools and their money are soon seperated.

 

One item of note for those with way too much time: If you want to check and see how your oil is holding up you can buy some litmus papers to test for acid and base content of the oil. Fresh oil starts out very basic [>10], and gets less basic as it wears. Usually at a base number of ~5 is where you start to see engine wear accelerate. So if you are in the mood and can manage to sample a very small amount on some litmus paper every few hundred miles (a drip off the dipstick should do it) then you can real-time track you oil change interval for your own driving style.

 

or after about 5-10-15k miles u can send a sample in to a company that will test your oil for u. and tell u exactly whats going on with your engine/oil. costs a few bucks

 

I know people that have done that. Very surprising results after 15+K miles in the same car. Basically the oil was still fine to use. This was Mobil 1.

 

Pretty much what I said back up in post #3. How many threads are there on this subject?

 

Using AMSOIL 5w30 and filter right now. Just switched from dino after the magic number. Going to check how long the oil can hold.

 

I just picked up 5 quarts of royal purp 10w30 + RP filter for $50. Seemed like an OK deal. Im sitting at 78k miles on my 01 cls. Bout to do my first oil change on my own.

How long should I wait until the next change? 7.5k? Also, is the 10w30 good or should i change it for 5w20 or whatever?