Do I need to change the oil every year?
 

I only have 4000 miles on my 2016 RDX after 13 months. Oil life says 50%. I can't find anything in the manual that says you need to change the oil every year. ok waiting until the maintenance minder comes on?

interesting.
most acura models have the clause "change oil after one year or >15% on mid, whichever comes first"

it's so easy to change the oil, I would def. do it if it were MY car.

According to the 2013 RDX manual:

"If the message SERVICE does not appear more than 12 months after the display is reset, change the
engine oil every year."

Owner's manual page 350: "If message, SERVICE DUE NOW does not appear more than 12 months after the display is reset, change the engine oil every year."

So, at this point you're overdue.

Cheers

I don't think the one year interval is a recommendation, but rather a requirement to keep the warranty in effect. I guess if the warranty is now void, the OP can use his own discretion for any future oil changes.

the problem is water vapor can accumulate and dilute the oil.
or sludging may occur

those problems get exasperated with short distance drives...

I am familiar with the problem,

My wife had a Honda Civic a few years back. She used it for going back and forth to work each day. A five minute trip in the morning, 5 minutes to come home for lunch, 5 minutes to return to work after lunch, and 5 minutes to get home at the end of the day. She only accumulated about 6000 Km a year, but her oil looked like curdled milk in less than a month. I had to convince her to always drive the car until the temperature gauge reached "normal" before shutting it off. That helped prevent the curdled milk, but I still changed the oil every 3 months (1500 km). Her driving habits could be considered as "extreme" in regards to maintenance requirements.

hope the anecdotal evidence compels op to change the oil!!

This sounds a bit extreme. I seriously doubt his "warranty is now void" unless Acura told him so. I would get the oil changed in any event. I have heard most here get the minder message around 5-6k. Mine went 9k before it was at 15% the first oil change and the same for the second(around 18k). This was all highway driving(~750 miles/wk). Now that the car is on a more normal usage pattern, I expect the interval to drop.

I too have a 2016 RDX and just had my first oil/filter change at the dealer this past January. The MID came on at about 6500 miles which was about 10-months for me. Here it is April 17th and it still shows 90% oil life left after 3-months but I'm driving a lot less now due to work situations. I think the MID may go by miles driven not time passed? So yeah, even if the MID doesn't come on after a year it's still probably a good idea to change the oil/filter.

miles driven, how hard you drive(RPM range), and other factors...

Interesting, I always wondered if it was purely a count down based on miles.

I think Start-ups is accounted for too.

the engine has vtec capabilities, most of you probably dont drive in the upper RPM range where vtec lives.
if you drive in the upper RPM range, the oil life indicator will rapidly decrease

with this logic, driving pure city in the upper RPM range will drop Oil life percentage quicker than driving all highway at like 2k RPM

Acura Maintenance Minder FAQs | Curry Acura

Q: How does the Acura Maintenance Minder know when the 0% trigger occurs?
A: The system counts down oil life based on engine operating conditions (both normal and severe). The on-board computer continuously monitors engine operating conditions such as speed, engine temperature, ambient temperature, time, and vehicle use to determine when an oil change and regular maintenance is necessary.

My 2016 manual; does not say this. I have both a hard copy and a PDF and neither says this on page 350 or any page discussing oil change. Nevertheless, I will take everyone's advice and get the oil changed.

I think Page 350 may be the Service Manual, not the Owner's.. Nevertheless I find it hard to believe your PDF nor the hard copy shows that verbiage because I found it right here:



http://techinfo.honda.com/rjanisis/p.../BX41616OG.pdf


Pg. 128:
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...d5fa6cd575.png

Pay a Little Now Or a Lot Later
 

Check the Maintenance Minder section of the manual. Here's a screen print from my manual:
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...ec7888111f.jpgNote The Blue Highlight
Bottom line, you're long overdue for an oil change, especially if many of your trips are short and the engine never really gets warm enough to cook out sludge producing condensation and other combustion byproducts. For roughly $25 (probably less) you can do a complete oil/filter change with synthetic and be good for another year.

go go gadget!! :cheers:

It's always surprised me that the maintenance minder - and every other maintenance minder I know of - doesn't keep track of time. With all the other automation on the RDX, you'd think they could fire off a message a year after the oil life indicator was reset.

I owned a Ford Ranger 4x4 and only changed oil once a year at the dealers recommendation. I only put 5000 km a year on it and all driving was highway for at least 30 min at a time. He said that the life of the oil diminishes with time as well as use. I will do the same with my '14 RDX. I am pretty sure I will put more km's on it the first year of me owning it. (only 4 weeks new to me)

What do you do if you bought a new Honda/Acura that sat on the lot for 9 months and it's a year and you only have say 1200 miles?
Honda uses break in oil so do you change it after the year and only 1500 miles?

If the owners manual says to change it at least every 12 months, then I wouldn't hesitate for a moment in doing it. It is very cheap insurance to make sure Acura doesn't try to deny you warranty repairs because you didn't follow the maintenance schedule.

With regards to the use of "break in oil", I always wondered if that is still true. I understand it was common in the older days, because the engine tolerances were not as tight as they are now. They used special oils to help machine parts to "wear in" with each other. I noticed that new car owners manuals do not suggest the first oil change any sooner than the subsequent changes.

Perhaps someone will be able to clarify if this is still true.

I read this on another forum.

"Honda used to have a load of molybdenum disulfide as well as manganese in their break in oil."

Today?

Also that 12 months is said to start when vehicle is put in use which makes sense.
Honda says to keep the factory fill till OLM reaches at least 15%.

Yes that makes sense. I think I misread your post to say that you were purchasing a vehicle that sat on the lot for 9 months and had 1200 miles. I was thinking perhaps a demonstrator model.

Yes,that would have been a big issue for me..:smile:
My Accord had 9 miles when purchased..

Short answer is to change your oil - now. Short money for some peace of mind. My $0.02

change oil as recommended by the manufacturer.... also take car out for at least a 30 minute drive every few weeks so it can evaporate all the moisture out of it

For the first oil change, should I do at 3000 miles or wait for the Maintenance Minder? It's only got 1500 miles right now.

I would go at least 5k or wait till the minder is at 15%.

For the first change when new, you're supposed to use up most of the oil life. The oil from the factory contains additives for break in.