I am trying to switch to synthetic oil in my 03 TL-S
--just passed 7K--am having trouble finding 100% synthetic
oil in 5-20W. All I kind find is a blended oil--75%/25%.

Has anyone else had this problem?

The handy Acura 1-800 number says do not put 5-30w in
the TL-S since it is too thick and could build up sludge in the
engine which will hurt performance.

Is this more 'corporate speak' or is this right? I find it
hard to believe that the oil manufacturers have not formulated
a 5-20 to work in our cars (100% synthetic).

Or, is the 75/25 blend OK. Have read on this forum that is
is wise to switch to synthetic. . . .I need advice, thanks
MrDuck

 

fun reading,, start here

http://www.desertsundirectsales.com/ford5w20.htm

If you got a lot of time

http://www.synlube.com/synthetic.htm

If you just want to compare

http://www.unofficialbmw.com/all/misc/all_oilfaq.html

Now what about filters ??? you should be interested in them because they are the weak link,, not the syn oil,,

http://www.ntpog.org/reviews/filters/filters.shtml

 

I switched at 4200 miles to Mobil1 5w30 synthetic. At my next oil change which was around 11k miles I switched to Redline Synthetic oil (5w20) with a Mobil1 filter. I recently switched to an Amsoil filter b/c the Mobil filters are tough to come by around here for some reason. I now have about 33k miles on my car with no problems and I go about 7500-10k miles between changes....

 

fender, that first link sure made for some interesting reading! i'm familiar with all the rest...

 

Thanks for the great reading.

I guess after reading those sites and what has
been said so far--I can pretty much go with the
5-30w all synthetic that is available from Amsoil.

Thanks again
Duck

 

So, does anyone use Mobil 1 5W-30 oil with the OEM filter you get from Acura? I've been using that combo the last 27K miles, every 5000 miles...

After reading those links, I'm gettin' scared about what they said about Honda USA/Canada filters!

Do I need to switch over to Mobil one oil filters too??

Thanks.

 

I use the same setup as you (well with an OEM Nissan Filter) because that is what the oil geniuses at maxima.org recommended. The mobil 1 filter is too expensive for me (like $11 here when I can get the $6 OEM filter) and the oil is $26 so it costs $32 if you do it yourself.

After I made the switch to synthetic (on saturday)...I felt the car shifting a lot smoother and the idles were lower than before. Also the needle on the RPM gauge came down faster...gas saver?!

 

hey juniorbean, where are you buying your Amsoil filters from? Just curious, because I'd like to get a few and switch to them next oil change since I can't seem to find Mobil 1 filters anywhere near me either. (Hoping maybe you have a place online to get the Amsoil ones from?)

 

I found them at Amsoil.com. . .I think they are around $11
bucks if I remember correctly. There are generally local
people who sell them also--maybe check the phone book.
Duck

 

Doesn't anyone here use K&N oil filters ???

 

I ordered them right from Amsoil's site... took a little over a week or so. Like MrDuck said.... they're about $11 or so... which is around the same price I was paying for the Mobil1, so it's pretty much even.

As for the K&N filters... I haven't heard much about it... but if you search on some of the older topics, what is said isn't usually great.

 

puralator "pure 1" is a good one. good solid design with synthetic filtering mat.($5.99 @ pep-boys)

 

That's what I used to use at first, but then I switched to the Mobil1 filter (and now Amsoil, which is very similar to the Mobil1) because from what I read (mostly on here) the Mobil1/Amsoil filters are better for extended drains......

 

Well maybe corporate should tell those Acura service departments that have been using 5w-30 for TL/TLS oil changes...that's what they used on mine when I was taking advantage of their free oil change program--heck, IIRC even the website at one point (if not still) mentioned that it was okay to use 5w-30...

 

I use Mobil one. But the K&N filters are just about the same I believe.

 

According to the Acura manual it even says that its OK to run 5w30 oil in the car if you can't find anything else (in an emergency I guess) but does recommend you switch back to 5w20 as soon as possible.

Of course, the truth is you can run 5w30 in the car w/o any real problems.