Hey everyone,

I just had a quick question regarding general maintanence and which fluids to use on my car. I just got a 2003 Acura 3.2TL Type S last week and am going to do an oil change, trans service and a few other things in a few weeks here and wanted to know what stuff to use and which is best. I'm from western Canada where it will start to get below zero in a couple months, probably before my next oil change. (Thats zero Celsius lol).

1. For an oil change for 5W20 (I believe) what brand would you recommend and what oil filter?
2. For trans I hear the Honda/Acura ATF-10 is the best way to go? Is this right?

Thanks so much for any help. Looks like a great active community!

 

How many miles are on your car? ~ 90-100k I'm guessing?

 

Hmm it has about 140K KM's so I think roughly 85K miles.

 

I use Mobil 1 5-30 and usually get a Mobil 1 oil filter M1-104 as a package deal from either Auto Zone or Advance Auto parts.

The current ATF I use is ATF Z1 (Honda or Acura). I have read that Z1 will be phased out and a new fluid called DW will be available. I might just stock up on Z1 until I hear good things about ZW.

 

Sounds good. Thanks for the info!

 

you have serious overnight cold conditions- use a 0w-20 oil thats ZERO-20
Redline synthetic brand has that for example
it will flow easily at below freezing temps, so engine is not starved for lubrication at start up- thats when most wear occurs, waiting for oil pressure to arrive at the bearings

make sure the antifreeze is ready for the job- 7 years,, its due for replacement anyway.
Different percentage of water to coolant for colder areas-(not the normal 50/50)
this is a time to use aftermarket full strength coolant and dilute with distilled water to the percentage you need for proper cold protection

see diy section for all the fluid changes

stay with a 3 qt drain and refill on trans with honda atf--
dont use the cleaning out of fluid 3x3 method

 

Ah yea I forgot to check the records to see if the anti freeze had been done recently. I'll look into that as well.

Is there any use in changing spark plugs this early? Or should I wait another year or so?

Thanks for the reply

 

Yukon or northern BC?

 

60-80kmiles is average plug replacement time by ziners,,its usually good for ~1mpg
seafoam the gas before plug change--1 can to just under half tank/ 8 gallons
makes everything like new clean, and good spark= another 1mpg

Dont forget to clean the inside of TB-air plate,,spray carb cleaner works great

use NGK Iridiuim or NGK Iridium IX plugs (supposedly `racier`)
gen3 comes stock with iridium so its ok for us to use
do not use some cheapo plugs or multi electrode style--will not work in the TL!!!!!

the coolant is normally changed the first time with water pump at 105kmiles
note in colder or hotter areas thats reduced to 60kmiles
7 years is another limit for original coolant, after that any replacement is good for maybe 5 years

new coolant will generally reduce temps and improve cooling control
for the cheap price of it, average 20 dollars for the 2 gallons the TL needs
its great insurance.

additives in the coolant go bad and turn acidic
the radiator is aluminum!!!
who was listening during science class???

 

Actually from Calgary, its doesnt get THAT cold for too long of a period, but it definitely drops before freezing at night starting soon.

Should I be seafoaming directly into the engine like in the DIY section? or just put it in the gas tank?

Sorry for the noob question, TB-air plate?

As for the spark plugs, I found the NGK (7790) PZFR6E-11 Laser Platinum Spark Plugs which are the ones that the manual tells me to use as well. Are these worse or about the same as the Iridium ones? I can go into my autovalue and check but might as well go with a parts list of what I wanna do instead.

Sounds good, I guess I could just get the water pump done now as well, its a bit early but what the hell.

Thanks for all the info! Much appreciated

 

to do the water pump and timing belt is a several hour labor job and 300-500 in parts

you can seafoam the gas tank and get everything the vac port will- just takes longer
If confident do both!
gas tank method gets some stuff vac port wont

TB is throttle body- the thing at end of manifold that processes air to engine.
throttle action makes a round plate inside it rotate to allow more air in-
thats what you need to clean- its gets gunked from the PCV system

platinum is the old spark plug metal, iridium used to be ~unobtainium~, expense made it just for race cars and airplane use
but now we can get it for the street car--better plug for the same money or less!!

laser refers to the method of welding the ground electrode to core

get the NGK iridium ix or plain NGK iridium,,most of us run the IX version

 

Sounds good thanks for all the advice. The timing belt was done about 5000KM ago by the previous owner (have the records to show). The water pump hasn't been done though so I might hold off on that for now as it will be expensive.

I am going to pick up some spark plugs today, I found a store with the Iridium IX's here in Calgary and I might grab some seafoam but not sure yet.

Thanks again for all the help!

 

grab the seafoam--it will change your life~

 

Is there any issue with doing the seafoam afterwards? I bought some but just did the spark plugs anyways since I had a full tank of gas and was going to wait to seafoam till its around half. The DIY here says do this before a spark plug change but will it make a huge diff now that they are in?

 

it will not hurt the new plugs in any way

I suggest seafoam first so everything is already clean, assuming lots of crud will be liquified,, some may get stuck on a very old-100kmiles- plugs

new plugs fire hot and its not a problem

when doing gas tank only: it doesnt matter when you did plugs~
only an issue when direct injection to the vac port of manifold is done

 

Was just reading your post over again about the trans fluid. When you say 3x3 method do you mean 3 drain and fills with 3 quarts each? Or is this something else?

What you're recommending is a 3 qt drain and refill and thats all?

 

thats correct
3x3 is drain and refill with 3 qts 3 times with 5 minute drive using each gear up and down between drains-
to move old fluid forward and out of selenoids and TQ--where 4.some qts of the 7.3 total- lives all the time

to do a 3x3 on a 100kmiles trans with no service history is hari-kari
for them do 1, 3 qt drain and refill- done with 15 minute warmup drive to make crud easier to drain out.. is the safe route

if you have a newer warranty replacement or shop rebuild trans, get on at least a yearly 3 qt
If budget allows, it wont hurt to do a full fluid changeout every year--on a fresh trans

you can send a 3 oz oil sample to blackstone labs or similar place for mass spectrometer readings--tells you how much of what materials are present,,clutch disc matter being our concern along with slider plate wear and bearing wear
25 bucks for knowledge and peace of mind--well worth it