Rob-2 has a very VALID point

 

so, i have a question (didn't think it really warranted a new thread for this). i've been using full syn the past 40-50k miles or so, and I just recently hit 160k miles on my '03. My question is, should I keep on using full syn with my 'high mileage'? I've been using synth Mobil1 ext perf 5w-30 & the mob1 ext perf filter too for the past year. I don't notice any leaking or anything out of the ordinary like that. Is there a point(like mileage) that I should consider stop using syn, or is that just asinine to think like that?

 

There is NO reason to switch. Keep using what your using.

 

cool, thx

 

A little common sense is good, too. If it looks excessively dirty, change it. If it feels gritty, change it fast. If it feels like it's losing vicosity, change it.

I'm surprised some of the old timers here didn't bring up old myths like, "If you start using Quaker State, you have to keep using it because anything else will gum-up your engine if you switch."

 

nawwww- seafoam will degunk the oil passages

High Mileage formula Mobil1 is the better base stock oil in it than plain m1 oil
but as far as the TL is concerned- high mileage would be 400,000 miles on it

kris pulled his apart with 200 and it was like new inside the cylinder walls-perfect to use in another car and get 200,000 more out of it

my story: after doing half can of seafoam in oil with a new filter and 150 miles driving on it over a few days then change oil and filter (penz platinum K&N)-
I cut the filter open and was aghast at the crud inside..on a car with early oil changes its entire life I didnt think it would look that bad
and that was back at 75k miles

I suggest a foaming of the engine oil -with new filter- before your next oil change

as for the question of switching oil- you can change from type to type with every change and the engine wont care
If you have oil leaks now they can get worse on synthetic-
but you drive a TL- it doesnt leak~

 

Note: if you feel grit in the oil- say off the dipstick, either the oil filter is full and has gone into bypass mode,,, so all the grit continues to circulate instead of being captured and held in the filter
OR
you bought a filter at the 99 cent store and it wont catch anything smaller than a finger

 

Explain to me what "looks excessively dirty" looks like. Because dark brown black oil doesnt mean its bad. You cant tell oil condition from color. I would rather have dark colored oil at 3k than the looks of i just put it in. If it wasnt changing color by then i would be worried it wasnt doing its job by picking up the contaminants and stuff.

 

Yeah, that's why I used 'excessive' since I know oil can turn dark brown and still be good. I guess the best words to describe oil that is still good would be opaque, yet still somewhat translucent. Opaque means blocking light, whereas translucent means permitting light to come through. To look at used motor oil (used but not excessively dirty yet), it may be opaque in the body, but still be translucent on the edges of a dipstick. If it is opaque all the way through, then I would call that excessively dirty. You should be able to see some light through oil that is brown, but not excessively dirty. If you can't see any light through it, it's too dirty.

 

send a sample to blackstone labs or 76 or similar analysis to know

 

With my next urine sample...will do.

 

if you really want to know the health of your engine, past any guess based on color of oil- which should change if its working..get it mass spectrometered $25

color less important than whats in the oil for metal bits.

You will have to call the lab for your pee test- good luck~ hope you studied!

 

interesting. i thought color had a lot to do with if it needed to be changed or not. i mean, yeah it makes sense now that i read what you all are saying, but i just originally thought that was a good indicator. good to know..

01tl4tl: what'd you use to cut open your oil filter? every time i change it, i'm always wanting to cut that mofo open to see what all kinda junk it's accumulated over the past ~8k miles - just never know what i'd use to do that..

also, where would you send/bring a sample of your oil to, to get it mass spectrometered?

 

So if your oil sticks to a magnet...is that bad?
What about viscosity? Color can't determine that. Does a mass spec test for viscosity?

 

I have changed the oil with Mobil-1 and a Fram Filter since new (11 years now) at every 3000 miles.
Ok throw your stones- but at 153 thou only one valve needed adjustment and it was in spec. I just brought it in closer to the others.
Cheap insurance.
Change out 3qts of Honda/Acura trans fluid at each oil change as well.
Incoming!

 

I have ran Moble1 Full Syn since I got my car and have had no issues. I change mine every 5k-7k and like a previous post stated, can do it with my eyes closed...it just takes longer that way If you watch the sale ads, Autozone/Advance/ETC will run specials occasionally for a gallon of Moble1 and a filter for $30. I think Advance may still be running that this week. I missed the sale and spent around $30 for the oil and another $10ish for the filter. Also, both places around me do oil recycling, so I drop the old oil off at the same time as buying the next round of changes to make everything happy. And don't forget those expensive crush washers...

 

You cant tell teh condition of oil by looking at it or its color. If you want to know the condition of it you have to send it in to be analyzed

 

not cheap insurance, throwing money out the window. Do you know for sure you would have other problems if you ran perfectly good oil past 3k miles??? The manual even says 7500 for regular dino oil.

 

hm, i will have to read that part again i guess too

 

Why do you think the Manit Req light is preset for 7500 miles? Very few here fall under the severe driving even when they think they do. The oil industry and quick lube shops have 3k burned into peoples heads. People are so afraid to go past 3k and act like their motor will never make it to 100 or 200k if they dont. Follow what the Manufacturer recommends, not adds on TV and quick lube places as i bet they know best whats best for the motor and what intervals it should have

 

well ya. i know the 3k myth is a bunch of bullshit. i just dont ever remember reading that 7500 on reg oil part. good to know

 

i have 185k on my motor....would it be better to use 5w-20 or 5w-30?

 

both are fine for our engines. most here use 5w-30 & is recommended.
i think manual says 5w-20 b/c of some sort of requirement(CAFE?) Acura was made to comply with, IIRC?

 

Sorry for this question being off-topic, but what exactly is the difference between high mileage oil and full synthetic oil??

I dont change the oil myself, i will soon enough, but i get it done currently at firestone. And they offer standard, high mileage and full synthetic. They use Kendall® GT-1 oil for each but respective to standard, high mileage and full synthetic

Im at 167,000 miles, what do you recommend?

I've never changed the oil on a car before, kinda a diy newb, but i know the concept of it. Do I need jacks to change the oil or would i be able to reach under there to loosen the bolt to drain oil and change the filter comfortably, I've never looked myself haha maybe i should do that. Since i dont have a set of 4 jacks, I didnt think I would be able to do it on my own. But if you guys say i can then I'll start changing the oil myself.

 

use jacks or those drive up ramps. all depends on how u use ur ca.

 

ramps are 25 bucks, a drain pan and rags- a socket set- easy DIY,

what oil service `level` doesnt matter
synth- full partial or dino - if the place cant explain it to you , its not worth getting!!
Many of us like synth because we plan on keeping the TL forever and think that will help~
Engineers at oil analysis lab--run plain dino oil in their cars!

 

Mobil1 oil has different ~levels~ and `high mileage` formula which is the original good M1

 

Ohh ramps are that cheap, I was looking at jacks and they go up to a 100 something for a set of 4. Maybe i should just go with a ramp. And for the sockets, our car goes by metrics(dunno if thats the correct term) right? By that I mean our bolts are sized in mm and not inches right?

http://www.firestonecompleteautocare.../oilchange.jsp

This is what firestone says about the oil they use. I plan on keeping my tl until I can afford a new car which wont be for at least a couple years, I'm a college student soo its a luxury having this tl but for some reason if it goes I wont have a car, which is fine since I live right off of campus but, I just love to drive!

Having no money I am behind on my maintenance, mainly my timing belt change. Which hopefully if I find a job this summer Ill get that done asap. That and the fact im having some transmission issues, which i think i found a way to delay it for now, but i have no clue whats wrong other than the fact that it deals with the transmission. Other than that this tl is holding up really strong and im glad for that or else i will not have a car haha.

 

Honda engines are the best, I am on this forum since 2001, I have yet to see a single engine failure (other than timing belt snaps or people running nitros). I've seen plenty of tranny failures though )
10K mile oil changes are fine on synthetic oil, with regular I would just follow the owner manual (7,500 normal, 3700 severe). most important, change it at least once a year regardless of miles

 

^u forgot bent valves.
drain plug is 17mm. if u want u can get a filter wrench

 

if firestone has been changing the oil I would expect the filter and drain plug to be on super tight- way past torque spec of 29 ft lbs on the drain and hand tight on the filter

parts stores often hold special with complete oil change kit-drain pan, oil and filter and hand cleaner and more for 25 bucks, they sell the plastic ramps too
ck autozone-oreillys places like that

yes metric bolts- or you can buy just a wrench the right size and a hammer, as the drain plug will be that tight!!

want to really do it right? buy a can of seafoam $9 at parts store- add 1/3 can to engine oil thru filler cap and drive 30 minutes- then with engine warm change oil and filter
caution - stuff will be HOT
that scrubbed the oil passages for you- a much needed cleaning

pour the rest of the seafoam into gas tank- about 1/3 tank for that amount of cleaner

 

I think ziners need to ck the Meets section for their area and make a 105 day at the most skilled persons house
2-3 people can make fast work of the timing belt and water pump- working as a team.
first guy is covers removal and install
next does the smart guy part of installing new belt right
one does valve adjust while its half apart, or pull intake manifold and clean egr ports
cover installer comes back to first car
you move along like an assembly line

 

Ramps can be a little scary to pull up on and back down off of. Jacks are more versatile since you can remove the wheels and have the jack still hold the car up; that is not the case with ramps. And yes, our cars (and most others unless really old) have metric nuts and bolts. You can disassemble most of the car using only a 10mm socket. If you buy sockets, I would recommend getting 6-point instead of the cheaper 12-point sockets.

 

it's a bitch pulling up on those things. it always takes me a few min to do it right b/c im always scared im going to use too much throttle & go right over the tops of the ramps.

 

Is leaving the Seafoam in the gas tank with the fresh oil ok? If so, Im doing it this weekend when I change my oil.

 

Seafoam in the gas tank has nothing to do with the oil, so yes you are fine.

 

a few times doing it and you can get on and off the ramps without a spotter
Its much easier than people make it out to be, I do it all the time with 3 different cars

Safer than jack and stands for untrained persons who just want to change oil

seafoam can stay in the gas tank for 1 year~ good for protecting the lawn mower over winter and any stored gas for mower or motorcycle, go cart etc- 1 oz per gal prevents gelling of the fuel so its still good 6 months from now- gas starts going bad in 90 days!

in the oil- up to 1 month or 500 miles WITH daily monitoring for sludge buildup on dipstick, and change oil immedialty when needed- must use new filter for that cleaning length

normal people: 30 minutes drive with foam in old oil then change does a great job- that 30 minutes drive- heat- pressure circulation- lets stuff dissolve and liquify to go to the filter or pan for draining.

doing thru oil also cleans egr a little and pcv system too, piston rings and lower end bearing oil passages,
vtec operates off oil pressure changes and has sliders that gunk up without a good cleaner now and then

 

I'm not sure whether to take offense at that or not. I consider myself normal, but do normal people know their radio access code by heart because they have 'disconnected the negative battery cable' so many times? Is that normal? Probably not.

 

Synthetic and dino oil are interchangeable. As for viscosity, just run what's stated in the owner's manual.

 

i think i actually fall under the severe service schedule, because 95% of my driving is <5 miles, stop and go...so is it still 3750mi change intervals for me?