I have always been afraid to use synthetic oil in my cars fearing that all my seals will be ruined, I was always told not to, but after hanging around here for a while and after doing my own research I decided to make the move from conventional. I was using mobilclean5000 5w30 conventional, but today I switched to mobil 1 full synthetic 5w30, I put in all 5qt and used the mobil m1-104 filter. As some of u may know I have 99TL w/ 148k miles, I realized that its actually not that old vs. the other two cars i had(92accord, 91 acura legend) wich is is probably good that I did not use synthetic in those two cars. whats the max amount of miles i can go before another change?

 

i was thinkin of doin this myself....what did u end up doin?....did u jus flush the regular oil out and then added the synthetic or was there another process added to it?

 

you dont have to do anything special on the switch, it never hurts to run some seafoam in the crankcase before any oil change to clean the oil galleys
You can even run dino then synth then dino and the engione wont care.
Synthes are all compatible with dino residue in the system- no worries

somewhere between 5000 and 7500 is a good idea, watch the oil for darkness indicating it has picked up a lot of contaminents- then change it
The oil change reminder light is set for 7500 miles, starts blinking about 6000 miles when you start the engine

 

I noticed when I pass a car on the hwy now my engine sounds smoother when doing it(40mph-90mph), I think i'm gonna go to 7000miles

 

Drop some NGK Iridium plugs in it...feel the difference! Densos are also a Great iridium plug...

 

And that is how rumors frighten people into not doing things. Glad you tried.

 

Well I recently saw one of those "modern marvels" shows on the history channel, and this one was all about evolution of lubricants and how synthetics are used in jets etc etc, so I figure why not. Next I plan to change the transmission fluid again! then yay, I'm ready to take on the summer. If I get plugs I will get the ngk oem ones cuz they last longer, I dont think my plugs were ever changed so if I change them with new ngk oem platnium plugs will I also notice a difference in performance

 

you need the NGK iridium IX plugs dude. theyre not the oem ones. oem are rated to bout 30k miles, the IX are bout 100k from what i hear. and im pretty sure those arei the only plugs we can use without messing up the car. either the much better NGK or the worse, and more expensive densos. i actually just bought myself the NGK, switching tomorrow i think

oh, and i have a 99 with almost 163k miles. i put in synthetic a month after i got the car with 142k miles, and i think i noticed a difference almost right away. i used penezoil platinum and a K&N filter, and change around 6-7k miles. this'll be first time changing the plugs tho. so we'll see how that goes.

 

Hey guys, I'm new to the TL (just got it back in January) and have been reading this forum for a while. This is the first time I've posted.

I've read a lot about the NGK Iridium's and was planning on switching to them this week. Rather than making a new thread about it, I figure you guys can answer my question with one line and even though a bit off topic it is appropriate. I know the NGK's come pre-gapped at .044 but the manual states .04 (+0/-.1). Will they have to be re-gapped to .04 before putting them in? Thanks a lot!

 

don't gap iridiums or platinums!, you will break the tips off, you'll be fine with the gap they come with, thats if you bought the right plugs for the cars make/model.

 

use anti-seize and boot lub.

 

The OEMs are designed for 100k. If they weren't they wouldn't tell you to change them for the first time at 100k.

 

i heard otherwise. i stand corrected

 

Welcome to the wonderul world of full syn oil! Never used it until I got the TL, but it sure is nice being able to go 7500-1000k before changing it. I usually go 7500 though.

 

uh... pardon my asking but if you have your car serviced at the dealer, don't they use synthetic oil for the motor?

 

i have 143000 miles on my 99tl and I use Mobil 1 5w30 and the Mobil 1 filter. i change every 7000 - 7500 miles. i just reset the maintenance reminder light when i change it so i dont have to worry about keeping track. i change the A/C filter every 2 oil changes and get the tires rotated, use Seafoam in the gas and intake every oil change also. May be overkill but the car runs great still and i plan on keeping it for another 100k min. now if the new TL has 300 hp, all wheel drive, heated and cooled seats....well then i may change my thinking!