I was offered a free oil change from my dealer, but the only use synthetic oil. My car only has about 5000 miles on it, so I'm not sure I should change to synthetic oil yet.

In addition, the service writer told me I can switch to synthetic then back to regular dyno oil anytime I want to. I've always heard this isn't true.

Any assistance would be appreciated... Thanks!!

 

I would recommend not changing your oil until the MID alerts you. Honda puts in additives to the oil when filled at the factory and probably tested with the additives in the oil until the MID alert. I would wait till 10K miles before putting synthetic in. The engine's operational tolerances were designed using conventional oil and synthetic could prevent or delay the engine from getting to that wear point.

Then again, if the dealer is doing this, you will have record of the switch to synthetic at 5K if anything goes wrong with the engine later on.

 

The oil change coupon expires on 7/26 and I am still at 60% oi life at 3900 miles now. Maybe I can get them to extend the coupon for me. You make a good point about using synthetic so early, but this is the Acura dealer so they'd want to know best.

I was also told I can switch to synthetic then back to regular oil if I want without any problems. Is this true?

 

I usually start getting the MID service reminders (starts at 15% oil life) at 8K-9K miles. My previous job's commute was an hour and a half each way all highway. It was probably an oil change every 4 months. My current job's commute is 13 miles each way to the train station. I made it to 1 year before my MID got to 15%. Acura recommend changing according to the MID service reminder or 1 year intervals if you don't rack up too many miles. It's going to be quite awhile before your MID starts alerting you.

I would still pass on the free oil change. The engine needs the additives that were added at the factory or that was present in the assembly lubricant. Here's a post from Colin, he owns an Acura dealership in Hawaii:

https://acurazine.com/forums/showpos...52&postcount=4

I don't see any problems switching from synthetic to conventional oil. Its all lubricant doing the same job.

 

Colin's post says not to use synthetic until 10,000 miles, so I won't be using the dealer's offer (they told me they only use synthetic oil, which is strange). Thanks for your help!

 

Is this all oil changes for 10K miles or just synthetic? What would that do? On my other cars I always put Moble 1 on in at around 2K miles...and have never had a problem.

 

Honda now recommends 0w-20 for most of their motors and most, if not all, 2011 models have 0w-20. That oil is only available in synthetic. Conventional motor oils can not offer 0w-20.

If your motor came with 0w-20, you already have synthetic. Change per the MID.

 

http://www.mobiloil.com/USA-English/...AQs.aspx#FAQs4

I would just switch to synthetic. I believe people were first worried about synthetic oil lubricating too well to break in the engine properly, leading to oil leaks in the future. Now, all the engine break-in is done after the engine is manufactured before it's put in the car, so I doubt it makes a difference.

 

That is what I was thinking!

 

Colin is well versed in this stuff & a respected member here. I have also heard from trusted sources that the original fill Honda oil has break-in additives & should be run until the MM says to change it.

I think I waited until ~10k miles to switch to Mobil1 EP.

 

My TSX is a 2010, I will check the owner's manual to see if it came with 0-W20 oil or not. I will also wait until the MID shows me to change it before doing so. I just turned 4000 miles today, 60% oil life is showing, and I drive mostly highway. The car was 'checked in' at the dealer 12/01/10, it had 8 miles when I purchased on 4/11/11.

 

any benefits of using Mobil 1 5w30 (Synthetic) vs Acuras 5w30 (Synthetic)

 

How many days can you devote to research? Oil is like politics & religion, funny how polarized people are about it.

I've run M1 for, like, 25 years & I've seen what cylinders, lifter valleys & bearing wear looks like after 115k miles of using it.

If I'm in Pahokee or Micanopy, Florida and need a quart...Wally Mart has it.

Red line, Royal purple, Amsoil, etc...not so much availability.

 

a quick image search and a call to my dealership. it looks like the 2010's v6 and i4 came with 5w 20 and its conventional oil. also the dealership said once you switch to synthetic you need to stay synthetic, i dunno about that
also i noticed if your oil cap has green txt its 5w 20 and if its yellow txt it's 0w 20

 

I've heard you should always use synthetic once you switch, but I've seen several oil websites who say that's not necessary. My dealer offers coupons for $36.95 for synthetic oil changes, I think that's a great deal so I would continue going if I start. Also, they take me to work so I don't have to wait (I know it's not long, but I'm impatient lol).

 

I changed my oil at 2800 miles and went straight to synthetic. And of all the other cars I've put synthetic in, at no point in time did it actually matter when I started using it. The results were always better. And I'm sorry, I just can't get on board with waiting until my oil looks like crude right out of the ground until I change it. I still change mine every 2800-3500 miles. But to each his own. Some call it wasting money. I call it OCD. Either way I couldn't care less about what the hell you think. Toodles!

 

Conventional (no pun intended) wisdom was that once you went syn, you couldn't go back. Not true anymore. But, I kinda don't see the point of switching back & forth. If you don't want or can't justify the extra expense every time, just use conventional & change regularly.

$.02

 

Was hoping for a thread about oil when I signed up on acurazine. The dealer provides free oil changes for the length of the warranty, but they only use conventional oil. I've done lots of research on oil in the past and will only run redline or motul 300v in my other car. I find it hard to believe that honda intended a motor with a 7000rpm redline in a proclaimed "driver's car" to be run on conventional oil. I'm new to Honda/Acura motors so thought I would ask your thoughts?

 

The special aaditives to oil in new engines appears to be an old wives tale.

If, in fact, the oil includes special additives, then there would be an early oil change interval. Since all OCIs are roughly similar at around 9k miles, it doesn't seem that there are special oils involved as a factory fill.

As far as synthetic oil is concerned, you can swap between then if you like - but why would you?

Given that our car's engines are a fairly old design and well proven to work well with the recommended fluids and OCIs. There seems no reason to mess with success since 300k miles on original motors are pretty common.

 

I recommend following the MID on every service - first through last, oil changes through timing belts.

In respect to Honda/Acura 0w20 and 5w20, they are BOTH a synthetic blend. FYI, the synthetic percentage in the former is very high, in order to meet the JAMA requirements.

Here's a chart to help with specific vehicle applications.



There are full synthetics available in all the viscosities. It is also important to point out that the Acura RDX Turbo requires a special oil, meeting the Honda HTO-06 specification. This oil is a full synthetic 5w30, but it is special in that it is a blend of Group III and Group IV (PAO) base oils. You can NOT use a regular "over the counter" 5w30 synthetic, unless it meets the HTO-06 requirement.

In respect to "switching" back and forth between a blend, or conventional, oil and a full synthetic ... there isn't a technical restriction against it. The idea is to meet the necessary specification each and every time. IF you upgrade to a full synthetic and reverse course later, the downside is the loss of the additional engine protection offered by the higher quality product.

I hope this helps.

 

I did a oil change at the dealer and they put synthetic blend and i tell them that my car has 3000 miles and they say that is ok to put synthetic oil that is no going to damage the engine.

 

^correct. no damage.

you can switch back and fourth between conv. and synthetic with no harm done.....
only if you read the thread before posting.

 

i usually change it to synthetic right @ 30 percent oil life, which is like 3,200 miles or so. no damage, and everything runs smooth as butter.