russianDude

OEM filters work good. But compare them side by side with filter like Mobil1, and it will be obvious which one has better construction and media element.
There are also YouTube videos of people cutting down their Mobil1 filters after 10k miles or comparing them to Honda filters.
mobil1 filter also has 99.9% efficiency and high capacity, what does Honda have? It’s not listed anywhere.

Yes, OEM filter will work, and also the cheapest 0w-20 oil will work fine. If you obsess about oil being the best, why ignore the filter.

Madd Dog

Who can say which SN Plus oil is the best that money can buy?

securityguy

I agree. One could argue that Amazon Oil is just as good as Mobil1 and others if it meets the same requirements.

ToniRDX19

A combination of low mileage between oil changes <3k miles and twice a year oil changes doesn’t justify or need it. Better lubricity, cleaning additives, cooling, and anti-corrosion are the properties I wanted. Who cares if a few containment if any get through the filter element. It can’t harm the engine. I am not using a cheap $2 filter. OEM is good enough for me

Dereileak

You can pretty much run any filter but FRAM and the engine will be fine, fram are garbage, many of them have rust in them just sitting on the shelf, I personally like WIX

Nogard13

That's annoying. My old TSX allowed me to hit the I button (I believe) on the steering wheel to clear the 15% warning. My current 2014 Accord requires me to hit the stick by the odometer, which is annoying.

EFR

My first Acura vehicle and first brand new vehicle in a long time. I'm a little surprised by the first oil change that just came up on the dash at 15%. I have 2300 miles on the car and have had it for 10 months. I will make an appt at the dealer tomorrow, but if that is full synthetic as I think some have noted, that seems awful early (in miles), and my driving is very conservative---I'm 62 so my hot-rodding days are long behind me. The dash shows an 'A' service, which the owners manual indicates is only an oil change (and it is an 'A1' service that would get both oil and filter according to that owners manual). I would never change oil without the filter going too, so it will be both. Anyway, is that really full synthetic from the get-go? I know my BMW (2008 528) goes 15,000 between oil changes per the dash---which I would never allow---but change it at 7500, full synthetic.

securityguy

I will say this...do the change now and then just go once a year or every 7500 miles and you'll be just fine. I do not believe that dealers use anything other than 0W20 full synthetic.

russianDude

Doesn’t the manual say filter can be changed every other oil change?
In this case there will be zero issues to running same filter for two oil changes. I’ve done it on my 2008 rdx with zero issues and got 190k miles.

Mo_Green

Dealers use ANY 0w-20, synthetic or not. Whatever is in stock at the time of your visit. One dealer I know had an entire pallet of Pepboys synthetic 0w-20 in the parts room. They ran out of "Acura" oil.

The immediate concern does the oil level reach the top line. Did they over tighten the oil plug and filter????????

russianDude

You bet your plug will be over-tighten and oil overfilled. It happens at most dealerships.
0w-20 can be synthetic blend, but its hard to find one

securityguy

It does say you can change the filter every other change. However, filters are so cheap that I cannot imagine not replacing my filter at every change interval.

Mo_Green

Remember oil changes are done by junior/entry level mechanics. They're generally in a hurry to get done. The dealerships do oil changes only to get your car in for other services/repairs. Oil changes by themselves are not money makers.

Monster_HK

not sure if it is normal. For my RDX, i got my first oil change at about 3.5k miles. Now is 6k miles with 40% oil life. I'm in NYC and do city driving most of the time.

krisk

Just did my first oil change last week. I had a question regarding the crush washer. Is it necessary to change that every oil change, once every few, or ever? This is the first vehicle i owned that had one. Well my Prius may of had one, but I put a valve on the plug after the first oil change so if it had one, I forget.

russianDude

supposed to be changed every time. They are cheap, 20 cents each or so. The purpose of the crush washer is to get crushed when you tighten the drain plug. It protects the oil pan.

krisk

Do you happen to know the size to order?

Ricky Diaz

im using penzoil platnium plus. reason why turbo motors are using synthetic is cause regular oil causes coking and the oil sludging up. very bad for a turbo. and i change the oil when the light comes on. estimated 7500miles. and change the filter whats afew bucks takes 5 seconds to change

Jerzy

I had dealer coupon for oil change. When I asked how much more I have to pay for full synthetic they said my car has to run on full synthetic, since it is turbo and they will honor coupon. I wouldn't try to save few bucks going somewhere else. I believe Acura technicians are better trained (or watched) and will do everything by the book, using proper torque and replacing crash washer. They also wash car at every service for free. My first change (15%) came about 7500miles - a lot of it on the highway.

russianDude

BS, acura technicians will not use torque wrench and will overfill. I saw them do it time after time before I started changing oil DIY

Ricky Diaz

like i said before buddy regular oil will sludge up in the turbo over time.when the car is turned off. you have to use full synthetic in the new engine cause the engine tolerances are much tighter now a days. and as far as honda acura techs torquing properly. noooope ya just go tight enough till you feel it crush a lil. go any further you will strip the pan and have to replace the pan. i use the penzoil platnium plus cause it burns cleaner. i know this cause my buddy who has real ocd with his v6 accord had his oil sampled from his engine and it came out spotless. plus he spoke to someone about different oils and thats the one he recommend.

Madd Dog

I normally change it every 6 months because in August, it needs an inspection, and I drive to Florida for February, so it comes to about 7K miles every 6 months. I have them do full syn and change the filter. It costs what it costs and I don’t worry about it.

russianDude

Any oil that meets 0w-20 API and SN plus will work fine in your RDX and you will not have any lubrication issues.

Mo_Green

Exactly.

Ricky Diaz

the reason behind the aluminum crush washer is that it works like a gasket. the pan is aluminum and the bolt is steel. they both habe different metal properties. the washer fills in the mircoscopic imperfections to seal it. if you put the drain plug to the aluminum pan its gonna leak out.

Mo_Green

It would be called a washer or gasket if that were the case. But, it's known as a crush washer and gasket. Crush washers are used in applicaitons to make up the slack in fastening systems. I can remember setting pinions/gears in rears and always changed the crush washer brfore tightening the yoke. Also, in this case it is a sacrifical component that deforms to make a seal between a harder (bolt) and a much softer (oil pan). The steel has no give and will survive an overtightening, while the threads in the oil pan do not have give and WILL NOT survive an overtightening.

That crush washer is there to protect the oil pan threads from repeated tightenings of the pan bolt.

Dereileak

Buy a bunch of them, when you order them they are like 25 cents a piece

tntrac

Can somebody post the part number for the crush washer? I know you can just use a generic one.

Mo_Green

Engine Oil:
Drain Plug Washer 14mm, 94109-14000 (30 FT-LBS.).

My dealer gives these with a purchase of a filter.

Don't get wrapped aroung the axle with these. I bought a bunch from Amazon...cheap.

Excellent Bosch oil filter at the right price.

russianDude

M1-110 from mobil1 is a good filter, was using it on first gen rdx

tntrac

On the Amazon site, its not listed as compatible with the RDX.

Mo_Green

Your right. That's the 2nd Gen RDX filter.

leomio85

AFAIK, Honda pretty much uses the same oil filter across their entire line-up. Some of their older cars used different ones.

Padre Dave

My old Mazda dealership does my RDX maintenance too. I tried the East Valley’s Acura dealer once and won’t be returning. I do my oil every 6,000 miles with new filter always. Funny that my service advisor for 15 years now ordered me an air filter and the Acura dealer sent them the wrong one. The owner of the Mazda dealership has an Acura dealership in NV, so he called up there and they are sending one to me. I guess I need to go online and find a deal on a case of filters so I don’t need to go through this.

lil12002

Didn’t see what everyone else is using for motor oil?

russianDude

0w-20, full synthetic. Pick your favorite brand