i usually get my engine oil changed at the dealer. i don't exactly know what type of oil the dealer uses. i actually want to do it myself. any recommendation as to what type of oil i should use and the type of filter? BTW my cars 08 TL-s. I'm fairly a newbie to changing oil. 5quarts is the right amount ?

 

i bought 5 quarts of mobil 1 full synthetic 5w-20 with mobil 1 -110 oil filter and am running on that.

I believe almost everyone here that runs synthetic runs mobil 1 products.

 

Ditto and I also have an TL-S.

 

I thought your supposed 2 use only 4.5qts?

 

True, it's really 4.5 qts, but 5 won't hurt.

 

OP to answer your question the dealership uses Mobil 1 synthetic 5-20w

 

^ is that right? or do they just use mobil regular oil?

 

hm.. how much am i looking at for 5 qts full synthetic 5w-20 with mobil 1 -110 oil filter? Where would you recommend purchasing it?

 

they have sales 5 quarts of M1 and M1 filter for 29.99. check your local auto store.

 

It's just now turning up that Walmart's having a sale on 5-quart jugs of Penzoil Platinum Synth. You pay $20 for the jug and mail in the rebate to get a $15 Walmart gift card. Amazing deal. The participating oil jugs will have a special coupon on them. Get 5w20 and a good oil filter (anything but Fram).

 

Sometimes Autozone and Discount Auto have them on sale.

 

if its 30 dollars just for the filter and the oil, aint i better off going to the dealer assuming they use the same mobil oil?? my dealer charges me 30 for engine oil service.

 

If you pay $60, they might. The regular, run-of-the-mill oil change that 99% of people get at the dealer is NOT Mobil1 synthetic. It's just run-of-the-mill dino oil - Mobil or otherwise.


OP - Mobil1 at Wal-Mart is ~$25 plus ~$10 for the M110 filter.

Oil Change, step-by-step, here:

C-004: DIY: Oil Change Checklist with Service Manual Scan
https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=80273
https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=139528 with pictures


No. It isn't the same oil; synthetic is better than what they will use. It isn't the same filter either; the M110 is much better than the OEM 15400-PLM-A02 filter. You're getting for $30-ish and about an hour of time what the dealer would charge you $60+ for. PLUS you know what was done and that it was done right.

 

I would add the following once again to those doing this for the first time.

o Use a torque wrench. There are those on this site who believe this to be silly, but trust me. Once you have managed to strip the threads in your aluminum pan with your steel drain plug bolt, you won't think using a torque wrench is silly anymore.

o Do NOT just remove your old filter. Start it with your filter wrench then when it is loose enough to finish removing it by hand, stop. Get a 1-gallon ZipLock heavy duty freezer bag and slip it completely over the old filter and up past the pickup arm. Now finish removing the old filter. The residual trapped oil will go into the ZipLock bag and not all over your suspension, your driveway/garage, and you. Keeps it nice and clean.

o Inspect the oil filter and the pickup "face" to make sure the oil filter gasket has not come off and stuck to the pickup face.

 

29 foot pounds is drain bolt torque spec

 

Great tips. Thanks, guys!

 

I think Pennzoil is a better deal than Mobil1, especially from Walmart. And since ExxonMobil made $47 BILLION in profits last year while charging us almost $5 a gallon at the pump, I don't think they need any of MY money.
.
.

 

The funny thing is the Pennzoil Platinum and Mobil One 5w-20 are not fully synthetic oils. PP is a grpIII and Mobil One is mostly a grpIII. They are fine oils and will do well in the TL but I won't buy them due to the deceptive advertizing. Besides, if you're going to pay the "synthetic price", you might as well get a no holds barred premim synthetic like Redline.

For a true grpIV or grpV "real" synthetic, Amsoil that's labeled synthetic is a grp IV and Redline is a grpV ester. There's nothing made that will protect as well as Redline. Nothing that will clean as well as Redline.

 

sorry to tell you buddy but i work at a stealership and mine uses kendall synthetic blend and its an acura dealership they will not put synthetic unless you ask

 

Every dealership I've been to uses a different oil. The one in Bakersfield uses dino 10w-30 for all cars that come through there.

 

yea true but either way they wont put synthetic oil in unless you ask or your car is required synthetic otherwise they use regular

 

So what? What's the difference performance wise?

 

i've been trying to tell people this for years and no one want to believed it, everyone wants to buy into the advertisement hype of all the other synthetic oils. amsoil is a fine oil, i used it, amsoil is a grp iv oil and redline is grp v oil, mostly polyol ester like someone mentioned and most oil analysis are so focus on tbn numbers (total base number) and amsoil has a high tbn vs. redline has a lower tbn.
polyol ester is a more stable synthetic base stock and it resist heat, oxidation and breakdown better than grp iv base stock oil. thats why i think even though redline has a lower tbn number but it should out last and protect better than most grp iv, grp iii synthetics. thats my

 

First, there's the advertising. We all know how Mobil sued you know who for claiming their grpIII was a "fully synthetic" and after losing, they followed suit. To me, that's inexcusable.

Grp III is fine for the TL as I've said.

However, most non car people buy into the fully synthetic advertising and pay the fully synthetic price when there's oil like Redline and most of the Amsoil products that are a real synthetic for the same price.

As for performance, maybe we'll never see the difference in 200,000 miles. There are people like me that live in the CA climate where the body of the car regularly outlasts the engine that could benefit over the course of 400,000 miles.

Then there's the turbo/supercharged/roadrace guys that will see immediate benefits from the ester based Redline. It's been proven to hold it's viscotity and HTHS value to the end of the OCI.

In the end, it's mostly opinions since we rarely see a failure due to lubrication though I could write a book on lubrication, viscosity, and the GN.

 

What about Castrol Synthetic 5W-20?

My last oil change was at 23,875 miles, and now it's over 30,400 miles, and my MID reads >10%

What's the grp of Castrol?

 

It doesn't matter. Even a good dyno oil can last as long as the MID tells you in the TL. The MID is calibrated for Dyno oil anyways...

 

I don't think $1/quart (price I posted above) would be considered a "fully synthetic" price. I say that because my post above is what started you on this subject. All the synthetic oils at Walmart are probably Group III, but at the most they cost $23 for a 5 quart jug (~$4/quart average).

Q Horsepower = $18 5qt
Penzoil Platintum = $20 5qt (regular price)
Mobil 1 = $23 5qt

How much can you get 5 quarts of redline or Amsol and where? I've never even seen it in regular stores (only tuner shops)...

BTW: The nice thing about M1 is that you can get High Mileage versions for your old cars that burn a little oil (this does help alot). I use M1 HM10w30 in my 209k mile CRX. But that's kinda off topic...

 

The Amsoil I used, the ACD straight 30 was right at $5/quart. Amazing oil, qualified as a 10w-30 with no VIIs, high detergent, good HTHS, and very cheap for a true grpIV/V. I don't understand the line of thinking where you would pay more for a grp III with the "fully synthetic" advertising over another cheaper oil that's also a grp III but not advertised that way. This is the number one thing that I hate about it.

And again, you can find Amsoil for about the same price excluding of course the $15 rebate deals which brings to price to $1 a quart.

Redline is in a class of it's own and you pay the price. I paid $55 for 5 quarts shipped to my door. Not exactly bad when you figure some of the new Castrol products are $10-$12/quart and are using mostly grpIII base oils. IMO, German Castrol was a much better deal.

As for performance differences, you're not going to be able to tell right away. HP and fuel ecomomy wise they will all be within 1% of one another. Wear wise, nothing is going to cause the engine to wear out in less than 200,000 miles so again it's hard to quantify. I've torn engines down that have used Redline and the results are amazing. Cleanliness is unbelievable, most notable is the ring packs and the lack of carbon and varnish in the ring lands. This will show up as a performance increase over time or you can look at it the other way, the engine will lose performance slower.

Of course you know the benefits of an ester in a super high heat, high stress environment.

Mobil One high mileage oils are great oils. They're closer to the high end of the respective viscosity, more seal conditioners, more additives, a more robust oil and believe it or not, they generally use a better base oil from the small amount of info people have been able to get out of Exxon Mobil. But again, if there's only a few dollars difference between that and a true grpV or IV, I'm spending the few extra dollars.

Off topic but I was about to use the M1 0w-40 in the TL but I decided on Redline instead. The 0w-40 seems to be one of the best oils in their lineup and is a grp IV oil.

I have to say that for $1 I would be tempted to dump the expensive stuff, especially with how good PP is.

 

when they went thru the lawsuit- mobil1 became the lower base product, and their ~new~ mobil1 high mileage is the old m1 recipe- made with the good stuff

I just got the $20 5qt penz platinum with 15$ wallys card rebate- that will buy 2 cans of seafoam!
been using that brand over a year and happy with how its working ~7500-8000 miles per change
Some day it will get an oil analysis and see if really was as good as it claimed

 

I've never heard that but it makes perfect sense. From the best I can tell, the high mileage is made from a better basestock.

 

Mobile 1 synthetic oil is the way to go......or if your ballin' why not go for Royal Purple!

 

I did a bunch of research on the base oil change after the lawsuit, and getting the TL

What I stated is correct to the very best of my knowledge, gen2 Megamod fsttyms1 has the same findings
If you want original m1 you have to buy M1 high mileage- it has the better base oil and original formula

Amazing regular price at wallys for 5 qts, $20 for a 5 qt jug
I dont usually go there-- but the auto shop entrance leads to the oil isle made it worth the savings with gift card rebate amd a few cars needing change at the same time,,,
Note- multi purchases need seperate receipts to claim rebate
a TL full synth oil change with M1 filter for under 20 bucks- score!

I tell people to look for the word FULLY synthetic, not only `synthetic` on the label
or buy any brand we know is good

While oil is oil for the most part in street car usage,
I found one whose product intention makes sense to me- the special squishable molecules in the penz, doesw all oil do this- I dont know, no other companies have said anything about it
And this from a guy who would never run on penz dino in this lifetime- runs synthetic

Funny everyone calls it dino oil- when in truth its mostly from vegatable matter

 

Based on what?????

 

rp is not as great as made out to be- test show 5000 miles and its wearing out- 7500 better change it right away--plus the expense of it compared

If you are track day racing your car- redline becomes a reasonable option

But as I said- for the most part- meaning basic lubrication and protection in normal rpm and temp ranges-- oil is oil
whatever makes you feel you are taking the best care of the car- that all that matters

 

IHC tried to pm you the above info message but box full

 

"Squishable molecules" lol. Sounds like a marketing term for viscosity index improvers. I love how incredibly dumbed down those things get.

 

I'll clear that box out right now.

One thing Redline is outstanding in is HTHS and viscosity retention after being run hard. At the end of a very hard OCI of nothing but racing, Redline blew the others away, keeping 95% of it's starting HTHS.

 

What's wrong with Fram filters? They're that bad eh?

 

Well, I don't know if they are that bad, cuz, I remember my dad's cars used to use FRAM...

But since my last oil change in January, I opted for K&N with Castrol Synth, it's almost 30,500 <5% left...

Just got myself another K&N from Amazon.

 

FRAM, and the latest OEM Honda filter (that are made by FRAM/Honeywell) are piece of crap cardboard filters (as shown on the right). Pretty much everything else has metal end-caps good quality drain-back valves. Never buy these...