TL Dude

Had dealer change mine just over 3000 miles and have used Mobil 1 ever since.


Cheers

ragin

Finally I can report. 4,150 miles. First oil change at dealer free. I don't know what they used. I'll be doing it myself from now on so I know what goes in.

Retired 93LS coupe

I have a question about my first oil change........I have had my 06 TL since the end of Aug 06 and only have 745 miles on it one of my dealers service advisors said I need an oil change even though I only have 745 miles it has been over 3 months should I get it changed or wait?

ragin

I would wait as that's a far cry from 7,500. What does your MID say?

Xpditor

The service advisor is paid on commission according to his sales. He is full of
The owner's manual says if your MID still has OIL LIFE remaining after one year, change it anyway.

I know because I just did that. I only had 2500 miles and 70% OIL LIFE showing, but it had been exactly a year since my last change.

All accoridng to "The Book".

MobyDickDog

Okay, you come home from a long day at work. You've got 10 hours of brown streaks (3000+ miles) in your underwear. So, you take a shower, dry off and put that same pair (dirty used oil filter) of underwear back on???

Retired 93LS coupe

90%

pohljm

turns em inside out!

MobyDickDog

Rotflmao!!!!!!!

SouthernBoy

I just changed my '04 TL's oil yesterday and my wife's '05 two weeks ago. Here are a few tips to help make you do-it-yourselfer's time easier (that is, if you don't already know these).

If your house or car working area is like mine, you have a smooth concrete garage floor and an asphalt driveway that is also rather smooth (and retreated every two years). This makes the use of the standard Rhino plastic ramps difficult because they slide as you're trying to drive up on them. So do what I did. Build your own wooden ramps out of tiered 2x10's. 4 high and 4 feet long. I even have a stop at the top end to keep me from driving over them just in case I go too far. And 4 high is the perfect heighth for me.

Use a torque wrench for the drain plug. If it is metered in foot/pounds, use 29 for your setting. If it is metered in inch pounds, your setting is 360.

Use a new washer for each change. While this is not an absolute, for a few cents, why not?

Remove your fill cap before you remove your drain plug.. helps it to drain faster.

Drive the car around enough to warm up the oil (not hot) and circulate it.

When removing the old filter, first loosen it up a little but not so much that oil begins to leak out... just enough where you can continue to remove it by hand. Then take a 1-gallon heavy duty ZipLock plastic bag and completely enclose the filter, up and over the pickup arm. Now remove the filter the rest of the way. The residual trapped oil will fall into the ZipLock bag and not all over your suspension, your driveway, and you. Really makes the job a whole lot cleaner. And don't forget to make certain that the rubber gasket came off with the old filter.. VERY important.

Wipe the gasket mating surface of the oil pickup with a paper towel and spread some new oil on the gasket of the new filter. When you spin on your new filter and it makes contact with the pickup, scratch a mark at the 6:00 position on the bottom of the filter, then continue to turn it until the mark is at the 3:00 position.

After you have poured 4 1/2 quarts of oil into your crankcase and installed the fill cap, start your engine. Wait for the oil light to go out, then raise the RPM's to around 2500 for about 10 seconds. Then get out of the car (engine still running) and crawl back under to check for any possible leaks around the filter.

You're done!

Xpditor

Good advice is always timely, SouthernBoy.

I use a combination of ramps made of wood scraps to start, then I use a hydraulic jack to lift the right front wheel up in order to put a jack stand under the rocker at the jack point. This allows me to turn the wheel all the way to the right so that I can get at the oil filter easily from the wheel well.

Also, I use a Sharpie to write the date and mileage and oil make/grade on the filter. Then, I save the old filter in the new filter box (after allowing it to drain overnight). Since I do my own service like you, I have on-going proof of the service to go along with the service records that I post on the Acura.com Owner's Link.

Being anal, I also send a sample of the used oil that I catch as it drains, to the lab at Butler Machine for analysis.

SouthernBoy

I have no problem getting to the filter using my homemade ramps. The only thing is it takes maybe 1 1/2 minutes to remove the old filter after you have surrounded it with the ZipLock bag.. but it's definitely worth it.

Not only am I too anal to have someone else touch my car for an oil change, I have a tendancy not to trust them to do the job correctly. I know that if I do it, it will be done right and to my measure. And then there is this. I just cannot imagine having someone else do this for me.. it's such a simple and easy job, why would I pay for it to be done.

SouthernBoy

BTW Xpditor, you want to hear anal.. this is really anal on my part.

Last spring, I bought a set of Michelin Pilot Sport A/S tires for my TL. But I agonized about taking my car in for the shop to install the tires. Mostly worried about where they would put the lift sections on the under-carriage of my TL, torquing the lug nuts, etc.

So that morning, I jacked my car up in my garage, put it on four jack stands, and removed the wheels. I put them in my Ranger pickup and took them to the tire shop for the install. Told them this was a good time to wash the inside of rims (which it was and I did). However that was not the real reason. This way, I had control over my TL.

I would call that anal. But I would do it again for the peace of mind.

KJSmitty

You're not alone... Before, during and after installing my PS2's on my 04TL my rims came/come off the car every time it goes in for a tire balance. The only hoist/jack my TL has been on is in my garage. I have done this 5 times so far - and like you I take each opportunity to spit shine the entire rim(s) inside and out... I perform this each time the Suburban needs its rotation/balance.. Throw the TL rims in the back and kill two birds with one trip to Discount Tire.. All for free non the less!

I must tell the wife I am not the only one.......

kenny5

Just wondering whether the remaining oil life decreases more rapidly as the car's mileage increases? Right now, the oil life reads 50% and the odometer reading is approx. 3k miles (I bought the car new in Sep 06). At the current rate, I anticipate changing my oil when the display reaches 10%, which will be around April 07, when the odo should be close to 5k miles. Is this a logical assumption/prediction?

Xpditor

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