So I picked up my 57k mile 04 Acura TL. My cousin is my mechanic, he is awesome.

So he tells me I need to bring, 5 quartz and he recommended Valvoline Oil, 5W30.

A bit about me, I dont want to use Synthetic Oil, and I will love to change the oil every 3k or 3 months. None of that 5 months 5k mile things. I am a city driver, I only take my cars on the highways if I really have to. SO take that into consideration.

That being said, which Valvoline Oil should I buy, or is there something better? I am up for suggestions. Oh and which Oil Filter should I get? Thanks. I am going to buy it either at Autozone, Walmart, Target.

 

You'll find this to be a controversial topic. 5W-30 weight will work fine. As to which brand, I haven't heard a whole lot about Valvoline. Most people on these forums run full synthetic. Personally, I'd say go for full synthetic with a good filter (K&N or Amsoil) and change at 5k-7k intervals. Unless you plan on taking your car to the track or driving pretty hard then really the 3k oil change intervals are a little excessive (even on dino oil).

Whatever you do, just stay away from Fram filters.

 

lol, fram. I use to use fram on my old 94 accords and corollas.

I want K & N filter, hopefully they arent sold out, like they usually are around here.

 

fully synthetic is fine- or regular dinosuar oil- any name brand is fine 5-30 is correct
Change before 5000 miles even in city driving- is just adding to the waste oil problem
Seafoam the oil before change and get the sludge out of the engine
Seafoam the intake and gas tank per DIY for best performance from your car

 

mobil1 filter comes down the same assembly line as K&N- the external can is different, and different amount-type of resins etc- but the build quality is there

 

The honda filter should be good, and regular dino oil should be good as well. Honestly, you are going to be wasting money if you do the 3K 3month routine. Follow the MID on what services to do, it uses extremely high tech and complicated algorythims and data to determine when to get it changed.

 

Discussing motor oil is sorta like discussing religion.

My personal preference is Castrol GTX (dino) or Syntec (full synthetic) with the OEM Honda filter. I prefer the A01 made by Filtec but it seems the A02 made by Fram is all that's available.
Use the MID as a guide, but I try not to let it go below 30% before changing, mostly to prevent varnish and sludge buildup.

 

your mister overkill to change your oil every 3k or 3 months...every 5-7000k or maybe every 6 months or even a year....how many miles a year do you drive.....

 

Follow the MID. I use Mobil 1, but any oil that meets the manufactures spec will do the job.

For the filter I use the Honda S-2000 version which is a little bit bigger then the Acura filter.

Generally get a Mobil 1 filter M1-104.

 

How long does it take for the MID to indicate 0%? 10k miles?

 

i am going to walmart right now, hopefully I find what I like. I will post pics of what I buy late tonight on this post. I might try out royal purple if I find it. lol.

 

it depends on what type of oil you have. if you have synthetic it would be longer, if you have regular oil it would of coarse be faster.

 

No, the MID does not know what kind of oil you put in. It will vary though by your driving. I would say anywhere from 6-10k depending on your driving to get to 0%

 

Hmm...is my TL the only one with cap that says 5W-20 ?

 

lol, +1. 5W-30 is fine, and 5W-20 is fine. However, 5W-20 is what's recommended by the manufacturer.

 

Ok...so I'm not crazy after all

 

No, you're not crazy.

5W-20 IS the recommended oil grade for this engine and is all I use.
I'd go synthetic regardless.
.
.

 

Yeah...just picked up mobil1 synthetic for my baby with some honda filters. good deals on ebay for filters

 

5w-20 is recommended, yes, but it also says in my 04 TL Manual, that it uses 5w-20 for winter use. Which is logical, my mechanic cousin told me 5w-30 because its summer and if I read right in a car book, Thicker viscosity oil is better in the heat. ( I am not sure im right now)


As for what I bought today at Walmart.

I bought 5 Quart container of 5w-30 Valvoline Premium Conventional Oil, I see you guys call this Dino Oil??? I got that, and I was a tad confused when I was looking through the car book at walmart for oil filters for my make and model. I saw only fram filters, And I knew to get away from that. Not until I tried to read the edge which was almost not visible, I found a Mobil filter, It is M1-110. So yea.. I picked that up.