dodgerblue

I heard from someone that I should go get my oil changed after my first 500 miles, since it's a brand new car. Anybody hear of the same or similar advice?

How often are you all changing your oil? I haven't gone through the owners manual yet to see if there's any recommendation from Acura since I just picked up my car two days ago. Should I go with the normal 3000 miles or 3 months, whichever comes first? Or does anyone have a better guideline?

Just curious how many of you are getting free oil changes for life from your dealer. I was only offered the first oil change for free, and my sales man said that I would get another certificate for a free oil change after attending an upcoming "new car owners clinic" at the dealership. I think I probably could have done better than that if I pressed them harder...

Repecat

I have heard of the 500 mile change. Don't pay any attention to it. Read the manual and adhere to its advice.

Ron A

Them were the good old days, these are the better new days. Follow the MID instructions. There are additives in the oil to assist in the engine break in.

I never got offered any free oil changes, but it doesn't matter because I do my own oil change and tire rotations.

Hawhyen51

As Repecat says, the manual is your friend. Please read it and adhere to its instructions. It will tell you about the MID and how it functions as well as everything else about the car. You can't go wrong following Ron A's advice about the MID instructions. . The old days of 3K mile/3 months are long gone. I got my first service at about 4900 miles. There are also some good threads about oil (synth and Mineral). Do a search for RR Journals or oil.

SouthernBoy

Yes, as hard as i may be, resist the temptation to do a first oil change at 500-1000 miles. Wait out the period that the MID and the owner's manual tells you.

These people are right. Acura uses specific additives in their shipped oil for new TLs to assist in a proper and complete break-in period. Stick to it.

JetJock

OK..here's my problem. I purchased my '04 TL in March and don't drive it too often and now it's got 4000 miles and the MID says the oil life is at 30%. I'm starting to get nervous because I'll drive it even less during the winter, and the oil is getting pretty "old". Should I change it(and i'm going synthetic when I do) before winter, or wait until the MID says to change the oil, and that probably won't be until spring? Road Rage..if you're listening...I'd really like your .02 cents on this one.

WOOCHOW

You need to change the oil soon. You really shouldn't go more than six months between changes. Road Rage mentioned an additive that should be used if you are changing the oil prior to the 5000 mile mark. Or, you could just drive the car

SouthernBoy

Yes, go ahead and change it. You won't be doing any harm at this point.

Ron A

The MID is an excellent tool, but judgement has to be used when considering individual driving habits.

cvajs

Ron,
i'm still confused as to how the MID actually works. i think RoadRage had a short on how it works, saying that the MID can sense the contaminants in the oil, with that and mileage the MID indicates % left. but i just changed my oil so the MID should have sensed clean oil and bumped the % up, not down.

can anyone explain how this MID sensor actually works.

cM3go

the MID only factors in temperatures and driving habits (speed/rpm level/distance/that sort of thing) in reducing the oil life. It does not have sensors that check for oil viscosity. The MID will tell you to change the oil well before it is unsafe for you to drive your vehicle, unless the car has been sitting for a year or some long period of time like that.

Hawhyen51

This is RR's thread on the MID with a link to Practicing Oil Analysis. There's also a post by Brokedoc about the maintenance minder system.

SouthernBoy

The MID also counts the number of revolutions the engine has made since the MID was last set. That and the manner in which the engine has been operated lead to the percentage of life factor which gets displayed. It has no sensors in the pan or elsewhere for acids and contaninents.

cvajs

so it's a "advanced" idiot light. but all this does not explain why changing my oil caused the MID to drop 10% (from 60 to 50).

cvajs

i think RR had another post on the MID. i'll try to find it.

Ron A

In addition to the above comments, which give good information, I would like to add the following:

The owner's manual on page 64 says: The engine oil life is calculated based on engine operation conditions and accumulated engine revolutions. The same thing said above, but confirmed by the owner's manual.

When you have your oil changed, the MID must be reset manually. It does not automatically reset itself. Here are the reset procedures:

The procedure on page 196 of the manual is incorrect. In paragraph 3a of the manual, the requirement to hold the button for 10 seconds the second time it is pressed is omitted. If this is not done, the display will not reset.

Here’s the full procedure to reset the MID display.

1. Turn the ignition switch to ON

2. Select Trip A or Trip B (You can use either one, so if you are using one to record data for something, use the other one to reset the Oil Life Indicator).

3. Press the < or > button repeatedly until the oil life is displayed.

4. Press and hold the Select/Reset button for 10 seconds. The Multi-Information Display will ask for a confirmation.

a. If you are sure you want to reset the display, press the Select/Reset button for 10 seconds again. (This is the part omitted from the manual.)

b. If you do not want to reset the display, press the < or > button to select “Cancel”

P47ch

I'm planning to put a lot of miles on my TL over the holidays and expected I would exceed the first maintenance interval before I had a convenient opportunity to have the service done, so I took it in for the first service when the MID said 40% oil life remaining. In talking with the service manager I said something about doing it early and he said they recommend changing the oil every 3000 miles. They even put the little reminder sticker on the window with a 3000 mile interval listed.

I know there's no harm (at least to the vehicle) in doing the oil change early, but there also seems to be little point in changing it while it's still adequately doing the job. It also seems a bit odd that Acura would go to the trouble of putting in a fairly sophisticated monitoring system which uses 7500 miles as its nominal interval if that wasn't really the best way to go. Is the service department just trying to pump up their revenues?

Road Rage

Yes, the service dept is trying to line its pockets. This should be obvious to anyone who has noticed the following:

When BMW made its owners pay for service, oil had to be changed every 3000 miles, brake fluid every 2 years, tranny fluid every XX, etc. You get the picture.

Then, BMW went to "free maintenance" and overnight, everything changed. The same engines now could go 15,000+ miles on the same oil, as long as it were synthetic. When you paid for the service, it was 3K, synoil or not.

Anyone smell a rat?
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The truth is that modern oils can easily surpass 3000 miles, and it is a waste of money and resources to change oil prematurely. Without an oil change monitor like Acura has developed, I would say 5000 miles is a safe oil change interval for premium mineral-based oils. That is exactly what Ford now recommends, for "normal" and "severe" services.

Honda's system is well thought out, and they ran the oil analyses under a variety of operating conditions to test their alogorithms. I changed mine out early for my first change, due to wanting to ensure that any remnants of mfg, including the sand from the cast parts, were removed. I added the proper oil additives to ensure it matched the factory break-in oil.

I have no problem at all following Honda's suggested oil change interval. If you do, I suggest you get a UOA and see what it reveals. If it shows that the oil's TBN is below 1, then the MiD is not accurate enough for your car, your driving, your climate, and your oil. Based on what I have seen from my UOA, going the full miles recommended by the MiD for a quality synblend like Motorcraft 5w20 is easy and worry-free. With a mineral oil, check the UOA and decide. For premium products like Lubrication Engineers, or any of the major synoils, 1 year/12,000 is a safe bet IMO, verified by a one-time confirming UOA.
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I am sure there will be another 40 posts in this thread, but you can book this one. Armchair "engineering" is fine, but the best approach is to pick the oil you are going to use, do a UOA at the mileage/ET interval you plan to follow, and see what science tells you, rather than what a service advisor, Internet expert, or any other dubious source tells you to do. All else is just hot air, IMO.

tlram

I would think so. My dealer does the same - puts a reminder sticker for the next 3 months/3000 miles. With a sophisticated mechanisms of MID, I feel it is totally unnecessary.

boosteddsm

What additives are they and where did you get them?

Rocketsfan

I have around 21,000 miles on my 04 TL and I'm averaging about 6,000-7,000 miles before an oil change. I've been using Motorcraft 5w20 and Mobile1 filters.

alvon

See https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=102242

RR suggested adding MLEP to the new motor oil if you decide to change out the factory oil early. I did what he suggested when I changed out the oil at 4300 miles.

cvajs

i'm the skeptic of the bunch (even though i am a real physics guy). MLEP studies in the lab under controlled environment does show benefits, but there is no real world evidence that indicates that the motor will last longer or produce more power than same motor without MLEP additive. IMHO, save your money and don't fret over some additive. change the oil, keep it clean = long lasting motor.

kbstreet

The manual says that if the MID does not tell you to get an oil change in after the first 12 months, then change it every 12 months. Follow what the car tells you, not what the oil commercials tell you.

I have had mine for 6 1/2 months, have over 13,000 miles & changed the oil at 6800 & just today at 13,100. The oil life was less than 15% and the Service Soon came on on Friday.

Road Rage

You missed the point - no claims were made, merely that MLEP closely matched the chemical analysis of Honda's factory fill - you may care to 2nd guess Honda's engineers, others, including me, do not.

cvajs

no 2nd guessing here (the engineers know what they wish to test). my point is that I have not seen any real world studies that shows the additives do any of the following:
1) motor longevity
2) increased output