So I was curious...

On our TL how does the MID know when it is time for an oild change...I mean basic knowledge oil change is needed for every 3-5k miles or 3 months or what ever come first....

So let say if I leave my TL in my garage for 3 months does it alerts me to go get the oil change?

Just curious on how things work...and no I would never leave my TL for 3 months.

comments is appreciated!!!

 

Basically it uses computerized models/logarithms to compute oil life remaining.
Its more sophisticated than most think. It monitors numerous engine, driving conditions, styles and "time" to compute how "broke down" the oil is.. If you left your car parked for three months it would probably factor that in by computing times between starts etc..

 

sound sofisticated....thanks for the reply

 

I just changed my oil. I had 2,500 miles on it but it had been one year since last change. The MID said "70%".

But, the owner's manual says to change the oil at least once a year if you have low miles. I was using Mobil 1 synthetic. Undoubtedly overkill.

This time, I went with German Castrol Syntec synthetic 0W-30.

 

my MID has notified me about every 5K miles. I get a little nervous about waiting that long, but i've only changed the oil on my car twice in the year.

 

my MID has notified me about every 5K miles. I get a little nervous about waiting that long, but i've only changed the oil on my car twice in the year.

 

jesus... this is why i worry about buying used cars. who in their right mind does not change their oil every 3k miles or 3 months?

 

Oil is changed whenever MID tells me to or before...

...oh, right mind?? Well, ummm... never mind...

 

The 3000 mile OCI is a thing of the past and is a glorious waste of good oil. Most of us either use the MID recommendation or change at 5000 mile intervals (7500 miles if we use synoil).

 

Lots of armchair engineering all the time up in this piece. People think they know more or better than their MID, Honda's hundreds of Ph.D. engineers, and Honda's decades of carbuilding experience. If they thought you needed to change your oil every 3000 miles to protect the engine, they would have programmed the MID to reflect that. Instead they programmed the MID to allow drivers 5k or more between oil changes because they probably have millions of pages of technical data and years of research that show it's fine to go that long between changes. Changing more often doesn't hurt, but it IS a waste of time and money.

 

Very true indeed!!

Being an older "motorhead" it was hard for me to be "assimilated" to the longer oil change intervals.. But it's a fact, engines today have much tighter tolerances and MUCH less blow-by and fuel waste making it's way into the oil.. The result, the oil stays useful for much longer.
The 2500-3500 mile change intervals of the 70's, 80's and through pretty much the mid 90's were legitimate for the engines/oil back then. Today, engines, filters and oil can easily go 7500 miles between changes under normal driving conditions. Many on this forum have sampled oil at that interval with results identifying the oil is still fine for use etc..

Me however, I still haven't talked myself in exceeding ~5000 miles.... Of course the oil manufacturers just love you folks that still change it every 2 or 3K miles...

"Stop the insanity" man!! My kids will need natural resources when they grow up too...

 

I changed the oil every 7000-10,000 miles on my GM sedan used under severe service (mostly short trips). Oil used was the cheapest filters and cheapest 5W30 conventional I could find. When I removed the valve cover two months ago at 96,000 miles, there was only a light coating of varnish. Oil consumption was at a steady 1 qt /2000-3000 miles the entire time, which is excellent for that family of engines.

 

I just purchased a lease return 05 TL. If I change the oil myself will the MID detect this or do I need to reset something?

 

You need to reset it.

To see how to correctly reset the MID, and an explanation of the service reminder popup, check out this thread.

 

Ron, thanks for the link. I searched the forums on "oil change" and couldn't find anything.

Just curious, are you all doing your own oil changes post-warranty? If not, have any of you had any flack from the dealer for not having it done at the "authorized" dealer?

 

Pre and Post Warranty.

If you document your own or someone besides the dealerships work, you are good to go. I just fill out the owners manual appropriatly and save my receits. I've done this for years without any warranty/manufacturer issues. GM even had to give me a new engine back in 2004 and they didn't question my Mx documentation.

 

I've changed my 05 TL oil pre warranty and had no problems when the dealer had to change a sqeaky pulley.

 

I'm not an oil expert (or any other kind of expert), but the real oil experts have pretty much debunked the 3,000 mile oil change myth, according to forums I've read with real, honest to goodness engineers on it, not knuckleheads like me spouting opinion. There are an amazing number of car owners out there who actually send their used oil to a lab and know how to read the results.

Conclusion? They are finding that 5-7.5K intervals are just fine. They also say newer dinos are so far beyond what they were 10 years ago, that synth isn't really needed. However, on that score, I did the math, and if you use dino at $1.50 a qt, versus synth at $5 per qt, using 5 qts over a 7,500 mile interval. . .the synth is costing me $0.002/mile. I need to drive five miles to cost a penny.

For my money I'll use synth regardless of if it's "needed" or not, becuase in the greater scheme of things, it's not money worth worrying about. . .and I trust the MID.

YMMV.

JPC

 

If reset accurately between oil changes the MID never lies. That's the nice part of having a near-lux or lux car, a lot of the thinking is done for you

 

I have 5200 miles on my 07 Type-S and went to the dealer for an oil change at 4500 miles. The service advisor told me to wait till the MID indicated 10%. He highly recommended me NOT to change the oil. I thought that was weird.... Should i just tell them to change it anywayz? My MID says 20% at 5200 miles and I dont wanna hurt my engine in the long run

 

You won't hurt your engine. Some of us are just extra precautious and want to get the factory fill changed soon.... for peace of mind. In reality, whatever assembly debris might be in the oil will be trapped by the filter. Acura suggests leaving the factory fill in longer because of the high moly content which helps with the break-in process. However, we know from testing that Havoline oil is nearly identical and, indeed, might be the very same oil the factory uses. It has the same moly content.

So, we can have our cake and eat it too. Change out the factory fill early and replace it with the same kind of new oil.

It is probably overkill, but we anal types thrive on overkill.

 

So are most people waiting until their MID says 15% oil life or are you changing your oil before then?

I'm at 40% right now but I swear I have almost 5000 miles on this oil. I'm getting nervous about waiting until it says 15%.

 

I hit about 4500-5000 miles at the 40% mark as well. That is where I have always changed mine - including the factory fill etc.. You will hurt nothing if you change it now..

 

A lot of TL owners are changing the factory fill early, like 2-3,000 miles and then, after that, following the MID.

And many follow the MID from day one.

Some of us feel oil is cheap and we plan on keeping our cars a long time. I had my last Maxima for 14 years with no engine issues except for a water pump.

Some people are on a 2 year lease and could care less about maintenance.

 

I definitely want to change the oil before 6000 miles because it's bothering me but the Acura service advisors is against it. He said that by changing it early, it does not allow the maintenance minder system to properly monitor what the car needs and I may be possibly missing certain messages from it.

I don't know, he could've been BS'ing me - then again, I'm somewhat biased against what those service advisors always recommend since they're not always in their right mind.

 

 

LMAO!