Handruin

I have an '07 TL-S 6MT and today before a long trip I decided to check my oil and make sure it was ok. Turns out there wasn't anything even reading on the dipstick after sitting over night and the engine was cold. I left my car at home and had to get two quarts of oil for it and after adding them both, it's about 3/4 from the top of the measurement line.

I'm due for an oil change, I have maybe just about 7K miles since my last change and the car says oil life is now at <10%. I never see oil in my driveway, so I can only assume it's burning it, but 2 quarts worth in 7K miles?! The engine light never came on or anything, but I'm rather concerned that it was so low. After my trip the oil level hasn't gone down and I don't smell oil burning. I'm going to have it checked out, is there anything specific I should have the garage look for besides any leaks that I may be missing? I guess it's possible that during my last oil change it wasn't filled up properly. I'll have to get my oil changed and then check it every week or so to see if it's going down regularly.

Has anyone else noticed this?

Bearcat94

You're supposed to check oil with the engine warm, aren't you?

No problem for me. My TL-S has never burned a drop. I always check before I do an oil change and it's always near center on the stick.

Handruin

I honestly wasn't sure, so I broke out the manual for the car and I couldn't find anything that said to make sure it was warm, but rather it just said to wait something like 15 minutes to check after it had been running. Even after running for an hour and a half, the measurement didn't change on the stick, so cold or warm, it was the same.

mau108

You can check it after you have ran the vehicle to operating temps and has sat for 15 minutes or you can check it in the morning.

I do both and don't see a difference on the dip stick at all. Who did the oil change for you? Definitely keep an eye on it, follow the manual and check it after every fill up of fuel.

Turbonut

iTrader: (1)

If burning oil, you'll see no smoke, especially with the cats, and a couple of qts. in 7k miles, although annoying, would not be considered a problem. Fill it, drive it and keep an eye on the level.
Just a FYI-There is no low oil level gauge/light in the TL, and the light your referring to will only show when there is no/low oil pressure as when the oil pump dies or the oil is so low the sump can't pick any up, and if that happens, look for another engine.

Keep an eye on all fluid levels, oil, coolant, ATF, PS, brake.

vill0169

iTrader: (4)

Damn, remind me to never buy your car..... I don't care what oil/filter you use, your car deserves an oil change more than every 7k miles. Think about this....if you would have changed your oil around 3k miles, you would probably had less than one quart of oil loss, which is more than acceptable in an engine. I would never go off the MID thing to tell me when to change my oil and neither should you. Take good care of your engine and it'll take care of you, and you'll never find your TL-S 2 quarts low on oil.

mau108

This is a common occurrence here, a lot of people state not to follow the MID and usually those people have modified vehicles which they track or autocross. For a regularly driven vehicle this is not necessary. Early oil changes is a waste of money, bad for the environment and generally no good for the vehicle (more dry starts!)

If your car is modified and tracked then by all means change the oil at your own interval, but for those that don't have a heavily modified motor and never track their cars (driving aggressive on the streets is not tracking or racing) do not need to change their oils early, follow the MID.

OP just keep an eye on the oil, I haven't read up about too many J series motors consuming oil but anythings possible.

Hacura

I'd have to disagree, precluding other engine issues, if you have a solid synthetic fluid and oil filter, you could easily run 7k on intervals. I'm changing my oil every 6-7k (depending on when I have free time) and the fluid level is exactly the same as when I filled it up. Of course, Redline is a superior group V synthetic.

mau108

Yup theres one guy on BITOG that did 30K in his s2000 on an oil change and results came back very good. Obviously there was top ups and oil filter changes.

But there is nothing wrong with long oil change intervals especially with today's oils and the modern motors.

vill0169

iTrader: (4)

I still attest that its unnecessary foolishness to wait that long, especially as the engine starts getting higher mileage. It ought to be cheap insurance is all I'm gonna say.

sddale

Your words in bold are the definition of doing oil changes long before they're due. There are cases where changing the oil more frequently is necessary but daily drivers are fine following the MID. Have you heard of any Acura engines having problems following the recommended oil change interval? Not checking the oil level regularly isn't related to the oil change interval.

As far as "cheap insurance" goes, what is it insurance against? You would probably experience a problem from not tightening the drain plug before a problem with following the MID.

Change your oil as often as you want to make yourself feel better but following the MID is fine too.

Handruin

No problem, I'll remind you not to buy my car. The manual says to replace the oil when the car indicates a service message. The service message actually hasn't been on for more than a week or two for the regular oil change. It's certainly my responsibility to check it more regularly for low oil, but this is the first time I've seen it this low.

Handruin

My car is a regularly driven vehicle. I have no engine mods and it has never seen the track. I do change the oil based on the MID, and for the most part it was always done at the dealer until this most recent time where it was done at a local garage I've started using, so it's possible they didn't fill it up all the way (or didn't change it at all). It's been 4 days since I added the two quarts. I plan to check it in the morning cold the same as when I filled it (cold). It was at 3/4 from the top, so I'm hoping it's still at that level.

jda123

Did you check it after the last change. It could have just been low from the beginning. If you took it to a shop, or lube place, you just don't ever know.

ez12a

just throwing this out there, but BMW's E46s have 15k oil change intervals. But then again reading some E46Fanatics threads the engines are fairly picky on the oil they use.

edit: btw, the marks on the dipstick represent 1 qt i believe. if 2 quarts didnt even get you up to the full mark then...luckily your engine seems to be ok..?

edit: some quick math:
Capacity from quick goog search: 4.5qt with filter, which makes the top mark the 4.5qt mark, lower mark 3.5 qt mark. You mentioned you added 2 qt to get to 3/4 of the way between H and L, so if my calcs are correct you would have had 4.25qt as indicated by the dipstick...so you were running approx 2.25qt before you filled or about half the oil capacity of the car..

Bearcat94

Actually, the total capacity is 5.3 qts. On an oil change (w/filter) 4.5 qts puts me right between the two marks.

Hacura

I was worried during my first oil change on the TL; I was being extra careful and added 5 qts . Turns out, a little over was just right. I use 5qts as the standard and it puts me about 1/8" right over the top mark.

Handruin

It's been 9 days since I filled up the oil to about 3/4 on the dipstick. I checked it again today and it's at the halfway point. I checked it with the car in the same position, only difference is the car had been driven about 60 minutes prior to checking, where as when I filled it, it was cold. I didn't check how many miles I've driven, but my guess would be about 350-450. I see no oil slick on the driveway and I park in the same exact spot all the time (it's a very small 1-car driveway), so I did put a piece of clean cardboard under my car to check for any small drips just in case. If there is nothing on it in the morning, I can only guess it's burning it.

paperboy42190

iTrader: (7)

wait, the tl-s has a 5.3 qt engine oil capacity? i thought it was 4.6, i always put 4.6 during my oil changes.

mau108

not all of it comes out on an oil change. 4.73L (5qts) gets me right to the 2nd dot (which is where I always have all my cars filled up to). Also for the DIY'ers make sure you fill the filter up with oil as well so the oil flows through the motor quickly on the first start after an oil change.

csmeance

Do you know what kind of oil was used by your local garage? I'm thinking they probably used the wrong oil like 0W-20 or something that wasn't the best in the world (like bulk oil) and simply sent you on your way.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

^Honda has approved a 0w-20 for our cars.

I'm running 0w-40 right now.

mau108

Nothing wrong with 0w20. Nothing wrong with the quality of the oil as long as it meets the API requirements set in the owners manual.

OP could very well have a motor which is consuming oil or the mechanic didn't top it off all the way.

Hard to tell. OP if you are concerned do a compression check.

mau108

0w40! what brand of oil?. Ballsy, how's it affected your MPG? I'd only go xw30 (which is what I'm running now...10w30 and will switch to 5w30 on next change).

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

Mobil 1 0w-40
which is a fully synthetic oil.
Honestly, I dont keep up with the gas mileage, as its not a daily driver and I dont drive consistent routes.

I'm more concerned about protection.
I did run M1 0w-30 but that stuff is the "Advanced Fuel Economy" which has a low HTHS rate of 3.2.
It's made to sheer in order to achieve that ".0001mpg" increase.

the High Temperature High Sheer rate is important because you dont want your oil to sheer.

The M1 0w-40 has a HTHS rate of 3.9%
thats as good as redline.

mau108

Nice. If it works for you then perfect. The oil I'm currently running is Pennzoil Platinum 10w30 which has HTHS of 3.15cP. Typical HTHS viscosity of a xw20 oil is 2.6cP.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

^seems like you know a little more about oil than I do.

the 0w-40 has been good so far, I have no troubles.

paperboy42190

iTrader: (7)

dangggg he called you out! he knows what hes talking about too xD

mau108

haha nah I wasn't putting down his opinion, I think (my opinion) a good light 30 weight oil is the best for Honda motors (I chose Pennzoil Platinum as it works in the RDX with its HTO-06 certification so I don't have to worry about buying 2 different weights of oil...buy my filters in bulk and oil when on sale).

I heard news that there is a company working 0w10 oil! Won't be too long when you see that in your Honda/Acura as factory fill :P.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

of course, and we're all here to learn.
as each one of us brings something new to the table.