Oil Change Frequency
03-03-2011, 04:50 AM
#1
Oil Change Frequency
I see some of the posts and see people going 7-8000 mile between oil changes and/or relying on the oil life indicator. I am old school and have always changed the oil between 3-4000 miles. I am an loyal Honda man from 1982 and in the last 6 years have switched to Acura's have have never had any engine issues even with cars going up to 270000 miles.
I have a 2011 SH-AWD tech and it is approaching 3 K and I wanted to know what is the recommended first oil change and what are people really doing.
I have a 2011 SH-AWD tech and it is approaching 3 K and I wanted to know what is the recommended first oil change and what are people really doing.
03-03-2011, 06:04 AM
#3
Suzuka Master
Personally when I owned my cars I would do them by 5K miles regardless of MID with Synthetic oil, now that I lease I take it down to when it nags me and let the dealer use whatever they have.
03-03-2011, 08:01 AM
#5
for atleast the last 15 years, honda has recommended oil change intervals under the normal driving conditions, at 6500 miles...i dont remember if thats schedual a or b...now that being said, i usually do my oil changes on the acura at 5k miles, since i do it myself its just easy for me to know when its time for me to change the oil and rotate the tires...
you cant go wrong with following the mid either, but you could go as high as 10k miles on a single oil change, which is not out of the norm either...
your only old school in the aspect that you bought into the oil companies recommendations as to when to buy more oil from them....
you cant go wrong with following the mid either, but you could go as high as 10k miles on a single oil change, which is not out of the norm either...
your only old school in the aspect that you bought into the oil companies recommendations as to when to buy more oil from them....
03-03-2011, 09:06 AM
#6
Don't forget the MID mainly bases oil life remaining off of the number of cold-starts you do on the engine. This is by far the single leading cause of engine wear and tear, not revving the engine. When the car is warmed up, revving it high won't matter much because the oil is already flowing so well.
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03-03-2011, 09:26 AM
#9
Your Friendly Canadian
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No MID here, I just check the oil every once in a while and use my own judgement. Usually around 5-6000 miles, but this last one was shorter considering all the stop and go driving it's gotten the past while.
03-03-2011, 09:28 AM
#10
Three Wheelin'
You need to leave the factory oil in at least until the MID tells you to change it. It has special properties to enhance the break-in period. After that, I would still go by the MID or change it at least once a year, whichever comes first.
03-03-2011, 10:00 AM
#11
i am not going to say i totally dissagree with you about the break in oil, but there isnt a whole lot of breaking in going on past the first few hundred miles...that being said, back in the day i would change out the motor oil for a new motor during the first 600 miles, now i wait til 5k miles...but i am not going to wait for the mid to rack up 8000 miles for my break in oil....this is me, and not to be confused with me trying to tell people what to do with their car....
03-03-2011, 10:15 AM
#12
Not another one of these...MOD?
03-03-2011, 01:06 PM
#13
Autofahrer
The service guy at my dealership said: 1st oil change after 7500 miles, or when the MID tells you to. BUT.... in our weather conditions (Wisconsin) he recommends the 1st one after 5k, because of the high temperature fluctuations.
Thus I'll pop her cherry this Saturday and fill her up with fresh stuff.
Thus I'll pop her cherry this Saturday and fill her up with fresh stuff.
03-04-2011, 08:40 AM
#16
Three Wheelin'
i am not going to say i totally dissagree with you about the break in oil, but there isnt a whole lot of breaking in going on past the first few hundred miles...that being said, back in the day i would change out the motor oil for a new motor during the first 600 miles, now i wait til 5k miles...but i am not going to wait for the mid to rack up 8000 miles for my break in oil....this is me, and not to be confused with me trying to tell people what to do with their car....
03-04-2011, 01:00 PM
#17
The Sicilian
It used to be back in the day that you'd want to get out the factory oil pretty early. Both my motorcycles required oil changes at 600 miles when new but only every 7500 miles or 1 year after. However, I'm just going by what the manual says for the 3g-4g TL. I would agree with you that I would also find it difficult to go 8k before making a change. Bottom line - it's your car and your money. Change it when and with what satisfies you. I'm content with leaving mine in a little longer but then again I lease!
03-04-2011, 02:25 PM
#18
Guest
Posts: n/a
I was told to change the oil for the first time in my ZR1 at 2,500 miles even though it comes with Mobile One Synthetic. I changed it in early November and drove it for about 500 miles before storing it for the winter. Many of my friends who have Z06, ZR1, 911 TT and Ferrari 599GTB and 430FF feel that changing the oil (including synthetic) should be done every 5,000 miles or 6 months (whichever comes first). They feel that it can't hurt to do it and it is easier to change the oil than it is to replace a $75,000 engine. Obviously the TL is nothing to those cars, but I still want to treat it as well as I can.
When I do change the oil on the new TL, my plan is to use Mobile One Synthetic for that too. You think this is over kill, either on the mileage interval or using synthetic? I am interested in feedback.
When I do change the oil on the new TL, my plan is to use Mobile One Synthetic for that too. You think this is over kill, either on the mileage interval or using synthetic? I am interested in feedback.
03-04-2011, 02:29 PM
#19
I was told to change the oil for the first time in my ZR1 at 2,500 miles even though it comes with Mobile One Synthetic. I changed it in early November and drove it for about 500 miles before storing it for the winter. Many of my friends who have Z06, ZR1, 911 TT and Ferrari 599GTB and 430FF feel that changing the oil (including synthetic) should be done every 5,000 miles or 6 months (whichever comes first). They feel that it can't hurt to do it and it is easier to change the oil than it is to replace a $75,000 engine. Obviously the TL is nothing to those cars, but I still want to treat it as well as I can.
When I do change the oil on the new TL, my plan is to use Mobile One Synthetic for that too. You think this is over kill, either on the mileage interval or using synthetic? I am interested in feedback.
When I do change the oil on the new TL, my plan is to use Mobile One Synthetic for that too. You think this is over kill, either on the mileage interval or using synthetic? I am interested in feedback.
redline 5w-30 has a HTHS rate of 3.6
m1 0w-40 has a HTHS rate of i think 3.5-.6
03-04-2011, 05:48 PM
#22
The Sicilian
Again it is really to each his own. I don't tell anyone what to do. All I do is tell people what I do and have done with all my vehicles no matter what.
I learned at a very young age from an old mechanic (very good family friend) years ago who had just replaced the the cam in my 1981 Camaro (a Chevy?) and about $800 worth of motor work, again we are talking 80's that no matter what change your motor oil because it's like the blood in your body. Old Italian guy!
I have always bought new cars (except for the Mustang) and I change the oil at 1,000 miles and then every 3,000-4,000 miles.
I use regular grade oil no synthetic.
We've had the TL for 14 months and with 10,500 miles I've changed the oil 4 times.
But that's just me!
I learned at a very young age from an old mechanic (very good family friend) years ago who had just replaced the the cam in my 1981 Camaro (a Chevy?) and about $800 worth of motor work, again we are talking 80's that no matter what change your motor oil because it's like the blood in your body. Old Italian guy!
I have always bought new cars (except for the Mustang) and I change the oil at 1,000 miles and then every 3,000-4,000 miles.
I use regular grade oil no synthetic.
We've had the TL for 14 months and with 10,500 miles I've changed the oil 4 times.
But that's just me!
03-04-2011, 09:06 PM
#23
hey jspagna1 - I like to change my oil about every 4k also - question - do you change the oil yourself or have the dealer do it?
- reason I'm asking - is about the maintenance minder - as my dealer was resetting the mtnx minder for the oil changes and at the same time clearing it (?) so long story short is at 19k miles I never saw the mtxn minder to change the rear diff.
I spoke to acura client services and from what I could understand - as they explained it - the maintenance minder computer works fine IF you wait for it to display codes before you service the car - they didn't have a good answer for me - as how I could change my oil before the car asked for an oil change and not affect the display of other maintenance codes down the line
best I could come up with - is to change the oil but not reset the maintenance minder until it displays on its own?? so maybe it ends up being reset every other oil change
so say you start off w/ 100% for oil life - change the oil down the road - like now I'm at 4k miles since the last oil change and the oil life is at 40% -
so now I change the oil - But do NOT reset the mtxn minder - that way it shows whatever codes are needed down the road - thats the plus
- the negative is the oil life will not be "true" (?)
acura client care basically said it works the way it does so maintenance items can be grouped together and you don't have to bring in the car for an oil change today and then 2 weeks later the car wants the rear diff changed
bottom line is from acura client care - they didn't have a good answer as how to change your oil more often than the car asks for and not miss some future mtxn codes - like my car not asking for the rear diff change
If someone can tell me different - thats great
I just want to be able to reset the oil life and not affect other maintenance codes - best I understand from acura client care - its all tied together - I even asked them to check it with an engineer w/ acura - and the next day after they checked the above is what I got from them.
sorry to steal the thread and for the length of this post - but since we are talking about oil here - I figure some of the posters to this thread are the ones who change their oil b4 the car mtxn minder says to do so
- reason I'm asking - is about the maintenance minder - as my dealer was resetting the mtnx minder for the oil changes and at the same time clearing it (?) so long story short is at 19k miles I never saw the mtxn minder to change the rear diff.
I spoke to acura client services and from what I could understand - as they explained it - the maintenance minder computer works fine IF you wait for it to display codes before you service the car - they didn't have a good answer for me - as how I could change my oil before the car asked for an oil change and not affect the display of other maintenance codes down the line
best I could come up with - is to change the oil but not reset the maintenance minder until it displays on its own?? so maybe it ends up being reset every other oil change
so say you start off w/ 100% for oil life - change the oil down the road - like now I'm at 4k miles since the last oil change and the oil life is at 40% -
so now I change the oil - But do NOT reset the mtxn minder - that way it shows whatever codes are needed down the road - thats the plus
- the negative is the oil life will not be "true" (?)
acura client care basically said it works the way it does so maintenance items can be grouped together and you don't have to bring in the car for an oil change today and then 2 weeks later the car wants the rear diff changed
bottom line is from acura client care - they didn't have a good answer as how to change your oil more often than the car asks for and not miss some future mtxn codes - like my car not asking for the rear diff change
If someone can tell me different - thats great
I just want to be able to reset the oil life and not affect other maintenance codes - best I understand from acura client care - its all tied together - I even asked them to check it with an engineer w/ acura - and the next day after they checked the above is what I got from them.
sorry to steal the thread and for the length of this post - but since we are talking about oil here - I figure some of the posters to this thread are the ones who change their oil b4 the car mtxn minder says to do so
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Kingcredible (05-22-2019)
03-05-2011, 08:18 AM
#25
The Sicilian
hey jspagna1 - I like to change my oil about every 4k also - question - do you change the oil yourself or have the dealer do it?
- reason I'm asking - is about the maintenance minder - as my dealer was resetting the mtnx minder for the oil changes and at the same time clearing it (?) so long story short is at 19k miles I never saw the mtxn minder to change the rear diff.
I spoke to acura client services and from what I could understand - as they explained it - the maintenance minder computer works fine IF you wait for it to display codes before you service the car - they didn't have a good answer for me - as how I could change my oil before the car asked for an oil change and not affect the display of other maintenance codes down the line
best I could come up with - is to change the oil but not reset the maintenance minder until it displays on its own?? so maybe it ends up being reset every other oil change
so say you start off w/ 100% for oil life - change the oil down the road - like now I'm at 4k miles since the last oil change and the oil life is at 40% -
so now I change the oil - But do NOT reset the mtxn minder - that way it shows whatever codes are needed down the road - thats the plus
- the negative is the oil life will not be "true" (?)
acura client care basically said it works the way it does so maintenance items can be grouped together and you don't have to bring in the car for an oil change today and then 2 weeks later the car wants the rear diff changed
bottom line is from acura client care - they didn't have a good answer as how to change your oil more often than the car asks for and not miss some future mtxn codes - like my car not asking for the rear diff change
If someone can tell me different - thats great
I just want to be able to reset the oil life and not affect other maintenance codes - best I understand from acura client care - its all tied together - I even asked them to check it with an engineer w/ acura - and the next day after they checked the above is what I got from them.
sorry to steal the thread and for the length of this post - but since we are talking about oil here - I figure some of the posters to this thread are the ones who change their oil b4 the car mtxn minder says to do so
- reason I'm asking - is about the maintenance minder - as my dealer was resetting the mtnx minder for the oil changes and at the same time clearing it (?) so long story short is at 19k miles I never saw the mtxn minder to change the rear diff.
I spoke to acura client services and from what I could understand - as they explained it - the maintenance minder computer works fine IF you wait for it to display codes before you service the car - they didn't have a good answer for me - as how I could change my oil before the car asked for an oil change and not affect the display of other maintenance codes down the line
best I could come up with - is to change the oil but not reset the maintenance minder until it displays on its own?? so maybe it ends up being reset every other oil change
so say you start off w/ 100% for oil life - change the oil down the road - like now I'm at 4k miles since the last oil change and the oil life is at 40% -
so now I change the oil - But do NOT reset the mtxn minder - that way it shows whatever codes are needed down the road - thats the plus
- the negative is the oil life will not be "true" (?)
acura client care basically said it works the way it does so maintenance items can be grouped together and you don't have to bring in the car for an oil change today and then 2 weeks later the car wants the rear diff changed
bottom line is from acura client care - they didn't have a good answer as how to change your oil more often than the car asks for and not miss some future mtxn codes - like my car not asking for the rear diff change
If someone can tell me different - thats great
I just want to be able to reset the oil life and not affect other maintenance codes - best I understand from acura client care - its all tied together - I even asked them to check it with an engineer w/ acura - and the next day after they checked the above is what I got from them.
sorry to steal the thread and for the length of this post - but since we are talking about oil here - I figure some of the posters to this thread are the ones who change their oil b4 the car mtxn minder says to do so
I have been going to the same place for 20+ years. The old Italian guy had a partner and when he retired I kept going to them.
He has two sons that work for him and his other son is a city cop which is also a good thing for me.
Not sure I have the answer for you, but you bring up a very good point. No matter who or when you change the oil in the car, the MID has to be reset so you can monitor the oil life. So you would think it would not effect the other indicators? For a system that suposed to be so sophisticated, that makes no sense.
Bottom line is you should fall back to the owners manual for reference. I also do that with my other vehicles regardless. This way you get a general idea of when certain maintenances should take place.
I'm old school so I really go by mileage and not electronic indicators and I always ask my mechanic who I can trust. Don't get me wrong I have to pay my mechanic but I know he is not out to screw me as I know about cars as well and I know he does'nt do any unnecessary work.
And yes the benefits are that he does do some things for me like doing electrical work on my cars which is not my strong point and he won't charge me for it.
03-05-2011, 08:50 AM
#26
it's a car-drive it
I never take my car to the Dealer unless my mechanic tells me to. I'm done with changing my own oil and brake jobs etc. I did that when I was young and had no money and had to work on my previous Mustang.
I have been going to the same place for 20+ years. The old Italian guy had a partner and when he retired I kept going to them.
He has two sons that work for him and his other son is a city cop which is also a good thing for me.
Not sure I have the answer for you, but you bring up a very good point. No matter who or when you change the oil in the car, the MID has to be reset so you can monitor the oil life. So you would think it would not effect the other indicators? For a system that suposed to be so sophisticated, that makes no sense.
Bottom line is you should fall back to the owners manual for reference. I also do that with my other vehicles regardless. This way you get a general idea of when certain maintenances should take place.
I'm old school so I really go by mileage and not electronic indicators and I always ask my mechanic who I can trust. Don't get me wrong I have to pay my mechanic but I know he is not out to screw me as I know about cars as well and I know he does'nt do any unnecessary work.
And yes the benefits are that he does do some things for me like doing electrical work on my cars which is not my strong point and he won't charge me for it.
I have been going to the same place for 20+ years. The old Italian guy had a partner and when he retired I kept going to them.
He has two sons that work for him and his other son is a city cop which is also a good thing for me.
Not sure I have the answer for you, but you bring up a very good point. No matter who or when you change the oil in the car, the MID has to be reset so you can monitor the oil life. So you would think it would not effect the other indicators? For a system that suposed to be so sophisticated, that makes no sense.
Bottom line is you should fall back to the owners manual for reference. I also do that with my other vehicles regardless. This way you get a general idea of when certain maintenances should take place.
I'm old school so I really go by mileage and not electronic indicators and I always ask my mechanic who I can trust. Don't get me wrong I have to pay my mechanic but I know he is not out to screw me as I know about cars as well and I know he does'nt do any unnecessary work.
And yes the benefits are that he does do some things for me like doing electrical work on my cars which is not my strong point and he won't charge me for it.
03-05-2011, 11:02 PM
#27
Three Wheelin'
my MID took me to 9600 miles on the factory fill till the A16 popped... I sent the oil into Blackstone for analysis - but needless to say that's a bit of mileage off the first fill.
03-08-2011, 10:45 AM
#28
03-08-2011, 10:53 AM
#29
Three Wheelin'
03-08-2011, 11:44 AM
#30
I used to follow the mid when I had my civic, it went down to 10-15% every 5k miles. I drive about 10k per year, but its probably 80-85% city driving. Seeing that my driving habit's don't change much, and the TLs first oil change was at about 5k, I'm just going to change the oil every 5k now.
03-08-2011, 03:03 PM
#31
Autofahrer
Did my 1st oil change on Saturday after 5k. Window Sticker suggests next oil change at 10k.
So 5k Intervals it is, at least for my Acura Dealer.
So 5k Intervals it is, at least for my Acura Dealer.
03-08-2011, 03:52 PM
#32
it's a car-drive it
I take my acura to acura dealers in NC and PA. The dealer in NC puts a sticker stating the next mileage due (3,750 miles) and the PA puts 15%. When we took our car to the acura dealer in Reno, NV they also had 15%. When it gets to 15% there will be a code of what service is due next.
03-08-2011, 06:06 PM
#33
50% at 5K
03-10-2011, 05:06 PM
#36
Three Wheelin'
I don't know why they posted 7700 miles in their report... anyway the factory fill was 9596 miles. :wow: --- and they recommended changing it sooner.
Soooo this beggs the question for all the long highway drivers (us 40k+ yr) drivers.... do we listen to the MID, or change it sooner?
Soooo this beggs the question for all the long highway drivers (us 40k+ yr) drivers.... do we listen to the MID, or change it sooner?
03-10-2011, 05:09 PM
#37
Racer
So your results show that changing oil every 3k is a waste of time and money.
I know folks here and others will kept on changing every 3k no matter what. By the way, I change mine every 5-5.5k.
I also go to the dealer to do my oil changes. Never had a problem.
I know folks here and others will kept on changing every 3k no matter what. By the way, I change mine every 5-5.5k.
I also go to the dealer to do my oil changes. Never had a problem.
03-19-2011, 06:10 PM
#38
Here's another data point. For the past 30k miles I've been changing the oil pretty much at 10k miles intervals as per the MID. It was all highway miles as I commute up to Boston every week from NJ for work.
Well, the project ended and my last oil change was at 30k just when I rolled off the project. Since then I haven't used the car much other than local sub-10 mile trips. Guess what? At 30,200 miles the oil life dropped to 90%!!!! I was averaging 1000 miles per 10% on highway. Now after 200 miles I drop 10%????!!!
I will keep monitoring it.
Well, the project ended and my last oil change was at 30k just when I rolled off the project. Since then I haven't used the car much other than local sub-10 mile trips. Guess what? At 30,200 miles the oil life dropped to 90%!!!! I was averaging 1000 miles per 10% on highway. Now after 200 miles I drop 10%????!!!
I will keep monitoring it.
03-19-2011, 09:15 PM
#39
an adult perspective
Just performed my most recent "A" service last Saturday, which was 9,900 after the previous service. By my math, I was within 100 miles of the MID going from 5% to "change it now!". As long as I follow the MID guidance, I have no issues.
