SergeyM

I bough a 2013 TSX about 3 month ago with 35K miles on it and at the moment the car has a little over 38K miles.
The last oil change was performed by the selling Acura dealer in July of this year as a part of Acura certification process.
From July and till October the car was only driven about 30-40 miles. The car computer now shows that there are still 40% of oil life left.

Last month just a week before the car ran out of 4 year warranty I took it to the closest to me Acura dealer to check the car up and ask the service advisor if an oil change is recommended, how much it would cost and what kind of oil they use. The answer was - you do not need any oil change yet, $42 + tax, semi-synthetic.

The question I have - should I use a full synthetic oil since it looks like the car computer allows the same oil stay in the car for 5-7 month and approximately 6K miles?
It is my first used car in many years and I need it to run for another 4 (better even 5 years) and at least another 50-60K miles.

Should I find another dealer that would be more willing to do the "not yet needed" service or trust the one I am dealing with now.
Probably if I pushed harder they would do the oil change but I am used to trust specialist in their field.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

if you change the oil on a regular basis, it wont matter what type of oil is in there, because you're always switching it out for fresh fluid.
However, if you are one to miss an oil change or even like to go with extended oil change intervals, then a synthetic oil will help protect the engine in those times that you cant get the oil changed, or happen to miss the OCI (Oil change interval)

the car computer doesnt know what type of oil is in the car and only cares about a regular interval, depending on driving habits...it looks like your driving habits have dictated a 6k mile OCI, which is fine for regular oil use...Unless like stated above...you want extra protection because you either skip OCI or want to go longer than 6K.

horseshoez

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I agree with Justin's assessment. If your plan is to change the oil roughly every 6,000 miles, then use any 0W-20 or 5W-20 oil, synthetic, conventional, or a blend, it matters not, your engine will still last hundreds of thousands of miles.

The above said, if your plan is to run longer oil change intervals, say 10,000 to 12,000 miles, then you should go to a quality synthetic oil.

SilentWrath

This question is without doubt much better suited for a lubrication specific forum AKA BITOG https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/

To answer your question properly backed with data, you should consider sending a sample of your used oil out for analysis at a lab like Blackstone.

As a general rule of thumb Honda high performance 4 cyl. engines like the k24 like to shear oil over time, reducing the effective oil weight by the time you change it.

I won't use anything but full synthetic in any car I own. Most full synthetics are pretty good in this day and age (this wasn't always the case). With that said I prefer to use Castrol and Pennzoil.

Even with the full synthetic in there you could still be shearing oil pretty significantly by the time you reach 7k miles depending on conditions. Without performing a used oil analysis it would be safest to change at 5k with full syn. If you invest in a used oil analysis you may find you can extend the interval to as high as 8k+ miles depending.

fbt

I forget who I sent my oil to for analysis, but the report I got back wasn't of much help. It basically said that the oil was consistent with what is found on cars with 100,000 miles. I was hoping to see see data ppm of metal and such. I'll get a sample report next time before I send it out.

horseshoez

iTrader: (2)

Which company did you use for your UOA? I've used Blackstone Labs on several occasions and the reports have always included PPM numbers.

fbt

Like I said, I forgot who it was.

horseshoez

iTrader: (2)

Go over to BobIsTheOilGuy.com and go into the UOA database; there are images from literally hundreds of UOAs from pretty much every provider of such services; you can easily pick the company which provides you with the information you're looking for.

BROlando

Your OCI is only 6K miles? Your light is at 0% by then?

Our station wagon shows its 15% life meter at like 8-8.5K miles. So 0% at 9400-10K miles.

Well...now its only driven 2-3K miles a year. So I'll just do the change anually.

0W20 synthetic is available everywhere. Amazon or auto parts stores or Walmart (if you shop there) has it for like $20-25.

Any 0W20 is fine.

justnspace

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if you're not first, you're last.
i spend my life a quarter mile at a time
my house, it sits at 7200RPM, I live there.

Sheefo2k

Whatever my Acura dealership puts in my wagon.

losiglow

iTrader: (1)

Like Justn said, it doesn't really matter with an engine like this. Unless you're racing it or always living in the high RPM's (like Justn), you're fine with just about anything.

However, Like Eric the Car Guy says, if you love your car, use a synthetic. I use Mobil 1 Extended Performance w/ M1-104 filter. Cheap at Walmart. Maybe $15 more than dyno oil with a cheapo fram filter. Has mostly Group IV PAO with some Group III mixed in. Goofy oil talk for "good synthetic with some highly refined dyno in the mix" (only a few "boutique" oils like Redline and Amsoil are 100% synthetic). Anyway, that's more than enough assure your car will fall apart around a running engine.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

I even started using synthetic in the '12 Kia Sportage.
I guess it helps me sleep at night that the cars are getting the best lube jobs that they can

losiglow

iTrader: (1)

That's the thing. Synthetic used to be quite a bit more expensive than regular dyno oil. But now a days it's maybe 50% more? A whopping $9 or so at Walmart? For that price, why not? It's like buying Kraft macaroni and cheese over the store brand if it's only 10 cents more. Might as well for that price.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

i dont think i'm using FULL synthetic, just whatever blends are on sale at autozone..
the cheapy stuff with filter comes out to be like $23-25
and the blends with filter comes out to like $30-32

yes a $9-12 dollar spread, which isn't hurting me at all.

losiglow

iTrader: (1)

Well, full synthetic is a bit of a misnomer anyways. They're all blends unless you go with the really expensive stuff. Just less dyno and more "synthetic" to call it "Full" synthetic. It's some legal loophole I read about on Bobistheoilguy. Of course, everything on the internet is true.

SergeyM

When we got the car it had 90% before service remaining. Now 3 months and 3,200 miles later it is at 40%. Makes it a little over 6,000 miles between oil changes.
We are in NYC area. Los of stop and go traffic.

Originally I planed to just take the car to my dealer for service while it is still under Acura certification. This is probably what I will do based on all the advice I've got.
Will probably ask if they are willing to use a full-synthetic oil and if it does not double the price will use the full synthetic.

As I mentioned above this is my first 4 year old car in almost 15 years. Back there I own a seven year old Ford Taurus and changed oil every 3 month or 3,000 miles.
I started leasing in 2002 and since then all my cars (70% BMWs and 30% Acuras) just received the scheduled service with whatever liquids dealers were putting into them.
None of the cars was older that 3 years or had over 50K miles though.
I fell like I am out for a little adventure with our TSX.

losiglow

iTrader: (1)

Yeah, I'm not sure how the maintenance minder calculates OCI's but I don't think it's strictly by miles. I think it factors in things like stop-and-go conditions, time between oil changes and RPM.

The TSX has a great engine. The K24 is one of Honda's best 4-cylinders IMO, short of the F20C and F22C1 for the S2K which are literal feats of engineering. Some would argue the B series due to it's ease and popularity in major boosting but I have no experience there

The only kicker with the K24 is that it's a high rev'r. There's not much torque down low so if you're pushing it in the 5-7K range frequently (which is really where the power is) you might want to go with synthetic to minimize breakdown of the oil due to heat and shearing. I don't pretend to be some in-depth chemist when it comes to oil, but it's pretty well established that synthetic oil is more resistant to chemical breakdown from higher stress usage. I had a 2007 TSX and really liked it. It has pretty much the same engine as the 2013. Yours has some increased air flow in the intake and exhaust, as well as some additional improvements like stronger connecting rods and under piston oil passages. But the rest is about the same. I pushed it pretty hard most of the time and drove it about 50K miles (from 80K to 130K) before I sold it, and treated it with synthetic during that time. Granted, at that low of mileage, I could probably have used crude oil straight out of the ground and not noticed any difference by 130K. But I believe it helped a bit.

SergeyM

Interesting statement. Actually everyone seems to think so, but from my experience K24 has a very reasonable pull between 2,500 and 3,500 RPM.
It makes the car decently quick in everyday driving. Yes, between 4K and 5K there is not much but there is not much at the top end either.
It does pull harder when VTEC kicks in (4,800 RPM?) but still not by much. Down low the engine is fine though.

Our other car was 2015 BMW 328 till the end of the last month and now it is 2018 BMW 340 and any of these cars would destroy the TSX at higher RPMs but down low TSX is absolutely fine. Not as punchy as our 328 was but comparable to 340. Yes above 4,000 RPM 340 is a beast but when doing grosery shopping or picking up our daughter from school I never get to those RPMS.

Once again above 3,500 TSX engine cannot much more modern engines but its mid-range is very respectful.

losiglow

iTrader: (1)

That's good. That was one of the improvements they said they made for the 2nd gen TSX over the 1st gen. That's how I largely feel about the J35 in my TL. Yeah, it's got more guts up high but I like it just fine <3500RPM or so. Especially with a few mods like HFPC's and Ktuner which help down low.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

bruv, I fell in love with my car, again... after I tuned it.
torque MONSTER!