Oil change at what miles?Severe conditons?

[TezGari]

I know this is old but,
i went to the dealer and the service guy said that i have to change my oil at 3500miles instead of 7500 miles. Why i ask, he says because you are driving under severe condtions. Severe....he says because we are in FL and the heat is very hot on the car.

What miles do i change my oil????

the dealer i brought my car from said 7500 cause of some oil in the engine. THen this one says 3500...What do i do!

by the way im at 2500miles so i got time......:D

[ApexinSi]

The manual says at 5,000 miles is your first oil change. They put a different kind of oil in and a different sized oil filter....and from what I have read this is the break in oil and has to be ran for 5k miles...no more or no less. Then after that you must change your oil every 5k miles...5,000, 10,000, 15,000...etc. There are lots of people that have done it differently, like every 3k or so...and I'm sure it can't do much harm, it is after all a honda.

[chunky]

Originally posted by ApexinSi
The manual says at 5,000 miles is your first oil change. They put a different kind of oil in and a different sized oil filter....and from what I have read this is the break in oil and has to be ran for 5k miles...no more or no less. Then after that you must change your oil every 5k miles...5,000, 10,000, 15,000...etc. There are lots of people that have done it differently, like every 3k or so...and I'm sure it can't do much harm, it is after all a honda.

5,000 miles only if it's a synthetic and you don't drive under "sever" conditions.

If you need help determining if you're driving under "severe" conditions, check your owner's manual, there's a table in there that lists out the criteria.

if you use conventional oils, or you drive under sever conditions, 3500miles is the oil change interval.

as far as synthetics go, most synthetics can go 5000 miles w/o turning to sludge, however, most oil filters don't have the filtration capacity to run for 5000 miles. So once the filter is clogged up, the bypass valve opens, and you're running unfiltered oil through your motor. So if you do go with a 5000 mile oil change interval, get an extended interval oil filter, or change the oil filter halfway through.

[silver ep]

So how do you know that chunky? Im not trying to say you dont know what your talking about but I just really want to find out exactly when the best time to change the oil is... my dealer said every 7500 with conventional oil:confused:

[chunky]

Originally posted by silver ep
So how do you know that chunky? Im not trying to say you dont know what your talking about but I just really want to find out exactly when the best time to change the oil is... my dealer said every 7500 with conventional oil:confused:

dear lord, 7500? that's ridiculous, esp on a conventional oil.

check www.bobistheoilguy.com for some good info on motor oils.

but it's well known that most conventional oils don't go more than 3500miles w/o thickening & leaving deposits inside the motor.

With conventional oils, you want to change every 3500 miles, definitely no more than 5000miles if you're pushing it. This is just so you get the oil out of your car before it begins to thicken to the point of leaving permanent deposits inside your oil pan and the rest of the motor.

With synthetics, the oils hold up much longer before they begin to thicken & leave deposits, 5000 miles is no sweat for a snythetic oil, however, most oil filters don't have the filtration capacity to hold 5000miles worth of soot etc. So the filter gets clogged, and the bypass valve in the filter opens allowing oil to run through unfiltered. That is a bad situation. However, there are new extended life filters that have more filtration surface area, and therefore last longer. I know the fram x2 filter is rated to go 5000 miles. So that filter + synthetic oil allows you to safely boost your interval to 5000 miles w/o doing anything bad to the motor.

Btw, the fram x2 filter is the same as the fram tough gaurd filter, which is a good filter - the regular fram, in the orange box is a piece of shit.

I personally use the mobil 1 or bosch oil filter - both are the same thing, but the bosch is usually 1/2 the price, so i go with bosch, but in a pinch, i'll use the mobil 1

[TezGari]

Originally posted by silver ep
So how do you know that chunky? Im not trying to say you dont know what your talking about but I just really want to find out exactly when the best time to change the oil is... my dealer said every 7500 with conventional oil:confused:

Im with him man...The only reason why im with him because my dealer (the guy who sold me the car) siad that i have to do it at 7500 miles. WHo do i belive!

[MagusDC5]

I change every 5000...and I got three types of motors..K20A2,D17A2, and B18C1 :)

[X 2KS2K]

i'm at 944 miles and just checked mine... i'm down almost a quart :eek:

from reading through some of the other threads, this doesn't sound terrible, but it's definitely something we all need to keep an eye on, esp. before the first oil change.

btw... does anyone else have a curved dipstick? mine has a decent bow to it, and i had a little trouble getting it back in.

[02blksi]

yup just checked mine and sure enough its LOWWWWW!
@ the low mark on the dipstick --2300 miles-- time for an oil change.. --joe

[SarahVTEC]

To break-in my SI, I changed it using coventional oil at 500, 1K, and finally 3K. Then I changed to synthetic at 6K. You'd be surprised how much faster my car is compared to other Si's due to that breaking period. Oh yeah, NO REDLINE until 1K.

[02blksi]

"To break-in my SI, I changed it using coventional oil at 500, 1K, and finally 3K"

thats a little over kill dont you think?? changing the oil at 500miles then drving another 500 and changing it again thats like 2 weeks driving!! :eek: but hey its your dime you do what you want ! --joe :)

[SarahVTEC]

Originally posted by 02blksi
"To break-in my SI, I changed it using coventional oil at 500, 1K, and finally 3K"

thats a little over kill dont you think?? changing the oil at 500miles then drving another 500 and changing it again thats like 2 weeks driving!! :eek: but hey its your dime you do what you want ! --joe :)

Yes, it may be a tad excessive, but oil is the life blood of our cars. As you may know, a new engine is prone to shaving off metal in the oil. Until the conventioanl has had time to seep/soak into the metal, it's a good idea to change it often when it's new.

[nikkotyper]

Originally posted by SarahVTEC
To break-in my SI, I changed it using coventional oil at 500, 1K, and finally 3K. Then I changed to synthetic at 6K. You'd be surprised how much faster my car is compared to other Si's due to that breaking period. Oh yeah, NO REDLINE until 1K.

When did you change the filter (the one for break-in period)?

[SarahVTEC]

Originally posted by nikkotyper


When did you change the filter (the one for break-in period)?

I changed the oil filter EVERY TIME I changed the oil. Be sure and change the washer as well.

[chunky]

Originally posted by SarahVTEC
To break-in my SI, I changed it using coventional oil at 500, 1K, and finally 3K. Then I changed to synthetic at 6K. You'd be surprised how much faster my car is compared to other Si's due to that breaking period. Oh yeah, NO REDLINE until 1K.

the factory fill oil comes with special additives that help seat the rings & seals in your motor. When you drained the oil at 500k miles, you drained all the additives out as well. Leaving the factory oil in is key to a proper breakin.

changing your oil at 500 miles is NOT a good idea.

also, metal does not soak up oil. It is true that there are microscopic metal fragments that are worn off in the first few 1000 miles, but nothing major (like what happens in the tranny).

[SarahVTEC]

Originally posted by chunky


the factory fill oil comes with special additives that help seat the rings & seals in your motor. When you drained the oil at 500k miles, you drained all the additives out as well. Leaving the factory oil in is key to a proper breakin.

changing your oil at 500 miles is NOT a good idea.

also, metal does not soak up oil. It is true that there are microscopic metal fragments that are worn off in the first few 1000 miles, but nothing major (like what happens in the tranny).

Ah...interesting theory. In any case, I haven't had any problems with my engine thus far. In fact, it seems to be a lot stronger than other Si's...

[natesi]

Originally posted by SarahVTEC


Ah...interesting theory. In any case, I haven't had any problems with my engine thus far. In fact, it seems to be a lot stronger than other Si's...

When I had an automatic I changed the tranny fluid every year. What's the deal with manuals? Is there any tranny fluid, or is that the hydrolic clutch fluid? What should be changed and how often?

I know I could look at the manual, but the Honda maintenance intervals are wack! Doesn't it recommend the first oil change at 5,000 miles!!!??! What the freak?!