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Honda Accord Engine Break-in and First Oil Change Questions

87 messages,  Last post on Mar 26, 2011 at 6:12 PM

You are in the Honda Accord Forum.

What is this discussion about? Honda Accord, Engine, Oil, Sedan

Messages Page 9 of 9

#78 of 87 Re: Oil change on my 2010 new Honda Accord v6 [tonyf2] by flankdriveed

Jan 07, 2011 (8:10 pm)

Replying to: tonyf2 (Jul 30, 2010 6:17 pm)
I've heard that the fix for v6 oil consumption is to disable the variable cylinder management. I guess the lower cyl pressure at the rings on a disabled cyl allows more blowby. If I paid for it it better work. Just my opinion. It could be wrong just what I heard.

#79 of 87 Re: Oil change on my 2010 new Honda Accord v6 [flankdriveed] by tonyf2

Jan 07, 2011 (9:10 pm)

Replying to: flankdriveed (Jan 07, 2011 8:10 pm)
I have approx. 8k miles on my 2010 v6 Honda Accord now. On my first oil change I got approx. 3.34k miles, so I added a 1/2 qt. and I'm at 3.8k miles. The minder is at 60% and I now am 3/4 qt short.
 
I like the car, It runs good. I have never owned a car that got more than 6k or so to a quart of oil and I'm in my late 70's. so I owned many auto's.
 
I look at it this way, I change my own oil, I buy 5 qts. put in 4 1/2 qt's that the car requires when it goes 1/2 qt short I put in the other 1/2 qt. When that goes down 1 qt. I'll change my oil. So I'll get about 4.5k or so to my 5 qts. of oil that I buy.
 
Forget the minder you will ruin your engine If you follow it.

#80 of 87 First time Honda owner by indydriver

Mar 20, 2011 (2:41 am)

I helped my daughter purchase her first car yesterday, a beautiful Accord EX-L V-6 in the new Orchid Pearl color (white). I'm 56 yo so I've owned plenty of cars including a Civic many years ago. I listened in on the delivery checklist provided by the salesman. He stated, "Honda does not do maintenance intervals by mileage, they do them by condition." And went on to explain how the Maintenance Minder works. He instructed her to come in for the first oil change at 15%. He stated that the car comes with synthetic oil and that his dealership will always replace with synthetic.
 
Having worked for a manufacturer (not of cars) most of my life, I believe in owner's manuals and following the manufacturer's instructions--there is a reason they are provided. So, of course, the first thing I do is pull out the manual. It is the first time I've ever seen a manufacturer state explicitly in the manual, "do not change the engine oil early". Hmmm. Then, it recommends 0W-20 and says you "may" use synthetic. It doesn't say explicitly, but it is written to sound as though dino is fine. I've always been a 3,000 mile dino guy because even if the oil can properly lubricate longer, it becomes contaminated with combustion by-products which I don't want in my engine. So, I'm just a little curious about these recommendations. Oh yeah, the salesman also said there is no break-in period which of course the manual contradicts.

#81 of 87 Re: First time Honda owner [indydriver] by thegraduate

Mar 20, 2011 (2:04 pm)

Replying to: indydriver (Mar 20, 2011 2:41 am)
I've had as many as 3 Accords in my household at any one time, let me tell ya...
 
The maintenance minder is the way to go. Do not change the oil before 15% for the first time, and there's no point in doing it early any other time either.
 
I would, however, break in the engine. Avoid running at the same RPMs for long periods of time, and avoid full-throttle stops and hard stops if you can help it.

#82 of 87 Honda first oil change by indydriver

Mar 20, 2011 (2:56 pm)

I've been reading all weekend many pertinent threads over at BITOG. I found one thread with a UOA on the FF after ~6500 mi. Lots of "garbage" in the sample and lots of commentators crying for an early first oil change--which I used to always do at 1,000 miles. I've also done a little research on Honda brand motor oil and it seems to be highly regarded--it is a semi-syn. So, it's hard to imagine how doing the first oil change a little early harms anything, except perhaps the pocketbook.

#83 of 87 Re: Honda first oil change [indydriver] by accman

Mar 20, 2011 (6:00 pm)

Replying to: indydriver (Mar 20, 2011 2:56 pm)
I heard that Honda use a special "break-in" engine oil in new cars. That is probably why the manual says "don't change oil early". Maybe you will lose the "break-in" effect from the original oil if you change it too early. Just my opinion.

#84 of 87 Re: Honda first oil change [accman] by indydriver

Mar 21, 2011 (6:09 am)

Replying to: accman (Mar 20, 2011 6:00 pm)
Supposedly. I think the consensus over at BITOG was that Used Oil Analysis of the factory fill was unremarkable in terms of chemical makeup, for example, levels of molybdenum were not unusually high. What was plentiful was contamination from various metals as one would expect during break-in. The consensus based on this data was that, regardless of what Honda says, one should change the factory fill sooner than the MM is indicating. I saw one third party comment that a knowledgeable Honda representative had stated that the facory fill was 0W-10 (take that for what its worth). The specs call for 0W-20 and I've seen universally positive comments about the quality of the Honda brand oil which is a semi-synthetic that sells for $5-$6 per quart. I certainly don't see any harm (and possibly much good) from changing at 3-5,000 miles regardless of what the MM reports. Remember that MM is not actually examining the quality of the oil. It is making an educated guess based on various driving conditions, hours and miles reported to it by the car's computer. It's an algorithm not an actual analysis of the oil. After break-in, I would be comfortable relying on the extended OCI it represents and choose an oil that I had confidence in going that far.

#85 of 87 Re: Honda first oil change [indydriver] by tallman1

Mar 21, 2011 (9:45 am)

Replying to: indydriver (Mar 21, 2011 6:09 am)
I've read a lot about oil changes over the years. I always recommend that people do a google search on the "3000 mile oil myth."
 
Someone on an Edmunds thread sent in his oil a few years ago and the analysis confirmed a high concentration of moly in the Honda factory oil. The idea is to keep the new engine metal shavings from causing problems. Honda has been recommending that you wait until at least 5000 miles for the first change for several years.
 
I just hit 90k on my 06 Accord EX-L with navi and a manual and I've been following the MM recommendations with no ill effects. This car has been great.
 
Dealers have different ideas when it comes to maintenance, usually to their financial advantage. I've been using a Castrol synthetic blend but I would have no trouble using strictly dino or going full synth. I just don't agree with the 3k oil change.... and I keep my cars a long time.
 
But in the end, it just depends on what an individual wants to do.

#86 of 87 Congrats on your trouble-free '96. by indydriver

Mar 22, 2011 (3:35 am)

Congrats on your trouble-free '96. Lots of different approaches have demonstrated success. Yeah, I've read the "3000 mile myth" articles including the one here on Edmonds. I've never done a UOA on any of my vehicles but I always rub the old oil between my fingers to feel it's consistency. There is no question that 3-4,000 mi oil is very dirty. I currently own 3 V-6s with 165,000, 153,000 and 82,000 on the clocks and not the first problem with any of them. I also own a 2008 Speed3 (I-4 turbo) that I've been using Dino and just bought my first load of synthetic to change it over next time around. Getting back to the "myth", I find it a little amusing that the extended interval guys are generally using syn, but condemn a Dino user for changing too early? If you can truly go 5,000+ with Dino, why bother with synthetic?

#87 of 87 OK, I guess I'm a believer now by indydriver

Mar 26, 2011 (6:12 pm)

After spending a lot of time on BITOG, Pennzoil and Mobile 1's websites, I'm coming around. I guess the drill is to run the Honda's FF as long as you can stand it (maybe even down to the recommended 15% OLM), then use either genuine Honda 0W-20 [Buyer Beware: I saw lots of horror stories about Honda dealers who do not even carry their own oil] or one of the great new synthetics like Pennzoil Ultra or M1 EP with a good filter. I guess the days of "buy what's cheapest" are over. I spent part of the weekend laying in a supply of PP and even bought some PHM for my oldy goldies. All of a sudden, it makes sense to spend $5 on a quart of oil!?!

Messages Page 9 of 9

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