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I went to get my oil changed at Honda the other day before I made the 1500 mile drive from CA to Texas (I didn't feel like doing it myself b/c I didn't have time). I got it changed at around 39K. Why did they put 44K on the oil change sticker? I asked one of the guys before I left and he said, "Yeah, every 5000..." WTH?

 
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3,000 is old school and was a good idea when your father was a teenager. The improvements in lubrication, oil and filters, make it a waste of good money and good oil if you change it every 3k. It's just like taking handfuls of change and tossing them out the window as you motor along.

Every 5k is a perfectly safe and acceptable interval. Anything sooner and the dealer, your local auto store and Iffy Lube have just elevated you to preferred customer status.

People work hard enough for their money. Don't throw yours away with changing your oil to soon. 5k is easy to keep track of on your odometer and you will not hurt your engine one iota with that interval.

 
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While the basic theory of this post is correct. I don't quite agree with it.

The Manual says 5000 miles, 5000miles is OKAY.
Yes technology is wonderful and advancing.
But the breakdown of oil is not a phased event where 0-4,999 miles it's A Okay
*PoOf*
5,000 miles it's crap!
I'm gradually breaks down as you rack up the wear.
About 5,000 miles and you've reached a level where you NEED to change it.

Changing your oil at 3,000 miles is good prevenitive maintenence.
We all bought are Honda's to get good gas milage and to Beat the Heck out of it for a good 200,000 miles.
The best way to get there is to take care of it.
I'm not saying a 5k oil change and you won't get there.
But after 200k miles a engine who's been changed on 3k instead of 5k will perform better.

Yes it cost more, and takes more time. But If you change your only oil you are talking about pennies.

 
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thought it depended on what your engine size is too...a mechanic told me if u have a v6 or above you have to get it every 3K miles but 4 bangers... 5k is ok

 
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I believe the major factor in oil breakdown is the temperature and the rpm’s of the engine. I older cars generally run at higher temps than newer ones. And smaller engines generally run at higher rpm’s. But I can’t make any sense out of larger engines breaking down the oil faster.

As far as I know larger engines just use more oil. The oil should still circulate through the engine as well.

Ohh another major factor is the oil filter.. Always use a high quality oil filter. Fram and Napa regular are Doo Doo… Just use the Honda filter there like $4 and worth every penny..

Wait I got it… Larger engines also have more contact surface area inside the engine, meaning they can shed/form more contaminants. That’s makes it harder on the filter, and could breakdown the oil faster!!

I’m still saying 3k though =P

 
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Thanks guys, I understand what you are talking about. I guess I'll just start doing mine at 4K miles (since it's between 3 and 5, haha). I used a Fram oil filter once and never went back. After that I always went back to Honda to get their oil filters. One day I started using Castrol GTX 5w20 and after that I never changed...

Oh, and what is the deal with the amount of time your car has the oil in it. I would think it doesn't matter if you have 1000 miles on the new oil and have had the oil in your car for over 3 months does it?

 
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ive even heard that now a days some of them tell people ever 7500....

but im old school as you say and change it ever 3k and my engine only MobilOne

 
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for all the oil info you need, visit: http://theoildrop.server101.com/cgi/ultimatebb.cgi

 
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Changing at 3-4k is a waste of time, money and good oil. While oil will always be dirtier every time it's used, there comes a time when it's too dirty. That time does not come, IMO, until 5k miles, if not later.

While it won't do you any harm to change your oil sooner, why not change it at 1.5k or 2k? That same rationale that says 3k changes are just a good PM idea would also say changing it every 30 days, regardless of mileage, would fit that same maintenance model.

The best way I can explain it is refilling your gas tank when it's only 1/4 empty - no harm in doing so but why waste the time?

5k is a good and proven interval and no harm will come in following this schedule. Even more so if the driving is highway.

I agree that Fram filters are not the best choice but buying the Honda filter has been proven, in some cases, to be rebranded Frams. There are some from Japan, made by another company, that is of much higher quality. I believe it's Toyo Royko but you'd have to look the cannister at the dealership. The filters marked Honeywell are Fram.

I personally like the Purolater PureOne, Mobil1 and K&N.

BITOG is a good site that will give you so much oil info that you'll want to puke. I'm member and there are some very smart people there who agree that 3k is a premature level unless UOA confirms the presence of some engine problem justifying the early change.

 
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svongkasem,

My suggestion if you're not willing to invest in UOA, would be 6 months or 5k which ever occurs first as long as you're using a high quality oil. If the car sits most of the time I'd use an extremly high quality syn such as Redline for example.

While there is nothing wrong with GTX you might want to give some consideration to Motorcraft 5w-20. It's probably one of the best built oils around, in this viscosity, and I'd use it in a heartabeat. The Ford performance specs for this oil are tougher than those specified by Honda. Honda has high requirements for this oil viscosity but Ford has even greater testing requirements. Any oil that meets the Ford specs surpases those from Honda.

 
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believe it or not, when I got the car from the dealer, they said Honda recommended 7000 miles, but their own service dept recommends 3500 (1/2 of the recommended) b/c of the amount of city driving ppl do with their cars.