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I'm unsettled on this. I just got my '05 EM2 a couple months ago. I changed the oil at 1500 miles with Mobil 1 0w-20, and I've gotten better gas mileage and the engine seems to run smoother and better since. I read much about synthetic oils before I put it in, however I'm now finding stuff out about the factory fill that Honda puts in has moly, which supposedly coats all the internals.

My questions is, was I safe to go to synthetic at 1500 miles? I wanted to change it again at 3k, then again at 5k .. then every 5k thereafter, since synthetics go for a bit longer then regular oils.

any advice?

 
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Well, Honda recommends you use the oil that came in the car for 5K to properly break it in. How much this really matters is questionable. However, my opinion is that you should have run at least some sort of dino juice for the first 5k to break in the engine. After that you can use synthetic every 5k. No need to change it more than once before the first 5K either. The filter will take care of any particles created from break in. I'm guessing you will be fine, it might just take a bit longer for your engine to "loosen up". I am no expert though...I'm sure others will have different advice.

 
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after reading your post, only one thing comes to mind. Are you some kind of idiot?

 
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You should use regular oil to break in an engine, then switch to synthetic.

I saw a workshop on it this past summer - made me switch all my cars over (mileage doesn't matter) that weren't leaking oil.

Break in doesn't need to be 3000 miles. Its all about heat cycles. If you were driving pretty decent distances to really heat up the engine, then let it cool all the way down, then you should be fine - the engine should be broken in.

The guy that was giving the tech-talk was a lead engineer for Dodge and raced neons - his 'break in' was 0 miles, but was done in the car - with the car in neutral. I'll try to find his recommended procedure. 15 minutes at 3000 rpm's sounds right - but I'll see if I can find it.

 
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There's no such thing as "break-in" oil, it's the same oil you can buy off the shelf at the parts store.

As far as using Synthetic oil after 1500 miles, there's no problem with this at all. Breaking a engine in isn't anywhere as near as cridical as it was 20 years ago, engines are now made with such tight tolerances and much much better metals and composite plastics.

So a easy answer to your question is: No you didn't screw up, it won't hurt the engine, and just keep your oil changed at normal intervals.

 
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Blahman2, its obvious you know nothing of the internal workings of an engine.

 
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ah I'm not an idiot, and i figured it wouldn't do much to the engine. Thanks for all the great advice. SiliconJesus, I do 90% highway driving commuting from southern new jersey to philadelphia weekly, in the meantime the car just kinda sits - i might do a few errands but the majority of its use it for my hour and a half commute.

In the manual it just states to ride gentle for the first 600 miles, which I did. I kind of think the every 10k oil change is a bit too long, which is why I thought I would just be fine with every 5k. I also figured with the better results I'm getting with the new car, it was a better choice.

 
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If your rings seated, you're fine. Whether they seated depends on how you drove the car. If you granny it like the manual says, you're better off sticking with dino oil for the first couple oil changes at 5k intervals.

You'll get a lot of opinions on this one. Some backed by knowledge and experience, some not.

 
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this is kind of off topic but this is a post about oil and our engines, since my turbo install ive been burning a good amount of oil, which ive heard mixed feelings about, some say its normal and some not, but regardless, ive been putting different grades in to see if there is a difference, where im getting at is it bad that ive put in 10-30, 10-40 5-30 5-20 etc? lol i know i car recommends 5-20, think its bad to use the other stuff?

 
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when i got mine i got my first oil change at 3k then at 6k i started to put sinthetic i dunno bout fuel economy but it really runs better now i have 30k

 
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yeah im not sure if 0w-20 is too thin. Honda say 5w-20 but i use mobil 5w30

 
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After seeing your rep points and reading YOUR post, only one thing comes to mind. Do you have anything intelligent to contribute to this thread? Or are you going to continue to waste oxygen when all he asked for was advice?

 
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I know all I need to know about internal works of an engine. But whats the point of changing oil at that low of miles and then twice more before 5000??? Just a waste of resources.

 
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There's nothing wrong with changing your oil to soon, you can't change it to much, period. I will agree that changing it every 1500 miles is a bit soon, but the question was, would it hurt the engine, which it won't.

There's nothing wrong with 5w-20 oil, I really laugh when I hear people say you need a "thicker" or "heavier" oil.

The only thing you should be concerned about is viscosity, that's what protects the engine, most all engine oils made now are very good and can handle higher engine temps then just a few years ago. All a higher weight oil will do is put more drag on your engine, which will decrease horse power and fuel milage.

Now I'm reffering to factory engines which I would say covers about 98% of the engines on this website, small mods don't make a racing engine. Unless you have a turbo or super charger, then you should use what the manufacture recommends.

 
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thanks solar man, you've been a lot of help I chose 0w-20 for Mobil 1, because it said that it is the equal in synthetic to 5w-20 in regular oil. And to the person that said how I drove it ... I sort of babied it for the first 600 miles, since that's what it said to do in the manual. After that I gave it some gas, not redlining it. I have almost 3k on the car now and I stil haven't redlined it, but I brought it, and still bring it up to 5-6 grand at least once a day. But from 600-1500 miles I ran it hard, but didn't race it.

 
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Running a "straight" weight motor oil, 0w-whatever, is fine as long as you live in a warm climate. If you live in a Northern climate I'd use a 5w or 10w oil, the "w" stands for weather and the higher the number the better the oil works in a very very cold area. I live in Florida and all I've ever put in all my cars is straight 30 oil except my EP3, and I have almost 200,000 miles on my Van and 130,000 miles on my Mustang with no problems.

 
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You are in NJ and I would suggest putting in heavier weight oil for the winter. You will want at least 5w-20, but even 10w-30 would be fine too. 0w is really light. I am running 5w-20 all year, but the honda dealers put in 10w30 because of the season changes.

I agree with solar that you can't change your oil soon enough, however, it is a waste of resources if you change it too soon. The factory manual says you can get 5k out of dino oil, so I was changing mine every 4500-5000 miles on dino. Now I change it every 7500 with 5w-20 synthetic but that is because I race. I won't change my wife's sythetic until after 10k. I haven't had any problems with my car and I have 45k. I am not a big fan of wasting resources if we don't have to. I mean you could change your oil everyday but is it worth the price and the waste?

 
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true, those are some good points. From your guys posts it seems unecessary to change it at 3k again, so I guess I'll just wait until either 5k or 6500 (5k after last oil change). I can always tell, especially with my old civic hatch, and my Nissan Pathfinder (I change the oil every 4-5k in that) - the gas mileages just go straight to crap at about 3k, and the oil definatley looks dirty. I guess I'll monitor the new coupe and see if my gas mileage changes leaving the oil in longer. It gets kind of rediculous in my '97 Pathfinder.. I'll get maybe 18mpg with fresh oil, and once I hit about 3k on that oil, I get maybe 14-15 if I'm lucky, so as for wasting resources, it's kind of a trade off! heh. Thanks for all the knowledgable words!

 
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i would, but Mobil 1 doesn't come in 5w-20 for some reason, I guess I could go with 5w-30 instead right?

 
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That is fine. The only sythetic 5w-20 is amsoil currently. At least as far as I know. You can run 5w-30 or 10w-30. Either one.

 
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yup, what Robb said

I agree that changing oil under 3000 miles is a waste of resources, I change the oil in my EP3 every 3,000 or so because it starts to get dirty right around then.