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Honda Accord Engine Break-in and First Oil Change Questions

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Comments

  • elroy5elroy5 Member Posts: 3,735
    I have an 03V6, and the manual has 7,500 miles, for normal conditions. For severe conditions it has 3,750 miles or 6 months. I would leave the special break-in oil in until 5,000 miles.

    Saddle soap works great, and it's cheap too. I found some at the local feed store for $500/can.
  • tallman1tallman1 Member Posts: 1,874
    Saddle soap works great, and it's cheap too. I found some at the local feed store for $500/can.

    Dang, Elroy.... $500 for a can of saddle soap IS cheap. So how about letting me be the exclusive supplier for all your car care needs? I'll even give you a 50% discount on your next can! :D
  • blufz1blufz1 Member Posts: 2,045
    What's the expiration date on that drum? :)
  • autoracer100autoracer100 Member Posts: 2
    You should not get an oil change until your car pass 5k miles mark due to the special break in oil that comes with the car. It contains detergent n something else to clean up the motor.

    I would just stick to manual's recommendation and the maintenance reminder in the speed odometer.
  • dtownfbdtownfb Member Posts: 2,918
    I thought someone did an analysis on the break-in oil after the first oil change (as recommended by the oil life monitor) and it still had plenty of lubrication left.
  • elroy5elroy5 Member Posts: 3,735
    Ok guys, I forgot the decimal point. :blush: ($5.00)
  • tallman1tallman1 Member Posts: 1,874
    Yes, we've had plenty of discussions on this thread and others about changing the oil... first time or future changes. There was a link to a very good article on today's oil but I didn't save it.

    It is true that Honda puts additives in the break-in oil and changing it too soon defeats the purpose. I no longer follow the 3000k rule after everything I've read. But the choice is up to each individual.
  • tallman1tallman1 Member Posts: 1,874
    And you took the kidding so well! Kind of refreshing, actually. ;)
  • tamu2002tamu2002 Member Posts: 758
    I posted the report on the Accord general board around this March. A simple search should do it. In a nutshell, the oil was still very good after 5-6 months and 6800 miles. The TBN (total base number ) was still 4 if I remember correctly.

    Apparantly Honda knows what they're doing with their recommendation of a late first oil change. I probably changed mine too soon!
  • corkscrewcorkscrew Member Posts: 254
    We recently attended a new owners clinic put on by the service manager. The topic of oil changes came up and the service manager said to change oil when the maintenance minder got to 15 percent. There is a chip in the computer that collects all data relating to oil changes.
  • wise1wise1 Member Posts: 91
    I'm currently at 20% and would like to know will the wrench show at 15% or 10%?? The manual doesn't say it just describes how the man. rem. sys. works. ;)
  • thegraduatethegraduate Member Posts: 9,731
    15% on all Hondas with this system.

    Happy motoring. :)

    Thegrad
  • gpdandrewgpdandrew Member Posts: 4
    So, does that mean a 2007 Accord V6 should get the oil changed every 10k miles? That seems like alot. I know the car has the electronic reminder, but I'd rather rely on my ability to count than depend on a computer to tell me.

    hmm, Honda designed the reminder to tell you when the best time to change the oil without damaging the motor but yet you won't listen to Honda but you want us to tell you when to change it. I think Honda would know better than us. I guess it is true you can't make it to simple for some people.
  • diydadiyda Member Posts: 1
    Are there any places under the front end of a 2008 Accord sedan that are safe to use a floor jack? I'll be doing my first oil change shortly and don't want to screw things up.
  • tonyf2tonyf2 Member Posts: 24
    I have a 2010 honda accord that has only 4,235 mi. on it. the matinance indicator read 60%, I decided to check the oil level after I came home from vacation and there was no oil on the dip stick. So instead of adding a quart+ I decided to changed the oil and filter. This is the fist Honda I've owned; I hope in the future I get better milage on an oil change.

    I check the manual and it says to change the oil at 0%. very miss leading information. If I was someone who had no knowledge of cars, I would have destroyed my engine waiting for the 0%.
  • elroy5elroy5 Member Posts: 3,735
    My niece has a 2010 V6 coupe, and her oil level was 2 quarts low when I checked it at 4,000 miles (I added two quarts for her). Maybe the VCM uses up the oil. If it was my car, I would be asking some serious questions about this. My 03 V6 uses absolutely no oil, but it doesn't have VCM. I've never had a car that consumes oil, so much that you have to add oil between oil changes, so this is new to me. Some say a little consumption is normal, and say Honda will not do anything unless it consumes more than 1 quart per 1,000 miles. That would be way too much for me to accept.
  • tonyf2tonyf2 Member Posts: 24
    Thanks for your response. I,ll have to look into this and contact the dealer if it doesn't improve. Sometimes they short change you on the amount of oil they put in the car when you buy it new.

    I owned Buick Regals for the past 12 yr's, but I just didn't like the new Buick. I like the Honda, It's a nice car. I have the navagator and the XM radio which I like. I'll have to keep a close watch on this oil change to see if it improves.
  • kingfans1kingfans1 Member Posts: 137
    hi i have 2010 honda pilot. 6600 miles. oil life 40% left.. I will probably change oil when the computer tell me so.

    I really like castrol syntec motor oil. what do you like??
  • tonyf2tonyf2 Member Posts: 24
    I use what ever AutoZone has on sale with filter. I just recently drained the original oil and changed the filter on my Honda Accord v6 and so far it's still at the full mark after 600mi. My advice is to not go by the mantenance %. Check the oil level your self.

    The new cars usually short change you. I also noticed that the fulid in my transmission was not full neither.
  • kingfans1kingfans1 Member Posts: 137
    hi tonyf2. I agree with you on that. my coolant level is not full. also for the motor oil, it is just above the lower mark.. so I just add 1 quart.
  • 08prober08prober Member Posts: 2
    Bought a low mileage, used '08 from a dealer and am looking for advice on how to change the "%" to 100 after having an oil change. All replies appreciated.

    After putting in 3.9 quarts, a new filter and running it for a few minutes to see the "oil can" indicator go away - oil pressure? - I selected the "oil life" display; it said "30%" - the same as before I changed it. Honda's are smart but probably not that smart... Assuming I hadn't performed the appropriate "reset" function on the odometer, I turned off the motor. I put the key to "accessories" enabled the oil life display and held the "set/reset" button for 20 secs; no joy. I then held the "set/reset" button a little longer and it displayed "A 1". Shortly thereafter the display showed "100%". Have I won the war?

    I know I shouldn't "hack" my civic, but advice from the Owners Manual and Honda Service is reliably unavalable. I do my own maintenance.
  • elroy5elroy5 Member Posts: 3,735
    This is not "hacking", IMO, it's just maintenance. Doing your own maintenance should not be viewed as a bad thing. The information should be in the owner's manual. The reset procedure, for the maint. req. light, is in my 03 Accord owner's manual, as it should be.
  • flankdriveedflankdriveed Member Posts: 3
    My wife bought her 08 Accord lx 2.4 a year ago with 20k miles. It was a CPO and dealer did only change at delivery. The oil minder was at 40% and a little over 3k but I didn't like the condition so I changed it and filled with Mobil 1 like I always have used. With about 5-6k on the clock and the "minder" all good the light popped on going up on ramp. Only for a second. My wife was alon, added oil later before driving home. It took three qts. That's when I was first aware of my consumption issue. We burn as little as 1/2 qt to as much as 3/4 qt in 1000 - 1200 miles.Wife drives 40k / year so the constant adding / checking is a pain. I change at 10 k regardless of "maintenance minder" which has never gone below 15%. Honda tech told me to change evry 3 months or at 15% At 3 months we would have around 12k . Today I'm at 78k and dealer is rebuilding engine because there evidently was an issue with the rings and blowby. I'm trying not to be technical and give basics. I'm ASe certified and have an AAS in Auto. Serv. TEch. My other 04 Accord has 218k and uses no oil and had the same schedule / driving habits. Don't let it get to 0%. Change at 15%. Check every 1000k. But if you don't keep track of every time it is low and how much you are adding you can't get a grasp on consumption. If you were like me and off the stick in such a short time, consider that there is an issue. My compression was considered ok yet the are still rebuilding my engine. ? Make sure the pvc system is ruled out and do the "oil consumption test. Get all visits to dealer on a repair order to cover you later. Good luck
  • flankdriveedflankdriveed Member Posts: 3
    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.
  • tonyf2tonyf2 Member Posts: 24
    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.
  • indydriverindydriver Member Posts: 620
    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.
  • thegraduatethegraduate Member Posts: 9,731
    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.
  • indydriverindydriver Member Posts: 620
    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.
  • accmanaccman Member Posts: 6
    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.
  • indydriverindydriver Member Posts: 620
    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.
  • tallman1tallman1 Member Posts: 1,874
    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.
  • indydriverindydriver Member Posts: 620
    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?
  • indydriverindydriver Member Posts: 620
    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!?!
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