2013 Acura TL under valve cover photo

I'd say that engine pic is proof positive you could do much longer OCI's if you wanted to. But what you are doing is working well, so you do you.
 
Original owner of a 2013 Acura TL Advance FWD with 90,000 total miles on the car. Since new I’ve completed OCI’s every 5,000 miles with the following brand of 0W20 oils. Oil filters have been OEM Honda AO2’s at each OCI. This week I completed a timing belt change and replaced the valve cover gaskets with all OEM parts. There was 0 varnish and 0 sludge in both banks, couldn’t be more pleased with what I saw. For the record I have never completed a oil analysis.

Just picked up 10 quarts of the AZ clearance Mobil Full Syn, so this will be in the car to get me to the elusive 100,000 mile mark.

•Mobil 1 EP
•Mobil 1 Annual Protection
•Pennzoil Platinum
•Rotella Gas & Truck
•Quaker State
I don't know if honda v6 is known for causing varnish or sludge buildup

we owned a 2007 honda civic with the 1.8L R18 something engine, on Walmart and random oil change place cheapest dino 5w20, it looked exactly the same as your engine at 180k when I changed the valve cover, and it got maintenance minder from 15% to 0% for intervals. I could be wrong but aren't Honda engines very easy on oil, to begin with? you used full synthetic oils, which could have easily gone 10k unless Honda V6 is known to varnish and sludge.

Also, did you change the valve cover gasket so you could look inside or because it was leaking, from my understanding, wouldn't FS oils make the valve cover gasket last longer? My 2GR-FE V6 with FS oil on 10-14k OCI under my care doesn't have any sign of any leaks.

Mobil 1 0w20, Mobil 1 EP x2, and the last oil change was Napa FS 0w20.
 
I don't know if honda v6 is known for causing varnish or sludge buildup

we owned a 2007 honda civic with the 1.8L R18 something engine, on Walmart and random oil change place cheapest dino 5w20, it looked exactly the same as your engine at 180k when I changed the valve cover, and it got maintenance minder from 15% to 0% for intervals. I could be wrong but aren't Honda engines very easy on oil, to begin with? you used full synthetic oils, which could have easily gone 10k unless Honda V6 is known to varnish and sludge.

Also, did you change the valve cover gasket so you could look inside or because it was leaking, from my understanding, wouldn't FS oils make the valve cover gasket last longer? My 2GR-FE V6 with FS oil on 10-14k OCI under my care doesn't have any sign of any leaks.

Mobil 1 0w20, Mobil 1 EP x2, and the last oil change was Napa FS 0w20.
Congrats on all the Honda miles, hopeful to get to 200+ on this one.

Maybe someone can help us answer your question about FS oils and VC gasket longevity, I don’t know how this works?
 
Yes, the bank closest to the firewall was seeping and there was light oil moisture around this valve cover. When I inspected both gaskets, they were hard, which I would assume was my issue.
 
The VC gaskets are good for about 100k before they start seeping. I always highly recommend the OEM ones as they seem to hold up better than aftermarket. I've had a Fel-Pro set leak in less than 20k, and it's not a matter of tightening them properly. Honda uses bolts that bottom out and you can only squish the gasket so much.

The life of the VC gaskets seem to align with the other services you should perform every 100k, so it's usually not a big deal.
 
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