Acura TL oil questions

[MrWideTires]

My friend is bringing me his Acura TL saturday morning to change the oil, I told him I could do it for $20 and use synthetic blend... ($11.50 Motorcraft jug and $3 Supertech filter, pocket difference).

I have a few questions..
#1: Will 5w20 be fine? specially with winter coming..

#2: What filter size do these cars use?? I have a bunch of ST7317s laying around...

#3: How do I reset the oil change light?

Any information I may need about this car will be useful, like oil capacity, thanks in advance

 

[JHZR2]

WOW, trying to profit by potentially using the wrong stuff?

What is the spec for that year TL (I assume you know the year)? Is it a honda-spec 5w-20? If so, does the MC meet that honda spec?

I would recommend that he brings you the correct oil and filter from his analysis of filters and oil per the OM. This way any bad/poor/long term issues cannot be chased to you. if you really need to make $3 doing an oil change, just ask him.

 

[MrWideTires]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
WOW, trying to profit by potentially using the wrong stuff?

What is the spec for that year TL (I assume you know the year)? Is it a honda-spec 5w-20? If so, does the MC meet that honda spec?

I would recommend that he brings you the correct oil and filter from his analysis of filters and oil per the OM. This way any bad/poor/long term issues cannot be chased to you. if you really need to make $3 doing an oil change, just ask him.


I'm not trying to profit... If I don't do it, he's just gonna take it to some jiffy lube. I told him just bring it to me and for the same money I'll use much better quality stuff and be sure the job is done right. And either way Motorcraft synthetic blend will do it better than a conventional, I'm just asking about the viscosity.

 

[Jim 5]

A 7317 will work. I've used them on my wife's 03 3.2TL (same engine) and now on her 09 Odyssey - about 150,000 km's worth of oil changes.

Rockauto.com lists it as the correct filter for all kinds of current model year and older honda V6's. In fact, before posting this, to make sure my memory holds true, I went to my garage and compared a fram 7317 to the factory blue Honda 0664 (which I bought at the Honda dealer last year - and which they tell me they put on almost everything) and they are outwardly identical apart from paint. I think you can be very confident in this regard, but to be sure, go to a site like Rockauto.com or fram.com and check the specific application. The other model you will see come up is the fatter and stubbier 3593, which I have also used. I believe they moved away from this fatty a number of years ago due to the location of the filter on the v6 cars. It's basically nestled above the center of the "A" in the lower passenger side A-Arm and for ease of access and removal, the skinnier 7317 works better.

Again the filter that your honda dealer will sell you for this application is blue honda 0664, which is externally identical to the 7317 (and is in fact made by Fram in Canada). Fram has been selling these for Honda v6's for many years.


Garden variety 5w-20 has done very well in our previous TL in used oil analysis and we get a significant amount of -32, and a ton of -20C. In florida you would have no worries even in the winter.

To reset the oil change light you toggle the ODO button until you get to the oil life %. Then hold it down for about 10 seconds until it flashes, then release briefly and hold it down another 3 -5 seconds and it should reset to 100%. This is how our 3.2TL worked and how our 09 Odyssey works as well.


Oil capacity is around 4.5L if I recall. 5 quarts will be enough to send him home with a little extra to keep in the trunk.

Another tip is that the filter can easily be removed by hand without jacking the car bay turning the steering wheel fully to the right and reaching into the passenger side A arm inthrough the front of the wheel well.

I hope this helps.

 

[MrWideTires]

^Helped a ton! thanks!

 

[Jim 5]

Glad to help. Honda has back spec'd 5w-20 to almost everything they sell. 99% chance the oil cap will say 5w-20 unless it's a model year 2002 or older.

These Honda v6's are really good engines. The only known issue is that they tend to fuel dilute a little and so keeping a clean air filter, functioning PCV and decent spark plugs is crucial. That being said, the used oil analysis come in very nice even with evidence of fuel having been in the oil. This is a long way of saying, while you're in there, check the air filter and if it looks a little dirty, recommend he change it.

Just looking at my service notes, it's actually 4.3L/4.5qts. The drain bolt is a 17mm - that'll save you some fumbling around with wrenches. It's a cast aluminum oil pan and the sump is on the passenger side with the words "engine oil" cast into the pan. Some have drained the transmission sump which is on the driver's side by mistake. You won't do that though!

 

[MrWideTires]

^Thanks! I guess I'll stick to the jug of Motorcraft 5w20 and an ST7317..

He always gives me his cars to take care of because he knows I'll put in what I know is best. He didn't believe me his Jetta TDI took GC 0W30, until I showed him in his owners manual and the back of the bottle the compatibility. Then showed him how Dr.Haas used the same oil on his Enzo, and now he thinks he has "racing oil"..lol

....I can't believe I live where Dr.Haas lives... and my shop is in the same little town (Venice, FL), and I still haven't seen him driving around!

 

[Jim 5]

That is a bit surprising, as he'd be awfully hard to miss in the cars he owns!

 

[lemonade]

Yup, Motorcraft 5W20 is a good deal, also remember to torque the drain bolt to 29 lb-ft. The manual say use new washer, but the stock washer that came when i bought the car new is a really thick one, not the crushable kind used by toyota, so i just keep reusing it, the car is now 60K, no leak.

 

[fdcg27]

On our numerous Hondas (all of which had steel pans), I never bothered to buy new crush washers.
I guess if you don't over-tighten them, they'll last through 200K of changes.