Acura TSX K24 - Rotella, PU Euro, M1, Nextgen?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Feb 11, 2014
Messages
54
Location
CA
Recently purchased a 2005 Acura TSX for the SO with the K24 engine (variations used in the Accord and CR-V). 105,000 miles, no oil leaks (valve cover area looks clean, overall engine looks very clean from the outside. No evidence of oil burning either, so far.

I've got an assortment of oil that I've stocked up over the past few years for various other vehicles/motorcycles. Before I try my hand at selling the oil, I'm thinking I might be able to use some of the oil with the TSX. Manual and oil cap call for 5w-30.

Location: Southern California. Rarely do we see sub 50 temperatures, even in the morning. I live by the beach, so temperatures rarely go over 85-90 degrees.

Oils I have on hand - which of these can be used without ill effects?
1. Rotella T 15w40
2. Rotella T5 10w30
3. Nextgen Maxlife 10w40
4. Pennzoil Ultra Euro 5w-40
5. Mobil 1 5w-30

Mobil 1 is fine. I'm thinking the Rotella T5 can be run without any harm, same goes for the PU. Nextgen Maxlife and the Rotella T might be a stretch due to heavier weights.

Then again, this is a honda motor that can supposedly run just about any oil, doesn't see VTEC (SO drives like a granny), and I live in sunny Southern California.

Thoughts?
 
I'd find another use for the heavy weight oils in your stash. Id run the Mobil 1 oil in it. If you use any of the thick oils buy a jug of 5w20 or 0w20 to mix it with.
 
Don't use the Maxlife yet; I don't like to use HM oils and then go back.

The others are fine. Don't waste your time or money disposing of them. That motor gets a range of different oil weights all over the world. It'll be fine and you won't notice the difference.
 
Mobil 1 in the 5w-20 or 0w-20 flavor. EP if available but AFE is fine too. That's what I run in my CRV.
 
If I were in your situation, I'd run any of them. This would be my order of preference:

1. Mobil 1
2. Rotella T5
3. Pennzoil Ultra Euro
4. Nextgen Maxlife
5. Rotella T

In your climate, the 15w40 shouldn't be a problem. Where I live, I'd save it for summer.
 
Originally Posted By: lawman1909
Mobil 1 in the 5w-20 or 0w-20 flavor. EP if available but AFE is fine too. That's what I run in my CRV.

The OP's engine is NOT approved to use a xw-20 oil in 2005, but a '05 CR-V is.
 
Nice car, one of my favorites! Do you have the 6-speed or Auto?

IIRC, the K24 in the TSX although structurally almost identical to the one used in the Accord and CRV was tuned for more power/sport and so required 5w-30 while the latter spec'd 5w-20. Some say going up a grade in the Accord or CRV (5w-20 to 5w-30) made the engine more sluggish, and so I'm wondering if that would be the case if you bumped up to the 40 weights. I've seen UOA's on 5w-30 that looked great, however. Here is one from Europe on 5w-40 that did not look so good, but driving was city in a colder climate:

UOA Russia k24
 
You'll be good with the 5w-30 and 10w-30. My civic is running a k24a2 head on a k20a2 block and I've been using 5w-30 for 60,000 miles with no problems. The k20a3 it came with had a few changes with 10w-30 and is still going strong in a Honda Accord somewhere with 130,000+ miles.
 
I've had three Acuras between 1990 and 2008, and I always liked following the recommendations in the owners manual. I'd stick with the 5w-30, use up the M1 and then buy more 5w-30. I had excellent results using Kendall and Conoco blends. If you insist on using your 10w-30, I'd thin it down with another dino, blend, etc. I don't see any advantage of using the 40.
 
If you only have one oil change's worth of each one of them, I suppose you could go through them one at a time, and maybe notice a slight loss of fuel economy with the 40-weights. The Rotella 15w40 I would thin down with the T5.
 
I guess I should have put down the number of quarts I have for each.

1. Rotella T 15w40 (8 or 12 quarts, forgot how many jugs I have)
2. Rotella T5 10w30 (4 quarts)
3. Nextgen Maxlife 10w40 (8.5 quarts)
4. Pennzoil Ultra Euro 5w-40 (6 quarts)
5. Mobil 1 5w-30 (6 or 7 quarts)

Very interesting to see the UOA on the CRV from Russia running 5w-40. Given that he is in Russia, and the driving was predominantly City (UOA sample date was dated in June, but I assume driving occurred beginning of fall from the previous year), it does seem that a 40 weight is a bit thick for that climate.

Since the car is for the SO, it is a 5AT not the 6MT. Each oil change requires 4.4 quarts, so based on the advice given, my plan is as follows:

1. Use up Mobil 1 5w30
2. Use up T5. Mix in half a quart (or more, if needed) of M1 5w30.
3. If I can't sell the PU Euro by this time, I'll use it.
4. Use the NG ML 10w40
5. Save the Rotella T for annual oil changes on my motorcycle.

Thanks for the tips
 
My Honda fit is spec'ed for using 5W20. Occasionally (I have stash of them onhand) I'd use 5W30 PYB or QStateGreen w/o any issues. Switching to Castrol 0W40 deemed too thick on my little engine, and it lost it'z zippyness esp. during acceleration. Gas mileage suffered a bit too.

So, YMMV. I know most Honda engines luv 5W30 or 5W20.

Q.
 
Literally they are the exact same engines. I talked to a friend of mine who is a Honda tech (deals with acura daily) and he said they are fine running a 5w20 or 0w20 though!
 
In your climate, you could use any of these oils.
I'd mix the 10W-30 T5 with the 15W-40 T5 to get a little thinner oil than straight 15W-40.
The engine won't care either way, though.
Check out the grades recommended for other markets for this very engine.
Use your stash up in this engine.
 
Here's what my valvetrain looked like after about 115k miles of Pennzoil Ultra and Pennzoil Platinum (both 5w-30). I am the second owner (purchased at 10k miles).

20120902_193137.jpg

I ran some M1 in it early on, but the valvetrain produced more noise with it that it does with the Pennzoil products. M1 is a fine choice. Just my preference to keep it a little quieter.

My TSX now has almost 180k on it. I'm guessing if I pulled the VC today it would look the same. Great car, great engine.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top