Decision made on oil for 2007 Pilot.

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After a month of usage in Ghana i have decided on the oil i will use.

There may be flaming!

On picking the car up, 124088 miles, OLM was showing 60%.

Oil level was in the Min mark.

Oil filter was a new looking OE Honda.

No chance of finding 5w20, couldn't even find 5w30.

Managed to find Shell Extra 5w40 Full Synth at a Shell Filling Station (vehicle will only be fueled with Shell petrol).

Added the lot and it now sat spot in the Max level.

Oil was fairly clean when checked.

A month of usage, mileage on last day was 1252xx miles and OLM was showing 30%

I have no experience with how US market OLMs work but i assume dropping 30% in around 1000miles makes the algorithm consider my usage quite harsh?

Any opinion in regards that would be gratefully accepted.

Oil is now sitting half way between Max and Min, so usage of around 1/2 litre in 1000 hard miles, loads of idling in heavy traffic, a fair bit of fine dust in the air, high humidity (up to 95%) and high temps (90oF to 100oF)

The VCM cuts in fairly smoothly. Fuel consumption on a tank varied from under 10mpg around Accra to 18mpg when used on longer runs with less traffic.

And so to the somewhat controversial part.

As i can't say I noticed any difference in economy, performance or engine noise between the oil it had initially (i assume 5w20 as it was last serviced in Texas) and after having a litre of 5w40 added, i have decided to use 5w40 Fully Synthetic.

Oil filter will be either OE Honda or a K&N.

Will be back over in September so oil and filter will be changed then.

I might try and do UOA.

Also to be done are an ATF drain and fill (gets rid of 4 quarts apparently) i am thinking about using Maxlife ATF instead lf Honda DW1.

My only consideration is vehicle longevity, petrol is fairly cheap compared to the UK anyway. $0.84 a litre which is £0.64 a litre, it is £1.15 at the filling station near my house today. So i don't care that much about fuel economy.

Thanks for comments and advice.
 
With 125k on a Honda VCM, I wouldn't hesitate to use 5W-40. Just be certain to keep checking oil level weekly. These engines are infamous for blowing oil past the rings when in VCM mode. Keeping the sump full is much more important than what oil you add.
 
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Do I read this to say you did not reset the OLM with your oil change? If so, the computer had no idea the engine had new oil. Unless you used it like a taxi cab or a police car, there's no other way the OLM would go from 60% to 30% after 1,200 miles.
 
Originally Posted By: NormanBuntz
Do I read this to say you did not reset the OLM with your oil change?


No, I think he's concerned about how adding oil affects the OLM.

The computer doesn't know.....
so HONESTLY if you add a liter every 1000 miles/1500 km
then the OLM simply isn't relative at all anymore.

Every time you add a liter, you are replenishing additives and adding life.
 
Originally Posted By: NormanBuntz
Do I read this to say you did not reset the OLM with your oil change? If so, the computer had no idea the engine had new oil. Unless you used it like a taxi cab or a police car, there's no other way the OLM would go from 60% to 30% after 1,200 miles.


Why would you reset the OLM after topping up the oil?

I think you may have misunderstood my post.

I didn't do an oil change. This is the first time I have seen or used the vehicle since it was imported to Ghana from the US.

On checking levels i found the oil was on Min with OLM showing 60% so i added a litre to bring it up to Max.

If you reread my post you will see that the vehicle is indeed being used in fairly harsh conditions.

Lots of heavy traffic, 100% Aircon usage, high humidity, high temps and often used in a dusty environment.
 
Originally Posted By: Linctex
Originally Posted By: NormanBuntz
Do I read this to say you did not reset the OLM with your oil change?


No, I think he's concerned about how adding oil affects the OLM.

The computer doesn't know.....
so HONESTLY if you add a liter every 1000 miles/1500 km
then the OLM simply isn't relative at all anymore.

Every time you add a liter, you are replenishing additives and adding life.


I am not concerned about how adding oil affects the OLM, i don't think it would make any difference.

I was surprised that the OLM went from 60% to 30% in a month of use and a shade over 1000miles.

As mentioned my only concern is engine longevity, especially as the VCM equipped engines seem to use oil, though the Class Action didn't include 2007 Pilots, so maybe they are not affected as badly?

If I can get hold of an oil sample kit I will try and get a sample when I am over there in September.

The engine is very smooth and quiet, and I would like to keep it that way for as long as possible.
 
Originally Posted By: Indydriver
With 125k on a Honda VCM, I wouldn't hesitate to use 5W-40. Just be certain to keep checking oil level weekly. These engines are infamous for blowing oil past the rings when in VCM mode. Keeping the sump full is much more important than what oil you add.


Oil use was a definate concern after doing some research on the Pilot.

Probably not the best choice away from Accra as i don't think the suspension is as robust as something like a Pathfinder or Discovery(LR3/4)

The VCM thankfully doesn't cut in too often due to road conditions.
 
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