Honda V-6 DIY Oil & Filter

[Indydriver]

My daughter just bought a new 2011 Accord EX-L V-6 [beautiful car BTW in the new "Orchid Pearl" white]. I will probably end up doing the oil changes. I understand the FF deal--special break-in oil, wait for the MM to hit 15%. The dealer claims the FF is synthetic and that his service dept. uses only synthetic (and charges $52 for an oil change). The owner's manual says you "may" use synthetic which means to me that dino is OK. It recommends 0W-20. I've investigated the Honda branded oil and the 0W-20 is apparently a semi-syn not a full-syn. So....what's the conscientious DIY'er to do? Buy Honda brand oil and filters online? Be a WM troll? Autoparts weekly oil and filter deal? Dino, semi or full syn? FYI, I am 56 yo, have owned numerous cars and motorcycles and like most of us old farts, have been raised on dino every 3,000 miles need it or not. I must report that this technique has been successful as I've never in my life experienced any oil related engine failures. I currently own three V-6s with 161,000, 155,000, 81,000 and a turbo 4 (Speed3) with 18,000 miles and all are doing fine with dino x 3000. I like the idea of getting those combustion contaminates out whether the oil has life left or not. But, who knows, time marches on, things change, maybe the world has passed me by. Educate me on late model Honda V-6s.

 

[ottotheclown]

Just my opinion, pay no attention to the stealer, but you knew that before.It is up to you re. cost but Mobil 0-20 gets a good review, and Edge is another. Either way you made a great car choice that would take alot of effort to screw up. The o-20 Honda wise is a very robust oil with voa available, do a search. The 3k is really a waste of money and no longer is current unless your driving is severe.

 

[pbm]

If you are set on using 0w20 (I feel 5w20 would work fine) you can get Mobil 1 and Valvoline Synpower 0w20 at WM and Edge 0w20 at other retailers. You can also get Amsoil 0w20 from Pablo or one of the other site sponsors. Any of these fine synthetics should be good for the OCI recommended in your owners manual.
I wouldn't hesitate using one of them for 5 to 7.5K OCIs.
(I think the Honda V6 is harder on oil than their 4 cylinders).
3K OCIs would be a waste, IMO.

 

[sciphi]

Use full-syn 0w-20 and follow the maintenance minder. Then it's following Honda guidelines, and it ought to be good enough oil to do what the MM expects it to do.

The cheapest places for 0w-20 are the parts store sales every month. They usually have 5 quarts of M1, Synpower, Edge, or other stuff for $30-35 with a good filter.

I've had good luck finding M1 0w-20 in most Wal-Marts and autoparts stores. The other flavors of 0w-20 are more difficult to find, in my experience. So my stash has a lot of 0w-20 from sales and whatnot.

 

[dkryan]

You need to first decide what the OCI will be, mileage-wise, (and please get over the 3k OCI fixation), then select your oil.

While a 3k OCI WAS appropriate years ago and obviously served you well, it's a waste of $$ and oil nowadays.

If you want to limit your OCI to 5k miles, then Motorcraft 5w-20 is an excellent oil for that engine and OCI. It's a semi-syn and you can "troll" right over to Walmart and buy it for a good price in the 5-quart container.

If you're willing to go with 7.5k mile OCIs, then troll a few spaces over on the Walmart shelf and use Pennzoil Ultra 5w-20, also in the 5-quart jug at a good price.

Good luck and, by the way, WELCOME to BITOG!

 

[barlowc]

Use the Maintenance Minder to determine OCI length. Since it sounds like the owner's manual recommends 0W-20, that's probably what I'd use, but a 5W-20 should be perfectly fine too and might be easier to find in a larger selection. Use any major brand synthetic and a good filter like a WIX 51356, Napa Gold 1356, PureONE PL14610, K&N HP-1010, Mobil 1 M1-110, DENSO 150-1010, or Bosch Distance D3323.

 

[Indydriver]

Thanks fellas, I appreciate the advice and the welcome. Never too old to learn something. One thing that isn't computing so far: everyone is saying the 3K OCI is "wasteful". I assume that means you think I've been throwing away oil with useful life. If this is true, doesn't that mean that the dino is doing the job? If I can take dino to 4-5K, why even bother with synthetic? Just wondering...

 

[barlowc]

Originally Posted By: Indydriver
If I can take dino to 4-5K, why even bother with synthetic?

1) Synthetic will provide better cold start-ups during the winter. 2) Because you can probably run synthetic for twice as long and save you and your daughter some time.

But maybe that's a good reason to get to see your daughter and you enjoy changing oil, in which case more frequent changes might be preferred.

 

[momomeister]

Originally Posted By: Indydriver
Thanks fellas, I appreciate the advice and the welcome. Never too old to learn something. One thing that isn't computing so far: everyone is saying the 3K OCI is "wasteful". I assume that means you think I've been throwing away oil with useful life. If this is true, doesn't that mean that the dino is doing the job? If I can take dino to 4-5K, why even bother with synthetic? Just wondering...


Follow what Honda said regarding FF. Then go synthetic and follow the MID while you're under warranty. Might want to get the oil analyzed as you get close to the end of the warranty to make sure that you address any engine related issues if they exist before the warranty expires. After the warranty expires then based on the oil analysis, you can extend the oil drain beyond the MID, if you wish.

FWIW, we had a 96 Accord, changed oil every 6 months or 7500 miles, whichever came first. When we sold the car in 08 with 117K miles, car never used a drop of oil and the engine was clean. We have a 06 Odyssey, kept the FF in till the MID said to change it, and have gone to Mobil1 0w-20. Van doesn't use a drop of oil and we're at 56K miles, mainly severe service. Also had the oil analyzed by Blackstone. Based on the analysis, they say that we can go up to 8K miles OCI but will stick with 7.5K/6 months as we're in NJ and don't want to change the oil in the middle of the winter. Plus, 7.5K miles to 8K miles isn't that much of a difference.

As for "One thing that isn't computing so far: everyone is saying the 3K OCI is "wasteful". I assume that means you think I've been throwing away oil with useful life. If this is true, doesn't that mean that the dino is doing the job?", not to sound sarcastic but if you think about it, someone could change dino every 1k miles and synthetic every 2k miles (taken to the extreme) and the oil would be doing it's job but you would be just not taking advantage of the full potential of the product.

 

[Indydriver]

You're getting to a very good point on OCI...as she is now in charge of maintenance, there may well be some overly long intervals.

OK, you guys (and the other threads I've been reading) got to me. Just to prove that "an old dog can learn new tricks"...

I had a battery I bought from Autozone go bad in less than 8 months. It has sat in my garage for about a month and momma has been bugging me to get rid of it. So, I took it back today, not really expecting much comp. For example, I didn't even have a receipt. But, they looked up the purchase on their computer and agreed to give me full credit ($104) in the store! So I marched over the the oil aisle to see what was on sale. They are D/Cing 1 gl containers of PP for $17.99. Now, I've never bought syn so I don't even know if this is a good price or not but I just "found" $104 and the regular price was $21.99. So, I bought their last three gallons and they agreed to sell me three more at that price in quarts. So, now I have 6 gls of PP on the shelf. This is a mix of 5W-30 and 10W-30 so its going to go in my Speed3 turbo, not the Honda. So I've taken my first baby step into the syn world.

 

[moto94536]

Honda Syn Blend 0w20 is more expensive than 5w20... you will be looking at $5- $6 a quart for honda ow20..

 

[moto94536]

It doesn't matter you use dino or synthetic... Just make sure you put correct weight.. my buddy have 2006 Honda Accord.. He do the oil change at the local chevron station. He change oil according to the OLM usually 15 % - 20%.. The car get nothing but cheapest Chevron Supreme 5w20.. his car is about 200,000 miles... No problems with the engine..

 

[FZ1]

Pick a synthetic oil,take it to the dealer,and let them change it to document warranty compliance. My Honda dealer charges $20 to change the oil with a Honda filter.

 

[RegDunlop]

Originally Posted By: FZ1
Pick a synthetic oil,take it to the dealer,and let them change it to document warranty compliance. My Honda dealer charges $20 to change the oil with a Honda filter.


I don't think ( as in I am 99 percent near certain) you HAVE TO GO to the dealer to get your oil changed to document for warranty purposes. If I had it to do over again ( as I brought my Honda to dealer for every OIC, and when I got under there for first OIC by me I found they had bent a plastic shield to make it easier to change the oil filter) I would have bought oil at the same day I would do the change myself, so the receipt would show the date, and write on the receipt the mileage and the oil life left per the MM. If you wanted to get really particular about iyt you could take a photo of each OIC, the MM, the odometer etc and dsave them in a file or print them out and keep with your records.

 

[tommygunn]

Since it is your daughter's car. It wouldn't hurt to let "her" take over the maintenance on it. Teach her the importance of the maintenance minder and when to get it changed...While under warranty, I'd recommend taking it to a reliable svc station that will document the oil weight used, and the filter, so if there is warranty work under scrutiny there's no grey areas.

A lot easier than snapping pictures, holding onto oil filter boxes and/or "flaps" with documented mileage, etc.....if you know what I mean.

Any svc station should be allow you to carry in your own oil and/or filter though.....just charge you labor ($10-$15 or so...).

 

[TJPark01]

Accords are bulletproof. Doesn't matter if you use dino or synthetic. Just make sure to use the correct weight and the OEM OIL FILTERS. I think the manual says 7500 miles or a year which ever comes first. Stick with that.

 

[FZ1]

Just a suggestion. It's what I do,so it must be best procedure.

 

[Indydriver]

Yeah, I like your approach. I'm sure we will have her take it to the dealer for the first oil change. The salesman made it sound like they would only use genuine Honda parts and oil so I will try to help her ensure that is what happens. It sounds like universal kudos for Honda brand 0W-20 Semi so I feel comfortable with that. Now it's just when we send her in.

 

[someguy]

Originally Posted By: Indydriver
You're getting to a very good point on OCI...as she is now in charge of maintenance, there may well be some overly long intervals.

OK, you guys (and the other threads I've been reading) got to me. Just to prove that "an old dog can learn new tricks"...

I had a battery I bought from Autozone go bad in less than 8 months. It has sat in my garage for about a month and momma has been bugging me to get rid of it. So, I took it back today, not really expecting much comp. For example, I didn't even have a receipt. But, they looked up the purchase on their computer and agreed to give me full credit ($104) in the store! So I marched over the the oil aisle to see what was on sale. They are D/Cing 1 gl containers of PP for $17.99. Now, I've never bought syn so I don't even know if this is a good price or not but I just "found" $104 and the regular price was $21.99. So, I bought their last three gallons and they agreed to sell me three more at that price in quarts. So, now I have 6 gls of PP on the shelf. This is a mix of 5W-30 and 10W-30 so its going to go in my Speed3 turbo, not the Honda. So I've taken my first baby step into the syn world.


Good choice for your baby step, Pennzoil Platinum or PP is highly regarded here. The thing that surprised me the most about synthetic oil is how much faster my car started up.

 

[momomeister]

Originally Posted By: Indydriver
Yeah, I like your approach. I'm sure we will have her take it to the dealer for the first oil change. The salesman made it sound like they would only use genuine Honda parts and oil so I will try to help her ensure that is what happens. It sounds like universal kudos for Honda brand 0W-20 Semi so I feel comfortable with that. Now it's just when we send her in.


The dealer in my area charges something like $25-$30 for an Express Oil change. That isn't that much more than doing it at a service station so having it done at the dealer would be best IMHO.

As for the oil, I've been reading dealers use whatever bulk oil they have, Kendall, Mobil oil, etc, correct me if I'm wrong folks. So if you specifically want the Honda 0w-20 oil, you should specify it at the time of bringing the car in.