Originally Posted By: SLO_Town
OP, I changed the oil in our bought new 2010 Honda Element at 1,000 miles, then again at 2,500 miles, then again at 5,000 miles. I'm now on 5K OCIs (vehicle has almost 30K on it now).
I have always used the Honda filters, Filtech version. All of my oil changes to date have been with Motul 0w-20 X-lite. The Motul is expensive and I used the 0w-20 weight in order to be super cautious with respect to the warranty, just in case something went wrong early on.
All my future oil changes will be using Pennzoil Ultra 5w-30. I have 6 cases of it in the garage (plus another 6 cases of 5w-40 Ultra Euro for the German fleet, Motul 5w-40 X-Max used previously).
Early oil changes are something I have done for every single new vehicle we've ever purchased - from Dodge Durangos to all our German cars. In fact, I changed the oil on my BMW at 500 miles (manual trans as well), then again at 1,500, again at 3,000, and have done 3K OCIs since then (now has 72K on it).
With one exception, I have NEVER had any new vehicle I purchased use a single drop of oil between changes, and we put alot of miles on our fleet. The one exception was my 1991 Ford Taurus SHO, which had that fantastic Yamaha 3.0L, DOHC, 24 valve work of art. It used a quart every 1K which was typical for that motor.
Anyway, stop talking about it. Change the oil. Do it today. Be done with it. Your car with love you for it!
Scott
I have/had two main concerns:
1. I do not want varnish to get a foothold. I'm just learning about these engines but don't they have cam phasers or something that you don't want gummed up?
2. Get the wear metals out. From what I've been reading, Honda wants that stuff in there with the claim that it helps with break-in.
If I change the oil early, I still plan on using a Honda filter so the same size particles will still circulate through. So why not leave the oil in whuch Honda claims is a special oil.
I will do a UOA when I drain it. I want to see what is so special.