Mobil1 0w-20EP 3.4k mil; Acura RDX 2020

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80-90% highway driving, 3400 miles (60% oil life left as per OLM). About 5 month. Mobil1 Ep 0w-20. Fuel dilution got worse compared to my last analysis 7400 miles. Car is stock, and regular driving
I can't change oil any more often, viscosity has to go up


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Well, the fuel dilution and viscosity parts of this are discouraging but it does seem to be characteristic of both Honda TGDI engines. You could show this to your dealer (which will almost surely ignore it) or go to a 0w-30. But, after spending $45-50k on a car, I’d expect better, no matter how hard Honda tries to convince me it’s “normal”.
 
A lot of people do blackstone lab, and their fuel dilution is under reported. Viscosity dropped from 8.8 to 6.5, but I think the acceptable range for 0w-20 could be as low as 6.1.
 
THANK YOU for using a lab that does GC!!!!

THIS is exactly why I recommend it, sweet baby Christ on a trike do you have an crapton of fuel! Tons of TBN left, but this engine is a fuel diluting disaster and the effect of this is well evidenced by the resulting viscosity.

Time to step-up to a 0W-30 (assuming you need the 0W-xx) and see what viscosity looks like after a similar interval. I expect fuel will be the same, but at least viscosity should be higher.
 
THANK YOU for using a lab that does GC!!!!

THIS is exactly why I recommend it, sweet baby Christ on a trike do you have an crapton of fuel! Tons of TBN left, but this engine is a fuel diluting disaster and the effect of this is well evidenced by the resulting viscosity.

Time to step-up to a 0W-30 (assuming you need the 0W-xx) and see what viscosity looks like after a similar interval. I expect fuel will be the same, but at least viscosity should be higher.

Whats interesting is fuel dilution got worse (4 to 5%) with 3.4k OCI vs 7.4k using same oil and driving pattern. This time I even changed oil after 40min highway drive to eliminate any potential fuel that did not burn off.

I dont think I need 0w oil, 5w should be sufficient, winters in NJ are not that cold and mostly above freezing temps. Yep, I will do one more UOA using 5w-30, maybe use pennzoil for a change
 
Whats interesting is fuel dilution got worse (4 to 5%) with 3.4k OCI vs 7.4k using same oil and driving pattern. This time I even changed oil after 40min highway drive to eliminate any potential fuel that did not burn off.

I dont think I need 0w oil, 5w should be sufficient, winters in NJ are not that cold and mostly above freezing temps. Yep, I will do one more UOA using 5w-30, maybe use pennzoil for a change
Yeah, probably ambient playing a role (cooler fall/winter temperatures), not the OCI length. I assume yours has already had the fuel dilution reprogramming recall?
 
Yeah, probably ambient playing a role (cooler fall/winter temperatures), not the OCI length. I assume yours has already had the fuel dilution reprogramming recall?

There is no recall for Honda 2.0t. The recall was for 1.5t Honda engine used in CRV. 1.5t was diluting oil so much that people would see their oil level raise by up to 2/3-1qt, so they had to do some form of a recall, but my understanding it only improved situation and not resolve it completely. They did nothing for 2.0t engines as they were produced later and supposedly do not have the same issue….
I do not see visual oil level increase through dipstick level
 
There is no recall for Honda 2.0t. The recall was for 1.5t Honda engine used in CRV. 1.5t was diluting oil so much that people would see their oil level raise by up to 2/3-1qt, so they had to do some form of a recall, but my understanding it only improved situation and not resolve it completely. They did nothing for 2.0t engines as they were produced later and supposedly do not have the same issue….
I do not see visual oil level increase through dipstick level
Jesus! I assumed this was a 1.5 from the fuel dilution figures.

Honda needs to get a handle on how to properly execute DI, BMW clearly has it very well sorted at this juncture, they should be looking at what they are doing.
 
There is no recall for Honda 2.0t. The recall was for 1.5t Honda engine used in CRV. 1.5t was diluting oil so much that people would see their oil level raise by up to 2/3-1qt, so they had to do some form of a recall, but my understanding it only improved situation and not resolve it completely. They did nothing for 2.0t engines as they were produced later and supposedly do not have the same issue….
I do not see visual oil level increase through dipstick level
Right. I was told by two Honda Dealerships "there is no reprogramming or recall in effect on the 1.5 T-GDI in your Accord." After 15 years and 6 Hondas in family - they will sell no more to us.
 
Time will tell if these engines will start having issues after 100-150k miles. They’ve been around for 3-4 years now, and yes some people had hit 100km miles on them without issues, but will be interesting to see at 10 year mark.
 
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