New car first oil change at 500 miles - necessary???

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On another forum, several people told me that I had to change my oil at 500 miles. I have a new 2003 Accord Coupe V6 and the manual recommends only the standard interval for the first oil change.

Also I want to go M1 synthetic and the recommended grade is 5W-20. Do they have that yet or am I ok with 0W20?
 
I never go past 500 miles on a new engine with the original factory fill.

Rebuilds are a different matter.

If this is a warranty issue, I'd go with the Amsoil XL 5W20 at 5k intervals. If the owners manual allows 5W30, I'd go with M1 5W30 or Schaeffer's 5W30 blend.
 
Honda uses a special break-in oil which reportedly has 1,000ppm of moly in it. They want new owners to leave this in for at least the first 5,000 miles.

If it were my car, I'd probably follow that advice ... or some interval close to it. Maybe I'd swap out the filter halfway through that interval to get rid of some of the initial shrapnel.
dunno.gif


Then top off the crankcase with a moly-equipped oil.
smile.gif


--- Bror Jace
 
What Bror said. Read your owners manual carefully and stick by their advice. Acura's website has more information on the subject under the owner's link.

[ March 31, 2003, 11:22 AM: Message edited by: Jay ]
 
I vote with the early-out crowd. I figure, rightly or wrongly, that I'd like to get the early wear metals and leftover build crud out sooner rather than later. Maybe in the end it doesn't really make any difference, but changing early during break-in is what I was taught and I've never had reason to regret the practice for any of the cars I've ever owned - including a '96 Honda Accord.
 
quote:

Originally posted by Bror Jace:
Honda uses a special break-in oil which reportedly has 1,000ppm of moly in it. They want new owners to leave this in for at least the first 5,000 miles.

If it were my car, I'd probably follow that advice ... or some interval close to it. Maybe I'd swap out the filter halfway through that interval to get rid of some of the initial shrapnel.
dunno.gif


Then top off the crankcase with a moly-equipped oil.
smile.gif


--- Bror Jace


I agree 100% here.
cheers.gif
 
Regarding rebuilds,

The shops I have dealt with attempt to clean the components as best as possible, but always leave some crud behind.

In addition, I have yet to see machine shops finish and hone as precisely as original engine manufactureres.

I agree with Bror, if you're going to leave the oil in, at least change filter at 500 miles.
 
quote:

Originally posted by MolaKule:
I agree with Bror, if you're going to leave the oil in, at least change filter at 500 miles.

Don't worry about the oil filter, Honda/Acura equips their cars with a high quality oil filter which will easy withstand the first 5,000 miles.. even 7,500 miles will be no problem.

Rest assured, Honda/Acura has properly set up the car to go 7,500 miles before the first oil change.

When you're up for your first oil change, though, try to find a better oil filter than what's sold at the dealer. In North America, Honda oil filters aren't very good. Mobil 1, Amsoil, Purolator Pure One, and AC Delco Ultraguard Gold (discontinued) are examples of good oil filters.

see:
http://www.ntpog.org/reviews/filters/filters.shtml
 
Certain engines have moly coated cylinders/rings/pistons etc.
How much moly in the oil is from the oil? How much moly is from the normal break in wear?
Whats does Honda use as antiwear coatings on new engine components?

If moly is used as an antiwear additive, why would you want a high ppm of moly on the breakin oil? Would the motor take forever to break in?
 
About 1,000ppm of moly is in the break-in oil. Very little, if any, of it is the result of engine wear. See my oil analysis:

http://theoildrop.server101.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=3;t=000159#000006

Break in wear is accomplished by plastic deformation of the asperities (high points) or by instantaneous welding and tearing away of the asperities as the parts move over each other. The former is preferable to the latter since it leaves smooth surfaces that spread the load better and doesn't leave a work-hardened wear particle that can cause more wear. Moly helps ensure that most of the break-in wear is done by mashing the high points down instead of ripping them away.
 
I read the manual, and while it says nothing about a special "break-in oil", it does specifically say to NOT change the oil until the recommended interval. Considering the only other things it says not to do in the break-in section are to 1.) not start at full throttle and 2.) not stomp on the brakes, i have a feeling this is a pretty legitimate warning. Maybe I'll just leave it in
wink.gif
Any harm to changing the filter though, as suggested above, or should I just leave that alone too?

[ March 31, 2003, 06:10 PM: Message edited by: Snatchface ]
 
Honda/Acura equips their cars with a high quality oil filter

What makes for a high quality filter?

What are the specifications of the Honda/Acura factory filter?

Which manufacturer produces it?
 
quote:

Originally posted by Snatchface:
On another forum, several people told me that I had to change my oil at 500 miles. I have a new 2003 Accord Coupe V6 and the manual recommends only the standard interval for the first oil change.

Also I want to go M1 synthetic and the recommended grade is 5W-20. Do they have that yet or am I ok with 0W20?


Hi,

I think that I may get flamed for this, but
what the heck?

itschy.gif


Early break-in oil change is like 3,000 mile
oil change interval. It's no longer necessary.
CNC machined parts do not result in big chunks
of wear metal which eat away at the engine.

I don't believe others have answered your
question about viscosity. Do not
use xW-20 oil!! It's only purpose is for
car makers to meet CAFE standards.

Mobil 1 is an excellent choice. For naturally
aspirated engines, HT/HS is not as critical, but
your V6 produces 240hp
shocked.gif


I would suggest Mobil 1 0W-40 for that kind
of power.

cheers.gif


Jae

[ April 01, 2003, 02:04 AM: Message edited by: J ]
 
quote:

Mobil 1 is an excellent choice. For naturally
aspirated engines, HT/HS is not as critical, but
your V6 produces 240hp

I would suggest Mobil 1 0W-40 for that kind
of power.

Uhm that's not a lot of power. It bet it doesn't have muscular torque - just mediocre high end hp.

Ford wants us to use 5W-20 in a 255 hp / 350 ft-lb 5.4L SOHC V8.

I would use whatever weight Honda/Acura specifies as they're imports and are "special"

For the Ford Modular Motors (N/A that is) I would use M1 0W-30 or 5W-30.
 
J, are you saying engine "break-in" no longer occurs?
confused.gif


It may not be as dramatic as it once was, but oil analysis shows higher wear rates for nearly every engine during the first 10K-15K miles.

--- Bror Jace

[ April 01, 2003, 08:21 AM: Message edited by: Bror Jace ]
 
quote:

Originally posted by Bror Jace:
J, are you saying engine "break-in" no longer occurs?
confused.gif


It may not be as dramatic as it once was, but oil analysis shows higher wear rates for nearly every engine during the first 10K-15K miles.

--- Bror Jace


Hi,

break-in occurs but modern machining, modern
oils and modern filters make 500 mile oil change
superfluous.

thanks

Jae
 
quote:

Originally posted by YZF150:
Honda/Acura equips their cars with a high quality oil filter

What makes for a high quality filter?

What are the specifications of the Honda/Acura factory filter?

Which manufacturer produces it?


Metal end caps, for one thing.. The Honda filters in North America either have cardboard end-caps (Fram Canada) or really fuzzy media (Filtech USA). I wouldn't want that fuzz to get stuck in one of those tiny oil passages!

Too bad little is known about the 'good' Honda filters, besides the fact that they're only available in Japan..
 
Well, there has to be more to it than that. Nearly every filter made has metal end caps. Surely there are high quality and not-so-high quality filters with metal end caps.

What else?

[ April 01, 2003, 10:29 PM: Message edited by: YZF150 ]
 
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