Recommendations Please: Acrua 2.4L

[Sidwinder]

Hello all,
I have a very new Acura TSX which has a 2.4L 4 cylinder. The engine is basically the same bottom end as the accord 4 banger, but the head is souped up a bit. Anyway this thing is brand new. I'm looking for some guidance about oil changes.

I put on about 1300-1500 miles per month, most of which is a 50 miles/day round trip commute. Most of this is highway.
Weekend use amounts to some incomplete warm-up short trip driving. I also have the Wisconsin winter that can be -20F, so I'm leaning toward synthetic.
I'm probably going to use Pennzoil Platinum 5w20 based on others good results in honda motors. I'll also send in the first few samples of oil for analysis, just to check.
I drive the car moderately, try to go easy on the "loud pedal" when the engine is cold. But I will let it snap every once in a while when warmed up.

How long should I leave the factory fill in there?
Synthetic on the first change?
What is a good target change interval?
Would you change the filter at 3000 or so?

Let's hear it....

Thanks,
Ben

 

[rg200amp]

I would leave the factory fill in there for 4000-5000 miles

Run a conventional oil for 3000-4000 miles, then go to Pennzoil Platinum 5w20.
I would run a 5500-6500 mile Change Interval.(you can go longer, but thats your call)
Change the filter out every oil change.

Pennzoil Platnium will work GREAT in that car.
Good luck with it.

And

to BITOG


Kiss life as you knew it good bye!!!

 

[Liquid_Turbo]

For warantee requirements, not why just leave the factory break-in oil as recommended, the follow all change intervals with synthetic?

What does the manual recommend, 5k mi for severe, and 10k mi for non-severe?

 

[JHZR2]

factory fill for as long as the owners manual says... for honda products I think it is a full OCI or 5000 mi or so. Just go by the book - honda is one of the comapnies that wants you to go full duration on factory fill.

After that, Id go on an HTO-06 or whatever the honda turbo spec is oil, so long as it is a 5w30 that meets the other honda specs too (IIRC, you need a 30wt, otherwise go with a good 20wt depending on the manual). If it is 30wt, to get all the good specs, I think this leaves you with pennzoil platinum and mobil 1.

Id use either with confidence. Id not use a honda filter, but rather likely go with a purolator pure 1 or a denso first time fit filter. For that kind of a commute, Id stay away from the severe interval and just use the standard one. For -20 Id go more for the M1 because of its free-er flowing PAO basestock... though PP shows very nice used oil analysis... so I think its irrelevant.

Good luck!

 

[The Critic]

Change the oil when the Maintenance Minder gets down to 15%.

Leave the factory fill in until then. There's no reason to change it sooner. 5w-20 is the recommended oil now for this engine, and you can use conventional or synthetic, it's your choice.

 

[Audi Junkie]

Since winter is coming soon, I would change to a nice synthetic oil a lil early. 2500 miles on the original oil is fine. That engine takes 5w30 not 5w-20 like the Honda engines do. That being said, I would still consider 0w-20 or good 5w-20 synthetic like PP in the EXTREME cold. Otherwise, Mobil 1 0w30 or Pennzoil Platinum 5w30 give comparable cold flow and service intervals. I am using older SL Mobil 1 0w30 in my Accord 2.4L although I have some PP here too. The M1 is older and has to get used up. We see 0f and maybe a little below for a few days at the most.

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted By: Audi Junkie
Since winter is coming soon, I would change to a nice synthetic oil a lil early. 2500 miles on the original oil is fine. That engine takes 5w30 not 5w-20 like the Honda engines do. That being said, I would still consider 0w-20 or good 5w-20 synthetic like PP in the EXTREME cold. Otherwise, Mobil 1 0w30 or Pennzoil Platinum 5w30 give comparable cold flow and service intervals. I am using older SL Mobil 1 0w30 in my Accord 2.4L although I have some PP here too. The M1 is older and has to get used up. We see 0f and maybe a little below for a few days at the most.

No it takes 5w-20. The 1st generation TSX (04-08) took 5w30, but the new one does not.

 

[Audi Junkie]

Ok, I'd still use 30 weight p

 

[Sidwinder]

Ok Thanks for all the input.
Yes this car does take 5W-20 while previous versions did still take the 5w30. I'll keep the factory fill in there for a while yet at least 3000 miles, maybe 4000. Either way I'll be hitting that mileage around February, which is usually our coldest month. I'll watch the sale flyers until then, and try not to be an oil-hoarder.

Based on the used oil analysis posted, I thought 6000 miles was a reasonable target. This car has a cover under the motor which needs to be removed for oil service. The fewer times I go under there, the better. This would give me 2-3 changes per year, which I wouldn't mind at all.

Stay tuned for part II:
04 Toyota Van 3MZ-FE engine.
(I'll start another thread)