Tuned Accord 2.0T - First Oil Change Choices?

Joined
Jan 11, 2023
Messages
97
Intro:

Bought my first turbo car in my life. Pretty much lived in toyota land like a monk and never left for 20 years. Still have an 05 with 300k miles that doesn't have a leak or a burn in sight for another 300k with pretty much no maintenance. Also had plenty of cars after, 07 avalon made it 80k miles before I traded it for an 2015 ES350 and it has 80k on it now. Had several 4 cylinder camry's from 2011-present, all serviced with valvoline 0w20, some were totaled, but my last one made it to 80k miles without an issue using toyota genuine oil 0w16 without an issue. Oil tests came back flawless on all the cars.

But, toyota land is different, I can probably put water into my 2019 A25A motor and it will still run simply because anything that required oil pressure is now long gone (electronic vvti and electric water pump and the works). I stay away from german cars period, so I have zero experience with those, and decided to pick up a good deal on this 2022 accord 2.0 turbo. I hear the 1.5 is a piece of aluminum foil with a honda badge and isn't worth having past 50k miles due to various failures of all sorts of parts and the 2.0 K series is the way to go. I have heard the K series is just as robust as the toyota 2AR and 2GR motors but this one is GDI only and a turbo at that.

I didn't do the first oil change at 5k, had honda do it. But now I am getting close to 10k, so getting ready.

Filter:

Picked up a filter from a company called Hengst. Seemed to be the closest to the OEM without buying OEM at least from the tear downs I have seen. I normally use OEM filters but these were on sale so...oh well bought 3.

Driving Habits:

I drive about 20k miles a year, give or take a few depending on life events. 90% highway miles since I live in the rural south east with lots of open road, heck, even our back roads have 55mph speed limits. I don't think I ever idle at a red light for more than 15 seconds a day, which is probably why my cars last so long. I do have a Ktuner Stage 2 dual tune, eco is factory. Car is garage kept.

My process from what I have read: warm up in eco mode for 2 minutes, start driving, don't go over 2000 RPM until the engine temp gauge is warmed up to normal temps, then I switch to normal mode which has the stage 2 tune (about 4PSI more boost over factory and with early spool enabled for faster turbo response). When I get close to my destination I switch back to eco, run the car real easy or coast without throttle to cool down if needed, let the engine idle in park for 30 seconds to a minute. At home I leave the hood open to let the heat evacuate.

Weather Temps:

The weather here is very strange but I am used to it. In the winter its usually around 32F during the night and 50-60F during the day. Some times when a winter spell comes over it can get as low as 10F at night and 25 during the day (like it was 3 weeks ago). The summers are really long, between April and September it is normal to see 75-80 at night and 95+ during the day for weeks on end with no rain. If the car sits out in the sun it can get to 150+ in the car even in the shade.

5w30:

I know pretty much everyone here agrees that 5w30 or heavier is the way to go, but I have been using 0w20 since it came out over a decade ago and have yet to have an issue. You could say I have a heavy foot sometimes, but thats probably like 2-5% of my yearly driving at best. I avg higher MPG than advertised on all my cars and do like 80+ on the highway every day.

After doing some research royal purple seemed like a great option, but then I dug into additives and stuff and pretty much came to the conclusion that my valvoline is the most balanced one out of what I looked at locally for a reasonable price. Heck, walmart sells it for 25-27$ for 5qts!

So would you say its worth bothering to go heavier weight oil?

Those of you who run 5w30 on your accord 2.0 (if there are some of you like that here) how has at been over the long term?
 

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Other than early oil dilution problems this is the first I’ve heard of Honda’s 1.5 engine failures. Maybe I don’t get out enough…..
There is a worrying amount of people on line, forums, youtube, etc, who have had the following:
head gasket failures (some report 30-40k miles, some 90-110k miles and up)
failing spark plugs and injectors (30k miles +)
failing turbo chargers (this is the least common but still plenty of evidence that the smaller DT03 isn't as stout as the DT04)
various issues with intercooler piping and intercooler failure (the connections are plastic and are prone to cracking and leaking boost)

and thats on STOCK engines without any tunes or modifications. Those that modify them report that the crank, con rods, pistons, valves, etc, cant handle anything past 6k RPM after a tune for any extended period of time simply because the engine is that weak. A few tear downs on youtube show that even the conrod bolts are so small and weak that you might as well use a wood screw. Not only that, the crank isn't fully balanced (facepalm).

Again, there isn't enough of ONE specific issue (other than the fuel dilution) to warrant a recall, but honda fixes all of this under power train warranty on the down low.

Also, the "oil dilution" fix was software, and never addressed the actually issue of blow by. The cylinder walls are so weak that if they did tighten down tolerances the cylinder sleeves could and would crack from the boost.
 
Run 5w30 in my 17 Regal GS 2.0T, currently at 20K, car is only driven for out of town trips and highway speeds, 5K oil changes, during the summer months like you 80 mph on the interstate with 100+ temps is not uncommon, I wouldn't run anything thinner. ;)
 
Curious on what gap you're solving for by putting a tune on an Accord?
Most tunes can squeeze out a little bit more performance by reducing the factory safety margins.
An Accord with a semi-common engine isn't exactly an expensive platform to fix when things go completely south, either, so it could be a somewhat affordable experiment.
 
Curious on what gap you're solving for by putting a tune on an Accord?
ktuner allows for a lot of changes to the driving dynamics of the car such as faster turbo spool, less throttle delay, dynamic VSC, and much more. When I got the car, stock from a 40 roll it got gapped by a stage 1 civic si. So its not as fast as people say. Its quick once youre in boost, but it has a pretty crappy top end (past 4500 RPM) and the turbo lag is absolutely ridiculous compared to the 1.5, Id say from a dig the turbo will be in boost only by 3500 RPM even though honda advertises "peak torque" at 1500 (I call BS, there is literally no way that can happen considering the transmission keeps the car at 1400RPM MINIMUM at any speed). On 93 octane and stage 2 youre gaining about 88lbft and 60whp and torque comes in earlier and doesn't fall off as hard. I still average well over the rated MPG on the highway, so the trade off is none...smoother and better power at more RPM, the only risk I can think of is faster heat soak of the intercooler and more turbo wear if you run the car hard all the time.

The k20 as an engine is nearly bullet proof as long as its well taken care of. My issue is literally NO ONE can seem to answer my question of long term 5w30 usage on this engine specifically.

EDIT: if you have little experience with turbo engines, the realization hits hard that its just a 2.0 NA engine with a big spinny boy strapped to it to "make the rated power" when in boost, when not in boost, its just a 150hp civic motor in a giant 4 door sedan, trying to make a gap split second in traffic or merge in high way traffic its harder when you need to get into boost to do anything, hence why the early spool is by far the best feature of the tune.

Factory its 252hp 273lbft. With stage 2 (and by the way, you need zero mods to do this) you're making well over 300lbft at earlier RPM than stock and peak at about 330.

EDIT2:
For reference, the only difference between the civic type r and the accord 2.0 are more aggressive cams and bigger turbo and intercooler. The engine was designed with 500hp+ in mind, you're limited by boost obviously.
 

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The k20 as an engine is nearly bullet proof as long as it’s well taken care of. My issue is literally NO ONE can seem to answer my question of long term 5w30 usage on this engine specifically.
There is no way it can be detrimental unless the winter rating is inappropriate, which would be below approximately -30 or so.

As I noted above no engine is harmed by an oil with a somewhat increased HT/HS. Film thickness prevents wear not the other way around.

But maybe I’m NO ONE.
 
Most tunes can squeeze out a little bit more performance by reducing the factory safety margins.
An Accord with a semi-common engine isn't exactly an expensive platform to fix when things go completely south, either, so it could be a somewhat affordable experiment.
Oh, I understand what tunes do. Spoke to a Ford engineer when the Ford 6.0L Powerstroke was rolled out at the Navistar factory in Alabama. Ford engineer stated they bought every tuner on the market, tested them to engine failure, with the sole purpose to deny warranty.
Just asking what the OP is looking to get out of the tune.
As a side note, was watching the 6.0L go down the production line. Some had polished crank counter weights, some didn't. I asked why. The Ford 6.0L had a higher rpm limit, needed better crank balancing. The same long block went into Navistars as the DT365. Lower rev limit, no polishing.
 
There is no way it can be detrimental unless the winter rating is inappropriate, which would be below approximately -30 or so.

As I noted above no engine is harmed by an oil with a somewhat increased HT/HS. Film thickness prevents wear not the other way around.

But maybe I’m NO ONE.
Nope you make perfect sense. I wasn't even worried about the winter figures. Everyone loves to do cold flow tests which are not realistic, half the (edit - Mod) country doesn't get bellow 32F more than a few days out of the year, so to me its more "how much heavier is 30 weight over 20 weight" which the more I read it seems not much, so 5w30 will be what I go with.
 
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Nope you make perfect sense. I wasn't even worried about the winter figures. Everyone loves to do cold flow tests which are not realistic, half the (edit - Mod) country doesn't get bellow 32F more than a few days out of the year, so to me its more "how much heavier is 30 weight over 20 weight" which the more I read it seems not much, so 5w30 will be what I go with.
With a tuned engine I would not be concerned about having some excess MOFT headroom. If it were me and I had such an engine I would use an oil with an HT/HS of at least 3.5 since my primary objective would be engine protection over fuel economy. But that’s just an opinion.
 
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AHA Found it. The 2017 Civic Type R manual from the UK says what I wanted it to say:
"0W-20 oil is formulated to improve fuel
economy.
If “Honda Engine Oil Type 2.0” is not
available, use 5W-30 or 0W-30."
Since its the same engine with only a few changes (same part number for oil pump), will run 5w30.
With a tuned engine I would not be concerned about having some excess MOFT headroom. If it were me and I had such an engine I would use an oil with an HT/HS of at least 3.5. But that’s just an opinion.
HT/HS? Where could that be found?
 
Well, I guess we can put Honda’s 1.5 liter engine in the same class as the Hyundai/Kia Nu engines. Failure city.
Yes. Its hot garbage and the fact that it comes mounted ONLY to a CVT makes it worse. Funny enough, the 2023 accord no longer offers the K20 motor and 10 speed auto which are known to be reliable. 1.5 or hybrid.
 
Why not use what Honda says in the owners manual.....I have always followed the manufacturers owners book and never since 1970 had any oil related problems including my last 2007 Honda Accord woth a 2,4 and had 386000 on it before I traded it in....
 
Yes of course it is. And the wording in the manual is dictated by their CAFE award letter which states that the manual and the manufacturer must strenuously promote the oil grade which was used to obtain fuel economy figures. The listed grade will provide adequate protection to prevent excessive wear under most operating conditions.

Oil grades in a manual are suggestions not requirements.
 
Why not use what Honda says in the owners manual.....I have always followed the manufacturers owners book and never since 1970 had any oil related problems including my last 2007 Honda Accord woth a 2,4 and had 386000 on it before I traded it in....
Because the same car has a different manual in every country due to various emissions regulations and requirements of the local governments. Thinner weight oils maximize fuel economy, that is a fact, and as I stated above, even honda's own owners manual states that 0w20 IS FOR EFFICIENCY and if that doesn't matter, use 5w30. But, they will never say that in THE USA where our regulations are reach the same level of retardation as the EU.

Imagine if honda's 2 million vehicles sold per year lost 2MPG on average? That wouldn't look good to governments.

I am looking on how to protect my engine for the longest possible time frame, be it 50, 80, or 200k miles. Maybe Ill sell it, maybe the car market poops and Ill keep it. But better safe than sorry. Oil is cheap, bought 10qts of valvoline just now for 47$, my turbo is 2500$...
 
Because the same car has a different manual in every country due to various emissions regulations and requirements of the local governments. Thinner weight oils maximize fuel economy, that is a fact, and as I stated above, even honda's own owners manual states that 0w20 IS FOR EFFICIENCY and if that doesn't matter, use 5w30. But, they will never say that in THE USA where our regulations are reach the same level of retardation as the EU.

Imagine if honda's 2 million vehicles sold per year lost 2MPG on average? That wouldn't look good to governments.

I am looking on how to protect my engine for the longest possible time frame, be it 50, 80, or 200k miles. Maybe Ill sell it, maybe the car market poops and Ill keep it. But better safe than sorry. Oil is cheap, bought 10qts of valvoline just now for 47$, my turbo is 2500$...
My 21 HRV says 0w20 is recomended and is stamped on the oil fill cap...
 
My 21 HRV says 0w20 is recomended and is stamped on the oil fill cap...
Thank your government then for reducing your engine lifespan from 300k to 100k.

Listen, if people did as they are told we would all live in the gulag of the USSR at this point. People who blindly follow the rules without quesitoning their reasoning are stupid. Yes. Stupid. Even engineers KNOWINGLY will tell you to do something if held at gun point or the risk of LOSING THEIR JOB

If its a naturally aspirated dual injected old school motor, I am sure 0w20 would be fine, but on a turbocharged GDI engine? The germans already went through that and I refuse to lose money on honda's behalf.
 
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