Oil Analysis at 5k (Blackstone Labs Report)

[StingertimeNC]

Picked up my car today. Dealer said they would do 5K oil changes even if the maintenance minder was still OK.

This is a shock to me. I hope they follow through with that.

 

[KindaACarGuy]

You can always not reset the maint minder when performing your own oil change and get every other one covered by Acura.

This is what I plan to do.

 

[koatic]

@thosport
can anyone confirm the honda oil filter part number is the same for ITS?
15400-PLM-A02

Disregard.. called dealership and confirmed this is correct filter.

 

[thosport]

I ordered a case of 15400-RTA-003 (Mahle Tennex) from eBay because they are made in Japan. I’m sure the PLM-A02 (Honeywell) is fine too but it just feels better to go JDM for whatever reason. The PLM-003 (Filtrex) is supposedly the gold standard but they are impossible to find now.

 

[Integra23]

I ordered a case of 15400-RTA-003 (Mahle Tennex) from eBay because they are made in Japan. I’m sure the PLM-A02 (Honeywell) is fine too but it just feels better to go JDM for whatever reason. The PLM-003 (Filtrex) is supposedly the gold standard but they are impossible to find now.

Careful with ebay fakes.

 

[thosport]

Careful with ebay fakes.

Totally. Definitely worth bringing this up. They were all individually boxed and wrapped, have the right color gaskets, print is crisp, etc so I’m confident they are legit. My next analysis could be interesting if they are not lol.

 

[Last_ICE]

Frankly I do not understand this thinking. I had a scientist from Caltech tell me that filtering the oil is much more important than worrying about the oil not being able to do its job anymore. Plus an oil filter is much less expensive than 6 quarts of synthetic oil.

How often would you think it makes sense to change the filter vs. change the oil itself? I am at 900 miles on my Type S, and I am pretty old, having started with early-'60s cars, so the idea of waiting 5K miles for an oil change is bracing.

 

[StingertimeNC]

The first oil change probably 2-3k miles. Then, if you're using a good quality synthetic oil, you can go at 5k intervals unless you're tracking the car a bunch.

 

[thosport]

How often would you think it makes sense to change the filter vs. change the oil itself? I am at 900 miles on my Type S, and I am pretty old, having started with early-'60s cars, so the idea of waiting 5K miles for an oil change is bracing.

I think you’ll be fine at 5k. I hear you on the old ways but oil has changed a lot over the years. The maintenance minder in the car typically runs 7-10k before requiring service. More often than 5k is probably overkill.

 

[SilverRocket]

I think one of the most important aspects of the interval period is being overlooked and that is how hard the oil has to work. 8k miles in ideal conditions might be perfectly fine whereas 5k in harsh conditions might even be too much.

The worst thing you can do is shut your engine off while it's extremely hot. If you were driving spiritedly, take an extra 5 minutes driving with little to no boost engagement to cool off the turbo because the number one way to degrade the oil is to have the turbo cook it because it's no longer flowing properly through the system. I wouldn't trust the delay timer either, that's just there so people don't grenade the engine in less time than the warranty, but it sure won't be pretty medium term and you can forget long term.

 

[StingertimeNC]

I think one of the most important aspects of the interval period is being overlooked and that is how hard the oil has to work. 8k miles in ideal conditions might be perfectly fine whereas 5k in harsh conditions might even be too much.

The worst thing you can do is shut your engine off while it's extremely hot. If you were driving spiritedly, take an extra 5 minutes driving with little to no boost engagement to cool off the turbo because the number one way to degrade the oil is to have the turbo cook it because it's no longer flowing properly through the system. I wouldn't trust the delay timer either, that's just there so people don't grenade the engine in less time than the warranty, but it sure won't be pretty medium term and you can forget long term.

I'm not sure if the turbo cooldown period is completely necessary, but I do it anyway. At the track I will circle the paddock for at least 5 minutes or so after coming off to let everything cool off a bit. Better safe than sorry.

During daily drive I typically drive easy the last few minutes for this reason. Don't want to put the horse in the barn super hot.

 

[SilverRocket]

I'm not sure if the turbo cooldown period is completely necessary, but I do it anyway. At the track I will circle the paddock for at least 5 minutes or so after coming off to let everything cool off a bit. Better safe than sorry.

During daily drive I typically drive easy the last few minutes for this reason. Don't want to put the horse in the barn super hot.

That's exactly what I meant. Like you point out, track is different than daily but even daily I usually drive the last 2 miles super easy just to be extra sure. It's really easy because once a get to a specific intersection then I default into cool down mode.

For those who don't care to, just change your oil sooner than you otherwise would have.

 

[thosport]

@thosport Thank you for sharing the data. Curious if there was a small clump of oil goo on the drain bolt. was thinking about getting a magnetic drain bolt but also heard the stock bolt was already magnetized.

Guess I will find out soon enough it's about time for my first oil change. Also, too many horror stories that are hit and miss at dealership service centers and frankly I don't trust a stranger that doesn't give two sh!ts about their job taking proper care of my car. Most likely going to bypass the free oil change and do it myself. Save piece of mind instead of money. just my 2 cents.

Confirmed the bolt is not magnetic.

 

[spyder]

This is a shock to me. I hope they follow through with that.

Had my first oil change at 5k (50% oil life showing) and service manager said they'd do it every 5k if I wanted. I guess it just depends on which dealer.

 

[ChromaPop]

How often would you think it makes sense to change the filter vs. change the oil itself? I am at 900 miles on my Type S, and I am pretty old, having started with early-'60s cars, so the idea of waiting 5K miles for an oil change is bracing.

Personally after an early 3,000 mile break-in first oil change, I am generally a 9 month or 6,000 miles oil changer, whichever comes first. And I will always do the filter with that.