Oil change and breaking-in

[BrushPilot]

Hi, I'm new to this forum and also a proud new owner of a new '06 Pilot.

The owner's manual states that "special" engine oil is put in at the factory and should be left in for atleast the first 3,750 miles. The service adviser at the local Honda dealer thought the same. I've always thought that it was best to do an early first oil change. Metal shavings/filings aren't as much of a concern as in engines of yore but some particles are sure to be floating around in the oil after the engine is run its very first few hundred miles.

I guess what I'm concerned about is that if this oil really is "special" in some way? Whether it'll condition the rubber seals or help break-in the engine in some way. If not then there really is no harm in doing an extra oil change at a thousand miles and then after a couple of regular (DINO) oil changes, shift to synthetic.

Nearing the magical thousand mile mark, welcome feedback... thanks.

[humanoid]

This topic seems to come up every month or so. I hope I don't come across as terse, it's late at night for me and I'm not thinking before I type so forgive me, but use the search function up above, it's a really helpful tool for a n00B like yourself at this forum.

You've just opened up a can o' worms where you'll get 10 responses to your inquiry and all of them will be different. Let the fun begin... and oh, welcome to the site and enjoy your stay.

edit: BTW, my first oil change was at 7500 miles, just following what the manual says.

[fjwagner]

go with the manual and dont overthink it. Honda engineers know what they are doing. Your next question will be on oil change intervals. I do 7500 miles in Houston with conventional oil and my analysis reports post drain indicate that is appropriate. New oils are so much better than the past. Other than that, the search does great.

[jdeanski]

Humanoid and fjwagner have got it right. Wait till the 7000/7500 mark and follow the manual and you won't have any problems. At the first change you can switch to synthetic if you want. I did.

[ctobio]

I wait for the oil change light to come on. The vehicle does some fairly sophisticated calculations for figuring out oil life based on how it detects the vehicle is being used. It bases the calculations on runtime, total revolutions, operating conditions (temps, load). I actually think this is a better way of determining maintenance intervals than slavishly following to two mileage schedules- normal and severe.

On my Pilot, which is driven about 30 miles a day, mostly highway, the oil change light came on at 6100 miles for the first time. At this point, there was 10% life left.

The oil color was not particularly dark when I changed it.

I put in precisely 4.3 quarts of Mobil 1 Synthetic 5W20. I went with the synthetic for the extra safety margin I get with long oil change intervals. Realistically, you could probably get away with keeping Mobil1 in for 10k miles- this is standard practice in Europe.

I view synthetic as cheap insurance, but you can follow this maintenance interval with a quality non-synthetic also. My other modification is that it specifies changing the oil filter with every other oil change. I see no reason to not spend the extra 5 dollars each time and change the oil filter at oil change.

The whole metal-shavings thing is really a holdover from decades ago, just like 3000 mile oil changes. If a vehicle is putting out metal shavings in its oil nowadays, something is seriously wrong- even at break-in. Yes, manufacturers typically put in a break-in oil, typically with some extra moly, but as long as you follow the manufacturer's RECOMMENDED oil change interval, you'll be fine. And yes, you should take it easy the first few hundred miles. That's all there is to break-in nowadays.

[A6Pilot]

Ditto. What he said.

[BrushPilot]

Thanks for the welcome and yes I may be over-thinking the first oil change thing. For the sake of argument and better serve the purpose of a forum, I'll continue to research the factory "special" oil...and report any findings.

ctobio, I agree about the synthetic oil. I drove an Integra GSR for 8 years and put ~165K miles on it and only sold it because I was tired of having the same car for 8 years. The only thing I did to pamper this car was exclusively use Mobil1 after the initial 5K miles of recommended wearing. The guy I sold the car to wanted to have a compression test done and he, as well as I, were surprised to find the compression was 220 psi across all four cylinders. So, I have personally seen how synthetics are worth the extra money. You're preaching to a believer...

It's good to know that the maintenance minder isn't just a mileage minder but actually is based on some computations. How do you reset the maintenance minder after an oil change? I'm sure I can find that information in the manual but it'll be good to have such information in a thread related to oil changes...

[Sportymonk]

Did a search for "oil". 57 pages ! Here's a few of the interesting looking ones.

The first oil change

A Must Read On Oil Change Intervals...

First Oil Change

Mobil1 0w20 Returns

5w 20

5W-20 vs 5W-30

SEARCH FOR SYNTHETIC

Diy Oil Change

7500 mi service

Mobil 1 (or Synthetic engine oil)

Used oil analysis at 15,556 miles

Royal Purple Motor Oil .....

[N_Jay]

Originally posted by BrushPilot
. . . The guy I sold the car to wanted to have a compression test done and he, as well as I, were surprised to find the compression was 220 psi across all four cylinders. . . .

How many 165K mile non-syn using Integras did you sample to find if your "surprise" was actually surprising?

[BK_STYLEZ]

I also have a question about the first oil change. I have 4300 miles on my 3 month old pilot now and the maintenance minder is on with 15% oil life. Should I still wait until the 7500 mile mark or change it early? I drive mostly local traffic here in NYC.

[jay]

Originally posted by BK_STYLEZ
I also have a question about the first oil change. I have 4300 miles on my 3 month old pilot now and the maintenance minder is on with 15% oil life. Should I still wait until the 7500 mile mark or change it early? I drive mostly local traffic here in NYC.

In the '03-05, you'd have used the severe schedule and changed it at 3750 miles. I'd say go ahead and change it.

[ctobio]

Originally posted by BK_STYLEZ
I also have a question about the first oil change. I have 4300 miles on my 3 month old pilot now and the maintenance minder is on with 15% oil life. Should I still wait until the 7500 mile mark or change it early? I drive mostly local traffic here in NYC.

15% is reasonable to change it now. You could probably stretch it a little to 10%, which will probably get you to 5000 miles.

Don't wait until the 7500 mile mark. That's too long given your operating conditions.

Yours is a good example of the maintenance minder making the adjustment for the more severe operating conditions met by your vehicle.

[sjlee]

Originally posted by N_Jay


How many 165K mile non-syn using Integras did you sample to find if your "surprise" was actually surprising?

I agree. I still have my '96 GS-R. It has about 156k miles and had nothing but conventional 5W-30 oil in it until recently (my local dealer uses sythetic blend now - I got some free oil change coupons from them). Runs great and there's no oil consumption whatsoever.

As far as oil change intervals, for anyone with a 2006 Pilot, just follow the maintenance minder. Using mileage to determine when to change the oil is very inaccurate since driving conditions vary so much (even for the same person over the course of three months). Using driving conditions, the maintenance minder calculates when you should change the oil. A hard-and-fast schedule isn't going to be more accurate than that.

For anyone with an older Pilot, just follow the maintenance schedule that fits your driving conditions. Personally, I'm going with the "normal" schedule, which means 7500 mile OCIs. You don't need to do the first oil change early to catch any metal fragments... that's what the oil filter is for.

[ThePilotster]

Before ya flame me.. I just spent 1/2 hour reading my manual.. Spent another 1/2 searching here at the forum, then called 4 different Honda dealers and got 4 different answers!
My 1st pilot MM came up for service at 6k .. Our new Pilot came up at 4K.
No where in the Honda book does it state frequency's!
I found many different opinions here on the forum
The service department advisers at the 4 dealers respectivly told me 3700,5000,7500, 10,000 for the break in oil 1st change
Our 06 CR-v manual states 10K.
I know it varies by driving conditions ie; severe duty. light duty etc...
Just a straight answer if someone managed to find it. What is the Normal frequency of the 1st oil change vs all the rest?
Thanks

[fjwagner]

the factory fill has special additives to facilitate break-in, so you dont want to change oil too soon. I go with 7500 miles intervals even living in Houston with mixed freeway/stop-n'-go traffic. I have done some oil analysis that does not indicate any problems with 7500 mile versus the severe service of 3750. I interpret severe as towing, mountains, all city stop and go, etc. Oils are so good these days, dont give up more money than you need to. I use conventional oil such as Exxon Superflo 5w-20 which is felt by many to be the supplier for Honda oils. Fred