[zroger73]

I reuse crush washers whenever possible but some shops just push the limits of the design. I’ve seen these crush washers on family member or coworker vehicles 🚗 that come by for some diy work. The oil jocks just tighten the drain plug until it stops leaking and some use some putty. No thanks as long as I can crawl under safely I do my own oil changes. View attachment 143519

Technically, those are sealing washers rather than crush washers. The primary goal of a crush washer is to limit torque on a fastener by deforming once you reach the correct torque - it collapses and can only be used once. The primary goal of a sealing washer is to deform just enough to the mating surfaces to prevent leaks once the proper torque value is reached. A sealing washer can be reused, but it's not the best practice because its ability to seal can be reduced with each reuse. Here's a crush washer:

 

[road2cycle]

Where's the $20 synthetic-blend option?

Would you actually check that box if it was listed?😁

 

[xGS]

Would you actually check that box if it was listed?😁

Only one way to find out.

 

[briantii]

If it’s under 50 bux for synthetic I have no problems letting the dealer do it. With that said, I generally diy anyway because the dealer is 30 minutes away and it takes me less time to diy.

 

[Nail Grease]

It really depends. I don't mind paying my mechanic $50 for an oil and filter change because it means someone other than me is topping off fluids and checking if anything else is wrong.

Our 2006 Odyssey never saw a drop of synthetic oil and never had a single engine related problem. Made it to 230k miles before getting totaled. I know we could debate synthetic vs. conventional all day but my understanding is that oil is oil. As long as you keep it full and clean it doesn't really matter. I could be wrong but that's what I'm choosing to believe.

Oil for a fact is oil. Synthetic oil is proven to be superior to conventional. Use of conventional oil is more volatile. It can burn, even ignite. Pre-detonation in a cylinder can be attribute to the use of conventional oil (misfires). Compound this with an active VCM in some year models where excessive oil can be pumped up into cylinders can cause excessive oil deposits that can lead to stuck piston rings, heavily fouled spark plugs, dirty injectors and stuck valves. Conventional oil is not a friend to the Vtec (vvt) solenoid assembly with filter screens.
Wear test can't be denied. Full Synthetic oil protects an engine better.

 

[briantii]

Oil for a fact is oil. Synthetic oil is proven to be superior to conventional. Use of conventional oil is more volatile. It can burn, even ignite. Pre-detonation in a cylinder can be attribute to the use of conventional oil (misfires). Compound this with an active VCM in some year models where excessive oil can be pumped up into cylinders can cause excessive oil deposits that can lead to stuck piston rings, heavily fouled spark plugs, dirty injectors and stuck valves. Conventional oil is not a friend to the Vtec (vvt) solenoid assembly with filter screens.
Wear test can't be denied. Full Synthetic oil protects an engine better.
View attachment 143532

Synthetic is better, except in aircraft engines burning leaded fuels in which case it’s a complete disaster. With that said many times conventional is “good enough“. I never ran synthetic in my wife’s old Civic and despite it’s inability to keep oil off the ground, it ran great up to the day we sold it with 180k+ miles. Also my Lexus ran conventional with the first owner who put 75k miles on it. At 200k+ it’s still running strong and the valve train is nice and very clean.

Basically unless you have an engine that requires synthetic or one that just tends to be hard on oil you can probably use conventional, change it regularly and have zero negative impact on the useful life of the engine. With that said - I put synthetic in our Pilot, 3 series, and IS300 because it is without a doubt superior.

 

[The Todd]

I'd do it myself even if I was rich LOL. Wait, what?

I take pride in knowing exactly what goes in my motors.
I've know too many grease monkeys at less than desirable shops putting crappy dino oil in and saying they used a premium or synthetic oil, etc. I've even had a girl friend years ago, after an oil change- the oil was dirty as hell, they didnt't even do it!
I've also had grease monkey friends tell me at the profit is the name of the game, that they'd stick the drain plug back in when it was still flowing out. And refill the difference.

I understand not everyone has an easy place to do it, or can do it, or even want to do it. That keeps the shops in business.

ON a tangent, one tie I took my Mazda truck (it was decades ago) in to a Meineke for a free tire rotation and brake check. They wiped fresh brake fluid on a rag, wiped it on the wheel cylinders (Rear drums) and tried sell me a rear whell brake cylinder rebuild.
I told them to put it back together and I"d keep an eye on it, which I did. It was NOT leaking any fluid.
Scam Artists!

I don't need someones 'trained eye' telling me what my vehicles need. I can do it and do it better. YMMV
And yes, there are certain jobs, that require a specialized set of tools and instruments that I often don't have, and luckily I found a shop near me that I trust to do just about any work.

 

[The Todd]

If it’s under 50 bux for synthetic I have no problems letting the dealer do it. With that said, I generally diy anyway because the dealer is 30 minutes away and it takes me less time to diy.

And maybe they are,
But do actually SEE what is going in your engine?

I've seen too many bait and switch rackets with oil changes.

 

[briantii]

And maybe they are,
But do actually SEE what is going in your engine?

I've seen too many bait and switch rackets with oil changes.

I can see a brand new Honda filter and fresh honey colored oil. I know bait and switch happens and saw it with my wife going to the Goodyear shop. I suspect my Honda dealer has too much to lose to get wrapped up in that. Frankly they seem to really honest, if expensive on parts. They even admitted to me that their tech did a transmission fluid change by accident and didnt charge me for it. Said he had been doing a bunch lately and just instinctively drained ours too. No charge, just a heads up that it’d been done. Overall my dealer has been great. If only Honda made something I wanted to buy I’d stick with them.

 

[bzwyatt]

I like to change the oil in my cars. 6 qts of Mobil 1 are on sale at Costco this month for $27.

I came to ask an oil change-related question and this thread was on top so I'll ask in here. Do you change your oil on a time period if you don't put miles on your vehicle? I just realized it's been two years since I changed the oil in one of my cars, during which time I only drove 3,500 miles.

Jiffy Lube says 3 months (!? lol ?!) or 3k miles (cha-ching), so that's one extreme measure for frequency. Ain't starting an oil argument, just wondering what other people do, if you have a car that you rarely drive and never racks up miles to need a change.

 

[Jack Vogt]

I like to change the oil in my cars. 6 qts of Mobil 1 are on sale at Costco this month for $27.

I came to ask an oil change-related question and this thread was on top so I'll ask in here. Do you change your oil on a time period if you don't put miles on your vehicle? I just realized it's been two years since I changed the oil in one of my cars, during which time I only drove 3,500 miles.

Jiffy Lube says 3 months (!? lol ?!) or 3k miles (cha-ching), so that's one extreme measure for frequency. Ain't starting an oil argument, just wondering what other people do, if you have a car that you rarely drive and never racks up miles to need a change.

I think once a year if you don't meet the mileage criteria. That's what the Honda maintenance schedule said at some point.

The 3 months/3k miles is old and doesn't take into account the use of synthetic oil.

 

[xGS]

I came to ask an oil change-related question and this thread was on top so I'll ask in here. Do you change your oil on a time period if you don't put miles on your vehicle? I just realized it's been two years since I changed the oil in one of my cars, during which time I only drove 3,500 miles.

Jiffy Lube says 3 months (!? lol ?!) or 3k miles (cha-ching), so that's one extreme measure for frequency. Ain't starting an oil argument, just wondering what other people do, if you have a car that you rarely drive and never racks up miles to need a change.

Honda recommends changing the oil at least once every 12 months, if the MM does call for it to be done sooner.
Before the MM was implemented, the short-trip/severe/service schedule called for an oil change at 3.750 miles.
There been a few posts stating that the MM has called for an oil change after about 3,000 miles.

Honda defines short trips as about 5 miles, or less.
Suppose you had a 5-mile commute each way, so two short trips per day.
That's 2,600 miles of severe service driving in a year.
Add a few miles of similar driving on the weekend and the MM could well call for an oil change at 3,000 miles.

 

[oseto317]

On my old 06 I would do all the oil changes and maintenance items I felt comfortable tackling. The new 21 can get full synthetic oil changes at the dealer for $12.95 + a free car wash. I know they do that to get you in so they can say "by the way XYZ should be done as well and that will cost $$$$."

 

[plplplpl]

• I'm so loaded it doesn't matter what an oil change costs. I'll pay to have it done.
  Votes: 0 0.0%

Pity @Daltongang has been so busy recently making the rounds to collect the rent from the peasants working his land and so hasn't been able to find the time to cast his vote yet.

 

[Daltongang]

As Sheik Abdul bean Falafe said, “ Don’t bother changing the oil, buy a new Rolls-Royce.“

 

[The Todd]

I can see a brand new Honda filter and fresh honey colored oil. I know bait and switch happens and saw it with my wife going to the Goodyear shop. I suspect my Honda dealer has too much to lose to get wrapped up in that. Frankly they seem to really honest, if expensive on parts. They even admitted to me that their tech did a transmission fluid change by accident and didnt charge me for it. Said he had been doing a bunch lately and just instinctively drained ours too. No charge, just a heads up that it’d been done. Overall my dealer has been great. If only Honda made something I wanted to buy I’d stick with them.

'Honey colored oil'? Isn't most motor oil Honey colored? Conventional and syns.

I know there are honest shops. Not all, I'm telling ya.

But, IMHO, the Thread Title is offensive! At what price point?

NO price point.

I guess when you're not brought up in a wealthy home, you're parents divorced when you were young, you figured out how to do stuff, like changing car/motorcycle oil, etc.

If it were free, and I could actually KNOW what they put in? Then maybe I'd let them do it.

I have no problem with people having their oil changed at a shop- as I said earlier, some physically can't, or don't want to.
No problem with that. I'm not 'special' b/c I change my own oil.
Well, OK, I may be 'special', but not b/c I change my own oil LOL

 

[Jack Vogt]

It's not all a scam. Shops have too much to lose. Of course there are bad places and those are the only ones you hear about.

Change your oil or pay someone else to do it. It's going to cost money and the savings of doing it yourself vs. paying someone else to do it doesn't add up to much over the course of a year.


Do you really KNOW what is being put into your car at the gas pump?

 

[xGS]

Change your oil or pay someone else to do it. It's going to cost money and the savings of doing it yourself vs. paying someone else to do it doesn't add up to much over the course of a year.

Even more so when you only drive enough to require one oil change per year.

 

[The Todd]

Even more so when you only drive enough to require one oil change per year.

YMMV, I'd still do my own LOL

 

[Nail Grease]

YMMV, I'd still do my own LOL

If I was only changing oil once a year, I wouldn't want dinosaur oil setting up in my engine and oil pan while using a cheap rusty filter with decaying cellulose fibers. More the reason to use full synthetic.