| If the oil color looks good, why change at 3,000 miles?
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| cycler15 |
| I plan on getting an oil change every 7,500 miles (like the manual recommends). I currently have 6,300 miles on my '04 and have been checking the color of my oil.... and right now it still looks very good. If the color/quality of the oil is still good at 6,000+ miles, why would you change your oil every 3,000 miles? Is there an benefit? |
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| XStatic |
Send your oil off for an accurate analysis, color doens't tell you much.
I try to change 5-7K but I would feel safe changing at 10K. |
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| TheWorm |
quote:
Originally posted by XStatic
Send your oil off for an accurate analysis, color doens't tell you much.
I try to change 5-7K but I would feel safe changing at 10K.
:bingo: Color is not a reliable indicator of oil quality (unless it looks like sludge, in which case it is ;)).
The additive package, cleaning ability, and lubricating ability of the oil could be long gone but you can't tell by looking. |
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| dbehrens |
quote:
Originally posted by cycler15
If the color/quality of the oil is still good at 6,000+ miles, why would you change your oil every 3,000 miles? Is there an benefit?
THERE IS A HUGE BENEFIT to changing your oil every 3,000 miles. The benefit goes to oil companies and Jiffy Lube. :4: I follow the manual, every 7500 miles. |
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| mdx99 |
quote:
Originally posted by cycler15
I plan on getting an oil change every 7,500 miles (like the manual recommends). I currently have 6,300 miles on my '04 and have been checking the color of my oil.... and right now it still looks very good. If the color/quality of the oil is still good at 6,000+ miles, why would you change your oil every 3,000 miles? Is there an benefit?
Oil or fluid change are the cheapest investment & protection for your engine/transmission etc. If you do per manual, the transmission will probably fail at 70,000 miles like lots of the member's X in this forum, as for the engine, who knows, too early to tell.
I'll do oil change every 3750 miles
VTM & transmission oil change every 15000 miles. |
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| tax_atty |
| I thought that was part of Bush's economic stimulus package - the benefits to the oil companies was unintended. |
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| socalJD |
quote:
Originally posted by cycler15
I plan on getting an oil change every 7,500 miles (like the manual recommends). I currently have 6,300 miles on my '04 and have been checking the color of my oil.... and right now it still looks very good. If the color/quality of the oil is still good at 6,000+ miles, why would you change your oil every 3,000 miles? Is there an benefit?
How do you know color is still good if you didn't witness the oil as it was put in ? I do most of my oil changes myself, and when the 5W-30 goes in, it's a light translucent color - almost clear, and I guarantee you with the LA smog & air quality, no way it's that same color after 6,000 miles. BTW I change my oil every 3750 (or twice as often as factory 'recommends') and my oil is dirty. Maint intervals are your choice, but I consider every day driving in LA traffic to be somewhere between normal and severe. Remember the recent wildfires - do you recall ashes all over the ground, that debris gets sucked into your engine. My grandpappy once told me that the 2 things you shouldn't neglect or go skimpy on are your engine oil and tires - the $30-35 you spend for the extra oil change is cheap insurance for a 40k+ SUV . . . |
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| frostyra |
quote:
Originally posted by socalJD
...cheap insurance...
Exactly why I change mine every 3750! I keep a car for a long time (usually 8-12 years), and I don't like unpleasant surprises, especially those that can be prevented. |
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| mdx99 |
quote:
Originally posted by frostyra
Exactly why I change mine every 3750! I keep a car for a long time (usually 8-12 years), and I don't like unpleasant surprises, especially those that can be prevented.
Yeah, that's the way to go, the last car I had , Mercedes E300 last 17 years with 285,000 miles before I got this MDX. Original transmission but engine got rebuilt once at around 250,000 miles.
:2: |
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| BaldEagle |
quote:
Originally posted by TheWorm
:bingo: Color is not a reliable indicator of oil quality (unless it looks like sludge, in which case it is ;)).
I nearly paniced when I checked the oil in by "other car" and it looked like sludge in only 3000 miles and the oil change was not required till 15000 miles. Then I found out that was normal for that engine (Cummins 350 diesel in the Motorhome) and would even look like sludge a few hundred miles after changing. I did some research and found out that that engine normally could go 700,000 to 1,000,000 miles before overhaul even though the oil is sludgy and only changed at every 15000 miles.
On all my other real cars the oil looks dirty at 3000 miles where the MDX looks relatively clean at 5000 when I have it changed. I think that says something about Honda's engine building ability. |
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| DaleB |
| If you use quality oil and change regularly you are doing fine. The key is really anything out of the ordinary. This is where color may tell you something has changed. This is more true with transmission oil where a sudden change in color or a burnt smell may spell doom. |
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| hopeitsfriday |
Changing your oil every 4000 instead of 8000 miles, assuming you drive 12000 miles a year, after 5 years, you would save a whopping 200 bucks. Is it worth risking a $40000 car for $200. I think not, unless you are one of those people who think its a good idea to 87 gas in the MDX.
What I get a kick out of are these car companies with these free schedude maintenance and oil changes. Before they had these free schedude maintenance oil changes, they stress to you how important it is to change your oil every 3000 miles. Now that they are paying for the oil changes, all of a sudden, it is every 12000 miles. |
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| frostyra |
quote:
Originally posted by hopeitsfriday
Is it worth risking a $40000 car for $200. I think not, unless you are one of those people who think its a good idea to 87 gas in the MDX.
Hey -- forum member Mogur did a study of octane vs engine behavior, and the only difference with 87 was a slight retarding of ignition timing at Wide Open Throttle. There was NO difference between 91/93 and 89, and no difference between 91/93 and 87 EXCEPT at WOT. So don't put us down just because you don't agree with those of us who wish to save $3 per tank -- many of the millionaires I've known got there by pinching pennies AND hard work. |
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| mgtr |
Along the oil change line, a friend of mine remarked that some people try to save money by changing the oil but not the filter. He thought this was pretty dumb, because the filter is where the bad stuff is!
I plan to keep my MDX, which I get today, for a good while, and will change every 3,750 (both oil and filter). |
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| DaleB |
quote:
Originally posted by mgtr
Along the oil change line, a friend of mine remarked that some people try to save money by changing the oil but not the filter. He thought this was pretty dumb, because the filter is where the bad stuff is!
I plan to keep my MDX, which I get today, for a good while, and will change every 3,750 (both oil and filter).
Hopefully, not too many do that. In the old days I would not trust those big filters to handle 2 changes of oil, I certainly would not trust the little buggers they put on there now. |
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| cmilioto |
quote:
Originally posted by socalJD
Remember the recent wildfires - do you recall ashes all over the ground, that debris gets sucked into your engine.
How does debris in the air mix with your engine oil??? |
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