Engine break in + synthetic oil??

[mooseheads36]

is it a bad idea to break in a new engine on full synthetic oil? the dealer said they don't recommend running full synthetic until it's broken in. what's up with that??

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[RICO_]

I believe you're supposed to leave the oil that came in the car in there for the first $5000 miles or until the oil life gets low. Then you can switch to full synthetic after the first oil life.

[Type X]

Originally Posted by RICO_

I believe you're supposed to leave the oil that came in the car in there for the first $5000 miles or until the oil life gets low. Then you can switch to full synthetic after the first oil life.

i did the above after 3000 miles

and change my synth every 3k

[RICO_]

Yeah i change mine every 3k miles as well, but the first change wasn't until around 4100 miles or so. I guess it varies with driving style.

[kryptonite67]

i use Mobil Clean 5000.

i did my first oil change at 3200, and just did the second one at 3900. i know the % is supposed to vary on driving style but at my last oil change (3900mi) my oil life was a 50%. If it varies on driving style... i must be driving like grandma.

[blue rocket]

recommendation is to leave the break in oil in there for around 5k miles...change with normal oil until 15k, then switch.

[honda06si]

Originally Posted by blue rocket

recommendation is to leave the break in oil in there for around 5k miles...change with normal oil until 15k, then switch.

no no

your not suppose to change from regular motor oil to synthetic if the car has more than 5,xxx

[WILD_WILL]

I heard after 10,000 miles its best to change to syn if you wish thats what i am doing i am at 8,900 k now after the next oil change i am going full mobile 1 syn !

[mInI m3 Hondeezy]

Originally Posted by kryptonite67

i use Mobil Clean 5000.

i did my first oil change at 3200, and just did the second one at 3900.

You changed your oild within 700 miles?Damn how fast do you drive? I would say go to syn after your first oil change.

[d16dcoe45]

You can change to synthetic literally whenever the hell you want!! The only thing with some synthetics is they have a higher solvency, so say you have a car with 80,000 miles on that you have used dinosaur oil on the whole time, well some of your gaskets (valve cover, oil pan, rear main, front main seal) may actually be sealing better because of a buidlup of of old oil and crud on the inside of your motor, now you put the synthetic in and because of its solvency starts breaking down and melting away some of the built up crud that was actually HELPING to seal your gaskets--now you have a better chance of a leak. Its not a guarentee of a leak--but its really the only reason misinformed people say "you can't switch to synthetic if you have been using regular oil for the life of the car"--the synthetic has absolutely no negative effect besides possibly giving you a greater chance for leaks.

That is why they have these "high mileage" oils for cars with over 75,000 miles--the rubber in the gaskets starts to harden and eventually crack from all the heat over the years, these oils actually have "swelling compounds" that are absorbed into the gaskets and actually cause them to swell up a little bit--which may help to seal a leak. Its the same stuff that is in gasket conditioners.

[kryptonite67]

Originally Posted by mInI m3

You changed your oild within 700 miles?Damn how fast do you drive? I would say go to syn after your first oil change.

opps, my second oil change was at 6900, 3700 miles later, sorry for the error!

[TRE_]

I find it comedic that people think its a good idea to change the oil out sooner than they should. Honda engineered the maintenance minder system for a reason! Changing the oil out before the oil life is less than 10% is a waste of money and time.

Originally Posted by mooseheads36

is it a bad idea to break in a new engine on full synthetic oil?

the dealer said they don't recommend running full synthetic until it's broken in. what's up with that??

I would leave the oil in that you have now until it gets down to 10% oil life and THEN change it out to synthetic.

[nolia3du]

If you switch to synthetic to soon, before the engine has broke in, the rings won't seal properly, and you'll end up burning oil. Just wait til the engine has been broken in, then you can switch at anytime.

[mInI m3 Hondeezy]

Originally Posted by TRE_

Changing the oil out before the oil life is less than 10% is a waste of money and time. [/b]

I would leave the oil in that you have now until it gets down to 10% oil life and THEN change it out to synthetic.

Damn isnt that kinda low? wow i usally switch it out at 20%.

[gus738]

where does it say you must/ or cant use snyt. before being break in ? i did sny oil in 1,300 miles or so

[RICO_]

Originally Posted by gus738

where does it say you must/ or cant use snyt. before being break in ? i did sny oil in 1,300 miles or so

Im not sure if it will cause engine damage if you change the oil so soon, but I believe someone mentioned that the oil that comes with a brand new honda is a special "break-in" oil.

Someone correct me if i'm wrong though.

[WILD_WILL]

Yes i was told by everyone it s a special oil with break in additives changing it at 10% is ludacris i would never take that risk the lowest i go is 20% but i change it every 3500 miles anyway.

[Blue Hybrid]

http://www.honda-tech.com/zerothread/1872584

merge

[TRE_]

Originally Posted by mInI m3

Damn isnt that kinda low? wow i usally switch it out at 20%.

Change your oil at 20% if it makes you feel better but I'm telling you that its completely pointless. Why would Honda develop a maintenance minder system and implement it if it were useless? Between 10-5% is when they suggest you change it.

Originally Posted by WILD_WILL

10% is ludacris i would never take that risk the lowest i go is 20% but i change it every 3500 miles anyway.

Why is that "ludacris" ? I'd honestly really like to hear your reasoning.

Whats ludicrous is that people like you waste money AND oil when they don't need to.

[Blue Hybrid]

i had an EF with 330,000 on it, about 50k is from me. A college professor taught me something that made alot of sense. If you change your oil at 3000 miles, you will sometimes forget where you are if yo dont write it down. if you changed your oil every 2500 miles, you would never forget.

ex: 10,000, 12,500, 15,000, 17,500 etc because in 3000 increments, it could be 11,000, 14,000, 17,000, 20,000, 23,000. if in 2500 increments, you always know where you are.

even with the maintenence minder, the tech or you may have forgotten to reset it. the 2500 increment system is fail proof.

but it can get a lil pricey with synthetic oil : P

[Nomar06]

The minder doesn do anything but help you keep track of the milage. Why would it go to megative mileage??? My first oil change at 600 miles (as stated in the manual) was done at the dealership and when I picked up the car the mainder was reading at 20% it only resets itself if a person does it. To me, if it actually read how good/bad your oil was then it would change it self.

My 2 cents

[TRE_]

Originally Posted by Nomar06

The minder doesn do anything but help you keep track of the milage.

You're completley wrong actually. The MM system gathers information from multiple inputs/sensors and calculates the OIL LIFE from that.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">My first oil change at 600 miles (as stated in the manual) was done at the dealership and when I picked up the car the mainder was reading at 20% it only resets itself if a person does it. To me, if it actually read how good/bad your oil was then it would change it self.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Where in your owners manual did it state to change the oil at 600 miles? And yes the MM must be manually reset, doesn't seem all that complicated to me tho?

Believe it or not the car DOES actually tell you how good or bad your oil is... thats the point of the system

[808k20z3]

my first oil change was at 3000 miles now i change every 1500! i use royal purple the shits expensive about 8 bucks a quart but changing the oil early and using expensive oil to me is worth it to extend the life of the K20!btw try puttng an s2k oil filter on it has better clean compacity and it fit perfectly!

[Blue Hybrid]

Originally Posted by 808k20z3

my first oil change was at 3000 miles now i change every 1500! i use royal purple the shits expensive about 8 bucks a quart but changing the oil early and using expensive oil to me is worth it to extend the life of the K20!btw try puttng an s2k oil filter on it has better clean compacity and it fit perfectly!

i thoght all oil filters on hondas are same, thats what many dealers have told me

[TRE_]

Originally Posted by Blue Hybrid

i thoght all oil filters on hondas are same, thats what many dealers have told me

Basically any 88+ Honda uses the same oil filter. Only exceptions are the s2000's which use a larger filter and the insights which use a super tiny filter. I see absolutely no advantage in running an s2k filter...