15k OCI interval, thoughts 2004 Honda Accord k24a4

[Merkava_4]

Originally Posted By: jdavis
Looking down the fill hole I can see heavy varnish


Which oil is the varnish from? Have you ran long drains on dino prior to switching to M1 ?

 

[NO2]

I have an '07 Accord J30 (V6) and run about 13K (2x maintenance minder) on M1 EP 5w-20 and lately M1 EP 0w-20. Commute is about 20 mi each way, 75/25 hwy/city mix. UOA showed TBN of 3.5 with 0w-20. Older UOA showed TBN of 1.4 with similar mileage using 5w-20. Both used an M1 oil filter.

The K24 is easier on oil, so I would be fine going to the 13-15K range. I would check oil levels at least every month. I would also use 0w-20 as it seems to have better cold weather flow characteristics and might save a little gas and is the same price.

 

[The Critic]

The only item to consider is the oil consumption.

For some reason, I've been noticing this a lot on higher-mileage K24s (> 75k) that have ran 5w-20 or 0w-20 their entire life.

If you do a 5k (or less) oil change interval, there's usually little to no oil consumption.

If you do anything more than 5k, you'll start to see a noticeable amount of consumption. The cars that go 7-8k between service tend to show up about a quart low.

Don't ask me why, I have no idea. Just reporting what I've been seeing...

 

[Merkava_4]

Originally Posted By: The Critic
The cars that go 7-8k between service tend to show up about a quart low.


That's because 5W-20 is already scary thin to begin with; then once it gets to around 5k, it's sheared down to practically nothing.

 

[CarbonSteel]

Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
That's because 5W-20 is already scary thin to begin with; then once it gets to around 5k, it's sheared down to practically nothing.
Yeah, it is like putting water in your crankcase--heaven forbid!

 

[jdavis]

Originally Posted By: Merkava_4

Which oil is the varnish from? Have you ran long drains on dino prior to switching to M1 ?


Not sure what oil was used before, I bought the car 5,000 miles ago and immediately switched to M1 EP and it did some cleaning. I'm sure I could have left it in longer but already had a M1 HM jug on hand and switched it again, more cleaning to do!