2008 Honda Element Recommendation

[SDT2300]

After sitting with a friend who works for SOPUS, I decided to change my oil myself and try Pennzoil Ultra. I'd like comments if this is a good choice for my car.

I drive a 2008 Honda Element with 26K miles. It is a manual transmission and I push it. Average annual milage is 18K miles, more highway than city. I am using OEM Honda Filters. Honda recommends 5W-20 oil. The car is still under warranty. I'd like to drive it 200,000 miles. I live in central North Carolina. My daily drive is 14 miles each way. Average speed 45 mph.

Any knowledgeable thoughts or comments would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Nick R]

For your yearly mileage, I'd say Motorcraft 5W-20 blend for 7,500 mile OCIs.

 

[Johnny]

I have two Honda Elements, both running on Pennzoil Platinum 5W-20 since new. If my Wal Mart had the Ultra I would use it. I also use the Honda oil filters. They are great vehicles and I plan on seeing at least 300K out of both of them.

By the way,

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[Audi Junkie]

Motorcraft.

 

[tomcat27]

Pennzoil Ultra is a GREAT oil. period. if you dont mind spending the coin for it or your friend is hooking you up with a discount...

you could probably easily run it for 10k OCI's

 

[Oregoonian]

Valvoline SynPower 5w20...$20.50 @ Walmart.

Use a good filter like a Purolator PureOne or Bosch...and based on your driving habits...an OCI of 8,500 yo 10,000 miles should be OK.
_________________________________________
2003 Ford Focus SE 2.3L / 82K
Valvoline MaxLife 5w30 / OCI 7000 +/-
Purolator PureOne PA 10241
Redline SL-1 Fuel System Cleaner

 

[Hermann]

Only had Pennz Plat 5w-20 in my 4 cyl Tacoma for a few days, but one thing I noticed was, that when I fired it up after the oil change, there was no valve clatter. So it must flow well. But honestly any brand name SM rated 0/5w-20 at 7500 mile OCI will do the job. Enjoy the Element. The 2.4L is a nice motor.

 

[Billy_D]

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[bepperb]

If you want to keep your warranty, PU will be fine but a bit overkill because your OCI is limited. Your manual tranny maintenance minder should be ticking off at 7500 miles, which even Pennzoil conventional can do.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Originally Posted By: SDT2300
After sitting with a friend who works for SOPUS, I decided to change my oil myself and try Pennzoil Ultra. I'd like comments if this is a good choice for my car.

I drive a 2008 Honda Element with 26K miles. It is a manual transmission and I push it. Average annual milage is 18K miles, more highway than city. I am using OEM Honda Filters. Honda recommends 5W-20 oil. The car is still under warranty. I'd like to drive it 200,000 miles. I live in central North Carolina. My daily drive is 14 miles each way. Average speed 45 mph.

Any knowledgeable thoughts or comments would be appreciated. Thanks.


Pennzoil Ultra is very good synthetic oil, but you still need to follow the Honda OLM to keep the warranty. After warranty is expired, then you can extend OCI to about 50% or more after an UOA.

 

[SDT2300]

Thanks Guys. The new Element has a Maintenance Minder which calculates oil life based on your driving habits, but it does not take into account the properties of the oil you are using. There is no maintenance schedule in the owners manual.

Typically it seems to have me changing the oil at 5,000 mi intervals which seems to be overkill for a high quality synthetic. However, I'll keep doing it until the powertrain warranty expires at 60,000 miles. Then, I will follow your suggestions and extend the OCI to 7,500.

 

[Schmoe]

hmmmm, all three of my Honda's OCI have shown about 7K at 0%. NC is a little like Oklahoma, super hot summers and fairly mild (until recently, global warming my arshe.....) winters. I've tested the oil on both V6's but haven't on the 2010 CRV yet. The Accords can/have well handled 12.5K OCI with PureOnes and M1 EP 5W-30. I know a lot of folks here believe in the 5W-20 and this issue was beat to death about 4-5 years ago on this site, but most of us will totally agree that going to 5W-20 was purely a CAFE issue for the manufacturer. Now luckily, the oil industry has created a 5W-20 that is robust and can hold up to just about any driving style, but I have yet seen anybody take apart an engine with over 200K that had a diet of exclusively 5W-20 and checked for wear against the same engine with a 5W-30. Call me old school, but I just can't use the 5W-20's in my rides, especially in the summer times.

 

[bepperb]

I don't have an element, but in Accord the MM system on a manual transmission car is just a mile counter.

7500 will be no problem once your warranty is up. Many here would double that on a long drain oil like M1EP, SSO, the Ultra you mentioned, or Edge. But no worries on really any oil at that mileage. By then, actually, we'll be on API SN oil which is even better suited to long drains.