Need Help getting on track/ 07 Honda Pilot

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Jul 28, 2016
Messages
176
Location
Taxachusetts, USA
I am looking for guidance on all things oil for my 2007 Honda Pilot. Recently, when I rolled 120K miles, I decided to take on the oil changes myself, as opposed to changes by any random quicky-lube type place that had a sale. I have been reading up, and it has caused me to regret not doing this any sooner. So, here is where I am at, and what I plan to do. Please chime in with any advice, and feel free to ridicule me for waiting so long to do this myself
smile.gif


2007 Honda Pilot
122,000 miles
takes 4.5 quarts per change
manual calls for 5W-20
Last oil change was at 120K. Included the filter.
Included 3.5 quarts of Mobil 1 High Mileage 5W-20 (I mistakenly left in 1 quart of the old stuff, which is still in there).
Filters I plan to use: Honda 15400-PLM-A01 (the ones made by Filtech)

Other issues:
*I live in New England. At times in Winter, I am cold starting below zero.
*My vehicle has always burned between 1/2 and 1 quart between oil changes.
*I bought a 5 quart jug of Valvoline Maxlife 5W-20 for the next change, which I will do at 4000 miles from the last change(due to my earlier mentioned mistake)
*My goal is to extend out the intervals between oil changes to its max, and am hoping a better quality oil can help me do that. I am hoping to go 8K to 10K between changes.

Based on reading BITOG, I am eyeing:

Pennzoil Platinum 5W-20 full synthetic
MAG 1 0w-20 Full synthetic
Castrol GTX High mileage 5w-20
Mobil 1 High Mileage 5W-20
Valvoline Maxlife 5W-20

I haven't noticed any oil burn so far using the Mobil 1. But it is still early for that, and may still burn.

Am I on the right track or all messed up? What would be a good choice for me to extend oil change intervals?

Thanks!
 
1st choice for extending: UOA. Without doing this you'll always question whether the oil is good or not. Once you get up to your desired OCI length, no more need to have them done just run it that long....

2nd choice is your oil. Choose something that's know to be able to go 10k such as (but not limited to) M1, Amsoil, or Schaeffer9000. There are any number of other oils that will do the duty and I'm sure there will be numerous comments on which ones are good. A 5w20 synthetic should be fine for New England's winters, especially if your vehicle is garaged.

3rd choice is filter. Make sure your filter is good to 10k; with Honda's recommendation to use their filters for 2 OCIs this should not be an issue, although if you are going to 20k on a Honda recommended 15k filter you may want to get a Fram Ultra, M1 or Amsoil filter that is advertised for the distance - or just change the Honda filter each OCI.

To minimize the burn, you may want to select an oil with the lowest volatility and it may or may not help. Since you said it has ALWAYS burned 1/2 to 1 quart per OCI, then a high mileage oil is not needed here (but won't hurt).


edit: You said you left 1 quart in? I'd check oil level and drain some if it is overfilled.


and
welcome2.gif
to the madness that is BITOG!
 
Last edited:
Going to 8-10K oil changes probably will surpass the readings of your OLM. If it was me, I'd use the high mileage synthetic of choice and follow the OLM calculations. I've always found the OLM on my 2007 Ridgeline (same motor) to be accurate based on my driving history. My engine uses no oil between 6K oil changes, and it's had a steady diet of 5w-20 synthetic blend Conoco Phillips oils.

Also, the Filtech A01 is fine--it's personal choice whether to swap it out each OC. For my next OC I will switch to 5w-20 synthetic (big stash now) and run a Fram Pro Synthetic out to 10-12K for two changes.

Welcome to the board!
 
I had a 2008 Ridgeline, so about the same vehicle.. If your Pilot was mine I would go with Motorcraft 5w20 semisyn and a Fram filter and call it a day at 7500 miles. Your oil is easy to change and the oil and filter i suggested are priced fairly and easily obtainable.

I would pay more attention to changing your trans fluid every other oil change with Valvoline Maxlife Dex/Merc from autozone.


Your motor will most likely outlive your trans unless u keep it serviced well.

Save your money by doing oil changes yourself and dont chase the boutique oils or boutique filters and put it back for those pesky timing belt changes.
 
^^ What Krismoriah72 said. The engine oil/filter is only a piece of the puzzle. I'd be more concerned at this point with doing transmission drain/fills, AWD and rear-end drain/fills, plus PS fluid changes.
 
Pretty much any name brand synthetic is going to get you near 8-10K intervals given it looks like you do about 12K per year on average. In my newer vehicles I've always liked Mobil 1 synthetic. After about 100K I quit caring and put whatever is cheapest in. Actually, M1 is only 22.88 at most Walmarts and Amazon right now. Can't beat that. If you're looking at pushing past 10K I might go to the extended performance version that's a couple bucks more. Filter---some people will tell you to buy the $14 mega synthetic long aftermarket super duper pooper scooper filter. Personally, you're fine running an OEM filter for 10-15K miles if I remember Honda's filter change (I think it's every other change, according to their manual---check your manual) so 15K would be when they'd recommend changing it.

Yeah, you could do a UOA for $15-25 (price of an oil change), or just change every 7-10 months or 7-10K miles (assuming you average about 1k per month). If your engine is otherwise in decent shape, I doubt you'll have any issues. Honda engines are typically pretty easy on oil.

As for viscosity, I think Honda specs 0W20 for many of its 5w20 applications. 5W30 or 10W30 or even 5W40 will probably not kill an engine. So, basically, stick in those ranges and you'll probably be OK. If you run OW20 you might see an increase in consumption, or not. Personally, I use a lot of 5W30 for 0W20 and 5W20 cars. The cars don't know.

This is my opinion. Make your own choices :-D
 
Originally Posted By: JTK
^^ What Krismoriah72 said. The engine oil/filter is only a piece of the puzzle. I'd be more concerned at this point with doing transmission drain/fills, AWD and rear-end drain/fills, plus PS fluid changes.


Definitely...given a decent running Honda engine, you could throw cooking oil into it and a sock as a filter (this is an exaggeration but not by much) and it'll get you to 200K. Transmissions almost always die before engines. If you haven't done the basic tranny/differential maintenance I'd be more concerned about that, too. Follow the owner's manual and get the tranny and differential and power steering and coolant changed.

Also, a new tranny is still cheaper than $600/month car payments. That's my motto and I'll stick to it!
 
Thanks for the replies and advice. A couple things:

I mistakenly left a quart in the engine when I drained due to my use of an oil extractor. I had the nose of the vehicle up, which pooled about 1 quart in the back of the oil pan, so I only pulled out 3.5 in stead of 4.5. I added the 3.5 M1 and called it a day. Not a great call, but I feel like a 4K OCI will make up for it.

My Pilot does not have VCM to my knowledge. I just changed the tranny fluid last weekend using Honda ATF. Also, I have a Service manual coming in the mail, once that's here, I plan to change the differential fluid as well.

And I have to back pedal a tad. I cannot say for sure that the pilot has always burned oil. I can say that at about the 18 month mark (I bought the pilot new), I was told that the dipstick was dry. And usually is around the time I need to change the oil (I keep a better eye on it now).

I will do an oil analysis, but plan to get into a pattern of changes and oil before I do.
 
Originally Posted By: 07Piloteer
Thanks for the replies and advice. A couple things:

I mistakenly left a quart in the engine when I drained due to my use of an oil extractor. I had the nose of the vehicle up, which pooled about 1 quart in the back of the oil pan, so I only pulled out 3.5 in stead of 4.5. I added the 3.5 M1 and called it a day. Not a great call, but I feel like a 4K OCI will make up for it.

My Pilot does not have VCM to my knowledge. I just changed the tranny fluid last weekend using Honda ATF. Also, I have a Service manual coming in the mail, once that's here, I plan to change the differential fluid as well.

And I have to back pedal a tad. I cannot say for sure that the pilot has always burned oil. I can say that at about the 18 month mark (I bought the pilot new), I was told that the dipstick was dry. And usually is around the time I need to change the oil (I keep a better eye on it now).

I will do an oil analysis, but plan to get into a pattern of changes and oil before I do.





Whoa whoa whoa! The dipstick was DRY? You don't check your oil at least monthly? Man oh man. Air pressure and fluid levels. Important. Why the oil extractor? I feel pulling the plug would lead to less sediment at the bottom of the pan...maybe I'm wrong...
 
Originally Posted By: Yup

Whoa whoa whoa! The dipstick was DRY? You don't check your oil at least monthly? Man oh man. Air pressure and fluid levels. Important. Why the oil extractor? I feel pulling the plug would lead to less sediment at the bottom of the pan...maybe I'm wrong...


I agree. I wasn't keeping my eye on the ball. But, that's the old me.

I used the extractor to avoid the possibility of damaging the threads on the drain plug. I do plan to remove the drain plug on the next change however.
 
You needn't fear the drain plug threads if you have, or learn, a feel for it - it's not rocket science. A lot of guys have trouble with the drain plug on the Chevy Cruze, but mine's still fully intact after over a dozen changes and I've never touched a torque wrench to it. If you're hip to UOA's, the sky's the limit - if not, I'd run Maxlife 5w20 to about 80% of the owner's manual recommended interval (or OLM) and rest easy.
 
Lots of newbs in this thread, so I'll give you the perspective of one whose had Hondas for the past forty years from our '76 Civic CVCC 1500 to now.
Hondas aren't picky about oil. Some will use oil, which you won't notice on short drains.
Check the oil in your engine every K or so. This will allow you to develop an idea of how much oil the engine uses and you'll therefore know when and if adds are required.
Add a quart when the level on the dipstick is at the add line. Do not obsessively top off as this is neither needed nor desirable and may result in higher consumption than if you add only when the lower limit on the dipstick is reached.
If the dipstick show that it's time to add oil and you're going to change it next Saturday anyway, you should obviously not add any oil.
The drain plug and pan threads are intended for removal and replacement and will not suffer for your doing so. Do the job right and pull the plug at each oil change. Don't tighten the plug heroically when replacing it and change the crush washer at your next OCI if you can't get a good seal with reasonable torque on the drain plug. These need not be changed at each OCI and one may well last the life of the engine. I've never replaced a one on any Honda out to 200K+.
WRT drain intervals, in the days before Honda's MM was an IOLM, 7500 miles was the recommended OCI on any current spec API complying oil. So, assuming that your Pilot lacks an IOLM, as I think it does, 7500 mile drains are not an extended interval and should work well for the engine. Using a syn-labled oil like the M1 you selected can only help although that is not required per Honda.
You have 122K on this engine. Have you had the timing belt service done yet? If not, your first concern Monday morning should be finding a shop you can drop it off at that afternoon, since a timing belt, tensioner or water pump failure is fatal to any Honda with belt driven cams. There is no easy fix after the valves and pistons collide and knowledgeable shops won't touch this repair unless the owner agrees to spring for a new sort block.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top