Oil for 09 Honda Accord

cp0562 · Sep 29, 2012

I have a 2009 Accord 3.5 V6 auto sedan with 31k and oil light came on, and instead of taking it to the dealer I was wondering what oil I should buy and do it on my own
The car is driven locally mostly. avg about 11k miles a year.
The dealer has been putting in 5w-20 oil since that is whats recommended but Honda's oil chart say's 0w-20 is acceptable too since they started using that from the factory for the 2011-2012's
Are there any advantages using 0w-20 instead of 5w-20?

Thanks !

jjcom · Sep 29, 2012

A 0w-20 oil would help in cold starts in very low temperatures, if you're not anywhere that sees below 0 temperatures the gains would be minimal in my opinion. If the car were mine, I'd run a decent synthetic and change it twice a year. PP, Mobil 1, or Valvoline Synpower would probably all do well in this situation.
If you'd like to run a 0w-20, then Mobil 1 AFE oils are pretty good.
You could also run a UOA to determine how long you can go on the oil. Depending on exact driving conditions, you could extend your oil changes longer.

Chris Meutsch · Sep 29, 2012

I use PP 5w20 in my 2008 Pilot, same engine. No consumption, and it's as clean as the day it was built when looking in the filler hole.

barlowc · Sep 29, 2012

Welcome cp0562!!!

I second jjcom's suggetion. Use a 5W-20 synthetic and quality filter and you'll probably be able to run 6K miles or more per OCI (or follow the Maintenance Minder) and keep the engine clean and in top running condition.

Our VUE has a Honda 3.5 V6, the J35A3, which isn't the same as yours but in the same family/series. I've run Pennzoil Platinum, Valvoline SynPower, and G-OIL (which is 5w30) and they've all worked great. I've done a couple of used oil analyses and even at 7500 mile intervals, wear number are low and the oil still in good shape. The engines appear to be pretty easy on the oil.

Don't forget your transmission fluid! At just over 30K, I might suggest a 3x drain/fill. You can stick with Honda's Z1 or DW1, or use something like Valvoline MaxLife DEX/MERC which a lot of Honda owners seem to like in their trannys.

The Critic · Sep 29, 2012

Since it is a VCM engine, I would ignore the Maintenance Minder and change the oil every 3-3.5k with conventional, or every 5k with full-synthetic.

There was a recent thread on here where a gentleman followed the Maintenance Minder on his Pilot with VCM and one bank of cylinders was cooked after 90k due to the extreme heat. There was also another vehicle that Trav had to clean-up that was ran with fairly short intervals with synthetic.

For ATF, it is a good idea to change it at this mileage, but stick with Genuine Honda ATF-DW1, at least until you are way out of warranty.

ARB1977 · Sep 29, 2012

Amsoil is what I use in the 2.4L.

cp0562 · Oct 1, 2012

Looks like Pennzoil it is, after seeing the replies here and the accord forum. Now to figure out what filter should I use with it?

cp0562 · Oct 1, 2012

Also after reading this thread about the Pilot
https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2690609&page=42

I feel like should ignore the Maintenance Minder "MM" system
and change oil twice once at 50% without resetting the system and and again at 15%
and has there been any issue with VCM engines and synthetics?

Oil for 09 Honda Accord

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