TR-S2K

Road Rage, your opinions about all kind of fluids, from engine oil to transmission fluid, are highly appreciated by most members. Is it okay with mods and you, that you should have a sticky about your recommendation or your own fluids maintenance shedules ? This way it will be easier for us to just look at one page and know when we should do these maintenances.

Example:

Engine Oil: 3 months or 3.75 Kmiles
Transmission Fluid: ???
...

Road Rage

I cannot and will not comply, and here is why: everyone's needs are different, how they drive, what they expect to get out of their cars, which oils they use, the climate, etc. If I posted some hard and fast recommendations, and then someone had an engine mishap, they would be mad, and I would feel bad because I know better than to mandate anything when it comes to service intervals.

Rule of thumb:
With a quality synthetic, the 7500 mark should be an acceptable OCI. Change filter and add make-up oil at half that.

I would change out the factory diff oil within 5K miles, then every 30K or 3-4 years.

I would do brake and clutch fluid every two years.

I am staying out of the tranny business altogether for now.

I would change the coolant every 3-4 years, and only use Honda coolant. After a complete flush, I would be comfortable with BASF G-5 type coolants, such as Ford Premium Gold. It can go 5 years no sweat.

TR-S2K

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Road Rage
I cannot and will not comply, and here is why: everyone's needs are different, how they drive, what they expect to get out of their cars, which oils they use, the climate, etc. If I posted some hard and fast recommendations, and then someone had an engine mishap, they would be mad, and I would feel bad because I know better than to mandate anything when it comes to service intervals.

kane.s2k

Wow I can't believe how many times I've read this same question and how many times road rage has actually replied still (and with the same answer at that).

natedoggs2k

I'm surprised you don't recommend diff changes more often. I just hit about 5500 miles on my 03' and I was going to change my diff fluid at 10K miles. I could go ahead and do it now (I just received a few quarts of LE607) per your recommendations, but I figured that you would recommend doing this every 15K miles rather than 30K.

Would it matter for someone like myself that lives in Florida and does a few autocross meets each year?

Road Rage

One of the reasons to use a super-fluid in the diff is to reduce maintenance. 15K is overkill for LE-607 IMO. You are are of course free to do what you want, but LE has used LE-607 in diffs that get literally hundreds of thousands of miles, so a few auto-x's and sporting around in a little roadster will not stress this fluid.

natedoggs2k

Cool deal! I had planned on doing it every 15K miles, but that saves me money in the long run. I'll change it out now and then in another 30K miles! Thanks!



Oh yeah, I wanted to ask you this. I bought my 03' S2K with 4900 miles. It has had one oil change at the Honda dealership and the next one is due at 7,100 miles. I currently have about 5500 on it.

Is it a good idea (or okay) to add the Valvoline Maxlife Protector when I do my next oil change (Valvoline 10w-30)?

I know you suggest doing this with the first oil change as it helps protect the engine and is closest to "break in" oil. So I wasn't sure if it's "too late" or if I'll still benefit from doing so.

Nate

Road Rage

I would not add it at this point - you are past the point of concern about warranty during the break-in period, and any quality oil will provide the protection you need. You did not indicate whether you planned to go synoill at some point.

To you and all: I tend to support the "find the oil that fits your objectives and oil change strategy", and stick to it unless you have strong reason to chage, such as a breakthrough in oil technology. The reasons are simple and complex from a technical perspective, but let me state the majors in non-techie jargon, or I will get more "%itch-slaps" in PM's:

1) Engines do break-in and wear-in over a long period of time, and having the oil's properties consistent helps ensure that non-linear wear is minimized as the ring/cylinder "honing" occurs.
2) Oil seal conditioners won't cause shrink-swell conditions to vary a lot. Some of you may have seen what shrink-swell soil can do to a home's foundation and sheetrock.
3) One oil is not seeing another's oil chemsitry as alien, and therefore is using critical detergent/dispersant/suspension additives in the right manner, not "undoing" the previous oil's doings. The analogy would be why people undergoing chemotherapy are kept away from "bacteria", as their depleted immune defenses (such as WBC's - white blood cells) are lowered anyway.
4) UOA's are much more informative, because the baseline and subsequent analyses can be thrown off if a new brand of oil, with different properties, is used (this relates to #3, obviously).
5) From UOA's, proper OCI's can be determined, as well as possible engine catastrophe's avoided. For example, Hondas have a lot of copper (bearings?). Copper readings should drop over the first 30K, which let's say rep-represent 5 oil changes (5K being a good number). Bit if you switch to Red Line, it is not uncommon to see copper readings "spike" - why? Perhaps because of the properties of esters. But the takeaway for you, dear reader, is that perspective is lost when the oil is switched, because we have introduced a new variable into a relatively closed system. Rhetorical question: is the rise in the UOA's copper because of the oil's protection breaking down, a mechanical fault int he engine, or simply the expected result of using Red Line. I could not answer that, and if I were sworn as an expert witness and asked to render an opinion, I could and would not.

Xviper: this may be of enough interest to other to add to the Oil Journals.

xviper

Will add this ASAP.