I went to the dealer last weekend with about 1,300 miles on the clock on my 2002 S2000. I had been watching the oil and I only had about 2-3 notches left on the dipstick before I would be on the LOW mark. Rather than going and paying for a quart of oil (which I will probably do anyway) I figured that being a new car they should be kind enough to top the oil off. NO DEAL. The service advisor told me that they have a TSB indicating that they are NOT to add oil to S2000's unless they are 1 quart low when the engine is COLD. He said it was because they hold too much oil up in the top end and that it takes a LONG time for the oil to make its way back into the pan, thus making it impossible to get accurate oil readings when the engine is warm, or even 15 minutes after it has been turned off.

So now I'm watching the oil level like a hawk and I think that I'll just top it off myself with 7/8 quart rather than run it low. Anyone else had a similar experience? Mobile One 10W/30 NON-Synthetic is OK, right?

prwhite

 

Mobil One is the name of the Synthetic.

Use Mobil 10W-30. Its the stock Honda fill.

 

I agree that you cannot get an accurate reading unless the car is on a level surface and has been off for at least a 1/2 hour so the Service Advisor was correct. I've noticed that if you check the level right after you turn off the engine that it will show as little as half full, very deceiving.

I check my oil in the morning before I go to work, the engine is cold then and I always get an accurate reading.

 

I always check my oil in the mornings after the car has sat in the garage over night.

 

Thought that the car called for 5w 30 not 10 30

 

i top off the oil whenever the level starts going down. i read somewhere that even being slighly less than full effects the car's VTECn power. Mobil non-synthetic 10-30 is the way to go.