I got 2 free oil changes from the dealer I bought my S, where should I have oil change ? That same stellar Honda dealer
The third oil change at 10k miles (18 months) was done at home and synthetic oil was used. The next synthetic oil change will be 12 months (or 7000 miles) later.

 

I wonder why I couldn't find it in the MY02 manual? If you could find out what section it's in maybe I can verify if I overlooked it in my manual. Is it possible the F22 requires a different break-in?

 

Synthetic oil is not recommended to be used in S2000 prior to 7500 miles, it was a Honda service bulletin, not in owner manual.

Back to original question: When to get first oil change?

If your driving conditions are normal, then you should change factory filled oil at 7500 miles or 1 year, whichever is first. You can change to Synthetic at this time if you want.

If your driving conditions are severe, then you should change factory filled oil at 3750 miles or 6 months, whichever is first. You should use convention oil with high Moly counts such as Havoline GF-4 formulation, and if you like, you can add more Moly with Valvoilne SynPower Oil Treament.

After 7500 miles, you can start using synthetic oil if you like.

 

I think it's something (related to the excessive oil burning issue some owners had) Honda figured out AFTER the 00-03's were all already on the street and the manuals printed. I'm still looking for the Honda service notice, but I have read it and I'm sure it exists

 

-this means you drive less than 5 miles the majority of the time you drive the car. i'm guessing very few people fall under this.
-this means you are driving in very hot temperatures day in and day out. while 90 is a stretch, this is meant more along the lines of those living in death valley and other similar places.
-long periods of stop and go driving. yeah. if you drive 20 miles to work and 19 of those miles is spent in stop and go traffic, then sure.
-mountainous conditions. meaning very high altitudes. some people may fall under this.
-muddy, dusty, de-iced roads. dukes of hazzard anyone?


the point is, very few people actually do fall under the severe conditions enough that it requires faster drain intervals. you seem to think that you fall under the severe conditions. however, i GAURANTEE if you were to do a UOA (used oil analysis) with changing out your oil following the severe conditions, the analysis would tell you that you had plenty more mileage left on your oil. this even applies to canadians.

 

it doesn't say anything about not using synthetic because honda assumed you will be changing out your oil at 7500.

but, since you want something "from honda" here ya go:

 

you know what else it doesn't say in the manual? it doesn't say that you can't take off your valve cover and pour water into it if the engine gets too hot. it doesn't say that driving your S2000 off a 100 foot cliff would hurt the car. it doesn't say that using the wrong spark plugs can cause damage. but, gee, i guess if any of those things were true they'd be in the manual right?

there is some common sense that needs to be used, and honda can't babysit everyone and hold their hand during the time they own their car. just because someone hasn't self-educated themself, doesn't mean they are doing things the correct way.

 

My S2000 is my weekday car commuting to work on city streets, a lot of stop and go. My work distance is 4.6 miles if I take regular route, and it is 4.9 miles if I take a longer route. On weekend, I will use family sedan for shoping and dine out with family. It rarely see any highway speed.

The weather where my S is operating is nice all year, it rarely see any temperature outside the low of 40F to high of 75F. But the distance where my S in running is too short, I would not leave conventional oil in it for more than 6 months or 3750 miles.

 

I could understand that, though you are probably a more rare case than a more common case. My point was simply that there are only a handful of people who fall under the severe conditions. And the severe conditions change interval isn't necessarily a rule as more a precaution, as the severe "conditions" COULD lead to oil prematurely shortening its life.

Have you ever done a UOA? My .02, but I'd be willing to bet your oil would still be more than fine at 3750, even with your driving conditions.

 

No, I did not have any UOA of all the cars I ever owned. The other cars I am owning now are:

'00 E430 (64k miles) with synthetic oil and OCI of 1 year or 12k miles. This car never need to add any oil between oil changes.

'94 LS400 (160k miles) with synthetic oil and OCI of 1 year or 15k miles. This car may need 1/2 to 1 quart of of between oil changes.

Even with synthetic oils, change oil once a year is not considered a wasted of natural resources by most owners.