First oil change, assembly lube, and "special additives"

[nytehawk]

Some time ago I posted a couple questions related to oil changes (when to do the first one and switching to synthetic). http://forums.s2kca.com/showthread.php?t=18810 Thanks again to all for your responses.

This week I had the opportunity to speak with a Honda factory service representative who was at our local dealership for a customer relations event that I attended. I asked his recommendation regarding my first oil change because although I only have < 1200 mi on my 2007 S2K, that car was received by the dealership Jan '07 so the oil has been in there a while. Our 2007 Pilot owner's manual said to change the oil after a year regardless of mileage, but I did not find a similar statement in the S2K owner's manual. Hence my question.

Anyhow, he responded that the reason Honda's manuals specifically instruct owners not to change the oil early is because of the...assembly lube! No, there aren't any magic special additives, but he said the assembly lube that Honda uses when they build the engines actually contains an abrasive(!) which helps the various engine parts wear in properly. As such, he confirmed that it is indeed important not to change the oil early and admonished me to wait until at least 3000 mi before performing my first oil change, regardless of how long that oil has been in the vehicle. Interesting!

As a side note, he also said that here in Southern CA he personally changes his Honda's oil every ~5000 mi regardless of what the oil minder recommends. He said the primary reason for the relatively long oil change intervals recommended by the oil minder is one of Honda's efforts to lower the lifetime ownership cost of the vehicle. However, the 8000-10000 mile change intervals that he has seen some Honda vehicles' oil minders recommend is just too long in his opinion. I know these sort of comments can generate significant discussion, but just thought I would pass these thoughts along for your consideration...

[thereur]

Interesting perspective, but it sounds like he speculating somewhat. The only way to know for sure is to get it analyzed.
http://www.dysonanalysis.com/
http://www.blackstone-labs.com/
Say you leave it in 5,000. Change it and send off a sample. They'll tell how long the next oil should stay in. They'll also give you good info on how your engine waring, and if there are any issues.

[repiv]

Honda factory service representative.
I'd still like to know what this means. What exactly is a "factory service rep"? Now, I'm not saying I agree or disagree with him. I'm just trying to apply a little rational thinking and perhaps be the "Devil's Advocate" on this, so bear with me.

Is he associated with Honda Technical Division in charge of the S2000 in Torrence, CA? That and being directly from Honda Japan engine design division, would be about the only affiliations that would give him absolute reliability and authenticity. Is he authorized to contradict what Honda has placed in the owner's manual? Does Honda even know that he's saying this stuff? If he's just some guy a dealer sent for factory service training, then sorry, this is not good enough. Almost every dealer will eventually send at least one tech to a factory service course targeted at the S2000. This doesn't make him all that special.
If Honda did in fact, put an "abrasive" in the assembly lube (which is totally opposite of assembly lube is supposed to do***), I have a really hard time believing they would leave it up to the "Oil Minder", which has been known to go as long as nearly 10,000 miles.

I'm guessing that every current model Honda has gone with this "Oil Minder". The bulk of all these Honda owners WILL go by it. They're just too busy or too lazy to think for themselves on this topic. If it was so bad to abide by the Oil Minder, do you think Honda would risk such a HUGE ownership bringing their vehicles back with major engine warranty repair?

Personally, I think many people over-think this whole business about engine oils. They take a little information and fret needlessly about it. History on oils and oil changes with the S2000 has proven by many used oil analysis at various change intervals (including factory oil, short change intervals, long change intervals) that factory oil and any name brand modern day oil does a really good job even after change intervals in excess of 7500 miles. In fact, they show that even at 7500 miles, there is ample oil life left. Oil discussions can get pretty heated and quite frankly, I get quite weary of these because of the anal retentiveness and compulsive/obsessive origins of such discussions.
Change the oil at 1000 miles. It won't hurt anything but your wallet. Change it near 10,000 miles if that's what it is when the Oil Minder says so. That won't hurt anything either. Just don't let some "expert" like a "factory service rep" get you to question your own common sense. Don't let someone like me do it, either. Use some rationale thinking and deductive reasoning to come up with your own decision. You seem to need a bunch of guys you don't know on the Internet give you comfort in what to believe. I think you're better than that.

*** Why bother even using assembly lube if you're going to put in an "abrasive"? This is self defeating. Why not just put it together with engine oil? It goes against everything I've been led to believe.

[griffon]

Some time ago I posted a couple questions related to oil changes (when to do the first one and switching to synthetic). http://forums.s2kca.com/showthread.php?t=18810 Thanks again to all for your responses.

This week I had the opportunity to speak with a Honda factory service representative who was at our local dealership for a customer relations event that I attended. I asked his recommendation regarding my first oil change because although I only have < 1200 mi on my 2007 S2K, that car was received by the dealership Jan '07 so the oil has been in there a while. Our 2007 Pilot owner's manual said to change the oil after a year regardless of mileage, but I did not find a similar statement in the S2K owner's manual. Hence my question.

Anyhow, he responded that the reason Honda's manuals specifically instruct owners not to change the oil early is because of the...assembly lube! No, there aren't any magic special additives, but he said the assembly lube that Honda uses when they build the engines actually contains an abrasive(!) which helps the various engine parts wear in properly. As such, he confirmed that it is indeed important not to change the oil early and admonished me to wait until at least 3000 mi before performing my first oil change, regardless of how long that oil has been in the vehicle. Interesting!

As a side note, he also said that here in Southern CA he personally changes his Honda's oil every ~5000 mi regardless of what the oil minder recommends. He said the primary reason for the relatively long oil change intervals recommended by the oil minder is one of Honda's efforts to lower the lifetime ownership cost of the vehicle. However, the 8000-10000 mile change intervals that he has seen some Honda vehicles' oil minders recommend is just too long in his opinion. I know these sort of comments can generate significant discussion, but just thought I would pass these thoughts along for your consideration...


An abrasive engine assembly compound. That's a new one on me.:think: