I know this is kind of a stupid question...but why does the manual say oil change every 5K and everyone else says every 3K?? I drive 80% tollway and 20% city traffic.. Which would it be for me??

Thanks.

 

I assume your talking about your 2004 accord.
In that case yes you should do 5K miles. It's COMPLETELY safe. Despite what others are going to say. This is a modern engine and does not require the same level of maintnence of older engines.

 

Honda recommends 7200 miles under normal driving conditions....I fit that to a t

25 miles all highway to work and no driving in stop and go traffic. I change my oil every 6K

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by YeuEmMaiMai &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Honda recommends 7200 miles under normal driving conditions....I fit that to a t

25 miles all highway to work and no driving in stop and go traffic. I change my oil every 6K</TD></TR></TABLE>
On some models yes. That's for a V6

 

well for my 94 it has the same change intervil 7500 miles. I go very 4500 on that one.


Modified by YeuEmMaiMai at 7:26 AM 6/7/2006

 

I just called my local Honda dealer (Chicago area)... they say on 4 cylinders every 5K and on V6 every 3K....

 

of course they are gonna say that....they want your cash

7,500 miles/6 mos Scheduled Maintenance &lt;- first entry for owner's link
Recommended service for your 1994 Honda Accord:

<FONT COLOR="red">Replace engine oil, filter and drain plug washer with Genuine Honda Parts.</FONT>
Inspect and rotate tires.
Inspect wiper blades.
Check/adjust fluid levels.
Road test.
Inspect front brake pads.
Inspect CV boots for damage.


7,500 miles/6 mos Scheduled Maintenance &lt;- first entry for owner's link
Recommended service for your 1998 Honda Accord:

<FONT COLOR="red">Replace engine oil.</FONT> NOTICE IT DOES NOT SAY FILTER
Rotate tires.

 

I have an 03, and I change it every 3,000 miles. But I change it myself, so it doesn't cost me that much. I want to keep the oil as clean as possible. The oil (in the V6) seems to get dirty pretty fast. That's how I see it. Whatever floats your boat.

 

If I did a lot of city driving with my 98 I would change it at about 4K. Aluminum engines are much easier on oil than the older cast iron ones.

When cars switched over to FI that was the single biggest factor in extending the life of your oil. as even during cold start, a FI engine will not dump nearly as much fuel as a carbed engine will down your intake.


Since I work for a Cat dealer, I can get SOS Oil analysis done on my oil every 3 months for free. I do it once every 6 months and the 98 accord oil is still good when it gets changed out at 6K. on the 94 it is still good at 5K but i change it out at 4.5K because it is all city driving for that car.

 

In Chicago they say to follow the "severe" driving conditions and NOT the "normal" conditions page, because of our weather. That is why they say every 5K...Where do you live? Also, they say there is a difference in service schedules for cars '00 and above.......I'm not trying to be an *** here. I know email can sound that way sometimes...just letting you know what the dealer said. Would really like to get to the bottom of it all. It's very frustrating when you call a dealer 5 min. from your house and another 20 min. from your house and they both say different things...ahhhh

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Landshark68 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">In Chicago they say to follow the "severe" driving conditions and NOT the "normal" conditions page, because of our weather. That is why they say every 5K...Where do you live? Also, they say there is a difference in service schedules for cars '00 and above.......I'm not trying to be an *** here. I know email can sound that way sometimes...just letting you know what the dealer said. Would really like to get to the bottom of it all. It's very frustrating when you call a dealer 5 min. from your house and another 20 min. from your house and they both say different things...ahhhh</TD></TR></TABLE>
Service writers in every state will tell you it should be under severe conditions. And yes it's frustrating to me too. Because Honda states less than 10% of Hondas will fall under the requirements for severe conditions.
I'm a Dealer Tech myself and I say the best way to go is ALWAYS your owners manual.
The dealership is not governed by Honda so unfortunately they can say whatever they want to and get away with it.