oil change

A

accordmaniac

New member
hi, i have a new honda civic. i would like some input on whether i should take it to the dealer to get an oil change or would it be ok to do it myself. I wanted to use synthetic if i did it myself but some of my friends have told me it is better to go to the dealer so there wouldn't be any issues that arise when i need to use the warranty. any suggestions would be of great help especially if you work at a car dealer. thanks
 
If you save all the recipts from purchasing oil and filters and then mark in the service log in the back of the service manual when you change the oil it should be sufficent for any warranty claims.
 
agreed, as long as you keep track of the recipts you should be fine.



also, if your area gives you receipts when you recycle the oil, that'd be good to keep too.



the only advantage of doing stuff at the dealer is that if you have an issue slightly out of warrenty or other iffy problem, the dealer may take care of you better if they see you've been a loyal customer
 
Yes keep meticulous records of every oil change and every receipt for every auto part you purchased.Be prepeared to fax them immediately upon request if you run into a possible warranty issue.



Happened to me my gf's car, Records were immediately faxed the warranty department remarked how incredible it was and they cheerfully gave her no problems. Of course, when the car went in for a upper engine block (?) repalcement , the technicians were blown away by the extreme cleanliness of the engine compartment :D
 
thanks, i feel more safe now to do my oil changes, now does anybody know if it would be better to get a purolator pure one filter or an oem honda filter, i want the one that filters best.
 
Both are good, check bobistheoilguy.com for information on oil and related topics as extensive as Autopia is about detailing. I just love my oil extractor for oil changes. No mess , can pump out hot oil with no problems. Got mine at the time from Overtons.com, the same as the one in Griots. :up
 
medic said:
agreed, as long as you keep track of the recipts you should be fine.



also, if your area gives you receipts when you recycle the oil, that'd be good to keep too.



the only advantage of doing stuff at the dealer is that if you have an issue slightly out of warrenty or other iffy problem, the dealer may take care of you better if they see you've been a loyal customer
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I use to work for a couple of dealerships years back, what medic said is very true.
 
use a purolator premium plus filter. the pure one is pretty restrictive.

if you go OEM get the honda speced s2000 filter



i absolutely hate dealerships, especially service departments. due to past shenanigans (:D) they will never get a damn cent from me unless abloutely necessary (ie. i need a dealer only part from the parts dept)



oh if they give you BS about needing all sorts of paperwork for an engine re-build under warranty. just give a call to the corprate honda customer service office and complain. that usually pisses the dealership off and gets the dealer scared of complaints (could loose their 5 star certification) and they fix your stuff.
 
Bobistheoilguy is a great site with huge amounts of help and information, I would however, use the OE filter during the warranty period to cut down any confusion in the event of a claim. It might be to easy to blame a none OE filter for a problem. There might be slightly better and cheaper filters but there is nothing wrong with the OE
 
will the s2000 filter fit and work right, i heard the s2000 filter was made by some japanese company (i like that) and the other honda filters are made by fram can anybody confirm that.
 
Corey Bit Spank said:
edit: Well, it seems like the new Honda oil filters are made by FRAM. :mad: FRAM doesn't make a good oil filter anymore. argh.
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i agree. or so i heard. friends advice me not to get FRAM oil filters because they've been known to "blow out" i guess meaning they fall apart or something. also a co-worker was telling me when to use synthetics on a brand new car. i think he said something like not to use them until the engine has been broken in. and he got this advice from another co-worker who bracket races a 10-second camaro. anyone can verify this advice?
 
hirosh said:
i agree. or so i heard. friends advice me not to get FRAM oil filters because they've been known to "blow out" i guess meaning they fall apart or something. also a co-worker was telling me when to use synthetics on a brand new car. i think he said something like not to use them until the engine has been broken in. and he got this advice from another co-worker who bracket races a 10-second camaro. anyone can verify this advice?
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yup...http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm
 
I always did my oil changes on my Ford F150 and when they said I needed a new engine (under warranty) they were not going to fix it because they had no record of oil changes. I had receipts and computer print out for all maintaenance and they DID replace the engine for free. I am still amazed though that the engine was gummed up, but KEEP ALL RECEIPTS!!
 
On the topic of who makes the oil filter (is Honda filter made by Fram, etc.), the most important thing is not WHO makes it but what SPECIFICATION it's made to.



At one time Fram was a very highly rated filter/manufacturer. Currently, there is anecdotal evidence that is no longer true. However, if they are making the Honda-branded filter, to Honda specifications, for Honda warranty applications, the design/construction/quality control of that filter could be/likely is completely different than their standard commercial product. Honda is the one who has something to lose in this if the filter doesn't protect the engines properly (both during the warranty period when they will eat it, and after when their rep will be sullied).



I have used Fram filters for a long time (and never had a problem), although I am about to change to something else, partly because of the anecdotes. I also have another interesting story. My friend got a Hyundai, and I agreed to take care of the oil-changing for her. This car has a 10-year powertrain warranty, so it's important to make sure everything is up to snuff. I bought a Fram filter for the first oil change...and when I got under the car for the first time, the Fram filter was a smaller diameter, and I would guess half the volume of the factory filter. The factory filter had an O-Ring seal on the face, and reminded me of the ($15) Toyota factory filters I used to shake my head about when another friend would buy those. I decided that I couldn't risk using the Fram filter for this car, even though I emailed Fram, and they said the filter met the required specs, though it was physically a different size.



I resigned myself to buying filters from the dealer...and was pleasantly surprised to find them to be $5 (now $6, I think), which is about the same as the Fram Tough-Gard.
 
I think the default "top of the heap" aftermarket filters remain Mobil 1, Amsoil and K&N. Mobil 1 and K&N can be found in Auto Zone. I used to use Mobil 1 on my old Maxima. I stick with AC Delco ( another good brand) on the Caddy for the sake of keeping everything under the hood OE for show purpsoes :D



I need to call Clair parts and ask where my shipment of Audi filters are :mad:
 
splattj said:
You can use any filter you want as long as it is designed for your car. The Magnuson-Moss Act protects you from dealers claiming it was a non-OEM part that caused the failure as long as the part is designed as an OEM replacement.

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/warranty.htm#Magnuson-Moss

You can just do a search on Magnuson-Moss and you'll get all sorts of good info.
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While you are at it, do a search for a case where Magnuson Moss has helped someone get a warranty denial reversed. Magnuson Moss isn't worth the paper it is written on.



One of the better oil filters for the money is Purolator. Here are a couple of links to different oil filter comparisons.



http://www.shoclub.com/lubrication-oil/lubrication-oilpart1.htm

http://minimopar.knizefamily.net/oilfilterstudy.html



I typically use a Mobil1 filter in the Mustang.
 
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