Synthetic Bad for the TSX
 

A week or so ago, I changed the oil in the TSX from the Break-In oil to a fully synthetic variety. The owners' manual stated that the weight must be identical to that of the "dino-oil" variety, and so, in went 5W-30.

Since then, FE has decreased, and the car does not pull hills with the same efficiency as before (as noted by the FE meter on the dash and the cumulative avg. at the end of the tank). This has been separately confirmed by my wife,

"The car doesn't have the pep it did before the oil change".

She tries to hypermile using the feedback meter as well.

I spoke to another Honda owner today who had a similar experience in an 04 CR-V, and with the replacement of Dino-Oil, FE and power increased back to normal levels.

Now, what in the H-E Double Hockey Sticks is going on here??? Should the blend have gone down to 0W-30 -- then if so, the warranty may be voided for failure to follow the manufacturers specs.

Inquiry 1: Any idea why this would happen?
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Inquiry 2: When I changed the Break-In oil, there were all kinds of heavy-guage plastic shavings in the old oil -- is this normal for change #1?
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Inquiry 3: FE is down by at least 2-3 mpg -- how soon should I ditch this stuff and put regular oil back in? It was expensive but if it helps FE -- I'm crazy enough to do it.

THX

RH77

How many mile was on the car when you changed the oil?? I think they tell you to wait till engine has a few miles on it before switching the syntheticx oil

as for inquiry #2: it's normal for there to be some stuff in the initial oil change. how much was in there??

as for the mileage hit: oil is only thing thats changed?? has weather changed enough you think or maybe the winter blend of gas??

Oil filter?? Did you keep the old oil? What new oil did you put in? Were the plastic slivers gasket material or gasket sealer?

Q&a
 

To answer your questions...

The Winter fuel blend has been around for a few months now and it's been cold, so that variable is out. My other car has remained constant with the same fuel.

The car has an "Oil Life Percentage Meter", so I changed it at 15% before due, which was 5859 miles.

The plastic "chunks" looked like if you took a heavy-duty, black trash barrel, drug it down the street, and collected the bits of hard, plastic remnants left behind. Almost frayed looking at the edges, but solid to the touch. As for the amount, there was quite a bit -- I drained it into a spouted container that you take to the auto-parts store for recycling, so it has a wide area to catch the oil and a quarter-sized drain hole. I noted the bits in the catch area. In that area, I could probably collect the solid pieces and fill a shot glass (who knows how much is in the container -- possible 5X that much). If need-be, I may strain the container to get the full amount.

I replaced the oil filter with a premium Purolator filter as I have on all of my other cars. The dealer was closed; otherwise, I would have gotten an OEM one. I have the old filter to do a cross-section to see if it was gunked-up, and I saved the old oil.

The engine runs fine and the VTEC kicks-in when expected -- so :confused:

RH77

yea i am curious as well....

I thought my Fit was sluggish after its change, but then, my oil change by the dealer was the first dealer service on any car I have ever owned in my entire lifetime....so more of my OCD/not letting things go than an actual problem probably.

Not sure why it would impact FE....how many tanks into the change are you?

It may be a tensioner for the timing change that is wearing out abnormally and that is something that should not be ignored. We have seen aluminum tensioners fail here before on a Saturn engine . . . better talk to an engine guy at the dealership. Nothing should be falling out of the engine at this stage of use and you may find even more in the filter but I doubt that the stuff would get past the pickup screen. It could be plastigauge from the engine assembly but I don't think they would use it in a production engine.

"JanGeo" is right! Take the old filter to the dealer, explain your shavings / volume, and put that warranty to work! This ain't normal! Frankly, it would bother me ! Then...I would bother the H**l outta the dealer!

Ditto.

Go to the dealer. I would take the oil if you still have it and the filter. Also I would not take "that is normal" for an answer. Best of luck and let us know how it goes.

The FE may or may not be significant here if in fact something is self-destructing (a tensioner, timing belt, water pump vanes, etc). Maybe it would be worth getting a spectroscopic oil analysis done. You can usually get a free kit to mail the oil sample and then a pay fee for the analysis.

When I maintained a small club of 5 single engine planes, we always did an oil analysis at each change. It forewarned of general wear indicators and imminent failures of one kind or another. Most car owners don't do this but then they don't usually have to worry about throwing a rod at altitude. :)