[Topspinmo]

"Never had a dealership ask me to prove I changed the oil when I brought it in for warranty work"" So you've had warranty work done with engine failure related to oil? It's not the Local dealership that's going to dispute it, sure they will be happy to get the business one way or the other. IMO the biggest thing is checking the oil and other fluids-- most people can hardly find the battery let along dipstick.

Originally Posted by JoeC1947

I agree. Twice a year or every 6-8k is good. Being a former auto mechanic, changing your engine oil on a timely basis is the single most important thing you can do for your car.

I also agree twice year is good cheap insurance... People who understand mechinical things understand this. I'll just have to add IMO along with that would checking the fluid levels and tire pressure. I can hardly walk through parking lot without seeing one or more low tires on several cars. Makes me wonder what else their not paying attention to?

[REDCART]

Originally Posted by JoeC1947

This is true. Along the same line, Honda of Ocala was offering an automatic transmission fluid change for $79.95, my owners manual recommended that the ATF be changed at 30K so I called them up to make an appointment. I asked if this was a complete or partial change and was told partial which is about 3.5 quarts of ATF and that a complete drain and refill would be much more expensive. I decided to do it myself for $30. My point is that sometimes the dealer doesn't even follow recommendations.

To do a complete transmission oil change I believe you need to use a pump to suck the oil from the torque converter. You've got that kind of equipment? There are garages who specialize in this kind of work and they're few and far between.

[JoeC1947]

Originally Posted by gryoung

To do a complete transmission oil change I believe you need to use a pump to suck the oil from the torque converter. You've got that kind of equipment? There are garages who specialize in this kind of work and they're few and far between.

That's not completely true. The way Honda does it is a 3 part process. Remove the drain plug, let the ATF run out, replace the drain plug, fill the tranny, take the car for a short ride and repeat twice more. I decided that was overkill. After seeing, smelling and feeling my discarded fluid I went with 1 drain and refill.

[JoeC1947]

Originally Posted by AutoBike

I'm not sure it's even possible to drain a torque convertor without removing it. Even then, it isn't easy to drain the fluid out.
I'm guessing that they do a flush, but never drain it completely.

Any time I hear a shop say they will do a flush I cringe. A flush (or reverse flush) means they will most likely need to disconnect the cooling lines from the transmission cooler. To me this is like opening Pandora's box for possible leaks and even damaging the cooler by an inexperienced mechanic. The 3 part drain and refill method is more time consuming but much safer IMO.

[Topspinmo]

When I had ford few years back under warranty I had them do the transmission. They didn't change the Trans Filter with reverse flush, plus they don't take the drain pan off and clean the sludge from the bottom of the pan or the mag. strip. It all get reversed flush down to the drain pan what will come out of the filter.

[Russ_Boston]

Originally Posted by Rc Moser

"Never had a dealership ask me to prove I changed the oil when I brought it in for warranty work"" So you've had warranty work done with engine failure related to oil? It's not the Local dealership that's going to dispute it, sure they will be happy to get the business one way or the other. IMO the biggest thing is checking the oil and other fluids-- most people can hardly find the battery let along dipstick. gree twice year is good cheap insurance...

Valid debate point - kudos

Just happened to buy a new Honda this week (CRV EX-L). The warranty book uses lots of words like "should" "may revoke" "recommendations". But I agree that as long as you don't let the darn thing run dry you should be OK even without the paper trail.

[laddan]

Originally Posted by Villages PL

I bought a new car on march 30 of last year and have only put on 2300 miles so far. I have an appointment to get an oil change tomorrow because they are offering a free oil change (up to 39.85) for my April birth month.

But I can't seem to get a straight answer as to how long I can go between oil changes. When I bought the car they told me it had synthetic oil in it. So they told me to wait 'til I get 3,000 miles on it. Now one person told me I shouldn't go any longer than 12 months and another said 6 months.

I would think synthetic oil would last at least 12 months, and regular oil 6 months.

Synthetic oil change costs $64.00 and regular oil change costs 37.00 . Would I be better off to get the synthetic and just get one oil change per year? Or is it better to go in twice a year so they will check things over more often.

suggest you change it at minimum yearly or 6000 miles which ever comes first. just to get everything else under the hood checked and topped off.
if you plan to keep the car for several years stay with synthetic oil, if you plan to get rid of the car soon then regular oil ok.
but you need to show to next owner or trade in that you serviced the car regularly . i would not want to buy a 5 year old car that had the oil changed ag long interval periods with out servicing even if it had low miles.

[OnTrack]

Originally Posted by laddan

suggest you change it at minimum yearly or 6000 miles which ever comes first. just to get everything else under the hood checked and topped off.
if you plan to keep the car for several years stay with synthetic oil, if you plan to get rid of the car soon then regular oil ok.
but you need to show to next owner or trade in that you serviced the car regularly . i would not want to buy a 5 year old car that had the oil changed ag long interval periods with out servicing even if it had low miles.

I agree with you....except about using synthetic.

I think for the vast majority of people down here, it is money wasted and dino oil is just fine.

While I used synthetics for all lubricants on my vehicle in my previous life...there was a reason for it.

With temperature variations of up to +90 deg. in the summer, to -55 degrees in the winter.....it made sense.



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