Honda vs. Acura

I always buy the oil filters from the Honda Dealer for my 2.5TL. MZ

A good Honda dealer is completely capable of routine servicing for your RSX. I don't think Honda USA allows for Honda dealers to do warranty service on Acuras or vis-versa, but that is a matter of marketing policy rather than technical skills or materials.

Your RSX is basically a high trim, high output motor version of the Civic platform. Make sure the Honda dealer puts the right oil weight in. Most Hondas take 5W-20 now and most Acuras 5W-30.

Check around with local Honda owners to find out how they have been treated by these dealers. I agree 1000% with your decision to stay away from quick lubes!

Finally, don't let them talk you into a bunch of add-on services beyond what the owners manual calls for. Lots of places like to sell fuel injection cleaning services, power steering fluid flushes, various magical additives, etc. Just say no to anything that isn't in the book. Many dealers play a game where they have their own "we recommend" list of services which goes way beyond what the factory calls for.

John

"BK" wrote in news:x8r6h.116$ snipped-for-privacy@newsfe06.lga:

The Honda dealer will be just fine. The filter is the same. I'll bet yours is 15400-PLM-A02, right? That one goes on about 95% of Honda/Acura models.

Under warranty, its very much best to have a Honda/Acura dealer do all oil changes. Saves a lot of hassles should something go bad later on, such as a stripped drain bolt...

Make certain you tell the dealer you want your drain bolt tightened

*by hand* using a *torque wrench*, to Honda's specified torque figure (29 ft lbs). Tell them you want them to be especially careful NOT to overtorque. You don't have to tell why you're saying this. They will know.

Except the 03 RSX base uses 5W20.

Which is why I said most, not all.

John

I was aware you were being general, I wasn't correcting you. I just wanted to be sure the original poster didn't get the wrong information stuck in his head.

"TeGGeR®"

How would they do it otherwise ?

But I wonder if the desk guy is really going to pass it on to the tech or just saying inside "yeah, right...asshole..."

"klabu" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@corp.supernews.com:

Tighten by hand. Guesswork. And that's what strips them.

Dealerships are more careful these days, having had much experience with stripped bolts over the years, but you never know...

Unfortunately, more than likely. But you at least told them, so if problems arise later, you can use that as leverage in your negotiations. The *ONLY* reason the drain plug strips is overtorquing.

The torque spec is 33 ft lb on the K20A3 and 29 ft lbs on the K20A2 / K20Z1. And as for oil weight always use what is call for in your manual. The base RSX requires 5W-20. While the Type S requires

5W-30. Honestly I've never used a torque wrench on my drain bolt and I've never had any issue.

Actually most Acuras now use 5W-20 with the exception of the RDX which needs Mobil 1 5W-30 because of the turbo. The new TL, TSX, MDX, RL, and base RSX (which was actually discontinued this year) all use 5W-20 and acutually all have been since 2002 (except the RL which started in

2005).