When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Hi, I am going to give my AP2 it's first oil change in my ownership. The car has 62k miles and no issues. Looking for recommendations for the proper oil and filter. I don't have the owner's manual and don't want to rely on a Google search - would like to hear from members about their experiences and recommendations. Thanks in advance! Peter
That is a big question on a car forum Lots of brand loyalty and snake oil opinions. But here you go.
Filter there is no argument on really. Use the one from Honda. They recently change the part number on it so someone will post that up I am sure. And you NEED to torque it the way it says on the filter. This is one car you do not want to hand tighten the filter on like you do on other cars. It can spin off and burn the car down if not torqued enough. There are instructions right on the honda filter for using a torque wrench and reference numbers on the filter if you dont use a tq wrench.
Now for the fun part ... oil. Everyone has these opinions here. For weight, use what they recommend, which is 10W-30 (or I think 0W-30 for some years but someone will chime in on that here or I willl look it up). I run Mobile 1 10W-30 and have since I bought it and last owner did too as far as I know.
Now the real part people get all crazy on is brand. To be honest, any reputable brand is just fine. Some claim brand X will have less oil consumption than others. I personally have not seen this in other cars when people claimed the same thing, but some swear it does. Fine, again, it will not cause your car more damage unless you are using some pretty bad oil. Some also will say "Mobile 1 sucks! or brand X sucks!" etc but that is bs. Nothing wrong with M1, Amsoil, Castrol, Penzoil, etc in terms of protection to your engine. In terms of synth or not, I prefer synthetic personally but a quality conventional oil is just fine if you change it when you should. The main difference in reality is how long your change intervals can be. Synth supports longer change intervals. Even the folks at Blackstone labs say this and even say many of them run conventional oil.
As for perspective, my S2k is at 154,000 miles and has been an autox car and track toy much of its life. I bought it at 100,000 miles and have run probably 60 autox events and 20 track days in it so far running 10w-30 M1 and Honda filters, changed properly. I change mine more often if running track days but on years I just did autox just changed every 6000 miles.
Note the vitally important torque the filter thing applies only to the special S2000 only Honda filter. If you use an ordinary filter, your only option is to tighten like an ordinary filter (hand tight). This of course risks filter spinning loose and catastrophic fire.
So if you want to use an ordinary filter, you should safety wire it (large hose clamp around filter, then safety wire that to something on engine), so it can't spin loose.
I've run Quaker State 10W30 synthetic (with Honda filters) in the S2000 for 20 years now. The car sits for the winter months, so I also use Molyslip to hopefully leave some protection when most of the oil is in the pan, after long periods between startups. I've used Pennzoil 10W30 synthetic in the NSX for the the 11 years I've had it. My friend that sold me the car used Pennzoil for the few years he owned it also.
Only acceptable oil filter is the Honda OEM filter 15400-PCX-004. Local Honda or Acura dealer can get it (although it's normally in stock at my local dealer).
Engine Oil is 10W-30 or 5W-40 in cold temperatures. No boutique oil needed although oil is cheap. Amsoil will not cure cancer or COVID-19 as they claim. "Best engine oil" is a weekly redundant subject here. Not even full synthetic is needed but seemingly everyone uses it.
Your car is probably due for a coolant change (use the Honda stuff), gearbox change, and differential change. Lots of threads on these that don't need to be repeated.
You ARE using premium fuel, right? USA 91 or 93 octane.
You can check out Bob is the Oil Guy online and bone up on oil. A few takeaways are that synthetic oil leaves a bit more film for lubrication than "dino" oil does. Plus, if you live in a colder climate you can use an oil such as 0-30W or 5-30W. The lower first number you see indicates the viscosity of the oil before it warms up in the engine. 0 is as low as it goes and it means the engine is easier to turn over and the oil flows faster for lubrication. Once the engine is warmed up, the last number is what the oil is at, in this case 30.
I also second the recommendations for a Honda filter. You can buy a filter at AutoZone that will "fit" but it is not made the same. The Honda filter has 2 metal rings with the gasket sandwiched between. Other filters just have the gasket or one ring and gasket. The Honda double rings make contact with the engine. That is why a hand tightened filter may vibrate loose. You really need a wrench to torque it down.
The new part number for the filter is the 15400-PCX-306. I believe that one is superceding the 004 part but both are probably still available. The reason I bring it up is that some dealership parts people will start to give you "the honda oil filter" because practically every other honda uses the same filter that is not the one for the S2k. You will know, because they want anywhere from $15 - $20 each for the S2000 specific one at a dealership. But it will look like the ones below:
04-26-2021, 10:58 AM
Oil and filter recommendation
Lots of brand loyalty and snake oil opinions. But here you go.
