P500 My 500 burns oil - does yours

[Montecresto]

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Air intake pulled in so rear panel goes outside it,

Oh I see. So that would only make a difference if you have a back panel right?

 

[Admin]

 

[iowaguy]

Oh I see. So that would only make a difference if you have a back panel right?

Yes, that's right.

 

[Christepher]

I cut mine off, then used a 90 degree ABS elbow and 18 inches of rubber pipe to bring the input up near the top of the cab. Used JB Weld to fix the elbow to the intake pipe and the rubber pipe extension. Cut the air intake pipe just a bit into the flare, just so it fits into the elbow.

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I snorkeled mine with ABS.. then use a prefilter on the end of that.. Dust is the enemy of summer driving here in PEI.

 

[Buford]

Thanks everyone for your info. I'm going to switch back to 15-40 diesel oil and see if it still uses oil. I used 15-40 diesel oil in both my Rubicons and went the recommended 200 hours between oil changes and never had to add oil.

There are some reasons you don't want to run diesel grade oil in a gas engine, not to mention you want to use a JASO MA rated oil in these.
Diesel oil has way too much detergent in it which negates any advantage of the desirable ingredients such as zinc.
This info was printed by a guy that was a chemical / petroleum engineer with alot of experience building performance car engines ( Buick 455's / Stage 1's ).
Also why not try the Honda GN4 20W-50 if you're wanting a thick viscosity oil ?

 

[DG Rider]

There are some reasons you don't want to run diesel grade oil in a gas engine, not to mention you want to use a JASO MA rated oil in these.
Diesel oil has way too much detergent in it which negates any advantage of the desirable ingredients such as zinc.
This info was printed by a guy that was a chemical / petroleum engineer with alot of experience building performance car engines ( Buick 455's / Stage 1's ).
Also why not try the Honda GN4 20W-50 if you're wanting a thick viscosity oil ?

Is that the Rat540 (or something like that) you see when the subject gets googled?

 

[MarlinWalker]

There are some reasons you don't want to run diesel grade oil in a gas engine, not to mention you want to use a JASO MA rated oil in these.
Diesel oil has way too much detergent in it which negates any advantage of the desirable ingredients such as zinc.
This info was printed by a guy that was a chemical / petroleum engineer with alot of experience building performance car engines ( Buick 455's / Stage 1's ).
Also why not try the Honda GN4 20W-50 if you're wanting a thick viscosity oil ?

The Shell Rotella T6 5w-40 is JASO MA rated. So is the Rotella T4 15W-40 that I assume he is talking about switching to.
With that being said I'm not sure how the high detergent levels would offset the zinc count. I know that diesel oils have high tbn's but zinc acts as a cushioning metal and detergent shouldn't strip that out. I may be wrong though. Just my thoughts.

 

[KYhillbilly]

high detergent oils will minimize the zinc content of the oil. Break in oils have very high zinc and little to no detergents to allow a good zinc(ZDDP) layer on the metal parts until everything is polished up under load.

 

[JWB]

I would like to think that Honda has specs for their oil, but when I look at the tires (which is something that is easy to check), I find that the specs say that with the proper inflation the 500 will have 9.6 inches ground clearance. If you measure the ground clearance it is just over 8.25 inches with the tires inflated to factory specs. Also, if you check the speedometer or odometer they are not accurate with the tires installed at the factory. The odometer and speedometer both over-record. Which means that the recorded mileage is greater than the actual mileage, which means we are actually servicing our machines more often than what the specs recommend!! (with profile 26 tires the ground clearance is still not 9.6 inches but the speedometer/odometer is correct)
So my point is if the Honda engineers cannot calculate what size tires to install in order to give the proper ground clearance and the correct speedometer/odometer reading then why would anyone believe that their oil has any better specs?

Don't get me wrong. I really like my 500 and I have had 2 Rubicons and a Goldwing and I liked them all. I buy Honda because I go along way back in the outback and I feel confident that my Honda will get me home.
I just don't buy into all the Honda hype.

Honda doesn't have to warranty the tires, the accuracy of the speedo, or precise ground clearance... They DO however have to warranty the engine and drive-train. The specified oil for the P500 is Honda GN4 10w-30, or equivalent. If you use that oil, and a Honda oil filter, follow the recommended maintenance schedule, and have an oil related failure (never gonna happen) there will be no issue with getting a warranty repair. If however, you have decided to second guess the millions of dollars spent in engineering and testing that Honda has done, then you may be stuck with a hefty repair bill.... Clearly, if you are burning oil, and NOT using the recommended oil, then the painfully obvious answer is to first put the oil and filter that the manufacturer recommends in the friggin machine. I just don't get it, why wouldn't you?...I will also add here, that the P500 has a catalytic converter that can be destroyed by not using a catalyst friendly oil- definitely won't be covered by warranty, also very expensive. Stop reading advertising hype, and use what Honda recommends in the machine, follow the maintenance schedule, and you will never, have an oil related failure.....ever. The viscosity, and type of oil is critical to not just properly lubricating engine components, but also to transmission gears, bushings, and particularly clutch operation, due to the types of friction materials used on the clutch disks as well. Higher viscosity causes excessive side-loading of oil pump bushings/bearings, eats up more of the already minimal power of the engine in pumping losses, causes brutal stress on the oil pump when cold, and is most likely starving other components of lubrication when cold as well. You also don't have any idea if the oil you are using is causing clutch damage, excessive wear to cam lobes, transmission bushings etc, due to having the incorrect additive package that Honda specifies in their branded oil. Diesel oil is designed for diesel engines. Diesel engine oils have to deal with completely different operating conditions, temperatures, fuel dilution, impact loading, soot, etc.. Diesel oil is not designed for catalyzed gasoline engines. Period.

 

[DG Rider]

Got an oil change coming up soon. Rotella T6 5-40 is going in!

 

[Mudder]

Use of a properly rated, equivalent, non-Honda oil can not void warranty. That would be a prohibited Tie-in clause.
Warranty Laws and the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act

 

[JWB]

Use of a properly rated, equivalent, non-Honda oil can not void warranty. That would be a prohibited Tie-in clause.
Warranty Laws and the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act

100% correct!
My main point in my post is that using an improperly rated oil just doesn't make sense, and could possibly cause a warranty denial by Honda if there was an oil related failure.
I have seen one instance of this, where an after market filter was installed, and apparently the filter was not correct for the application.
The filter media collapsed internally, plugged the oil passage and killed the engine. Badly killed. Honda denied the claim.
This was on a 130 h.p. outboard engine.... Customer was then responsible for the entire cost of the repair.. About $6500, due to trying to save $8 bucks on an oil filter.... and even worse, the guy was supremely p.o.'d, and went on a cussing rant about what a p.o.s. the engine was, and was never going to buy another Honda, and gonna sue us, and blah, blah, blah..... Insane..

 

[DG Rider]

100% correct!
My main point in my post is that using an improperly rated oil just doesn't make sense, and could possibly cause a warranty denial by Honda if there was an oil related failure.
I have seen one instance of this, where an after market filter was installed, and apparently the filter was not correct for the application.
The filter media collapsed internally, plugged the oil passage and killed the engine. Badly killed. Honda denied the claim.
This was on a 130 h.p. outboard engine.... Customer was then responsible for the entire cost of the repair.. About $6500, due to trying to save $8 bucks on an oil filter.... and even worse, the guy was supremely p.o.'d, and went on a cussing rant about what a p.o.s. the engine was, and was never going to buy another Honda, and gonna sue us, and blah, blah, blah..... Insane..

Was it a Supertech filter? Cause...i love those too...

 

[JWB]

Was it a Supertech filter? Cause...i love those too...

I'll try to find out. I'll send you a couple if I can find them too!. Pretty sure you can use canola oil as well....

 

[Mudder]

Seems like a lot of discussions out there on the wet clutch rated oil issue.

 

[DG Rider]

... Pretty sure you can use canola oil as well....

On me or the 500?

 

[JWB]

On me or the 500?

uuummmm......yes?
l.m.a.o!