first service..
 

i have about 600 miles on my new evo x and i was curious what the first service should be as im gonna be doing it myself. is it just an oil change?

Yup...

i have about 1800 miles on my car and the service reminder is still like 3 months away on the dash. i don't drive the car hard, it's stock and it's summer time. i think i'll just follow the oem recommended service times. is this a bad thing?

yup

why?

You really don't need to change anything at this point. But, if you want you can change the oil and might as well change the oil filter while you're down there.

If you're really anal, you could go ahead and change the tranny and diff fluids as well. But, not really needed.


Nothing wrong with following the recommended service times. That's why Mitsu prints them in the owner's manual.

Only times you really want to change the fluids more often than recommended:

1. You're anal and want to change them earlier because it's your car and you can do what you want with it
2. You race (autox, drag, road course) on a regular basis. Always a good idea to change your fluids more regularly.

If your car is your daily driver and you go for a spirited drive on occasion, there is not really any reason to deviate from the recommended intervals.

Kind of a related question, whats the first "real" service that you might want to have done at the dealership?

To be honest, anything that you're not skilled enough nor comfortable doing on your own. Really isn't any magic answer. It all depends on your skills with a wrench.

I go every 5k, thats one of the advantages of using synthetic oil... This is what Mitsu recommends anyway! I don't drag or autoX, it's my DD and I've never had any issues with Mitsu's recommendations!

Here's what I did/am planning to do:

1) Oil change at 3K miles and every 5K miles after that. I currently have 14K. Of course, I drive in a fairly conservative fashion - no racing or autox and mostly highway commuting.

2) First full fluid change at about 25-30K. Mitsu recommends every 30K for that unless you drive hard.

3) Spark plugs at 50-60K.

I do everything myself since it saves time and $. Plus, I enjoy servicing my own vehicles (it's a pride thing).

This car seems to have a very serious oil dilution problem when new. My last analysis showed fuel dilution at a critical level, and resulting viscosity reduction just shy of critical. This was at the recommended 5k oil change interval on Mobil 1 as a daily driver. There's a huge 36-page thread about it, and what it means for engine life. Instantaneous fuel dilution (like that measured in an oil analysis) is not necessarily bad, but if it's changing your oil viscosity you could have a problem.

This effect is also magnified by cold temperatures. Not so much a problem here in the summer, but keep an eye on it in the winter.

If you go 5k, you're probably waiting too long. Check your oil level as normal, and if the oil smells distinctively like fuel, is pitch black, or seems a little "sludgy," I'd change it immediately. There's some indication that this effect wears off as the engine ages, but nothing definitive. I'd do at least the first few changes no later than 3k and avoid the mistakes some of us made in following Mitsubishi's recommendations.

In general, given what we've seen, I'd consider following Mitsubishi's "Harsh Conditions" (can't remember the exact term they use) maintenance path instead of the standard one. They're both published in your manual.

alright well thanks guys for the great replies. i think im going to change the oil at 1k and switch over to amsoil sso

This! Too many posters on here spreading misinformation.

Not to mention that Mitsu released an addendum to the service intervals stating something to the effect of checking your oil every chance you get and changing oil at 3k miles all the time. I think they were concerned about the oil dilution and the main seal leak that a lot of X's have. Search you'll find it.

On my civic honda recommends 7500 miles I do it like 5k to 6k miles most of the time, I have 198,000 miles and orig engine no work. I know turbo cars will be different, but manufacturers typically know what there are talking about it.

I'm just over 15k miles and plan to change all of my fluids any week now. I change my oil every 3-4k miles. I'd like to do it sooner but it's a DD so I rack up the miles quickly and it can be hard for me to make time to get an oil change sometimes.