Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us
Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network
HomeAnnouncements
Discussion Groups
By Brand
BMWChevroletDodgeFordGMHondaLexusMercedes-BenzNissanPeugeotToyotaVolkswagenOther Brands
By Topic
4x4 CarsRVsDrivingMaintenance & RepairCar AudioCollectible Cars
Country Specific
Australian ForumsUK Forums
ArticlesAuto InsuranceBuyingCars & TechnologyMaintenanceMiscellaneousSafety
DMV Resources
Related Topics
MotorcyclesBoatsMore Topics ...

Car Forum / Honda Cars / April 2005

Tip: Looking for answers? Try searching our database.

what brand of engine oil is good for honda pilots?

Thread view: 
Enable EMail Alerts  Start New Thread
Thread rating: 
mike113 - 10 Apr 2005 04:35 GMT
should i buy castrol or penzoil or valvoline oil. Which brand of oil do u
people think is good.
halo2 guy - 10 Apr 2005 16:42 GMT
Mobil 1 full synthetic

> should i buy castrol or penzoil or valvoline oil. Which brand of oil do u
> people think is good.
jmattis@attglobal.net - 10 Apr 2005 22:01 GMT
> should i buy castrol or penzoil or valvoline oil. Which brand of oil do u
> people think is good.

I use Pennzoil 10W30 in the MDX, change every 4-6,000 miles.

If I switched to synthethic, I'd use Mobil One 0-W20.  Yes, it's
showing better oil test numbers than 5W20.

If you use 5W20 dino oil, as recommended by Honda, abandon their oil
change interval.  Testing shows this oil is shot at 3,000 miles.
disallow - 11 Apr 2005 04:25 GMT
Where did you find that info?  I would be very
interested in seeing it!

t
y_p_w - 11 Apr 2005 17:27 GMT
> Where did you find that info?  I would be very
> interested in seeing it!

Probably from used oil analysis.  UOA can test for wear
particles, contamination, and viscosity loss/gain.  If
an oil is shot, sometimes the VI improvers shear down and
no longer provide adequate protection.  In other cases the
oil excessively thickens to the point where engine parts
can be oil starved at startup.
y_p_w - 11 Apr 2005 18:11 GMT
> > should i buy castrol or penzoil or valvoline oil. Which brand
> > of oil do u
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> If I switched to synthethic, I'd use Mobil One 0-W20.  Yes,
> it's showing better oil test numbers than 5W20.

Mobil is no longer marketing Mobil 1 0W-20.  They still may be making
a 0W-20 for Honda (for the hybrids).  However - there's now a Mobil 1
5W-20 on the market.  Also - Mobil's datasheets show that Mobil 1
5W-30 is awfully close to being a 5W-20.

I suppose the problem some people are having with the "conventional"
5W-20 oils are that they seem to include short-lived anti-wear
additives to make it protect adequately.  Mobil 1 probably doesn't
need as much and will maintain its antiwear properties longer.

> If you use 5W20 dino oil, as recommended by Honda, abandon their oil
> change interval.  Testing shows this oil is shot at 3,000 miles.

What the heck is "dino" oil these days?  Many "conventional" oils use
higher performance "Group II" base.  Some may even be semi-synthetic
(even without being labelled as such), although the definition of
"synthetic" is a but murky these days.  Ford's Motorcraft 5W-20 is
labelled as being "semi-synthetic", although it's unclear who makes
it for them (or if they change suppliers often).
jim beam - 12 Apr 2005 04:57 GMT
>>>should i buy castrol or penzoil or valvoline oil. Which brand
>>>of oil do u
[quoted text clipped - 24 lines]
> labelled as being "semi-synthetic", although it's unclear who makes
> it for them (or if they change suppliers often).

that motorcraft stuff is abysmal.  i was initially attracted to the
price & the "semi-synthetic" label, but all my seals started leaking
badly within a few hundred miles.  as in the main seal was leaking onto
the exhaust so bad you'd leave a smoke trail through the car park.  the
motor started getting real rattly after about 2500 miles too.  i'm now
back on castrol & the leaking has all but stopped.  89 civic.
halo2 guy - 12 Apr 2005 07:55 GMT
So you take an 89 Civic and just put in synthetic?  So I guess the fact that
your seals are bad in the first place doesn't really matter to you.  The
only thing synthetic did was clean your engine and seals of crud that had
accumulated and now they are leaking.  Put the old dino oil back in and
hopefully it will sludge up enough again to seal the engine up for you.

>>>>should i buy castrol or penzoil or valvoline oil. Which brand
>>>>of oil do u
[quoted text clipped - 31 lines]
> started getting real rattly after about 2500 miles too.  i'm now back on
> castrol & the leaking has all but stopped.  89 civic.
jim beam - 12 Apr 2005 14:32 GMT
>>>>>should i buy castrol or penzoil or valvoline oil. Which brand
>>>>>of oil do u
[quoted text clipped - 33 lines]
>
> So you take an 89 Civic and just put in synthetic?  So I guess the
fact that
> your seals are bad in the first place doesn't really matter to you.  The
> only thing synthetic did was clean your engine and seals of crud that
had
> accumulated and now they are leaking.  Put the old dino oil back in and
> hopefully it will sludge up enough again to seal the engine up for you.

sorry to burst your little bubble, but castrol is semi-synthetic too.
it simply has a much better base & superior additive package than that
ford garbage.  that's also why it doesn't leave the engine rattling like
a bag of nails.  that ok for you?
y_p_w - 12 Apr 2005 17:35 GMT
> >>>>>should i buy castrol or penzoil or valvoline oil. Which brand
> >>>>>of oil do u
[quoted text clipped - 33 lines]
> >
>  > So you take an 89 Civic and just put in synthetic?  So I guess the

> fact that
>  > your seals are bad in the first place doesn't really matter to you.  The
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>  >
> sorry to burst your little bubble, but castrol is semi-synthetic too.

> it simply has a much better base & superior additive package than that
> ford garbage.  that's also why it doesn't leave the engine rattling like
> a bag of nails.  that ok for you?

What the heck is "synthetic" these days?  I'm getting the feeling that
in order to get decent performance out of a 5W-20, even the so-called
"conventional" 5W-20 oils are using some Group III or PAO base oils.

As for Castrol - they're rumored to used older "Group I" base oil for
most of the Castrol GTX lineup, while most others have gone to more
advanced "Group II".  Pennzoil calls their base oil "PureBase", Chevron
uses "IsoSyn", while others just say "group II".
jim beam - 13 Apr 2005 04:19 GMT
>>>>>>>should i buy castrol or penzoil or valvoline oil. Which brand
>>>>>>>of oil do u
[quoted text clipped - 108 lines]
> advanced "Group II".  Pennzoil calls their base oil "PureBase", Chevron
> uses "IsoSyn", while others just say "group II".

good observations.  the only thing we know for sure is that these words
are the product of the marketing department, not the lab.

while something like castrol gtx may not be the best of the best, from
my viewpoint, any oil that can clean the crud out of old engines like so
many of the clunkers i've had leaving them looking pretty much deposit
free, any oil that does not leave your engine sounding like an old tin
can being kicked around by a couple of kids, any oil that does not make
an old motor leak like a marine oil spill disaster, has /got/ to be
worth serious consideration.
Pars - 13 Apr 2005 22:36 GMT
> > What the heck is "synthetic" these days?  I'm getting the feeling that
> > in order to get decent performance out of a 5W-20, even the so-called
[quoted text clipped - 15 lines]
> an old motor leak like a marine oil spill disaster, has /got/ to be
> worth serious consideration.

I used to only use Castrol over a decade ago when I was driving an Old rear
drive Cutlass Supreme V8 (when all 4 barrel opened up on that carburetor,
that car could chase down just about anything on 4 wheels). So, the engine
was in great shape, event though the rest of the car was quickly
disintegrating. That was awhile ago and the Castrol might have been good for
the older engine, but my comparatively newer 98 Civic runs just as well on
the Mobel 1 (230,000km of aggressive driving and no rattles on cold
startup). In the case of Jim's 89 Civic, the Castrol might be the better
choice then the Mobel-1, since the older engine (with loose seals) might
have hard time retaining it...

Pars
Alex Rodriguez - 20 Apr 2005 19:45 GMT
>should i buy castrol or penzoil or valvoline oil. Which brand of oil do u
>people think is good.

I usually buy the brand name oil that is on sale and meets the manufacturers
recommendations.  I never had an oil related problem following this procedure.
--------------
Alex
y_p_w - 26 Apr 2005 18:46 GMT
> >should i buy castrol or penzoil or valvoline oil. Which brand
> >of oil do u people think is good.
>
> I usually buy the brand name oil that is on sale and meets the
> manufacturers recommendations.  I never had an oil related
> problem following this procedure.

I took my car to my favorite Japanese car specialist today.  For
years they've had a prominent Castrol GTX sign and said that they've
used it.  However - I saw their shipment of Honda supplies stacked
up against a wall.  It included several cases of Honda Z1 ATF and
Honda branded 5W-20 motor oil.

I understand that American Honda's oil supplier is Mobil.  I don't
know if it's really a "specialty formula" for Honda.  I rented a
Mazda 6 last Dec from Hertz.  It included a sticker from a quickie
lube place saying that the last change was performed with Mobil
5W-20.
 
Sign In
Join
My Latest Posts
My Monitored Threads
My Blog
My Photo Gallery
My Profile
My Homepage

Start New Thread
Enable EMail Alerts
Rate this Thread



©2008 Advenet LLC   Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.