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Car Forum / Honda Cars / February 20065W-30 vs. 10W-30
I own a 1998 Honda Civic EX Sedan. It has 160,000 miles on it. I recent got an oil change on it. During the life of the car, I have used 5W-30 motor oil. However, some of the mechanics at my oil change place have said that I should switch to 10W-30, due to the mileage on my car, and because 10W-30 is thicker. Should I take heed to this advice? > I own a 1998 Honda Civic EX Sedan. It has 160,000 miles on it. I > recent got an oil change on it. [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Should I take heed to this advice? No. I tried that a while back and 10W-30 made absolutely NO difference in my oil consumption. My car's been fed 5W-30 since day one. It now has 260,000 miles on it and gets over 2,000 miles per US quart. How's your oil consumption?  SignatureTeGGeR® The Unofficial Honda/Acura FAQ www.tegger.com/hondafaq/ Unfortunately, I did not monitor my oil consumption. As of this message, I will begin doing so. I simply get my oil changes around every 4,000 miles or so. If I was able to get 2,000 miles per US quart, and 3.8 quarts of new oil are installed per go around, could I, in theory, reach 7,500 miles between oil changes? > Unfortunately, I did not monitor my oil consumption. > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > to get 2,000 miles per US quart, and 3.8 quarts of new oil are installed > per go around, could I, in theory, reach 7,500 miles between oil changes? Oil is not consumed as fuel is. If it was, they wouldn't have to drain it. How dirty is your oil at 4000 miles is the question? At 148,000, my '01 Accord doing 7K oil changes (I have a long highway commute) the oil is dirty, but not black. If you are consuming oil, that means you are burning oil. Others can give a better description of the mechanics behind how oil gets into the fuel being burned, but in essence, in those cases a thicker oil might not sneak by the way thinner oil does. If you're not burning any oil (as in 3.8 quarts are coming out at each change) then there is no need for thicker oil as you do not have a problem with the thin stuff. > Unfortunately, I did not monitor my oil consumption. > > As of this message, I will begin doing so. Begin using 10W-30, you mean? Not really a great idea. 10W will flow less readily than 5W when cold, while the 30 side of it will get consumed by the engine identically when hot. > I simply get my oil changes around every 4,000 miles or so. If I was > able to get 2,000 miles per US quart, and 3.8 quarts of new oil are > installed per go around, could I, in theory, reach 7,500 miles between > oil changes? Mathematically you could, but this too is not a good idea. How many months does it take you to reach 7,500 miles? How long do you intend on keeping the car? SignatureTeGGeR® The Unofficial Honda/Acura FAQ www.tegger.com/hondafaq/ > > I own a 1998 Honda Civic EX Sedan. It has 160,000 miles on it. I > > recent got an oil change on it. [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > How's your oil consumption? Our local Honda dealer only offers 5-20 for all Hondas new and old with the claim that Honda has authorized this. My Prelude calls for 5-30 or possibly 10-30 in hot weather which we have in abundance here in mid GA in Summer. Am I right to be uneasy about using 5-20. > Our local Honda dealer only offers 5-20 for all Hondas new and old > with the claim that Honda has authorized this. My Prelude calls for > 5-30 or possibly 10-30 in hot weather which we have in abundance here > in mid GA in Summer. Am I right to be uneasy about using 5-20. What year is your Prelude? How many miles? Try it for one go-around and see what happens. I'll bet you won't notice any difference of any kind. The 5W-20 is part synthetic, so it has slightly better film strength. Film strength is probably comparable to that of 5W- 30. SignatureTeGGeR® The Unofficial Honda/Acura FAQ www.tegger.com/hondafaq/ > > Our local Honda dealer only offers 5-20 for all Hondas new and old > > with the claim that Honda has authorized this. My Prelude calls for > > 5-30 or possibly 10-30 in hot weather which we have in abundance here > > in mid GA in Summer. Am I right to be uneasy about using 5-20. > > What year is your Prelude? How many miles? 01 62k miles. I have been running 5-30 Mobil 1 for the past 30k miles, rather than risk the Honda 5-20. Maybe overkill though since I change oil every 3700 miles anyway. > Try it for one go-around and see what happens. I'll bet you won't notice > any difference of any kind. The 5W-20 is part synthetic, so it has slightly > better film strength. Film strength is probably comparable to that of 5W- > 30. >> > Our local Honda dealer only offers 5-20 for all Hondas new and old >> > with the claim that Honda has authorized this. My Prelude calls for [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > rather than risk the Honda 5-20. Maybe overkill though since I change oil > every 3700 miles anyway. What's the "risk" with the factory recommended 5w-20? My '01 Accord EX-v6 with 148,000 miles and 7k between changes is still running strong, running smooth and starting up on the first try. I bought a Honda for durability and economics. You seem to be wasting a bit of the economical advantage of a Honda. >> > Our local Honda dealer only offers 5-20 for all Hondas new and old >> > with the claim that Honda has authorized this. My Prelude calls [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > 01 62k miles. I have been running 5-30 Mobil 1 for the past 30k miles, > rather than risk the Honda 5-20. You didn't say that. I assumed you were using mineral oils. Mobil 1 is a pure synthetic. Honda's 5W-20 is part synthetic, part mineral. Mobil 1 is the better oil of the two. > Maybe overkill though since I change > oil every 3700 miles anyway. You are performing excellent auto maintenance! You can look forward to long life from your engine. SignatureTeGGeR® The Unofficial Honda/Acura FAQ www.tegger.com/hondafaq/ >>> > Our local Honda dealer only offers 5-20 for all Hondas new and old >>> > with the claim that Honda has authorized this. My Prelude calls [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > long > life from your engine. I like the Prelude and want to keep it for a long time. Thanks for the input. I did google and ran into the AMSOIL oil, amsoil.com. And I had read all the information on this web site, how accurate of the information? TA >>> > Our local Honda dealer only offers 5-20 for all Hondas new and old >>> > with the claim that Honda has authorized this. My Prelude calls [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] >You are performing excellent auto maintenance! You can look forward to long >life from your engine. > I did google and ran into the AMSOIL oil, amsoil.com. > And I had read all the information on this web site, how accurate of > the information? Functionally, AMSoil and Mobil 1 may be taken as equivalents. SignatureTeGGeR® The Unofficial Honda/Acura FAQ www.tegger.com/hondafaq/ >> > I own a 1998 Honda Civic EX Sedan. It has 160,000 miles on it. I >> > recent got an oil change on it. [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] >10-30 in hot weather which we have in abundance here in mid GA in Summer. >Am I right to be uneasy about using 5-20. I use a 5-30 in winter, and a 10-40 in summer for my 88 civic, also in mid-ga. burns a bit of oil, and a little water in the summer (refill the expansion bottle once a week basically) but its been 3 years and no problems on that score. >I own a 1998 Honda Civic EX Sedan. It has 160,000 miles on it. I recent > got an oil change on it. [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > Should I take heed to this advice? Not to dispute Tegger's claim, but just to offer evidence that your mechanics are not totally whack-o: I have seen internet sites that suggest switching to a higher viscosity oil for older cars. It's worth googling. >>I own a 1998 Honda Civic EX Sedan. It has 160,000 miles on it. I recent >> got an oil change on it. [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > mechanics are not totally whack-o: I have seen internet sites that suggest > switching to a higher viscosity oil for older cars. It's worth googling. I've seen that also, but usually in reference to burning oil and how to stop said oil from making it into the combustion chamber. If the thin stuff isn't sneaking by the rings, then switching to thicker stuff won't have any benefits. >>>I own a 1998 Honda Civic EX Sedan. It has 160,000 miles on it. I >>>recent [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] >> suggest switching to a higher viscosity oil for older cars. It's >> worth googling. I'm not seeing your posts, for some reason, just other peoples' replies to them. If an engine is consuming oil, it means the oil control rings are worn out. If you were using 5W-30 and were experiencing excessive oil consumption, you'd have to move up to something like a 20W-50 before it made any meaningful difference. Simply going up from 5W to 10W will do absolutely nothing, especially when the hot end of it is still the same (30). My oil consumption used to be roughly 8K/qt when the car had 100K miles. Now I'm down to just over 2K miles. That's with 5W-30 and 260K on the clock. My oil check procedure is this: 1) Change oil 2) With engine COLD and having sat overnight, check oil and note dipstick reading 3) Drive car 1,000 miles Repeat from #2. The car is ALWAYS checked with it parked in the identical same spot, at the same slope. When I temporarily switched from 5W-30 to 10W-30, there was zero difference in oil consumption. I moved back to 5W-30 to take advantage of 5W-30's slightly better cold flow characteristics. SignatureTeGGeR® The Unofficial Honda/Acura FAQ www.tegger.com/hondafaq/ > "Elle" <honda.lioness@nospam.earthlink.net> wrote in message snip >> Not to dispute Tegger's claim, but just to offer evidence that your >> mechanics are not totally whack-o: I have seen internet sites that [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > stuff isn't sneaking by the rings, then switching to thicker stuff won't > have any benefits. I agree. Jumping the gun on switching to a higher visc. oil may reduce engine efficiency, as well. > I own a 1998 Honda Civic EX Sedan. It has 160,000 miles on it. I > recent got an oil change on it. > > During the life of the car, I have used 5W-30 motor oil. However, > some of the mechanics at my oil change place have said that I should > switch to 10W-30, due to the mileage on my car, and because 10W- 30 is > thicker. > > Should I take heed to this advice? I think the general idea in this is that the thinner oil will seap thru seals and gaskets that are aging. It's the same principle of why you don't use synthetic oil on old cars. It's so slick that it will leak in almost every seal. Another thing is the piston rings that might not scrape the oil from the cylinder walls. > However, >> some of the mechanics at my oil change place have said that I [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > I think the general idea in this is that the thinner oil will seap > thru seals and gaskets that are aging. The difference between 5W-30 and 10W 30 is its behavior when cold. Once it's warmed up, there is no difference between the two. It's the same principle of > why you don't use synthetic oil on old cars. It's so slick that it > will leak in almost every seal. Another thing is the piston rings > that might not scrape the oil from the cylinder walls. Utter nonsense. SignatureTeGGeR® The Unofficial Honda/Acura FAQ www.tegger.com/hondafaq/ > It's the same principle of >> why you don't use synthetic oil on old cars. It's so slick that it >> will leak in almost every seal. Another thing is the piston rings >> that might not scrape the oil from the cylinder walls. > > Utter nonsense. Okay then fill your car with synthetic and see what happens. >> It's the same principle of >>> why you don't use synthetic oil on old cars. It's so slick that [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > >Okay then fill your car with synthetic and see what happens. I did it with an 89 volvo340. Had 130k miles on it, did an oil change, and changed from regular dino-juice to synthetic. not leaked a drop. Similar experiances with my fathers 89 golf. > Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services >---------------------------------------------------------- > ** SPEED ** RETENTION ** COMPLETION ** ANONYMITY ** >---------------------------------------------------------- |
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