FAQ about oil, fuel addatives, filters, and more

[DaRk_MauL]

indeed thats what i was looking for, also after taking a good look at the oil table from in my manual.i came to the conclusion i could run on 0w20 or 5w20 with no problems.so gonna change the oil.thx for the info Peace

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[shroomster]

I ran 0w40 onec w/o a problem....was all they had in stock....

[Jrfish007]

Originally Posted by shroomster

I ran 0w40 onec w/o a problem....was all they had in stock....

In your civic? BTW, unless you are tearing apart your engine it is hard to see what oil really does, but it's interesting 40 didn't blow anything.

[sternfan]

wow this is an awsome thread!! Can't believe i'm still using fram filters .

Hoepefully i can still find the OEM a01 filters.

[mickeycivic04]

Originally Posted by Jrfish007

First, there is a thread about all this already sticky’ed at the top the this section, I merged them instead of locking your thread

Most of the oil additive stuff has been covered in here many times. Very few oil additives work well. Lube Control and Red Line make decent additives, this is from people that work for Lubrizol. Lubrizol is the company that researches and produces the additives that go into almost all gas and oil, in other words they are huge and know what they are talking about.

Most oils have plenty of additive to go 5,000 miles, organic oil or synthetic. The additives are different, but really the only difference is that the dino oil will break down. A GOOD dino oil will have plenty of additive.

Do not use 10w30 in a 01+ civic. This will help nothing and actually hurt your engine in the long run.

If you have a high mileage engine, use Valvoline Max Life, it's got a high "moly" count. This an additive the is VERY desirable in anti-friction and is about 25% synthetic. It's not really that expensive either, I bought the 5 quart jug at Wal-Mart for just over $10. Most tripoligst also use this, it has to be good for them to use it!

Finally, there is NO reason at all to change the oil filter that many times when going from organic oil to synthetic oil. Today’s organic (or dino) oils have PLENTY of additives that can suspend and hold carbon particulates, hence preventing the formation of sludge. Sludge is a thing from the 60's and 70's when synthetic additives where just being put out to the public. If you change your oil every 5,000 miles, organic oils will protect your engine. The second quote you gave by cookie even said don't worry about using synthetics.

I don't mean to flame the new guy, but there is a wealth of info on here and I don't want people to get the wrong idea about stuff, so I try to keep it straight. Most of the info on this thread I’ve had read through by a few tripolist (mechanical engineers that specialize in oil and lubricating fluids). Please don’t take personal offense to this 

I fully support any info on here that is backed by either credentials or testing reports (oil test reports from labs).

nvr over fill oil u kan blow ur engine

[stock]

The Motor Oil Bible states that 5w20 will not provide enough protection when compared to 5w30. See excerpt below.

Well, now that I've made it clear that you shouldn't use heavier weight oils than recommended by your
vehicle manufacturer, I'm going to confuse the issue a little. We're going to talk about 5w20 motor oils.
For the 2001 and 2002 model years, Ford and a number of other vehicle manufacturers are moving to a
5w20 viscosity recommendation for at least some of their vehicles. They say that you'll maintain
adequate engine protection while getting better fuel economy with the 5w20. Well, technically, this may
be true, but let's dig a little deeper.
The fact is, the engines did not really change between the 2000 and 2001 model years. So, the
lubrication requirements of the vehicles did not change. But, Ford, and possibly other manufacturers,
were having trouble meeting the CAFE standards set by the government. 5w20 is their answer to this
problem.
You see, the only reason 5w20 was specified for your engine is to increase the CAFE (Corporate
Average Fuel Economy) reported to the Federal Government. CAFE is the combined average fuel
economy of all of a vehicle manufacturer's product line. Minimum CAFE levels are specified by the
Federal Government.
In order for a vehicle manufacturer to continue selling profitable large trucks and SUV's, which typically
have poor fuel mileage, and still meet mandated CAFE requirements, they must also sell smaller cars
which have much better fuel economy ratings to offset the poor fuel economy ratings of the larger
vehicles. Sometimes, that's not enough.
For model year 2001, the change to 5w20 oil will allow a vehicle manufacturer's overall CAFE to
decrease by a very small amount, typically in the tenths of a mile per gallon range. 5w20 oil is a lighter
viscosity than a 5w30 oil and therefore has less internal engine frictional losses, or less drag on the
crankshaft, pistons and valve-train.
This decrease in frictional power loss promotes increased fuel economy. But, the minimal increase fuel
economy is virtually undetectable to the average consumer without the use of specialized engine
monitoring and testing equipment when compared to a 5w30, 10w30 or a 0w30 viscosity motor oil.
So, the 5w20 offers you a fuel economy increase that you'll never notice. What about engine protection.
The truth is 5w20 oil has less film and shear strength than a 5w30, 10w30 or a 0w30 motor oil. This can
lead to increased engine wear under today's demanding heat and high-stress engine performance
conditions.
Of course, since vehicle manufacturers know that most consumers don't expect to keep their vehicle
longer than 100,000 miles or so, that's ok. You'll receive adequate protection in order to keep your
engine running for 100,000 miles. But, beyond that is another story.
So, if you're not really going to see any significant fuel mileage increase and engine protection is likely
to suffer, do you have to use a 5w20 motor oil to maintain your warranty?
NO.
Vehicle manufacturers recommend using motor oils meeting certain viscosity grades and American
Petroleum Institute service requirements. Whether the motor oil is a 5w20, 5w30, 10w30 or 0w30 or
even a synthetic vs. a petroleum-based oil will not affect warranty coverage. A 5w30 motor oil is a
perfectly acceptable alternative to the 5w20 oil that is recommended for your 2001 or 2002 vehicle
because the same engine was in service in 2000 using the recommended 5w30 grade (at least with
Ford vehicles).

[95speedT]

interesting

[SiMiranda]

Wow. Very interesting. My friend and I both had mustangs for our first cars. I got mine in 2001 and he had one since 2000. We couldn't figure out why the recommended oil viscosity changed from year to year.

[IronSportster]

Been using Red-Line 5W-20 for a year. Did an oil/filter change last May and got a record 33.2mpg in town during heavy stop/go traffic. Don't think the oil resulted in the fuel mileage. What with the price of fuel now, I have seriously changed my driving habits. Love that Civic; it has paid for itself with fuel savings!

[gearbox]

will be using valvoline maxlife 5w20 + LC20 for the rest of the car's life. i get roughly 35mpg on average with mixed driving, and over 40mpg on the highway. I have LC20 in the tranny oil too.

[turbo zombie]

Originally Posted by stock

But, Ford, and possibly other manufacturers,
were having trouble meeting the CAFE standards set by the government. 5w20 is their answer to this
problem.

Of course, since vehicle manufacturers know that most consumers don't expect to keep their vehicle
longer than 100,000 miles or so, that's ok.

Honda didn't have any problems meeting CAFE standards, I personally don't think that's why they went to 5w20. The four cylinder Honda hybrids all use 0w20, and the 2010 CRV runs 0w20 now as well, so I do think the thinner oil is being used for it's effect on fuel economy.

The Mustang is a perfect example of Ford doing that though. I worked at a Ford dealer for a year, and several of my friends there with 01-04 mustangs told me that for a while they ran 5w20 like Ford now said they could. They also said their lifters started making noise, and the engine didn't feel quite the same, but the fuel economy they were getting did not increase noticeably. As soon as they went back to 5w30 (the original that Ford called for) the noises went away and they had no other problems. Now on the newer Ford (and Honda, I expect) engines, they were designed from the get go to run on 5w20.

As far as consumers not expecting their vehicles to last past 100k miles, I think that doesn't apply as much to Honda or Toyota or Nissan. I'm a lube tech at a Honda dealer now, and hell, there was one 98 civic with 350k miles on it that came in for an oil change, the oil pressure light was on, and it tried to stall on me on the way into the shop. When I drained the oil, NOTHING came out. The filter had oil in it, but not even a drop came out of the pan. Honda durability for you.