thefatalepic

I'm going to get my first oil change since buying my new used car. 2001 EX Sedan with 95k miles on it.

I know 5w20 is recommended but here at the shop they'll do it for free with the 10w30 that we have barrels of.

What would you do? (I know there are threads on this but I mean just for the sake of it being free - does it REALLY make a difference - or is it like using premium unleaded versus regular)

2005civiclx

first number is the viscosity of the oil when its cold. second number is when your engine is warm. 30 is a little thicker but it should do just fine. if its free i would do it. i have 10w30 in my car and it hasn't caused any problems.

7genmarathon

iTrader: (1)

Since you live in LA 10-W30 will be just fine. It only really matters if you live in extreme cold or heat.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

should be good in the summer.

thefatalepic

Cool, a big thanks to all of you I wasn't expecting such helpful replies in such short time.

It's summer every other week here.. so I should be good, Lol. (Last week was 80 degrees F almost all week)

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

yeah no problems then. the cold weight is the only thing thats a bit thick, but not an issue if you are above freezing temps. 30 weight is actually better for this motor than 20 weight in hot weather.

sl33pyriceboi

iTrader: (3)

yea you can use it. as long as you change ur car's oil with regular intervals, ur oil is the last problem you'll face.



lol its summer 364 days here in CA. lol

hath33

iTrader: (1)

and its hot as hell in texas lol

2005civiclx

im not looking forward to the summer at all. Texas summers are unforgiving.

7genmarathon

iTrader: (1)

^yeah man my family lives in the hill country, my four-banger gots to cross those hills, I can practically hear my engine dying up every one of em.

Too Tall

Proper viscosity to match temperature is important. But that becomes most important if you operate in the hot or cold extremes.

Keeping the engine in tune and using good filters to avoid contamination of the oil is also important.

Changing the oil before it breaks down is important. But the only real way to do that is to do used oil analysis.

Knowing who to listen to is also important. Lots of opinions out there, very few people can back up their opinions with any significant support.

I put 5w - 30 synthetic in my 07. I just don't think 5w - 20 offers enough protection. But I'm not going to spend the money on a used oil analysis to see for sure.

Alkamist7

i live in the east (massachusetts) if i wanted to use synthetic oil wuts a realy good one i kno nothin about this stuff i just love my vic and take care of it

Too Tall

How old is your car and how many miles on it?

The quality of synthetic oils vary from barely better than dino oils, to full synthetics like Amsoil that lets you go 25,000 miles between oil changes. But you need to use their filters and engine flush, change oil filter at 15K, within a years time and make the change before the engine gets too sludged up.

If you car has 90K miles or has lots of sludge built up in the engine, stay away from the full synthetics like Amsoil. Check Amsoil's and Mobil 1 websites for lots of information. They make less expensive synthetic blends with oil change intervals of 5k miles, no better than dino oils.

kbook

I used to pour in Castrol Syntec 0W-30 (German Castrol) to my Civic. The earlier color of the fluid were green!! I hope, at this point, some BITOGER (bob is the oil guy people), they won't hunt for this green fluid no more

What I like is that the engine was very quiet compared to 5W-20. I used to use Mobil 0W-20 and it sound like metal-to-metal when you start your car in the very cold morning. I do not like that grinding sound at all.

The bad part about 0W-30 is the viscosity is very close to the 40 grade range so it might hurt the mileage or oil starvation ? : P

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

0w30 should be better for cold starts and normal for running hot with the engine warmed up.

MindBomber

Royal Purple 5w-30 is my personal favourite, but like other members have said, if you have above 75k miles or perhaps even as low as 50k miles if you use cheap gas then I would not make a conversion to synthetic oil now.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

so far so good im at 90k and switched almost a year ago with no problems. a lil oil burning at first but seems to have stopped. stayed the same since last month.

marccayen

Yea I just recently put in 5w30 royal purple with 140,000 KM on the engine and no issues at all. It all depends on how the car was taken care of by the previous owner if applicable. Other then that no leaks no burning oil no issues.

Alkamist7

i have to do my next oil change at 40,000 miles curently at 37,200 and i always put "shell's V-Power gas" nothing els im a major bug about my car my girl complains that i love my car more i kinda do. so should i use a certain type now?, then a different type when i reach a higher mileage?

2005civiclx

^^^if you really wanted to be super picky about what oil you wanted to use you could just use royal purple and i know people who swear by it but personally i dont see the point because i drive an auto civic with around 90whp lol. but according to royal purples studies it actually works and is good for your motor.

thefatalepic

Finally got the oil change, took me awhile to convince them to order a WIX oil filter; not that they weren't willing to but more like they were trying to convince me that it's all the same and there's no reason to spend money on a different filter (the FRAM cost $1.50 since we order and stock in bulk) and the WIX was ~$7.50. When he called to order he was surprised that the guy at O'Reilly said they were commonly sought for VTEC motors.

However, when I said nothing about what kind of oil they would be using they laughed at me again and brought up that we use cheap stock 10w30 oil and gave me the option to use some 10w30 Quaker State that we happened to have on hand.

If I had never joined these forums I would have used the cheap oil with a FRAM filter. I don't know that it would really affect me but I feel better knowing I've got a slight upgrade.

EDIT: The car does drive A LOT smoother now (smoother take offs, smoother between shifts), but I don't think I can attribute it to the oil change since I simultaneously added a no-name intake I bought from "user_unlisted" here at the marketplace area. When I bought the car it had a Spectre filter attached directly to the intake hole. The little tiny hose that goes to the engine was cut and just dangling next to the filter. Yes, I've been driving it like that until yesterday :X

EDIT EDIT: I know it's a little off my original topic here but not sure if this is worth a thread, I have the no-name SRI installed now but I didn't realize I'm missing the air intake temp sensor that goes in the little hole on the side. How bad is it that I'm driving around with a hole in my SRI and no air intake temp sensor?

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

the intake temp sensor should be on the car already. you reuse the stock one. and a hole in the intake is really bad, basically like not having a filter.

thefatalepic

OK damn.. well I ordered the part yesterday so it should be here by today.. I wish I read that post earlier Lol... I drove around everywhere yesterday :x

I didn't have the stock one because when I bought the car it just had a filter attached to the hole - no pipe. And the other little rubber hose was cut and just hanging there beside the filter. The little plug that goes to the sensor was just dangling against the filter, too.

JBS36606

I converted 3 cars over to royal purple at 75,000+ each. I had no issues. If you are going to use a good oil such as royal purple, I would suggest using a high end oil filter and air filter. Many people forget that the air filter greatly affects the oil quality.

thefatalepic

How does the air filter affect oil quality? o_O

What_It_Do

No, it's not necessary at all.

LOL j/k. I would pay to make sure I put the right kind in, rather then put the wrong stuff in for free.

Too Tall

High flow air filters let a lot of sand through which ends up in the oil. A neighbor did used oil analysis, 5000 miles and K&N, then changed to stock paper filter and changed oil for another 5,000 miles. The K&N filter had 3 times the sand in the oil. That means the oil filter may pick up the larger particles, but the smaller sizes get through. Then your only choice is to do frequent oil changes which rules out using extended drain intervals that the better full synthetic oils are capable of.

thefatalepic

I had no idea... I learn something new every thread.

Well... I'm going to save up for a Secret Weapon intake I hear the filter is really good on those. For now I've got a no-name intake with a Spectre filter so I'll just do the oil change every 3-4k miles (which I think is way too often, lol) - anything to keep my motor happy.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

just a fun fact, i ran a K&N air filter when i didnt know better for about 6 months and had all sorts of problems. all the intake and idle valves were clogged with oil and grit, the vtec solenoid filter has actual sand grains plugging the screen (check engine light was on) and when i felt the oil there were abrasives in it. never again. i took that off asap and threw it away. been using a weapon-r SW1 oiled foam filter (hi tack foam oil not the K&N garbage oil) and 5 yrs later all my intake parts and solenoid are still like brand new when i first cleaned them. not even a spec of dust in the intake pipe either. oil has stayed lighter color much longer and ive been able to pull off 10k mile changes without issue. its very dusty here so usually 6 month air filter cleanings are required with how well it filters dirt. the inside is spotless and outside is covered in dirt and dust.

thefatalepic

Damn.. I hope I didn't mess up the VTEC filter driving around with a hole in my intake. Now that I think of it.. just before I put in the sensor to plug the hole in the intake - I noticed that my RPMs dip when I am braking and then once again after I stop (causing the hood to shake like crazy and the car sounding like it wants to stall). I probably need to clean out the idle control valve thing now...

You guys are starting to scare me... how does a Spectre hold up against these dreaded K&N filters? Better? Worse?