elgranpagan

1998 Honda Civic, EX, auto transmission, AC - 2d owner, 210,000miles

I have been using SYNTHETIC 5W30 oil - different brands.
I drive approximately 2500 miles per month - 95% is all highway miles. Miles driven are on the US east cost US 95 between NY and Maryland, year-round.
Engine uses about one-half quart of oil per 1000 miles.
I have no oil leaks now.
Considering that I am using a synthetic oil 5W30, and adding one quart of oil every 2000 miles, my question is how frequently should I change the engine oil?
Dealers recommend 3000. Local mechanic says 3-5000miles. Edmunds.com says 7500-10000miles. http://www.edmunds.com/car-care/stop...-your-oil.html

Since 95% of the miles driver are highway miles, and since the engine gets a new full quart every 2000miles, what would you recommend be my interval of oil changes?

Also, am I using the right weight oil - 5W30?

BTW... I am changing the transmission oil as per the car manual at every 30000miles.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
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GolNat

iTrader: (7)

Use whatever weight is listed in the owners manual.

As for miles, with today's oil standards you can easily go over 5k. 10k is even good if your using a good quality oil. 3k is a waste of oil and 5k would be for more severe driving so I try to change around 7.5k to 10k.

got2run5

I go 5k with synthetic which is probably overdoing it but I figure that the best way to keep your engine in good shape is to have good oil in it, so changing it at 5000 instead of 7500 is a pretty cheap peace of mind for me. Since you're adding more oil as you burn it off-diluting the "bad" oil I wouldn't think you'd have to change it as often. However, your filter will still be going through the same amount of junk so that should be changed.

GolNat

iTrader: (7)

^ Good point. The filter is really the weak link. Make sure you get a high mileage filter to keep up with a longer mileage oil.

elgranpagan

Thanks everyone. I've been buying cheap filters. But now I realize that the filter is the weak link. So, going forward, I will change the oil between 7.5K and 10K miles, and change the filter using a high mileage filter.

Appreciate all the advice.

Elgranpagan
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got2run5

Consumer reports did a review on filters at one point. I've kind of become loyal to buying Purolators and I think they were rated pretty high.