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quixk question. can i go 10k w\o an oilchange on castrol 10\30

 
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if you want your engine to die then yes. if you like your car and wish to keep if i suggest you change your oil at 3 to 5 k. no more than that. good luck with that.

 
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First of all is it synthetic or dino oil? Second of all, why are you using 10w 30 oil in our cars?

 
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good point your supposed to use 5-20

 
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i go up to about 8k on synthetic. but that's a little more than half the max that they say i could.

so no. why would you be that cheap anyways?

 
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unless you beat on your car a lot, 10,000 miles is about the max you'd want to go between oil changes. If you're running a synthetic with a high TBN, then you can go even longer. castrol can take you to 10,000 miles between changes. but you should not use 10w30.

 
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10w-30 only at 10k miles on the civic? yikes...


theres mobil 1 5w-20 and mobil 1 5w-30 extended perfomance which claims to keep its addictives til 15,000 miles... $23 for 5qt at walmart.


oil changes in general should be done every 5000 miles for a clean healthy motor

 
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Hmmm. My manual says 10,000 mile intervals for oil changes or once a year. That's with regular oil (2005 EX SE). Tough driving conditions schedule says 7,500 miles. I'm sure Honda wants my "engine to die". Civic4dizoor, what year car do you have and what does the manual say for recommended oil change interval? (Just for my info). I get the feeling you'd be OK for 10,000, especially with synthetic oil. Most people that preach the 3-5k interval heard that 10 years ago and still go around quoting that number. But you can't go wrong with what the manual says, no matter who you believe.

 
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Not true, ask any expert and they'll tell you 3k. My uncle has been a mechanic for 20 years and now a service manager at a Nissan dealership and he preaches every 3k. He changes his literally every 3k miles, so its not just him trying to get business. All you really have to do is just check it, simple. Pull out your dip stick and check the color of your oil....wait, that didn't sound right . Anyhow, if its dark and dirty, you need to change it.

 
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ok if you put new oil in and drive for 5 min it will be dark and dirty. just use your best judgement.

 
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I always go about 3k miles, I think in the manual it says 5k, but thats under "light" driving conditions or something and if im not mistaken most people dont drive in "light" conditions so if u read it over it actually says 3k-3500.

I'd always play it safe..

 
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Uh no.... so by your theory your oil's going to look the same after 5 min of driving as it does after 500 or 5k miles of driving???

I know what oil is supposed to look like when it needs changing, and I'm sure you do too. But he may not, so I was just giving him a general description of what to look for. I'm sure through trial and error he'll find out.

 
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just follow what the manual says or depends on your driving habits and conditions. on my other car i do 10k oci..i have 150k miles already and the engine is still perfect. i have used mobil fully synthetic since my first oil change.

 
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I go 3000 max on synthetic, do it yourself and its cheap and worth it in the long run

 
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no. your uncle and other mechanics who have been working on cars for years are not experts in oil change intervals. people like your uncle are the people who cannot let this 3,000 mile oil change interval go. they are stuck in their ways and tend to believe whatever it is they want.

and guess what. after 500 miles your oil is going to be dark and dirty. if it's not, then it's not doing it's job. oil gets dark and dirty very quickly, because it's suspending contaminants, which is its job.

changing oil on cars nowadays every 3,000 miles is a WASTE of money and resources. cars can go 5000, 7500, 10000, even 15,000 miles nowadays.

if you ask an expert, such as a tribologist, they'll tell you that 3,000 mile oil changes are a waste and completely uncessary. people like your uncle are simply set in their ways and no amount of experts will change their mind. your uncle is not an expert in this regard in any way, shape, or form.

 
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you obviously have no idea what you're talking about. oil looks "dirty" after a couple hundred miles of driving if that. it's SUPPOSED to, because it means it's doing its job.

 
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synthetic can go 10,000 miles in your civic easy. even the S2000 can go 7500 on synthetic or more. changing even regular oil every 3000 is a waste. changing synthetic every 3000 is ridiculous.

 
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No $hit..... it's OBVIOUSLY not going to look like what it did going in. So I guess there's no reason to use that dip stick in your engine other then to check to see if there's any oil period.

Again, so what you're saying is that oil after 10k miles doesn't look any different then oil after 200 miles? Correct?

So there's no way to check the condition of your oil other then your "odometer"

 
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uh, that would be the purpose of the dip stick. to check your oil level. wtf did you think it was for? lol

 
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after 10k miles it will pretty much look the same yes. this is not new information, so no need to act so shocked. while the coloration may be SLIGHTLY different, the most noticeable thing would be the breakdown in viscosity from oxidization and possibly smell.

and yes there are other ways to check your oil condition. it's called virgin oil analysis and used oil analysis. blackstone labs is your friend.

all you need to worry about is how much time or mileage has passed since your last oil change, and to be certain you keep your oil level up to full. cars nowadays, civics included, can go at LEAST 5000 miles between changes no problem. 7500-10,000 would even be fine as long as you use a decent oil.

synthetic can take you to 7500-10,000 no problem.

 
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Exactly what I said in my previous statement to check the oil level and condition of it.

So let me get this straight, you're saying the only purpose of the dip stick is check your oil level? So the color of your oil has no significance what so ever?!?!

Your oil should be brown or "honey" in color. If its black, you should probably change your oil.

 
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I'm sorry but I'm going to have to respectfully disagree with you on that. Oil after 10,000 miles is NOT going to look "pretty much the same" to oil after 200 miles.

I know there are other ways of checking it, but for the avg. joe going out to his car to check, color is one indication of the condition of your oil.

 
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your oil should not be "honey" in color. it's that color going in and if after a while it's still that color then something is wrong and it should be changed immediately.

the purpose of the dip stick is to CHECK OIL LEVEL. NOT to check what it looks like. the human eye/mind really can't tell the difference between oil after 500 or 7500 miles. your oil will look pretty dark after even 500 miles.

 
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yes it will. it looks pretty much the same from 500 miles up until the point that oxidization sets in, which at that point if you can see the difference, it's turning to sludge and you're way overdue (this doesn't happen until after 10,000 miles on regular oil).

no, color is NOT an indication to check the condition of your oil. the human eye cannot see enough of a differnce between 500 or 7500 miles.

 
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since you're such an expert and claim that you can tell whether you need to change your oil by merely looking at it, take a look at these pictures I just took of my dipstick. how many miles do you think are on my oil?? while the pictures are a bit blurry, you can easily see the color and opaqueness of my oil. should be no problem since you claim color is how you tell when to change your oil.






my point is that "looking" at your oil is not a way to determine when to change it. mileage or length of time is how you determine when to change the oil.

 
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listen to s2000man01. he knows whats he's saying. there's no need to change your oil at 3k. its just a waste of money and resources. if the color of your oil cahgned after a few hundred miles, that is a good sign. it means that the oil is doing its job (cleaning your engine). as i have posted earlier, i change my oil in my other car every 10k miles. i have 150k miles right now and engine is running perfect.

 
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You can change it every 3k but you'll be wasting good money, especially if you're using syn. For all of those who change it every 3k believing that it's all good loving, why not change it at 1k or even at 500 miles?

Oil technology has improved drastically. Why not take advantage of it? Think about it, oil has done nothing except been improved on and the price is relatively the same as it was 10 years ago.

S2000 is absolutely correct - 3k changes are a waste. If you have the money then knock yourself out but don't think your car is going to last longer, perform better, be your friend or fill in the blank with a 3k change.

 
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another slight test you can do is let a few drops of oil drip off your dipstick onto a white notecard. let it soak in. if it leaves a very dark ring of contaminants, then you can think about changing your oil. if it leaves no ring or just a ring around the outside edge, you're more than fine.

 
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LOL... well got my oil changed today . went back to castrol 5\20 again ... but yea I shouldve went 9- 10k miles on this . I was at 8k on the 10\30 till today , but imma start sticking to my 5k oilchanges on the 5\20 . as for the engine i got 54,000 so far so good ! ill update if it breaks down guys

 
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Since I can get Chevron (almost the same as Havoline) for 49 cent per quart. I have been using 5w30. Most of the 5w30 will shear down to a 20w so I'm not too concern about it. I have seen good UOA on the 20w but I can't seems to find the Chevron in 5w20. After a bunch of research on bobistheoilguy.com the 20w is for CAFE reasons. Why else would some Honda / Acura reason is going with 5w20 when certain cars suguested a 5w30. Here's one example:
http://tsx.acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23390