ZSKCivic01

Hey everyone, haven't posted for a while since i've been busy here in college. I changed my oil around 20,100 miles and I have been using Mobil 1 5W-30 Synthetic oil. I have put a little more than 6000 miles on my car and I haven't changed my oil yet. I know it can last up to 7500 miles, but since I have been so busy with college, its been hard to get around to it. If I go a few more hundred miles, am I suseptible to damaging my engine? Before when I was in HS, I always changed my oil every 5,000 miles. Id apprecaite the input.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

Well technically the honda recommended service is every 10K with regular oil. It's crazy, but if anything happens, just blame it on the dealer.

IDQcivic

iTrader: (6)

I run mobil 1 5w30 and I noticed the car became kinda sluggish around 5000 miles, so I changed it and now its back to the way I remember, still slow but it didn't bog down after not changing it for so long...

ZSKCivic01

I noticed that same thing today. I actually got someone to change my oil today for me and got my oil replaced, same type synthetic, and I noticed that my engine ran alot smoother afterwards. Im still going to change my oil after 3,000 miles though because I think they used some crappy filter that i've never heard of that probably only has a life span of 3,000 miles anyways. Don't want to push it unless I have good quality filter on my car.

scottop1972

Do you know who started the whole change your oil every 3,000 miles thing? JIFFY LUBE to make more money..... the 2002 civic manual recommends changing your oil every 5000 miles. which means almost half as often as jiffy lube recommends and as a nice bonus at half the cost. If you use a good filter and synthetic you dont have to change your oil as often. 7500 miles is a little modest on synthetic it will last longer than that. But the company that makes that oil would love for you to buy it more often.

AzNmiKex215

iTrader: (2)

damn jiffy lube.. its all a conspiracy!

02ciVike

iTrader: (1)

I change mine every 8000km, which is about every 5000 miles (recommended by my dealer and in the Honda booklet). I would not recommend going too far above that. I know what its like when your in school. You just have more important things to do, but taking care of the engine now will save you in the long run. Besides the car runs much smoother after an oil change.

bong

iTrader: (5)

Recommended by HONDA. Don't use 5W-30 and NO synthetic. Our cars run perfect only on 5W-20. Switch back and you will feel the differnce. It's the perfect viscosity for how our engines are built for 7th Gen. Synthetic is too thick and it won't circulate well around our oil pumps.

scottop1972

bong quit hitting the bong! the viscosity will be the same for synthetic and for dino. your numbers 5w-30, 10w-30 etc are the weight (viscosity) of the oil. these numbers are the viscosity (viscous, thickness ) of the oil when it is warm and when it is cool. BUT!!! I wouldnt recommend using any thing but 5w-20 just like the manual states. If it is synthetic though the question is how long should you go considering synthetic does not break down as quickly as regular oil. I have heard of people changing their oil every 10,000 miles with synthetic and they have no trouble... What exactly was in our engines when they rolled off the factory floor it wasnt regular oil. thats why they said leave it in for the full 5000 miles. the dealership even refused to change the oil in my wifes car b4 5,000 miles because of the "additives" in the oil. hmmmmm what was it?

ZSKCivic01

I would never switch back from synthetic, nor would I switch to 5W-20 non-synthetic. You may want to re-think what you said there. The 5W-20 is recommended by honda because it promotes better fuel economy. The way I drive my car, kind of hard, if I switched backed to petroleum based oil, my engine would really decrease in life span.

Intruder

and for the record, the 2001 Manual states a oil change interval of 10,000 miles....

scottop1972

i didnt recommend switching to non synthetic but you should not run a different viscosity other than what is recommended which is 5w-20 in our engines. also 5000 miles is the recommended oil change interval in the severe conditions section and most people fall into that category unless you live in california or florida or some other place with no snow and you drive most of the time longer distances to allow the engine to get to full operating temperature. this is all in the manual for an 02 civic ex. the question remains how long can you increase the interval between oil changes if using synthetic given the fact that synthetic does not break down as quickly as regular oil??????