S2000man01

iTrader: (1)

Everything and anything you ever wanted to know about what kind of oil you should use, how often you should change it, and whether or not synthetic really makes a difference. The majority of this information was found on both web site sources as well as archives from the depths of s2ki, much of which was thrown together by a member who is also a tribologist. This FAQ is meant as a guide, since each person/car will vary in their results from their driving requirements. Eventually this FAQ will be moved to tech talk.


---How often should I change my oil?
This depends on what kind of oil you are using. However, even if you are getting your service done at the dealership and/or just using Honda brand oil (which is actually just mobil drive clean oil) you should be able to easily go 5000 miles without an oil change. If you do not drive spiritedly, accelerate normal, and are not hard on your engine, you can get 7500 miles easily. If you are using a synthetic oil, even driving the car hard you can get 7500 miles. Driving normal on synthetic you can get as much as 12,000 miles depending on what synthetic you use!

---How often should I change my oil filter?
You should change your oil filter halfway between your oil changes. So, if you’re changing your oil every 7500 miles, you should actually replace your oil filter at 3750. This will enable you to go longer without changing your oil as well.

---What brand oil filter should I use?
You should DEFINITELY use a Honda brand oil filter. Oil filters by other companies are generally not designed the same as the Honda oil filter, and are often made of cheaper parts (like a FRAM oil filter for example). Simply, the non-Honda oil filter will probably not work as well as the Honda oil filter will. So yes, there really is a difference.

---Ok what weight oil should I use?
I’m not sure of the standard on the civic. I want to say it’s 10w-30. As for using a different oil weight: The higher the number, the heavier the oil. Heavier oil really isn’t needed in the Honda civic, and is somewhat counter productive to higher revving engines. If you track your car at say an auto-x, you can use a lighter weight since it’s viscosity is better designed for the nature of higher revs. I would not use anything less than 5w-30.

---Alright, now how about synthetic oil… is it worth it?
That depends on what you value. Do you want to spend the extra cash to be able to go further between oil changes? Or do you want to save money, and don’t want the added benefits of synthetics? If you are someone who tracks your car at auto-x events or likes to hit the drag strip often, you should definitely look into a synthetic oil. Likewise if you drive rather spiritedly more often than not, you may want to consider it as well. Otherwise, if you use your civic to get your groceries, and get to and from work, you really won’t get much worth out of paying the extra cash for synthetic oil.

---So what is the difference between synthetic oil and regular oil?
“Regular” oil is also known as mineral oil. This oil is made from crude oil and is refined into the “regular” oil you would use in your engine. Synthetic oil is essentially artificially made. Because of this, synthetic oils often have a greater TBN (total base number, which is indicative of things like length before needing an oil change), and are free of such things as wax crystals, etc.

---If I have one type of synthetic oil in my engine, can I put in another type of synthetic
---as a filler if I decide to try something new?
Yes, however don’t make a habit of it.

---I’ve heard that if you use synthetic oil, you can’t go back to using regular oil. Is this
---true?
Absolutely NOT.

---Ok, so what are the best brand of oils out there?
Well, there is not necessarily any one particular best brand. Again this comes down to what you want to get out of the oil you are using. Oddly enough, this also depends on the car you drive! For example, Honda and Subaru engines tend to be the most “oil friendly” where as Ford and even the Toyota Camry, for example, are NOT “oil friendly” and require much less time between oil change intervals.

Among the best I could recommend from the tests done, the better synthetic oils are Redline, Amsoil, and Motul. With the Redline and Amsoil synthetics, you should be able to get a good 10-12k miles between oil changes. About average oils are Valvoline synpower and Mobil 1.

---Ok, so how about these “max life” or “high mileage” oils?
Valvoline maxlife is an incredible oil. It can even be used on cars with as low as 50,000 miles, and actually is better for most such cars than a synthetic blend. (note that the maxlife oil is actually part synthetic) If you’re pushing beyond that 50,000 mile mark, I’d seriously consider using this oil.

---Is there such a thing as changing your oil too much?
YES!! In fact, changing your oil every 3000 miles on the dot, especially if using a synthetic, is wasting resources and money. The damage in particular usually happens to your catalytic converter. The additives in a quart of oil are suspended in a carrier oil, which consists of light faction oils, usually paraffins. These carrier oils are very volatile, so they are inclined to burn or boil off early in the oil's lifecycle. Some of the chemistry in the add pack, like phosphorous, will therefore, get into the oil, and can harm the catalytic converter over time. This is why the API-SL spec reduced the amounts of ZDP allowed - to benefit the mfr's who have to cover the cat for at least 70k, and longer in California.