IceColdJones

So I have owned my first ever Honda for about 3k miles now and of course I love it. I have an 04 Civic LX sedan with 128k miles on it now. I probably won't change the oil until 130k since the previous owner changed it right before I bought it. I want to know what is the favorite/most used oil around here? What weight? Also, how many miles do you drive between oil changes? I wouldn't mind a recommendation for filter either.

My last car was a VW GTI VR6 and it took synthetic only so I'm used to buying that and I only had to change it every 7k miles, but it took 6 quarts. Give me your suggestions and how many quarts I should buy?

The VW needed a special filter too which cost about $30 so I'm glad to be done with that.

xRiCeBoYx

iTrader: (22)

I personally use 3.7qts of 5w-20 Castrol GTX in my 02 ex. Usually change it between 3000 and 5000. I also use a regular Mobil 1 filter.

I think the dx/lx calls for 3.4 quarts, but I'm not too sure. it should be in your user manual

unTuned

I use Pennzoil full synthetic 5w-30 and Wix oil filter. Wix is by far the best quality filter I've used, and it sells for a very decent price. They had a display at auto value of a filter cut in half and it looked better quality, materials, and construction than even the k&n filters.

Honda recommends 5w-20, but the difference between 20 and 30 is not that big, so its better to use the one thats better suited for the weather you get. if its a little bit colder climate (like in my case), the 30 is a bit better than the 20.

I also had a VW GTI before my Civic so I know the maintenance youre talking about. Ideally you should be doing changes between 3500-4000 miles (around 6000 km) on your civic and not waiting as long as you did on your GTI between changes.

Protan988

I use Mobil 1 5w20 and love it. Engine has always ran beautiful when I used it. I use a Honda genuine OEM filter. Just because I dont really trust many aftermarkets.

IceColdJones

Even with full synthetic you still change it ever 4k miles???? You would think it would get a lot more miles than that. Its hot and humid in chicago right now so I would get 20.

IceColdJones

Mobil 1 regular or synthetic?

Muirsy

i use royal purple 5w30 n love it

unTuned

yes, regardless of whether its full synthetic or conventional oil, it should still be changed regularly. one thing a lot of people dont realise is that even though full synthetic protects and performs better than conventional, it still naturally loses its additives and protecting ability over time (which is why oil should be changed between 6 months to 1 year after being put into a car at absolute latest).

oil shops recommend every 3 months (regardless of whether youve hit that mileage mark) just to empty your pocket out, and yes thats completely overkill, but you should be changing it in that 6 month - 1 year range. it takes me about 6 months of driving to hit 4k miles so i usually change mine at whichever mark comes first.

you could easily go for way more than 4k miles on good synthetic oil, but the problem is never the oil. the problem is the oil filter. for the most part, oil always outlasts the filter. thats why its very important to choose your filter wisely since after time they can start slowly clogging up and you want one that will be good to you until the next oil change which is why i go with wix filters.

lowlife9

AMSOILfull synthetic plus AMSOIL filter is good for 25,000 miles if you decide to go that long.

IceColdJones

so if you use AMSOIL (5w-20 or 30), how often do you change it since you obviously don't go to 25k miles? Where also can you buy this stuff?

BlueEM2

iTrader: (1)

I to this day don't understand why people are so worried about what type of oil they use. Generally, you will never have a failure based on oil quality. The only time you get an oil failure is due to burning, or leaking and running low. Any brand name oil will perform well enough to keep the engine protected and clean. Some may do a better job than others, but it's all advertisement and the difference is so slim the car will likely die long before an oil based failure. Just get whatever brand name is on sale and you should be okay. Viscosity is important though, 5w30 for 7th gen civics. Valvoline MaxLife is a good oil for a fair price.

25k miles on any oil is excessive, I don't care how good they claim it to be.

unTuned

25k miles?????? bullshit. i dont care what they claim or if you have to take out a loan to buy that oil and filter, it will not last 25000 miles or 40000 km and stay in good running condition. thats total crap.

i want to see someone on here try that theory out and go 25k miles which is about 3 1/2 years of driving for most people in a city without changing it.

Muirsy

id change it every 5000km

lowlife9

its 25,000 or one year which ever comes first on a stock car with normal driving 15,000 if you beat on it so realistically 9-10,000 miles.

IceColdJones

I more just want to know if people use regular oil or synthetic and how often (mileage/months) do they change it.

cmiller_01ex

thats what i use too and its damn good.

IceColdJones

Is royal purple a synthetic oil, do you change it every 5k miles, and can it be bought at any autopart store?

xRiCeBoYx

iTrader: (22)

I used royal purple a couple times, worked great, but a bit spendy. I used 5w20, also..

I think I used it twice. Went back to castrol GTX because I'm not really looking for performance stuff.
I also never go past 5000k on an oil change

Royal purple is a synthetic, autozone carries it for... 9 bucks a quart? Something like that.

cmiller_01ex

it was bout 9 yea and i put in i think 10w30....oops? is that bad? lol i mean it aint done anything to my car yet...and oreillys has it in stock at the store. in little quart bottles or a full gallon. and it said it can last up to 5000 so we will see wont we.lol

Muirsy

i got royal purple at cost so didnt cost me much at all 30 CDN for oil and filter

xRiCeBoYx

iTrader: (22)

damn. If I could get royal purple at that price, that's what I'd use. I think 4 quarts and a filter runs me 50-some bucks..

cmiller_01ex

yea it cost me 40 usd for 4 quarts and a filter lol

Muirsy

getting parts at cost is so much cheaper lol

Silver02EX

iTrader: (3)

If it's Mobil 1..... It's always synthetic. There's no such thing as Mobil 1 conventional. Mobil makes conventional which is Mobil clean 5000, 7500 and so on.

Gold Ghost

cheap name brand parts r the best! the local auto parts place here is great. i get castrol syntec 5 w20 for $3 a qt an a fram filter for $2. lol

mr22508

I used to use all Redline fluids, but I switched my Synthetic oil to Mobil1 5w20.

nucivicowner

Untuned, (as well as a lot of other poster on here) you need to get educated on fully synthetic oils. I use Amsoil 100% synthetic on my 07' Tundra (5.7 liter, 7 qts.) with over 86,500 miles on it. I go 12 months and approx. 20,000 to 30,000 miles a year before i drain the oil and replace the filter. I also replace the filter and top off the oil to full at 6 months. I have 3 other vehicles in my fleet, a 01 civic ex (1.7 liter) with 130,000 miles, an 03 CR-V (2.4 liter) with 140,000 miles & an 01 Grand Caravan (3.3 liter) with 146,000 miles. They get a filter & drain once a year and filter and top off at 6 months. I use the Amsoil XL synthetic oil in these vehicles. They only average about 10,000 to 15,000 miles a year. I had UOAs done last year for all 4 vehicles and the reports came back ok for all. They did indicate that all vehicle's oil were at the end of there life cycle & recomended draining. When i do the math on oil changes for these vehicles i save money using the synthetic oils. The synthetics, especialy the full synthetics, are way more stable than dino juice.

Crappycivic

no way you can run oil that long, yeah yeah the synthetic oil wont break down for 15,000 or so miles but i guarantee you that it gets dirty way way before then, so if you want all that dirty oil running through your motor, then dont change it.

i personally use whatever 5w-20 conventional motor oil is on sale the week that i need it and whatever filter comes with it, they all meet manufacturers specifications so its all good.

nucivicowner

For your reading pleasure,,,, I came across this site years ago while they were testing Mobile 1 & Amsoil......http://neptune.spacebears.com/cars/s.../oil-life.html

03civicexR

i use mobil1 extended performance and mobil1 filter. use 520 in winter and 530 in summer. change it every 5k miles and never had any issues.