Rep Power: 0

I had a quick question for everyone. Since there are some ppl who believe that 5w30 protects better than 5w20, would the 5w30 protect my engine better in cold weather? I'm thinking about switching from 20 to 30 because of what HtownCivic is talking about, and a little research of my own. So far, i've gotten all my oil changes at honda, so i never really thought about anything different until now.

 
Rep Power: 0

5W30 will protect better than 5W20 because it will handle high temperatures better, because of its added "thickness". Ideally, 5W30 should not be different from 5W20 for cold temperatures, but it is a slightly thicker oil. Of course, where you are in Fort Worth, I don't think cold will ever get too cold!

Using synthetic will help you get the best of both worlds. You get a more temperature stable oil through synthetic, and better cold start flow because synthetics seem to flow easier from a cold start.

Many people on this board use 5W30 synthetic, including myself.

 
Rep Power: 0

klam, thanks for your help. I just realized i'm an idiot....i'm from ft.worth, but moved to Amarillo for college and didn't change my profile. It does get considerably colder here....ft.worth's low is 30 and amarillo can be 19 or 20. So do you change your own oil? I would start changing my own, but i live in a dorm and it can be a pain w/ no garage and all.

 
Rep Power: 0

5w-20 and 5w-30 both have the same cold-start properties. Hence the "w" designation - they both act like 5-weight oils at cold temperatures. When you reach operating temperature, the 5w-20 oil acts like a 20-weight oil, and the 5w-30 oil acts like a 30-weight oil. Similarly, a 10w-30 oil acts like a 10-weight oil at startup.

A 10w-30 oil will protect better than a 5w-30 oil because it needs less viscosity improvers than 5w-30 (the range between 10 and 30 is less than 5 and 30). Less viscosity improvers means better stability at high temperature / high RPM driving. I use 10w-30 because the temperature in Houston almost never drops below 50 degrees.

As far as getting your oil changed at the Honda dealership - what kind of oil does your dealership use? Reason I'm asking is because not all dealerships follow Honda's recommendations. For example - the dealership I work at uses Quaker State 5w-30 conventional oil on all Hondas, unless the customer specifically requests a different type of oil. The only exception is on S2000's, where we use Honda Genuine 10w-30, unless the customer requests something else.

 
Rep Power: 0

htowncivicex.....my honda dealership uses Castrol GTX 5w20, and i change at 2700-3000ish miles every time. Before i moved to Amarillo two oil changes ago, the ft.worth dealership used Quaker State 5w20..... So what's your advice?

 
Rep Power: 348

I like Castrol GTX for cheap oil and Mobil 1 for something pricey. I'd stick with 5 or 10W30 depending on how cold it gets. If it goes to 20 then go with the 5w30.

As far as the intervals go...I've always been a believer of 3K and not a mile over. After some conversations with my Prof. of Operations Mgt. I changed my mind. He made a point on how oil is refined diff. now than 25 years ago. That was the old way of doing it but now cars are designed better and the oil is better. If our car recommends 7.5K intervals then 5K should be very conservative. I'm going to start with the 5K intervals now.

The good thing about being openminded is you learn and change. The bad thing is you get dogged by ppl for changing your views. I didn't change my views, just altered for new cars. My old car, an 88, is still getting 3k intervals.

Hope this helps, P3AC3