5w-30 or 10w-30 for my 2001 Civic?
 

hi all i live in florida and was wondering which one would be better for my 2001 Civic. i drive anywhere from 60-100+ miles a day so keeping my baby's engine is very important especially with all the driving i do.

It currently has 150k miles. i've been using 5w-30 for the last year or so with but was wondering if switching to 10w-30 would be better. my dad says i should be using 10w-30.

Re: 5w-30 or 10w-30 for my 2001 Civic?
 

Your oil cap tells what to use. What does your oil cap say on it?

Re: 5w-30 or 10w-30 for my 2001 Civic?
 

5w-20 is on the cap.

well guess i'm switching to 5w-20 then. only problem is i have a new gallon of 5w-30 so i'll use that one first and then switch to 5w-20.

Re: 5w-30 or 10w-30 for my 2001 Civic?
 

I would suggest not trying to outsmart the engineers on this- You should use a quality 5w20 oil, but 0w20 is also OK. If you want to do something good for your engine, use synthetic. 5w20 or 0w20 won’t matter in Florida.

Re: 5w-30 or 10w-30 for my 2001 Civic?
 

Take a look in the owners manual
they have a chart in there that shows recommendations based on your ambient temperature

IMO I wouldnt go any thinner
I always used Castrol 5w20 while in warranty
After warranty 5W30 in winter and 10W30 in summer
When I had the timing belt done my mechanic said he pulled the valve cover to check valve clearance
He said everything was still well within spec AND very clean
So clean he wanted to know what brand of oil I used

I also changed the oil every 5K

Re: 5w-30 or 10w-30 for my 2001 Civic?
 

I honestly don't think that weather you use 5w20 or 5w30 would make a huge difference in these engines, but in some engines, particularly high performance, turbocharged, or VVT engines, it might. Just FYI, 0w20 is the same thickness as 5w20 once it warms up, it just doesn't thicken as much in extreme cold. I asked Honda, and they said that 0w20 can be used in place of 5w20 as long as it meets API specs, but not the other way around.