poll - high mileage civics, what oil U burn ?

I had a 1986 Subaru hatchback. Used 10-30, changed oil alway between 5,000
and 6,000 miles. Went 305,000 miles over 11 years before I sold it with NO
engine problems. (kept it tuned up and otherwise maintained of course). I
would have kept it longer just to see how long engine would last except it
rusted out pretty bad.

This 3,000 mile oil change stuff is unecessary and wastefull and a lot of
crap just to sell oil changes IMO. As for synthentic oil, dirt still gets
in and churns around just like with ordinary oil so I believe it should be
changed just as frequently so why pay more for it?

 

well i consider myself youthful (in spirit) but that is relative and i am
certainly not cool i am just practical / lazy

i am a three finger typist, finding shift with pinky and then hunting for
the letter causes 2 problems (1) too much time or (2) hitting caps lock ,
then backspace alot and start again which violates problem 1

also an unfortunate problem derived from my early carreer, a problem not
unlike those old draftsmen engineers that write everything in CAPITAL BLOCK
LETTERS

i was going by some recent oil study surveys showing propeties such as
viscocity index, thermal break down (flash) and formulation additives
viscocity improvers, ( Eg Mobil 1 and Amsoil uses no viscocity improver
additives in the 5w30 and 10w30 oils)

high on list were... Amsoil, Red Line, Mobil 1, Castrol GTX

could not find Amsoil or Red Lne local but Mobil 1 can be found at wally
world

yes, welcome back
I am thinking of kicking the synthetic habit , hope my asphalt chariot does
not get withdrawl symptoms
thanks for the info
robb

 

well i consider myself youthful (in spirit) but that is relative and i am
certainly not cool i am just practical / lazy

i am a three finger typist, finding shift with pinky and then hunting for
the letter causes 2 problems (1) too much time or (2) hitting caps lock ,
then backspace alot and start again which violates problem 1

also an unfortunate problem derived from my early carreer, a problem not
unlike those old draftsmen engineers that write everything in CAPITAL BLOCK
LETTERS

i was going by some recent oil study surveys showing propeties such as
viscocity index, thermal break down (flash) and formulation additives
viscocity improvers, ( Eg Mobil 1 and Amsoil uses no viscocity improver
additives in the 5w30 and 10w30 oils)

high on list were... Amsoil, Red Line, Mobil 1, Castrol GTX

could not find Amsoil or Red Lne local but Mobil 1 can be found at wally
world

yes, welcome back
I am thinking of kicking the synthetic habit , hope my asphalt chariot does
not get withdrawl symptoms
thanks for the info
robb

 

'87 Civic Si... 240K miles... Mobil 1. Rocker cover leaked, but
since repaired.

nb

 

'87 Civic Si... 240K miles... Mobil 1. Rocker cover leaked, but
since repaired.

nb

 

GTX changed every 5K is fine. I prefer dino oil for engines because the
"crap" is manufactured during the combustion process and must be dealt
with regardless of the type of oil used.

JT

 

GTX changed every 5K is fine. I prefer dino oil for engines because the
"crap" is manufactured during the combustion process and must be dealt
with regardless of the type of oil used.

JT

 

After all's said and done, probably peace of mind. There's no doubt
that synthetics and their additives are superior to dino oil, but I
don't know anyone who's had problems due to the oil either as long as
it's changed at relatively decent intervals. I start feeling guilty
after 5k or so without a change. A few extra bucks are OK with me. Yep-
Castrol would work just fine too.

 

After all's said and done, probably peace of mind. There's no doubt
that synthetics and their additives are superior to dino oil, but I
don't know anyone who's had problems due to the oil either as long as
it's changed at relatively decent intervals. I start feeling guilty
after 5k or so without a change. A few extra bucks are OK with me. Yep-
Castrol would work just fine too.

 

I think that is broadly true. I changed to synthetic primarily because I
have a 1985 turbo Volvo. Those beasts from that era have an unusual pair of
characteristics. First, they don't have a PCV valve, but instead have an
oil/air separator (a plastic box with a baffle) on the top of the block. To
make that work, the second oddity comes in - the ventilation is like a
breather. The crankcase miasma, with a significant amount of oil mist
remaining, is introduced just past the AMM. The oil mist coats the inside of
the entire induction system from the turbo through the intercooler (which
must be drained periodically) and the throttle body and idle air control
valve. Dino oil gradually builds up hard deposits that resemble packed dust
that has a trace of oil in it. When the deposits block any part of the
system (and mine eventually blocked the 3/8 inch hose because I thought it
was too big to plug up and didn't clean it) the engine will evacuate its oil
rapidly. I lost 3 quarts out the dipstick tube before the next freeway exit
came up.

Anyway, the maximum guru in the alt.autos.volvo forum reported that doesn't
happen with synthetic, so I made the leap. I was so pleased with the results
I changed our other cars to synthetic. The Volvo has not needed the yearly
throttle body or idle air control valve cleanings with synthetic that it did
with dinosaur oil.

Reading all this, you are probably asking, "What does this have to do with
Hondas?" And you are right... as you say, most cars do fine with dino juice.
Maybe synthetic will improve PCV valve operation and life, but since
properly maintained Honda engines usually outlast the rest of the car I
don't see that it is crucial. "Relatively unimportant" certainly describes
it.

Mike

 

I think that is broadly true. I changed to synthetic primarily because I
have a 1985 turbo Volvo. Those beasts from that era have an unusual pair of
characteristics. First, they don't have a PCV valve, but instead have an
oil/air separator (a plastic box with a baffle) on the top of the block. To
make that work, the second oddity comes in - the ventilation is like a
breather. The crankcase miasma, with a significant amount of oil mist
remaining, is introduced just past the AMM. The oil mist coats the inside of
the entire induction system from the turbo through the intercooler (which
must be drained periodically) and the throttle body and idle air control
valve. Dino oil gradually builds up hard deposits that resemble packed dust
that has a trace of oil in it. When the deposits block any part of the
system (and mine eventually blocked the 3/8 inch hose because I thought it
was too big to plug up and didn't clean it) the engine will evacuate its oil
rapidly. I lost 3 quarts out the dipstick tube before the next freeway exit
came up.

Anyway, the maximum guru in the alt.autos.volvo forum reported that doesn't
happen with synthetic, so I made the leap. I was so pleased with the results
I changed our other cars to synthetic. The Volvo has not needed the yearly
throttle body or idle air control valve cleanings with synthetic that it did
with dinosaur oil.

Reading all this, you are probably asking, "What does this have to do with
Hondas?" And you are right... as you say, most cars do fine with dino juice.
Maybe synthetic will improve PCV valve operation and life, but since
properly maintained Honda engines usually outlast the rest of the car I
don't see that it is crucial. "Relatively unimportant" certainly describes
it.

Mike

 

I don't burn or leak any oil and neither does my car....

TL

 

I don't burn or leak any oil and neither does my car....

TL

 

Car: 1991 Civic 3-Dr Hatchback, 1500 CC
Miles: 163,000
Fuel Efficiency: 39 - 41 MPG/Highway
Oil: Quaker State 5W-30 in winter, 10W-30 in summer, religiously change
it every 4000 miles.
Does not burn any oil yet..........knock on wood!

 

Car: 1991 Civic 3-Dr Hatchback, 1500 CC
Miles: 163,000
Fuel Efficiency: 39 - 41 MPG/Highway
Oil: Quaker State 5W-30 in winter, 10W-30 in summer, religiously change
it every 4000 miles.
Does not burn any oil yet..........knock on wood!

 

did toyota ever find out what was behind the "sludging" problem?

 

did toyota ever find out what was behind the "sludging" problem?

 

Car: 1991 Civic 4-Dr Sedan, 1.5L
Miles: 173k
2005 Fuel Efficiency stats:
Overall average and st. dev.= 41plus or minus 2.3 mpg (or
+/- 6%)
Warm months average = 42 mpg
Cold months average = 40 mpg (so a decline of about 5% from
summer to winter)
Range = 38 mpg (Feb fillup) to 47 mpg (June fillup)
Oil: Pennzoil 5W-30 for life of car, changed about every 5k
miles or six months.

Seems to burn maybe one-half quart at most between oil
changes, but I'm really not sure. In the last few years I
always end up adding some at some point between oil changes.

I read a report on the net last year about using synthetic
oil in cars. Some guy sampled data from people and wrote it
up. Not a lot of data but enough to make it a worthwhile
read, IIRC. Seems that, in older cars, seal failure
simultaneous to switching to synthetic oil is very rare, but
does occur. It wasn't entirely clear that the switch caused
the seal failure.

 

Car: 1991 Civic 4-Dr Sedan, 1.5L
Miles: 173k
2005 Fuel Efficiency stats:
Overall average and st. dev.= 41plus or minus 2.3 mpg (or
+/- 6%)
Warm months average = 42 mpg
Cold months average = 40 mpg (so a decline of about 5% from
summer to winter)
Range = 38 mpg (Feb fillup) to 47 mpg (June fillup)
Oil: Pennzoil 5W-30 for life of car, changed about every 5k
miles or six months.

Seems to burn maybe one-half quart at most between oil
changes, but I'm really not sure. In the last few years I
always end up adding some at some point between oil changes.

I read a report on the net last year about using synthetic
oil in cars. Some guy sampled data from people and wrote it
up. Not a lot of data but enough to make it a worthwhile
read, IIRC. Seems that, in older cars, seal failure
simultaneous to switching to synthetic oil is very rare, but
does occur. It wasn't entirely clear that the switch caused
the seal failure.

 

Even though they covered the cost to avoid bad publicity, the real reason
was owner neglect.