Windshield wiper fluid bad for paint?

My 1988 Honda Accord DX has 16 years and over 225,000 miles on it. It has
never run on synthetic. It has never needed engine repair. If you think
you need synthetic to make your car last and it isn't souped up (riced out)
then you should not have wasted your money on your car. I am not against
synthetic in any way. It seems to be great BUT in order to get rid of the
acid and carbon build up from blow-by, etc., I bet you will be changing your
synthetic somewhere between 3000 and 5000 miles anyway. So is it really
worth the cost when regular oil lasts that long these days and in these
cars? Engines do not last forever either way.

Aron

 

Everyone has their different opinions about synthetic, so here is mine. I
bought a 97 Accord SE with 68K miles on it in July 2003. I run Castrol Sythetic
20W50 in the summer because of the Florida heat. In the winter time, I use a
lighter weight Castrol Synthetic. I've noticed that I get better MPG on
synthetic than regular oil. I don't know for sure whether or not it can help
you engine last longer, but in my opinion it can help improve MPG. Another
favorite synthetic oil of mine is Mobil 1. That, to me, is a very good sythetic
oil also.
J Hebert

 

yes I do think the cost is worth it. There is not a category of testing in
which dino oils outperforms synthetic in any way. Synthetic oil is superior
without a doubt and since synthetic oil doesn't sludge up or breakdown like
regular oil it can be ran longer than standard dino oil. It flows better at
lower temperatures and withstands higher temperatures than standard oil so
it isn't going to breakdown in the hotter states while driving your vehicle.
I am glad you got your mileage out of your car though.

CaptainKrunch

 

yes I do think the cost is worth it. There is not a category of testing in
which dino oils outperforms synthetic in any way. Synthetic oil is superior
without a doubt and since synthetic oil doesn't sludge up or breakdown like
regular oil it can be ran longer than standard dino oil. It flows better at
lower temperatures and withstands higher temperatures than standard oil so
it isn't going to breakdown in the hotter states while driving your vehicle.
I am glad you got your mileage out of your car though.

CaptainKrunch

 

I'll second Aron's opinion. I traded in a 1987 Prelude 2.0Si with
310,000mi on the engine and transmission. It used Castrol dino oil
from day one. The engine was still strong and I didn't have to add oil
between oil changes. It would consume about a quart in 4000miles.
Fluids were changed more often that what was recommended. The only
reason I got rid of that car was because I live in the northeast and
roadsalt made it an eyesore and structurally unsafe otherwise I would
have gone for another 90,000mi.

I've used synthetic once in a motorcycle. It ripped apart the engine.
I won't ever touch the stuff again.

 

I'll second Aron's opinion. I traded in a 1987 Prelude 2.0Si with
310,000mi on the engine and transmission. It used Castrol dino oil
from day one. The engine was still strong and I didn't have to add oil
between oil changes. It would consume about a quart in 4000miles.
Fluids were changed more often that what was recommended. The only
reason I got rid of that car was because I live in the northeast and
roadsalt made it an eyesore and structurally unsafe otherwise I would
have gone for another 90,000mi.

I've used synthetic once in a motorcycle. It ripped apart the engine.
I won't ever touch the stuff again.

 

Right now, I'm experimenting with Mobil1 in my newer cars, since I want to
know if it *will* do anything for me, mainly beacuse I'm unconvinced of its
benefits for the majority of users... but I'm not going to put it down
without trying it. I didn't do the mileage you've done but my '92 Integra
had the same Castrol GTX 10W/30 up to its current 130K miles and the last
time I saw the only engine internals which are easily visible, i.e. under
the valve cover, they were spotless with not a sign of any scuffing on the
cam lobes even at the peak of the lobes. Even at that mileage it only has
very mild knock (from the suspected piston slap) when cold.

On the drains at 5K miles, over the life of the car, I've never seen the
slightest hint of sludge at drain. Now, I put/store the used oil in 1gal
windshield washer fluid containers and take them to the local recyling dump
when I have 6 or so and that's when any sludge would be pretty obvious -
when I tip them into the used oil sump there but... nothing, it always
flowed like new oil.

I get tired of the "flows better" dogma - no it doesn't, since a 5W oil is
a 5W oil whether its synthetic or mineral... within tolerances. The one
argument which has some scientific basis is that it has a higher "natural"
VI, requiring less VI improvers and the latest iteration of Mobil1 may even
not require any for a 5W/30 and maybe even a 0W/30. OTOH there's a helluva
lot more to lubrication than VI.

There's lots of other wild claims as well of course, like "it doesn't break
down". The only reason a mineral oil would break down would be if it has a
significant proportion of olefins - that would be a low quality mineral oil
basestock anyway. Paraffins and even napthenes do not break down easily...
as evidenced by the claims of "synthetic", which is, of course,
predominantly a branched chain paraffin. Then again, we never got a
satisfactory explanation as to why Mobil AV1 was withdrawn from the market
after its spectacular failure there... and after the usual extravagant
claims by Mobil on its "benefits".

I will relate one oddity I observed with Mobil1: when I started to use it
~3years ago, it was the "Trisynthetic" blend and I was alarmed by a loud
squeal/whistle from the engine on cold starts, say <35F but colder ==
louder squeal... which I'd never heard before I made the switch to
synthetic. This continued with the changeover to the "Supersyn" blend the
first time I used it; this Winter with the latest iteration of Supersyn, I
no longer hear that squeal. The only thing I know that has changed in the
Mobil1 is the addition of borates, as an anti-wear agent. It makes me
wonder what damage was being done during the loud squeal... hope I don't
find out.

Rgds, George Macdonald

"Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??

 

Right now, I'm experimenting with Mobil1 in my newer cars, since I want to
know if it *will* do anything for me, mainly beacuse I'm unconvinced of its
benefits for the majority of users... but I'm not going to put it down
without trying it. I didn't do the mileage you've done but my '92 Integra
had the same Castrol GTX 10W/30 up to its current 130K miles and the last
time I saw the only engine internals which are easily visible, i.e. under
the valve cover, they were spotless with not a sign of any scuffing on the
cam lobes even at the peak of the lobes. Even at that mileage it only has
very mild knock (from the suspected piston slap) when cold.

On the drains at 5K miles, over the life of the car, I've never seen the
slightest hint of sludge at drain. Now, I put/store the used oil in 1gal
windshield washer fluid containers and take them to the local recyling dump
when I have 6 or so and that's when any sludge would be pretty obvious -
when I tip them into the used oil sump there but... nothing, it always
flowed like new oil.

I get tired of the "flows better" dogma - no it doesn't, since a 5W oil is
a 5W oil whether its synthetic or mineral... within tolerances. The one
argument which has some scientific basis is that it has a higher "natural"
VI, requiring less VI improvers and the latest iteration of Mobil1 may even
not require any for a 5W/30 and maybe even a 0W/30. OTOH there's a helluva
lot more to lubrication than VI.

There's lots of other wild claims as well of course, like "it doesn't break
down". The only reason a mineral oil would break down would be if it has a
significant proportion of olefins - that would be a low quality mineral oil
basestock anyway. Paraffins and even napthenes do not break down easily...
as evidenced by the claims of "synthetic", which is, of course,
predominantly a branched chain paraffin. Then again, we never got a
satisfactory explanation as to why Mobil AV1 was withdrawn from the market
after its spectacular failure there... and after the usual extravagant
claims by Mobil on its "benefits".

I will relate one oddity I observed with Mobil1: when I started to use it
~3years ago, it was the "Trisynthetic" blend and I was alarmed by a loud
squeal/whistle from the engine on cold starts, say <35F but colder ==
louder squeal... which I'd never heard before I made the switch to
synthetic. This continued with the changeover to the "Supersyn" blend the
first time I used it; this Winter with the latest iteration of Supersyn, I
no longer hear that squeal. The only thing I know that has changed in the
Mobil1 is the addition of borates, as an anti-wear agent. It makes me
wonder what damage was being done during the loud squeal... hope I don't
find out.

Rgds, George Macdonald

"Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??

 

I've used Castrol 5W-30 (I'm in Canada afer all...) exclusively since the
warranty ran out in 1994.

None here either. Currently 221,000 miles.

Current oil consumption is 2,500-3,000 miles per quart. Fuel mileage is the
same as it was at 40K (26-30 mpg). Measured acceleration is the same as
well (about 9-10 secs to 60).

A pic of the top end of my motor at 200K is here:
http://www.tegger.com/images/jpegs/integra-b18a1-200k-mi.jpg
(Ignore the rest of the site. It's, um, not done yet...)

I did have the head gasket go last summer. It appears that the head warped
slightly for some reason (not overheating) and caused bubbling into the
coolant. I did not attempt the repair myself, but gave the job to a trusted
mechanic. He told me later that ordinarily he avoids doing such work on
engines with high mileages because they usually have silt, corrosion or
sludge in the coolant passages, corrosion on the cylinder top lips, scoring
on the cylinders and other serious problems.

I had told him that if he thought it wasn't worth it to fix the engine,
then to not do it, and to call me instead. He fixed it. He pronounced the
engine "squeaky clean", and complimented me on my frequent oil and coolant
changes. No trace of corrosion or sludge anywhere. The cams are like new.
He couldn't even tell where the head gasket was leaking, except that it was
the #1 cylinder, that revealed by a pressure test.

It's piston slap. Mine has had that since 90K. Confirmed by my mechanic. He
says its normal for Honda engines.

Eventually your power steering pump will get noisy as well when cold,
especially around zero Fahrenheit.

Yup. My changes are at 3K. And when draining the old oil at the hazmat
site, I get a little bit more deposition at the bottom of the washer fluid
bottle than you would see after draining a brand-new jug of oil.

 

I've used Castrol 5W-30 (I'm in Canada afer all...) exclusively since the
warranty ran out in 1994.

None here either. Currently 221,000 miles.

Current oil consumption is 2,500-3,000 miles per quart. Fuel mileage is the
same as it was at 40K (26-30 mpg). Measured acceleration is the same as
well (about 9-10 secs to 60).

A pic of the top end of my motor at 200K is here:
http://www.tegger.com/images/jpegs/integra-b18a1-200k-mi.jpg
(Ignore the rest of the site. It's, um, not done yet...)

I did have the head gasket go last summer. It appears that the head warped
slightly for some reason (not overheating) and caused bubbling into the
coolant. I did not attempt the repair myself, but gave the job to a trusted
mechanic. He told me later that ordinarily he avoids doing such work on
engines with high mileages because they usually have silt, corrosion or
sludge in the coolant passages, corrosion on the cylinder top lips, scoring
on the cylinders and other serious problems.

I had told him that if he thought it wasn't worth it to fix the engine,
then to not do it, and to call me instead. He fixed it. He pronounced the
engine "squeaky clean", and complimented me on my frequent oil and coolant
changes. No trace of corrosion or sludge anywhere. The cams are like new.
He couldn't even tell where the head gasket was leaking, except that it was
the #1 cylinder, that revealed by a pressure test.

It's piston slap. Mine has had that since 90K. Confirmed by my mechanic. He
says its normal for Honda engines.

Eventually your power steering pump will get noisy as well when cold,
especially around zero Fahrenheit.

Yup. My changes are at 3K. And when draining the old oil at the hazmat
site, I get a little bit more deposition at the bottom of the washer fluid
bottle than you would see after draining a brand-new jug of oil.

 

On 20 Feb 2004 00:24:55 GMT, "Tegger®"

Looks familar - nice!

Did he say how much the head surface was out of true - just interested?

I had an odd experience with it though. Just before replacing the timing
belt, at ~90K miles I retensioned the old belt and the "knock" got *much*
worse - really almost alarming and the ambient temp was not that low: ~30F.
I retensioned again, since I thought I might have gotten it a touch too
tight (I'd held the pressure on the pulley bolt with my foot on the breaker
bar, while I pulled the belt the other way and tightened the tensioner
pulley hold-down bolt) and things got better again but still noticeable.
When I put the new belt on it decreased again so I could pretty much avoid
it completely by just accelerating lightly when cold.

Yeah that one's in the Service Manual - some manuals give a temp of -4F,
others just say when very cold. I've heard it even with relatively new
cars.

Rgds, George Macdonald

"Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??

 

On 20 Feb 2004 00:24:55 GMT, "Tegger®"

Looks familar - nice!

Did he say how much the head surface was out of true - just interested?

I had an odd experience with it though. Just before replacing the timing
belt, at ~90K miles I retensioned the old belt and the "knock" got *much*
worse - really almost alarming and the ambient temp was not that low: ~30F.
I retensioned again, since I thought I might have gotten it a touch too
tight (I'd held the pressure on the pulley bolt with my foot on the breaker
bar, while I pulled the belt the other way and tightened the tensioner
pulley hold-down bolt) and things got better again but still noticeable.
When I put the new belt on it decreased again so I could pretty much avoid
it completely by just accelerating lightly when cold.

Yeah that one's in the Service Manual - some manuals give a temp of -4F,
others just say when very cold. I've heard it even with relatively new
cars.

Rgds, George Macdonald

"Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??

 

You know, I never did ask him that. I'll call him on Monday and hope he
still remembers (the job was done in July).

 

You know, I never did ask him that. I'll call him on Monday and hope he
still remembers (the job was done in July).

 

Called my mechanic.

He says doesn't remeber the exact number but it was pretty close to a
minimum, like 4 or 5 thou.

He says you can take off as much as 30 or 40 thou if needed. Beyond that it
increases the compression ratio too much.

 

Called my mechanic.

He says doesn't remeber the exact number but it was pretty close to a
minimum, like 4 or 5 thou.

He says you can take off as much as 30 or 40 thou if needed. Beyond that it
increases the compression ratio too much.