Oil brand preferences

[themonsteraria]

I'm thinking about changing oil brands. I've used Castrol 5w-30 for 50k miles, and now I've been thinking about changing to something high-mileage, because my D16Y7 has 200,000k on it as of last week *they grow up so fast*. All my Honda buddies swear that Mobil-1 is the best, but I'm wondering if anyone has any other opinions/knowledge? P.S. This is my only car. I know it's only a d-series, but I just want a fun little car, and a car that will last me forever, hence the d16. So I don't need info on performance racing oils.....

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[CivicSiRacer]

If you don't need performance oils then just stick with what works. I use Amsoil, Mobil1 and Royal Purple. Really no difference.

[uncleoms2001]

You won't notice the differences until you put your car through some rigorous driving. The only synthetic oil that I've seen a noticeable difference is Penzoil Platinum, but that was a negative difference. The motor felt sluggish sooner than other oils did: probably due to the cleaning agents.

[themonsteraria]

OK. it may be that I'm not fully aware of my own driving habits; I shift between 3500, and 4000, under normal conditions, and sometimes (going up a big hill, getting onto a highway) I'll get it up above 5500, but I never keep the RPM up too high for more then a few seconds. Is this "rigorous" driving?


EDIT: I guess a better question would be, with better oil, CAN I run it harder?

[CivicSiRacer]

I ran my 00 Civic Si all day above 6000rpms (VTEC crossover was around 5500rpms) doing track days. I did over 350 autocrosses in that car too with no problems. I ran everything from 0w-30, 5w-30, and 5w-20 oils all from Mobil, Amsoil and Royal Purple. Never burned any oil.

[Shameinator]

I use mobil 1 it is the only true synthetic from what I have been told form my buddy who is taking classes at UTI. I think its holds up well. I do long haul drives quite often 450+ miles. I have a d15 in my car and i don't burn oil and it seems to last forever before getting dark.

[CivicSiRacer]

Actually Mobil 1 was also found not to be a TRUE synthetic. Amsoil is supposedly REAL synthetic. I forget where I saw the article.

[uncleoms2001]

Yea, I was under the impression that royal purple was the only fully synthetic, or at least the only popular one. But then again you have to keep paying the emergency bills for every time you sell a limb to do an oil change.

[Civic2Scooby]

Originally Posted by CivicSiRacer

Actually Mobil 1 was also found not to be a TRUE synthetic. Amsoil is supposedly REAL synthetic. I forget where I saw the article.

certain MB1 isn't...The 0w40 MB1 is REAL synth.

[pslsnakes]

I've used the Mobile 1 Clean 5000 oil for ever.... It's actually cheaper at a Mobile gas station that it is at the local parts stores... go figure.

[themonsteraria]

Man. So many people telling me that this brand is better, or that brand is better. And no one seems to have hard core data to back up their argument.
And I've run into another problem: A good friend of mine, who's a good mechanic, says that with the high mileage on my car, I shouldn't switch to full synthetic, because it will free up deposits that may be keeping my gaskets and seals tight. So, if I were to have a problem with synthetic, then I might need a new head gasket, valve cover gasket, and seals all around....
I think I may just have to stick with the Castrol GTX, but I'll go ahead and get the GTX High Mileage.


Oh, CivicSiRacer, you said you ran your 2000 Si at 6000 all day. Was that stock? I may be wrong here, but I always thought that running a stock motor at high RPMs frequently was a bad thing. Am I wrong? I'd LOVE to be running my Civ a little harder, just never did it because I thought it was bad for my motor.

[CivicSiRacer]

Originally Posted by themonsteraria

Man. So many people telling me that this brand is better, or that brand is better. And no one seems to have hard core data to back up their argument.
And I've run into another problem: A good friend of mine, who's a good mechanic, says that with the high mileage on my car, I shouldn't switch to full synthetic, because it will free up deposits that may be keeping my gaskets and seals tight. So, if I were to have a problem with synthetic, then I might need a new head gasket, valve cover gasket, and seals all around....
I think I may just have to stick with the Castrol GTX, but I'll go ahead and get the GTX High Mileage.

Oh, CivicSiRacer, you said you ran your 2000 Si at 6000 all day. Was that stock? I may be wrong here, but I always thought that running a stock motor at high RPMs frequently was a bad thing. Am I wrong? I'd LOVE to be running my Civ a little harder, just never did it because I thought it was bad for my motor.

Yeah I heard that story too about switching to synthetic with high mileage. I purchased my 93 Civic Si in 2006 with 214,000 miles. Switched to synthetic as soon as I got it home since I autocross my car. The head gasket was already starting to go, and I already replaced most of the major seals just as a precaution. The rear main seal was leaking already since the back of the block was covered in oil. You could always try synthetic blend.

I meant that I ran my car over 6000rpms at a track day. 4 twenty minute session. And at an autocross I'm always crossing over into VTEC throughout the course. The Honda engineers wouldn't have built a car that can stay in the high rpms if they knew it wouldn't last. You just have to make sure you keep good maintenance and listen for noise when driving. If you are afraid of driving her hard time for a moped

I hear every little squeak, thump, bang or clunk in every car I'm in. Like my 93 Civic Si right now is making a squeaking sound form the rear suspension. I asked my wife if she heard if and of course she doesn't.

[themonsteraria]

Originally Posted by CivicSiRacer

I hear every little squeak, thump, bang or clunk in every car I'm in. Like my 93 Civic Si right now is making a squeaking sound form the rear suspension. I asked my wife if she heard if and of course she doesn't.

Ha, that sounds like me. I was in someones car the other day, and I heard the left rear wheel bearing going, and I told the guy that was driving and he had never noticed it.
OK. Thanks for the info. Now I'll feel a little more comfortable opening up my precious D16 to get the whole 120HP. Shear power!

Before anyone says anything about a D16Y7 producing 120hp, I know that it's 106 stock, but I put it on the dyno, and it's got a solid 120 above at 5800. So in other words, my home brewed intake, grounding kit, throttle body mods really worked.

[CivicSiRacer]

What kind of dyno was it?

[themonsteraria]

Uh, it's a buddies. (The mustang guy I mentioned). I don't know much about dynos, but I texted and asked him, and he said it was a Brake dynamometer. Did I say that right?

EDIT: I really have no idea what I'm talking about with dynos. So, if I'm wrong on the type, then please correct me. The guy literally offered to dyno my car for me, because I built some home servers for him, and he took my car, and then gave me the sheet with the graph on it showing HP. I don't mean to be ignorent, but I'm clueless with dyno, and anything dyno related.

[CivicSiRacer]

I believe Brake Dynos read higher than mustang dynos. Might have those backwards. But it's not possible to get 15hp from those 3 mods. Maybe 5-7hp.

[themonsteraria]

You sure it’s not possible with these mods?
I though it added up like this:
Throttle body shave: 2hp
Throttle body coolant bypass: 1-2hp
Short Ram Intake (home made): 4-5hp
Ground kit (home made) with 4 points of ground, 4 gauge wire: 3hp
4-2-1 header (forgot to mention this one): 5-6hp

These should add somewhere between 16 and 19 hp…

[CivicSiRacer]

Yes each part can give those numbers, but when added together the efficiency of the engine comes into play. Meaning that my header, intake and exhaust each make 5hp by themselves on a stock engine. When you put them together it's more like 1-2hp each mod.

And grounding kits can be anywhere from 0hp to 3hp. Most Honda engines are pretty well grounded and find no hp gains.
Header on a D16 is usually anything from 1-5hp, coolant bypass 0hp, the shave usually 0-1hp, short ram usually 1-3hp.

[themonsteraria]

Ok. So it must have just been the dyno reading high, like you said?
But, overall point was that my d16y7 gives off more then a stock d16y7. I'm just proud of it because I do everything to it myself....

Thanks for the info and advice on oil. Much appreciated. I'm going to have to think seriously about synthetic, or just sticking with mineral.

[CivicSiRacer]

If you want to play it safe and save money just stay with regular motor oil. I can see if you were road racing, drag racing or autocrossing to go with synthetic. The only plus side to synthetics are longer time between oil changes. With Amsoil I can go about 10-15,000 miles before an oil change (still changing the filter at 3000-5000 miles). Whereas with regular motor oil still changing 3000-5000 miles.

But with most Hondas the efficiency of our motors to tranny to the wheels we lose about 10% hp. So if a car is making 100hp, on the dyno it should read about 90hp. I know my 91 Civic Si was just about that when I dynoed it. Stock hp was 115-120hp, with 10% drivetrain loss it came out to 107hp on the dyno. AWD cars of course have more drivetrain loss since you have essentially 2 differentials, and powering 4 wheels instead of 2.

[mason rocket]

My 94 civic is like a bulldozer- you can pour just about any brand in it and it will run the same. I WILL NOT use quaker state. I switched to it when oil prices jacked up last year and it was more like quaker sludge. I'm cheap and run generic supertech full synthetic because its the cheapest "synthetic" oil at walmart. No issues and I have been using it for 30,000 miles now in my 94. Ran the same stuff in my 88 civic for years without an issue also(255,000+ miles on that b4 I sold it) I also dont buy the 5-7000 mile interval some of these oils advertise either. I stick with my 3000 mile changes.

[Civic2Scooby]

Originally Posted by mason rocket

My 94 civic is like a bulldozer- you can pour just about any brand in it and it will run the same. I WILL NOT use quaker state. I switched to it when oil prices jacked up last year and it was more like quaker sludge. I'm cheap and run generic supertech full synthetic because its the cheapest "synthetic" oil at walmart. No issues and I have been using it for 30,000 miles now in my 94. Ran the same stuff in my 88 civic for years without an issue also(255,000+ miles on that b4 I sold it) I also dont buy the 5-7000 mile interval some of these oils advertise either. I stick with my 3000 mile changes.

quaker state is fucking garbage

[eg6lover]

I've used Mobil 1 full Synthetic on my B16A2 (93hatch). The engine has approx. 65k miles and runs really good with M1 oil. I usually stock up on M1 Synthetic when Costco has the $10 off coupon. get costco's coupons for the oil if you interested.....

[themonsteraria]

Alright, so I know what kind of oil I want now (thanks CivicSiRacer), but does anyone have any opinions on oil filters? I just switched from Fram to Purolator Pure One, and I've been happy with it. But, is it worth it to buy the K and N filter? Or some of the heavy duty filters?

Also, since doing an oil change yesterday, and using Castrol GTX high mileage, my motor has totally stopped burning oil. Don't know if anyone remembers, but a few months ago I had posted that I was burning about a quart every thousand miles. I drove 150 miles yesterday after the change, and I used no oil at all. So my valve guides must have needed a good conditioning...

[CivicSiRacer]

I've always been told use Purelator One or Honda OEM filters. Mobile 1 and K&N filters are just too expensive to justify using them and been told Frams are garbage. Once in awhile I will treat my car to a Mobil 1 filter Make sure to pick up a filter removal tool (the one I have goes on my socket)and a torque wrench while you are getting a filter and extra crush washers when at the dealership. I buy like 20 of them for $2.00. And don't over torque the drain bolt, it's about 17ft/lbs.

I also added a super powerful magnet to the filter to trap metal shavings in the filter.

[themonsteraria]

I've been delaying buying a torque wrench, but I'm going to go ahead and buy it soon.
Micro-torque? Or the older gauge style?

I'll just stick with the Purelator then. Thanks for the info.

[CivicSiRacer]

Originally Posted by themonsteraria

I've been delaying buying a torque wrench, but I'm going to go ahead and buy it soon.
Micro-torque? Or the older gauge style?

I'll just stick with the Purelator then. Thanks for the info.

I get the click style torque wrench. Get one that goes from 1-80ft/lbs. 80ft/lbs for the lugs. Never heard of micro-torque. I make sure to use my torque wrench for everything since I'm really ANAL about things.

[themonsteraria]

Originally Posted by CivicSiRacer

I get the click style torque wrench. Get one that goes from 1-80ft/lbs. 80ft/lbs for the lugs. Never heard of micro-torque. I make sure to use my torque wrench for everything since I'm really ANAL about things.

The Micro-torque is just Craftsman's brand of the click style. I always buy Craftsman, because I work at Sears... a.k.a. I get a discount.

[hitman619]

hamp synergy oil filters and vavoline dino
145,000 on my gsr motor
no problems so far

[IanB]

I realize you guys are mostly in the US, but Canadian Tire here sells their Motomaster Formula 1 Synthetic for as low as $16.99CAN/4.4L jug, so I stock up when it goes on sale. It's made by Shell according to the MSDS sheet, and looks to be as good or better than 5w30 grade Mobil 1 (current formulation). Paired with Honda OEM filters, it seems to work good for me.