5W-30 vs. 10W-30

I own a 1998 Honda Civic EX Sedan. It has 160,000 miles on it. I recent got an oil change on it.

During the life of the car, I have used 5W-30 motor oil. However, some of the mechanics at my oil change place have said that I should switch to

10W-30, due to the mileage on my car, and because 10W-30 is thicker.

Should I take heed to this advice?

Reply to
warlock162
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"warlock162" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@localhost.talkaboutautos.com:

No.

I tried that a while back and 10W-30 made absolutely NO difference in my oil consumption. My car's been fed 5W-30 since day one. It now has 260,000 miles on it and gets over 2,000 miles per US quart.

How's your oil consumption?

Reply to
TeGGeR®

Unfortunately, I did not monitor my oil consumption.

As of this message, I will begin doing so.

I simply get my oil changes around every 4,000 miles or so. If I was able to get 2,000 miles per US quart, and 3.8 quarts of new oil are installed per go around, could I, in theory, reach 7,500 miles between oil changes?

Reply to
warlock162

"warlock162" wrote

Not to dispute Tegger's claim, but just to offer evidence that your mechanics are not totally whack-o: I have seen internet sites that suggest switching to a higher viscosity oil for older cars. It's worth googling.

Reply to
Elle

Oil is not consumed as fuel is. If it was, they wouldn't have to drain it.

How dirty is your oil at 4000 miles is the question? At 148,000, my '01 Accord doing 7K oil changes (I have a long highway commute) the oil is dirty, but not black.

If you are consuming oil, that means you are burning oil. Others can give a better description of the mechanics behind how oil gets into the fuel being burned, but in essence, in those cases a thicker oil might not sneak by the way thinner oil does. If you're not burning any oil (as in 3.8 quarts are coming out at each change) then there is no need for thicker oil as you do not have a problem with the thin stuff.

Reply to
Seth

I've seen that also, but usually in reference to burning oil and how to stop said oil from making it into the combustion chamber. If the thin stuff isn't sneaking by the rings, then switching to thicker stuff won't have any benefits.

Reply to
Seth

"warlock162" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@localhost.talkaboutautos.com :

However,

should

I think the general idea in this is that the thinner oil will seap thru seals and gaskets that are aging. It's the same principle of why you don't use synthetic oil on old cars. It's so slick that it will leak in almost every seal. Another thing is the piston rings that might not scrape the oil from the cylinder walls.

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Reply to
Janus

Our local Honda dealer only offers 5-20 for all Hondas new and old with the claim that Honda has authorized this. My Prelude calls for 5-30 or possibly

10-30 in hot weather which we have in abundance here in mid GA in Summer. Am I right to be uneasy about using 5-20.
Reply to
TWW

"warlock162" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@localhost.talkaboutautos.com:

Begin using 10W-30, you mean? Not really a great idea.

10W will flow less readily than 5W when cold, while the 30 side of it will get consumed by the engine identically when hot.

Mathematically you could, but this too is not a good idea. How many months does it take you to reach 7,500 miles? How long do you intend on keeping the car?

Reply to
TeGGeR®

Janus wrote in news:Xns9762BA1775E3Djanusk2yahoonospam@38.119.97.5:

The difference between 5W-30 and 10W 30 is its behavior when cold. Once it's warmed up, there is no difference between the two.

It's the same principle of

Utter nonsense.

Reply to
TeGGeR®

"Seth" wrote in news:iKQFf.23891$ snipped-for-privacy@news02.roc.ny:

I'm not seeing your posts, for some reason, just other peoples' replies to them.

If an engine is consuming oil, it means the oil control rings are worn out. If you were using 5W-30 and were experiencing excessive oil consumption, you'd have to move up to something like a 20W-50 before it made any meaningful difference. Simply going up from 5W to 10W will do absolutely nothing, especially when the hot end of it is still the same (30).

My oil consumption used to be roughly 8K/qt when the car had 100K miles. Now I'm down to just over 2K miles. That's with 5W-30 and 260K on the clock.

My oil check procedure is this:

1) Change oil 2) With engine COLD and having sat overnight, check oil and note dipstick reading 3) Drive car 1,000 miles Repeat from #2.

The car is ALWAYS checked with it parked in the identical same spot, at the same slope.

When I temporarily switched from 5W-30 to 10W-30, there was zero difference in oil consumption. I moved back to 5W-30 to take advantage of 5W-30's slightly better cold flow characteristics.

Reply to
TeGGeR®

Okay then fill your car with synthetic and see what happens.

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Reply to
Janus

"TWW" wrote in news:OCRFf.20991$oG.1312@dukeread09:

What year is your Prelude? How many miles?

Try it for one go-around and see what happens. I'll bet you won't notice any difference of any kind. The 5W-20 is part synthetic, so it has slightly better film strength. Film strength is probably comparable to that of 5W-

30.
Reply to
TeGGeR®

"Seth" wrote

I agree. Jumping the gun on switching to a higher visc. oil may reduce engine efficiency, as well.

Reply to
Elle

01 62k miles. I have been running 5-30 Mobil 1 for the past 30k miles, rather than risk the Honda 5-20. Maybe overkill though since I change oil every 3700 miles anyway.
Reply to
TWW

What's the "risk" with the factory recommended 5w-20? My '01 Accord EX-v6 with 148,000 miles and 7k between changes is still running strong, running smooth and starting up on the first try.

I bought a Honda for durability and economics. You seem to be wasting a bit of the economical advantage of a Honda.

Reply to
Seth

"TWW" wrote in news:6USFf.21003$oG.6468@dukeread09:

You didn't say that. I assumed you were using mineral oils. Mobil 1 is a pure synthetic. Honda's 5W-20 is part synthetic, part mineral. Mobil 1 is the better oil of the two.

You are performing excellent auto maintenance! You can look forward to long life from your engine.

Reply to
TeGGeR®

I like the Prelude and want to keep it for a long time. Thanks for the input.

Reply to
TWW

Reply to
TA via CarKB.com

"TA via CarKB.com" wrote in news:5bf98ebf12448@uwe:

Functionally, AMSoil and Mobil 1 may be taken as equivalents.

Reply to
TeGGeR®

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