ok guys, i know other forums talk about this all day, but i just had one question. would i benefit from synthetic oils if
A. my car has 168k on it
B. Has perfect service records
C. Does not smoke a bit

so.... would it be worth the extra $$$ for synthetic with these specs?

If the car has been run on dino oils the whole time then it would not be a good idea. Most synthetic oils have scrubing chemicals in them that will clean out deposits and can cause your seals to start leaking. There's been too many stories of someone switching to synthetic after years of dino oil only to have to change many of the seals and gaskets on the engine because they start having numerous oil leaks. At this point I'd just stay with good quality dino oils for the rest of the engines life.

I used synthetic oil for my accord since I bought the car @ 19K. In your case, I won't recommend it.

Yeah it's not worth it...you likely wouldn't see any benefits coming out of it at this age.

How much longer are you planning on keeping it? If you plan on keeping it until the block cracks, then yes it might benefit you. What kind of oil change interval do you use now? Would you extend it with synthetic? What did it look like when you took the valve covers off?

How much longer are you planning on keeping it? If you plan on keeping it until the block cracks, then yes it might benefit you. What kind of oil change interval do you use now? Would you extend it with synthetic? What did it look like when you took the valve covers off?

His car has 168k already and I really don't think it's a good idea to swtich to synthetic at this point.

Yeah, it really isn't a good idea with such high mileage. Only switch when the car has, IMO, under 50k or 60k miles. Anything higher would cause many problems such as oil leaks.

sounds stupid, but I wanna try to make this as race ready as possible. is it possible with setup or easier just to get another accord? btw, this was basically the best deal i could find on one of these in my area. would an intake and exaust be horribly bad for it? keep in mind ill keep the stock equipment when selling. all i want is a car i can show off, while at the same time not blow up in my face.

Sounds like you want a ricemobile.

Attempting to get a '95 with 168k "race ready" could end your relationship with your car prematurely. Stick with a high quality dyno oil at this point. Intake and exhaust would not be horrible (I don't think) but I don't think it could be classified as "good" for your car either. Post some pics when you get a chance and welcome to DA net!

im not out to make a rice mobile, just want the power to go fast. for instance, this morning i almost got creamed by a dump truck, floored my accord and it was sluggish. i know auto tranny has a little to do with it, but i also have vtec. i just thought it would be faster. also found out previous owner replaced water pump and timing chain. 2 pluses for me

Is your Accord a 4-banger? If yes.. then I think you start with a wrong vehicle. Even if yours is a V6, I stilll think Accord (not just yours, but all) has some limitations.. like the suspension, FWD, etc...

Intake (assume CAI) and exhaust alone can make your car "breath" better and sounds more aggressive.. but in terms of performance they don't do much unless you throw in some other mods under the hood. Maybe you could get a pulley? That's one of the best and direct mod esp. for auto.

But since your car has so many mileage.. why bother to spend $$ on it? Just keep it as is and treat it as a beater later. If you REALLY want to build a race car, sell it and get a used sports car.

Just my .2 :)

:stupid:

I can't say if switching is worthwile for you, but I switched a Sable at 110,000 and a Forester at 90,000 and did not have leaking problems with either one. The Sable had a new oil pan at 90K, so that got rid of any accumulated sludge, but the Forester was on the original pan. I did use a flush as part of the switch. Don't know if the flush made a difference or not, but it made me feel better.

I switched to synthetic because I am caring for 4 cars and wanted to cut down to one oil change per year (for me, about 8-12K miles per car), and do the changes in the summer!

For the 2 cars still on warranty (Accord and V70), I will change at no more than the OM suggested OCI, even with synthetic. For the Accord, that means 10K.

im not out to make a rice mobile, just want the power to go fast. for instance, this morning i almost got creamed by a dump truck, floored my accord and it was sluggish.

You may be a redneck if . . . "Race Ready" means your car is faster that a dump truck. :lmao:

Don't switch to synthetic at this point. You're not *guaranteed* to have problems if you do, but your odds are much greater than if you just stick with a good quality dino.

Does anyone else know if the 4-cyl should maybe use a higher viscosity at this point? Or do these things hold their tolerances and o.p. really well?

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Oh, and welcome!

I'm using 5W-20 and it's working great. Don't think I have burned any, though it burned 5W-30, 10W-30 and some 10W-40.

what brand of dino oil is good quality oil?

All oil is good oil if you change it often. I've used Castrol GTX, Pennzoil High Mileage, and MotorCraft and the main differences I see between them are only due to viscosity (ie. MotorCraft got much better gas mileage than the others but that's because it was the only 5W-20 I've ever used and it went in right after a fill of 10W-40)

I use 0W-30 Castrol synthetic made in germany.

:)

I recently switched from Royal Purple full syn 5w-20 to Valvoline Synpower. The only thing I notice about the switch is my engine seems to be more quiet.

what brand of dino oil is good quality oil?

For "dino" and for the money, it's hard to beat the ConocoPhillips products (i.e. Motorcraft, TropArtic, Phillips 66, et al). They are synthetic blends with GII+ and GIII most likely, are priced very competitively, and give outstanding UOA's. The other two I hear mentioned regularly on BobIsTheOilGuy in the dino category are Havoline and Castrol GTX, which also give excellent UOA's.

Of course there are many who say any SM/GF4 rated modern PCMO will work just fine, and I wouldn't disagree with that statement for the most part. But if you stick with one of the above, you're going to be just fine...rest easy.

:thmsup:

Does anyone else know if the 4-cyl should maybe use a higher viscosity at this point? Or do these things hold their tolerances and o.p. really well?

It's not so much a mileage thing as it is a consumption thing. If your engine is not consuming or leaking oil profusely, I'd stick with what got you there.

I'm at that mileage and still using 5w20 with no issues. My topping off is less than the 1/2 qt left in the 5qt jug during each interval.

I switched my 2000 Accord from dino to synthetic at 120k and now have 160k on it. I have had no problems. I did it for primarily longer change intervals. :thmsup:

I researched it a lot before I did it. It seemed like this used to be an issue years ago but the new dino oils have most of the same additives now so it is not an issue. But the legend lives on and keeps getting repeated.

IMHO but YMMV