After 10,000 miles, I start using 10w30. You will lose a low percentage of gas milage but in return, prolong engine life further. $0.02
Impact on using 10w30 instead of 5w20
Does anyone know the impact of using a different oil viscosity on our cars?:dunno:
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Explain how it prolongs engine life? Higher oil pressure from the heavier oil will likely wear certain parts faster. If 10w30 was the right oil to use, honda would have done so. I think they have done a bit more research on what oil to use than you have. Use a good synthetic 5w20 (the weight the manufacturer of the car recommends) like castrol syntec and you will prolong the engine life without having to cross your fingers and hope that the 10w30 is better since you would be guessing at that point.
yea castrol syntec! drive hard!....... id reccomend mobil1 5w20 or 5w30, fully synthetic, extended performance.. thicker oil is good for hot climates and thinner oil for cold climates... thinner oil will give you a little better gas mil than a thicker viscosity but not much of a real difference..
a higher viscosity is meant for drivers who drive in extreme heat weather (desert climates). If the oil becomes TOO watery, it won't provide the right lubrication, but if it's too thick, it will require more effort from the pump system. many people in TX use 10W30 during the summer because of how hot it can be. Most places can run 5W20 with no problems whatsoever.
I would stick with 5w-20. Almost all Hondas recommended that except the Civic Si and the S2000 and thats because those engines are tuned significantly different. I debated changing my oil to a 10W-30 because I live out here in Phoenix and its gets really hot. I talked with the mechanics at the dealership I worked at and the truth is Honda knows what their engines should run, and would recommend you use anything else. I'm running Royal Purple 5w-20 Synthetic its made big difference, but I might switch to Mobile 1 because of the price. Go to a good synthetic right before 10k miles and you'll be good, you just don't wanna wait too long before going to synthetic.
Some motors (my old mitsu) have really small ports in the motors and must have a thinner oil ran in them, or it won't flow like it's designed to. This may be the case with Honda motors also, but I'm not really sure. Anyone?
5W-20 offers an increase in fuel economy and to this point have shown to be pretty good oils, plus they offer better low temperature performance.
5W-30 offers good cold weather performance and good high temperature protection to an extent but have not shown to be notably better than 5W-20 oils in applications where 5W-20 is reccomended.
10W-30 offers the best high temperature performance.
Question: What are the negative aspects of using a 5w20 oil?
Answer: 5w20 oil has less film and shear strength than a 5w30, 10w30 or a 0w30 motor oil. This can lead to increased engine wear under today's demanding heat and high-stress engine performance conditions.
Question: Don't I have to use a 5w20 oil to maintain my factory warranty if my manual recommends a 5w20 oil?
Answer: Absolutely not. Vehicle manufacturers recommend using motor oils meeting certain viscosity grades and American Petroleum Institute service requirements. Whether the motor oil is a 5w20, 5w30, 10w30 or 0w30 or even a synthetic vs. a petroleum-based oil will not affect warranty coverage. The manufacturer is required to cover all equipment failures it would normally cover as long as the oil meets API service requirements and specifications and was not the cause of the failure.
Bottom line, thicker = less engine wear, particularly in summer California where temperature in my area could reach up to +100F for weeks. This is why I always use 10w30 for summer and 5w30 for winter.
5W-30 offers good cold weather performance and good high temperature protection to an extent but have not shown to be notably better than 5W-20 oils in applications where 5W-20 is reccomended.
10W-30 offers the best high temperature performance.
Question: What are the negative aspects of using a 5w20 oil?
Answer: 5w20 oil has less film and shear strength than a 5w30, 10w30 or a 0w30 motor oil. This can lead to increased engine wear under today's demanding heat and high-stress engine performance conditions.
Question: Don't I have to use a 5w20 oil to maintain my factory warranty if my manual recommends a 5w20 oil?
Answer: Absolutely not. Vehicle manufacturers recommend using motor oils meeting certain viscosity grades and American Petroleum Institute service requirements. Whether the motor oil is a 5w20, 5w30, 10w30 or 0w30 or even a synthetic vs. a petroleum-based oil will not affect warranty coverage. The manufacturer is required to cover all equipment failures it would normally cover as long as the oil meets API service requirements and specifications and was not the cause of the failure.
Bottom line, thicker = less engine wear, particularly in summer California where temperature in my area could reach up to +100F for weeks. This is why I always use 10w30 for summer and 5w30 for winter.
Um.... If the car was designed to use 5w-20, why do you want to put something else in it?
Unless you are an expert Honda engineer?
If so, can you come over and fix my Pressure Washer?
aranoid:
Unless you are an expert Honda engineer?
If so, can you come over and fix my Pressure Washer?
aranoid:
I agree with Lionspeed. All this falls under the cafe regulations. Very interesting reading.
excellent write up, thanks!:thmsup:5W-20 offers an increase in fuel economy and to this point have shown to be pretty good oils, plus they offer better low temperature performance.
5W-30 offers good cold weather performance and good high temperature protection to an extent but have not shown to be notably better than 5W-20 oils in applications where 5W-20 is reccomended.
10W-30 offers the best high temperature performance.
Question: What are the negative aspects of using a 5w20 oil?
Answer: 5w20 oil has less film and shear strength than a 5w30, 10w30 or a 0w30 motor oil. This can lead to increased engine wear under today's demanding heat and high-stress engine performance conditions.
Question: Don't I have to use a 5w20 oil to maintain my factory warranty if my manual recommends a 5w20 oil?
Answer: Absolutely not. Vehicle manufacturers recommend using motor oils meeting certain viscosity grades and American Petroleum Institute service requirements. Whether the motor oil is a 5w20, 5w30, 10w30 or 0w30 or even a synthetic vs. a petroleum-based oil will not affect warranty coverage. The manufacturer is required to cover all equipment failures it would normally cover as long as the oil meets API service requirements and specifications and was not the cause of the failure.
Bottom line, thicker = less engine wear, particularly in summer California where temperature in my area could reach up to +100F for weeks. This is why I always use 10w30 for summer and 5w30 for winter.
I use M1 5/30 year round in TX (mild winters and hot summers).
Glad to see many smart folks who know Honda recommends 5/20 to raise its CAFE rating (minimal, really) and keep the EPA happy rather than becuase it's better for the engine. But to each his own. Good day gang.
Glad to see many smart folks who know Honda recommends 5/20 to raise its CAFE rating (minimal, really) and keep the EPA happy rather than becuase it's better for the engine. But to each his own. Good day gang.
The engine isn't designed around a specific grade of oil. The grade's of oil will work better in different environments. You wouldn't run the same oil in Alaska that you would in Texas.Um.... If the car was designed to use 5w-20, why do you want to put something else in it?
Unless you are an expert Honda engineer?
If so, can you come over and fix my Pressure Washer?
Lionspeed has the right info, and the most straight-forward answer.
Alright, after reading everything: Doesn't a thicker oil produce more oil pressure, thereby wearing out seals/gaskets faster?
Not if oil pressure is within normal parameters, which will always be the case with 5/30. Remember 30 weight oil will probably be 20 or less by the time you change it, so imagine 20? And I would be more worried about LOW oil pressure with too thin hot oil than high pressure where I live.Doesn't a thicker oil produce more oil pressure, thereby wearing out seals/gaskets faster?
I'm NOT willing to save 0.1 MPG with 20 oil in hot TX. As Zexen said, Alaska is very different than TX; that's why just a few years ago owner's manuals used to have viscosity ranges based on predicted temperatures, but many young folks here didn't even drive in 2003.
It's all a matter of preference. All this extra care is really over the top since the great majority of us won't keep our cars more than 100K miles. And some of us probably not even 20K :lmao:. But I still treat all my vehicles like if I was going to keep them forever :thumbsup:.
I was just thinking of using olive oil and see how that would work :lmao:
Would you happen to know what the normal range is?Not if oil pressure is within normal parameters, which will always be the case with 5/30. Remember 30 weight oil will probably be 20 or less by the time you change it, so imagine 20. I'm NOT willing to save 0.1 MPG with 20 oil in hot TX. As Zexen said, Alaska is very different than TX; that's why just a few years ago owner's manuals used to have viscosity ranges based on predicted temperatures, but many young folks here didn't even drive in 2003.
It's all a matter of preference. All this extra care is really over the top since the great majority of us won't keep our cars more than 100K miles. And some of us probably not even 20K :lmao:.
Don't have a service manual yet, but unless you plan to use BMW's 10/60 oil, it's of no concern at all. Plus you don't even have an oil pressure gauge anyway.Would you happen to know what the normal range is?
I miss the oil pressure gauge from other cars for a different reason: it's not good to dog your engine before oil temperature reaches 160ºF, and many people don't realize that when your coolant temperature reaches its normal point, oil temperature is well below 100º. It takes a while for the oil to reach normal operating temperature. Take care.
I've used both 5W-20 and 5W-30 conventional oil in our Pilot with 7500 mi OCIs. I've had UOAs done which showed normal engine wear. Interestingly, the 5W-20 held up very well while the 5W-30 actually sheared down to almost a 5W-20.
Granted, we don't see temps in the triple-digits very often, so extreme heat is not an issue. I would say that if you want to switch to 10W-30, you'll only notice a slight decrease in gas mileage, but no real issues. But, why would you? I see you're in NY, so you shouldn't see extremely hot temps. I think you'd be better off going with either 5W-20 or 5W-30.
Granted, we don't see temps in the triple-digits very often, so extreme heat is not an issue. I would say that if you want to switch to 10W-30, you'll only notice a slight decrease in gas mileage, but no real issues. But, why would you? I see you're in NY, so you shouldn't see extremely hot temps. I think you'd be better off going with either 5W-20 or 5W-30.
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