hey guys, i bought the civic used with 165k, and i did a clean and rinse with auto rx. been running dino oil for the last couple of months or so, do you guys think i could go with a synthetic oil now, or should i just stick with the dino oil. my wife and i prob will put 40k a yr on this car, alot of hiway miles. i have read that going to a synthetic in an old car might cause it to start leaking oil and i dont need that at all. no leaks now, and it doesnt use oil, what do you all think, thanks alot
what oil for a 98 civic ?
- Thread starter kenwin30
- Start date
- Status
If it was me and I lived in your location with 40k a year which means quite a bit of hwy use....
I'd do the following;
Run a 5k OCI with any conventional oil and filter that you'd like to use. If you like Valvoline great, Pennzoil fine or any other brand.
Then run a 7.5k OCI and get a UOA with TBN. Then based on that data you can see if 7.5k is the sweet spot or you need to go higher on the OCI or shorten it up.
I'd bet that you'd find that 7.5k is pretty easy to do (I've done almost 7k on GTX with a TBN of 4.4 (blackstone) and I have a timing chain that is hard on oil) and you prob could go out to 9-10k with excellent results.
98 Civics are real easy on oil. Some have fuel issues that a UOA will point out. If yours has some issues, changing oil is a good thing.
Also, watch the dipstick carefully for the first few OCIs. New car to you, different oil that was run could equal some usage and we don't want it low of oil...
Take care, Bill
I'd do the following;
Run a 5k OCI with any conventional oil and filter that you'd like to use. If you like Valvoline great, Pennzoil fine or any other brand.
Then run a 7.5k OCI and get a UOA with TBN. Then based on that data you can see if 7.5k is the sweet spot or you need to go higher on the OCI or shorten it up.
I'd bet that you'd find that 7.5k is pretty easy to do (I've done almost 7k on GTX with a TBN of 4.4 (blackstone) and I have a timing chain that is hard on oil) and you prob could go out to 9-10k with excellent results.
98 Civics are real easy on oil. Some have fuel issues that a UOA will point out. If yours has some issues, changing oil is a good thing.
Also, watch the dipstick carefully for the first few OCIs. New car to you, different oil that was run could equal some usage and we don't want it low of oil...
Take care, Bill
JHZR2
Staff member
pp 5w-30 worked great in our integra. Go with 7500 mi OCIs and dont worry, just drive gently.
I agree with JHZR2, try 7,500 with Pennzoil Platinum and get a UOA and see if it's safe to go even further.
We had a 1998 Civic and gave it to my nephew when we bought a new 2007 Civic. The car now has 220K miles and is still running great. Depends on how much you want to spend & how often you like doing oil changes, but both oils (dino or Syn) will do great in that engine.
I would stick with a 30 weight oil cause when I tried 5w20 oil to see if it would help bump gas mileage a bit.....the engine not only consumed oil but gas mileage dropped.
Switched back to 10w30 and consumption went away and gas mileage increased.
If you get a 'Check Engine' light, check to see if you have a cracked exhaust manifold as this is a well known Civic problem at your mileage. No need for fancy spark plugs, just use the copper V-Power NGK plugs.
BTW, the largest oil filter you can use on that car is the Purolator L-20073 or Wix 51347.
You never mentioned what type of Civic you got: DX/LX, EX or HX ....and is it 5 speed or Auto ??
I have lots of good maintenance tips if you need more, but with basic maintenance, that Civic will be on the road for another 200K miles.
I would stick with a 30 weight oil cause when I tried 5w20 oil to see if it would help bump gas mileage a bit.....the engine not only consumed oil but gas mileage dropped.
BTW, the largest oil filter you can use on that car is the Purolator L-20073 or Wix 51347.
You never mentioned what type of Civic you got: DX/LX, EX or HX ....and is it 5 speed or Auto ??
I have lots of good maintenance tips if you need more, but with basic maintenance, that Civic will be on the road for another 200K miles.
I'd just use MaxLife 5W-30 syn-blend...
Originally Posted By: quick_16
Motorcraft Syn blend 5w-20 ($2.25/qt) @ 7,000 OCI w/ Honda Filter. You can buy the read deal Honda Filters on ebay in bulk cheap.
Civic will run better with 5w-20 as the new gen recommends 5w-20 and I agree with MC 5w-20 recommendation but with a Mobil 1 filter. MC has a 5w-30 if you want to go thicker due to high mileage but I am telling you 5w-20 will work great.
Motorcraft Syn blend 5w-20 ($2.25/qt) @ 7,000 OCI w/ Honda Filter. You can buy the read deal Honda Filters on ebay in bulk cheap.
Civic will run better with 5w-20 as the new gen recommends 5w-20 and I agree with MC 5w-20 recommendation but with a Mobil 1 filter. MC has a 5w-30 if you want to go thicker due to high mileage but I am telling you 5w-20 will work great.
Originally Posted By: 06VtecV6
Originally Posted By: quick_16
Motorcraft Syn blend 5w-20 ($2.25/qt) @ 7,000 OCI w/ Honda Filter. You can buy the read deal Honda Filters on ebay in bulk cheap.
Civic will run better with 5w-20 as the new gen recommends 5w-20 and I agree with MC 5w-20 recommendation but with a Mobil 1 filter. MC has a 5w-30 if you want to go thicker due to high mileage but I am telling you 5w-20 will work great.
Not a 98, it is on 5w30 or 10w30. Only after 2000 does civic switch to 20 weight oil.
Originally Posted By: quick_16
Motorcraft Syn blend 5w-20 ($2.25/qt) @ 7,000 OCI w/ Honda Filter. You can buy the read deal Honda Filters on ebay in bulk cheap.
Civic will run better with 5w-20 as the new gen recommends 5w-20 and I agree with MC 5w-20 recommendation but with a Mobil 1 filter. MC has a 5w-30 if you want to go thicker due to high mileage but I am telling you 5w-20 will work great.
Not a 98, it is on 5w30 or 10w30. Only after 2000 does civic switch to 20 weight oil.
Its worth trying 5w20, but make sure you check consumption cause our Civic drank 5w20
And at the time I tried 5w20 it only had 70K miles, so it wasn't like the engine had a lot of miles on it.
And at the time I tried 5w20 it only had 70K miles, so it wasn't like the engine had a lot of miles on it.
Last edited by a moderator:
I wouldn't use the A02 Honda filters, there are better filters out there for the price: Purolator, Napa ProSelect, etc.
I agree with PandaBear wrt oil viscosity. We had a 97 Civic and it took 5w-30. Stay with 5w-30 or go with 0w-30, synthetic.
If it was me, I'd go run PP, Amsoil SSO, or even GC, do a UOA after 5k miles and see how much more I could get out of the oil. You're averaging 3333 miles a month which means you'd spend way too much time doing oil changes if you were doing it 5000-7500 miles. If you can get 10K+ OCI with Amsoil SSO or GC, then that means 4 oil changes per year, which isn't too bad.
If it was me, I'd go run PP, Amsoil SSO, or even GC, do a UOA after 5k miles and see how much more I could get out of the oil. You're averaging 3333 miles a month which means you'd spend way too much time doing oil changes if you were doing it 5000-7500 miles. If you can get 10K+ OCI with Amsoil SSO or GC, then that means 4 oil changes per year, which isn't too bad.
I just put Maxlife synthetic blend 5W20 in my 1994, 4 cyl Accord.
My logic is that it should be ok since the dino 5W30 I have been running quickly shears down to a 5W20 anyway. And I should save a bit of fuel on short winter trips.
Mike
My logic is that it should be ok since the dino 5W30 I have been running quickly shears down to a 5W20 anyway. And I should save a bit of fuel on short winter trips.
Mike
Originally Posted By: ThirdeYe
I wouldn't use the A02 Honda filters, there are better filters out there for the price: Purolator, Napa ProSelect, etc.
I challenge anyone to find evidence that the A02 made by Honeywell does not perform the job of filtering oil as well as other filters.
I wouldn't use the A02 Honda filters, there are better filters out there for the price: Purolator, Napa ProSelect, etc.
I challenge anyone to find evidence that the A02 made by Honeywell does not perform the job of filtering oil as well as other filters.
Originally Posted By: Liquid_Turbo
Originally Posted By: ThirdeYe
I wouldn't use the A02 Honda filters, there are better filters out there for the price: Purolator, Napa ProSelect, etc.
I challenge anyone to find evidence that the A02 made by Honeywell does not perform the job of filtering oil as well as other filters.
That would take some pretty fancy equipment. The point is the filter is cheaply made when compared to almost any other filter. Then there's the ridiculous price for the A02 in canada ($11 at honda dealers). Use what you want, and I'm sure it'll filter oil just fine. I've owned two hondas and bought one A02, and never used one again. The threads are shallow, the filter weighs substantially less then it's competitors, has cardboard ends, and I personally wouldn't trust it. Ask yourself why the S2000 filter is made by toyo roki of Japan, and of much higher quality. That being said, you could probably use any filter and your honda engine will last forever
Originally Posted By: ThirdeYe
I wouldn't use the A02 Honda filters, there are better filters out there for the price: Purolator, Napa ProSelect, etc.
I challenge anyone to find evidence that the A02 made by Honeywell does not perform the job of filtering oil as well as other filters.
That would take some pretty fancy equipment. The point is the filter is cheaply made when compared to almost any other filter. Then there's the ridiculous price for the A02 in canada ($11 at honda dealers). Use what you want, and I'm sure it'll filter oil just fine. I've owned two hondas and bought one A02, and never used one again. The threads are shallow, the filter weighs substantially less then it's competitors, has cardboard ends, and I personally wouldn't trust it. Ask yourself why the S2000 filter is made by toyo roki of Japan, and of much higher quality. That being said, you could probably use any filter and your honda engine will last forever
Originally Posted By: mva
I just put Maxlife synthetic blend 5W20 in my 1994, 4 cyl Accord.
My logic is that it should be ok since the dino 5W30 I have been running quickly shears down to a 5W20 anyway. And I should save a bit of fuel on short winter trips.
Mike
Maxlife now comes in 5w-20? I thought it was only available in 5w-30.
I just put Maxlife synthetic blend 5W20 in my 1994, 4 cyl Accord.
My logic is that it should be ok since the dino 5W30 I have been running quickly shears down to a 5W20 anyway. And I should save a bit of fuel on short winter trips.
Mike
Maxlife now comes in 5w-20? I thought it was only available in 5w-30.
Originally Posted By: 06VtecV6
Originally Posted By: mva
I just put Maxlife synthetic blend 5W20 in my 1994, 4 cyl Accord.
My logic is that it should be ok since the dino 5W30 I have been running quickly shears down to a 5W20 anyway. And I should save a bit of fuel on short winter trips.
Mike
Maxlife now comes in 5w-20? I thought it was only available in 5w-30.
Originally Posted By: Liquid_Turbo
Originally Posted By: ThirdeYe
I wouldn't use the A02 Honda filters, there are better filters out there for the price: Purolator, Napa ProSelect, etc.
I challenge anyone to find evidence that the A02 made by Honeywell does not perform the job of filtering oil as well as other filters.
I used the A02 by Honywell to break in my car for the first 21,500 miles of life. The only problem is FRAM themselves make better filters like their Extended Guard series and the M1 filter is better as well. I'm actually thinking about trying the Honda S2000 filter made in Japan for my next OCI because the M1 filter is about the same price as the bigger Toyo Roki filter.
Originally Posted By: mva
I just put Maxlife synthetic blend 5W20 in my 1994, 4 cyl Accord.
My logic is that it should be ok since the dino 5W30 I have been running quickly shears down to a 5W20 anyway. And I should save a bit of fuel on short winter trips.
Mike
Maxlife now comes in 5w-20? I thought it was only available in 5w-30.
Originally Posted By: Liquid_Turbo
Originally Posted By: ThirdeYe
I wouldn't use the A02 Honda filters, there are better filters out there for the price: Purolator, Napa ProSelect, etc.
I challenge anyone to find evidence that the A02 made by Honeywell does not perform the job of filtering oil as well as other filters.
I used the A02 by Honywell to break in my car for the first 21,500 miles of life. The only problem is FRAM themselves make better filters like their Extended Guard series and the M1 filter is better as well. I'm actually thinking about trying the Honda S2000 filter made in Japan for my next OCI because the M1 filter is about the same price as the bigger Toyo Roki filter.
Last edited:
Regular Maxlife is available in 5W20 but hard to find in any store. Maxlife Synthetic is available only in 5W30 and 10W30.
- Status
Similar threads
