Best oil engine for old Honda CRX?

[owj_outdoors]

What oil engine do you recommend for a Honda CRX 88 1.5 non-vtec fuel-injected starting to burn oil (1 liter per 1000 km)?
Car has almost 275,000K (170,000M) and has been well maintained since I got it (at 160,000K) before that maintenance is unknown. Now I am using Pennzoil 10W-30. I am thinking of switching to Castrol High Mileage Motor Oil 10W30 but someone told me to try Pennzoil Platinum Synthetic 10W30. Being a total ignorant about the topic I would rather ask.
Where I live temperature rarely drops below 0C (32F) but I use the car to go to the ski resort where the average winter temperature is -5 C (23 F). I understand that I can't stop mechanical wear, but I want to slow it down. Thanks in advance for anyone pointing me to the right direction.

 

[XCELERATIONRULES]

I would use the cheapest oil that meets your specs,and try to buy it on sale.
I'm guessing the other parts of your vehicle are going to fail,before the engine does.
I would stick with 5 w 30 if it is the recommended viscosity.

 

[ChiTDI]

The Pennz 10w30 or the Pennz HM would be my choice. You could have the burning issue diagnosed and that would determine what repair and or different lube (if any) to use.

 

[Quest]

Do 2 rounds of AutoRx and see if it helps in breaking up oil control ring deposits, and then go with whatever is the cheapest ([censored] Tires, Wallymart, etc.) 10W30 API SM/ILSAC GF-4).

and hi to you from fellow canucks... (living south of GVRD).

Q.

 

[ChiTDI]

BTW - Forgot to add: Welcome to Bitog.

 

[VK56VD]

Valvoline Maxlife Synthetic Blend in your factory recommended weight.

 

[mechtech2]

It is going to keep burning oil.
Putting a heavier oil may help a bit, but it will increase drag and hurt power and economy somewhat.
The catalytic converter can get plugged with white deposits with heavy oil burning, so be aware of that.

 

[Hokiefyd]

Any of the high mileage oils in 5W-30 seems to be most appropriate for you. Even if your recommended oil weight is 10W-30, the 5W-30 will be nominally the same at operating temp, and will pump better when cold. No reason not to use it.

 

[IntegraVT]

I would choose Castrol HM oil for the seal conditioners over PP in that application. Also consider Valvoline Maxlife or PZ HM.

 

[ThirdeYe]

I would use Valvoline MaxLife 5W-30, personally.

 

[Solo2driver]

I loved my '88 CRX DX, even did the MPFI fuel injection conversion from an Si but liked the 1.5L with it's "better" rod ratio. Welcome!

http://www.Auto-RX.com treatments for the consumption, and then whatever you can find on sale. Oil is very good these days, even for the "cheap stuff". Any SM-rated conventional oil will do. Do what your pocket book (or wife) can afford.

 

[Steelhead]

the lowest price SM rated 5w30 oil you find on sale.
buy by the case or gallon and save more.
i just stole a bunch of Esso XD-3 0w40 for my Cummins CTD 5.9L at Lords while on vacation in BC on sale

the High Mileage oils are a waste if you don't have oil leaks.

change every 8k km, drive long and prosper with the savings.

change the PCV valve and do a couple Auto RX treatments. your oil consumption problem will go away

an oil change with full retail priced synthetic such as Plat. Plus or Mobil 1 and an overpriced top end filter is more than the car is worth street priced.

lots of these Honda 4 bangers last past 800k km with loving care and attention.

when was the transaxle lube last changed?

 

[blueiedgod]

Nice rex.

Are you sure the "oil burning" issue if from oil seeping past the rings, and not the valvetrain?

Those engines are pretty much bulletproof. I would check the valve clearances. I think they need to be adjusted every 30,000 miles.

 

[owj_outdoors]

Many of you are telling me to use 5W-30, but my mechanic told me to use 10W-30 and then he added Lucas oil treatment. His explanation was that oil was being burned because of wear on the engine. Oil lubricates by passing between the cylinder wall and the piston rings. If the rings are tight thin oil passes through just fast enough to properly lubricate without any excess flowing through into the ignition chamber. If the rings are worn, however, thin oil passes through far too easily and quickly, with the excess flowing into the ignition chamber, and hence “burning oil”. Thicker oil flows through less easily, and hence, it stopped the oil loss.

But after watching on this website what Lucas does I opted to stop using it. But I think I will continue to use the 10W-30 oil (still undecided about the brand).

For Steelhead, the car doesn't have oil leaks but I love to drive it hard. Last summer I drove across the States from Vancouver to New Mexico on a vacation trip and several times the rpm gauge was way over 5000 rpm while crossing the mountain passes. I changed the oil every 5k km and the PCV Valve I did last week. The transaxle lube was changed when I replaced the cv joints 50k km ago but I don't know what that has to do with the oil issue.

I noticed major improvement after changing the PCV Valve but I haven't finished driving the 1000K for a better evaluation.

For Blueiedgod, I will have the valves adjusted (I wish I know how to do it)

From the posts I will try the Auto-RX Oil-Seal-Maintenance Plan for heavy oil burning (does anyone know how to get it in Canada?) and cross my fingers

 

[ThirdeYe]

Your mechanic was not the one that wrote the manual for your car, I'm pretty sure it states to use 5W-30 for all climates.

10W-30 isn't thicker than 5W-30, btw. If you insist on continuing the usage of 10W-30 (which Honda says you can use in place of 5W-30 for temperatures above 32F, IIRC), I would still use Valvoline MaxLife or another High Mileage oil of your choice. They generally come a tad thicker than their non High Mileage counterpart and may help with the consumption.

 

[Steelhead]

there you go. driving style has a major effect on oil consumption, especially in the high revving import 4 bangers

any blue smoke when you accel. hard or let off from high rpms?

save a bunch of Loonies and adjust the valves yourself
Hondas 4 banger engines are the easiest rigs in the world to work on
get a Chilton's service manual for your rig.

while you have the valve cover off, check the oil drain back holes, make sure they are all clear and free of debris. oil pooling on a head can increase consumption

http://www.denlorstools.com/home/dt1/pag..._honda_car.html

run a compression and leakdown test after doing the valves.

if the oil consumption goes up after the Auto RX treatments, then it's probably the intake valve stem seals. try an HM oil, has more seal sweller.

reason i brought up transaxle lube change is that it is one of the major killers of high mileage Hondas. TA goes and rig goes to the jaws of death

 

[Solo2driver]

Valves are super-easy to adjust with a set of feeler gauges. I usually did mine just on the "tight" side, kept the clatter down and we used to think it helped us make more power hahaha

 

[ChiTDI]

If you were able to replace the CV joints yourself, learning the valve adjustment procedure should be straightforward.
Let us know what you did.

 

[owj_outdoors]

[Steelhead] any blue smoke when you accel. hard or let off from high rpms?

I did last night, when I accelerate really hard I can see a tiny of blue smoke (car in parking lot).

[ChiTDI] If you were able to replace the CV joints yourself, learning the valve adjustment procedure should be straightforward.

All I know is just to change oil. Yesterday I got the Haynes manual plus this link http://www.autozone.com/az/cds/en_us/0900823d/80/14/0d/d9/0900823d80140dd9/repairInfoPages.htm
I have never used a feeler gauge, I hope I don't screw up anything.

[Steelhead] change the PCV valve and do a couple Auto RX treatments. your oil consumption problem will go away

PCV Valve is already changed, once I get the Auto RX treatment I will do the valve adjustment and a tune up. I will get back with the results by the end of December.

[Steelhead] run a compression and leakdown test after doing the valves.

I am already chicken out with the valve adjustment thing. Do I really need to do this? FYI, a dry compression test done 15K ago gave an average of 120 psi.

 

[Vincent_Vega]

+1 on the Valvoline Maxlife.