Oil for a Honda CRV

[driv3r0000]

I'm new to BITOG and I wanted people's thoughts on what oils would be best to use in my 2001 Honda CRV. The engine has about 100,000KM on it. The first engine blew up so I don't know exactly how many KM's the new one had when I got it. I'm from Canada so all references to distance will be in kilometers.

With that said I use my vehicle for work driving more than 50,000KM in one year with A LOT of repeated engine starting. During work the engine does not cool between starts. I get paid to use my own vehicle and so I wanted to find the oil that would:

1. Provide good protection for repeated engine starting, stop and go traffic and some construction site driving. I do a lot of highway driving too.

2. Have an extended oil change interval greater than 5000KM (I have been currently using Kendall semi-synthetic 5W30 at 5-6000KM interval.

3. Be cost effective. As in, getting the above at the lowest cost possible.

I have been looking into AMSOIL to get the 15000 mile (24,000KM) OCI. I have worked out some of the math of using AMSOIL compared to what I'm currently using and AMSOIL would cost me almost the same, maybe a little less depending on the exchange rate. I am not biased on oil brand, AMSOIL just happened to be the first bit of research I've done.

 

[ARB1977]

First of all welcome. Amsoil is great but in order to get the most miles out of it you need a uoa...just like any oil you use.

 

[Pablo]

I agree with the UOA to start, if for nothing more than a snapshot to assure you have no coolant ingress in the oil.

Amsoil has couple oils that would fit that scenario well. SSO 0W-30, HDD 5W-30 being the top choices....ASL 5W-30 being a bit lower cost choice.

Just curious - how did the first engine blow up?

 

[driv3r0000]

So are you saying that I should get my current oil analyzed before I switch? O only during using Amsoil?

It was a combination of things but mostly I'm certain the engine was damaged before I bought the car. I noticed that the new engine runs a lot quieter than the last. I didn't think that the old engine sounded too bad at the time but compared to the new one it was remarkable. Secondly I was guilty of putting the cheapest oil I could into the engine then driving it for way too long like up to 10,000KM. I realize the fault of my choices and I want to avoid damaging this engine.

The last engine lost compression in two cylinders. I didn't open the engine to find out for sure but I'm almost positive that is was the valves, since I could still run the engine and drive the car. You can imagine the difficulty of driving the car over 100KM like that just to get home lol. I guess you live and learn.

 

[PT1]

Castrol Edge 5w30 is a thin 30 weight that might be a perfect choice because its viscosity falls right between a 20 and 30w and it is an extended drain oil.

 

[lipadj46]

I just put in Castrol Edge 5w30 in my mother's 2007 toyota Rav4. It calls for 0w20/5w20 (I usually use mobil 1 5w20) but since the edge was on sale and had a rebate I figured I would use it. Like said above it is thin and could nearly be considered a 20wt plus it is a so called "extended drain" oil which I think is a safe choice in the winter as you could run it safely for 10,000 miles (probably prudent to do a UOA at 7500 miles).

 

[PT1]

Originally Posted By: lipadj46
I just put in Castrol Edge 5w30 in my mother's 2007 toyota Rav4. It calls for 0w20/5w20 (I usually use mobil 1 5w20) but since the edge was on sale and had a rebate I figured I would use it. Like said above it is thin and could nearly be considered a 20wt plus it is a so called "extended drain" oil which I think is a safe choice in the winter.


I got 2 sale jugs with the rebate for my daughters 2008 Rav4 as well.

 

[98dakarM3]

How about Motorcraft Semi-Synth at 7.5k intervals.

Affordable oil and it should have no issues running that interval in your Honda.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Blew up the engine? A Honda? On modern oil? That's insane

 

[posty]

Some engines in the 1997-2001 Crv had an issue with soft heads and burnt valves if not adjusted at proper intervals.A head job would have probably fixed his original engine.

 

[Gary Allan]

Quote:
So are you saying that I should get my current oil analyzed before I switch?


That's what I'd do at your normal interval. It will determine the contamination level of your construction site visits ..if there's any coolant leaks ...stuff that would either need tending to or repair. In addition, your current oil's condition will give you some barometer on how severe (or not) your current service is.

 

[berniedd]

I own a 1998 CRV with auto trans and the B20 2.0 liter engine. Honda used basically the same engine in its CRVs till 2001. It is notorious for burning valves if you don't adjust them regularly. The old manuals say adjust every 105,000 miles or if the valves are noisy. Wrong on both counts. The correct interval is every 15,000 miles. Adjust them with the engine cold. Intake valves are 0.003-0.005", exhausts are 0.005-0.009". I adjust them on the looser end of the scale.

As for the oil, my Honda manual says SG or SH oil 10W-40 in summer, 5W-30 in winter. Replace every 5,000 KM. Frankly I use Delo 400 or Shell Rotella. Yeah, I know these are for diesels, but SG and SH oil are hard to come by now. It is said that SM oil is backwards compatible to SG, SH and SL oils. Well, I'm not buying it. SM oils are designed for today's engines with roller camshaft, long life catalytic converters, not a 12-year old valve tappet engine design.

 

[Clarence_Iba]

I use Motorcraft 5w-20 in our CR-V. It loves it. No problems.

 

[addyguy]

You can't get Edge in Canada, per say - you can if you go to GM dealership and ask for '4718M' synthetic oil.

 

[driv3r0000]

I know the biggest difference between the B20 and B20z is the B20z has higher compression at around 9:1 and that's what mine has. I talked to an engine builder about oils to use for my Honda Prelude head I had built by him, and we chatted extensively on the flat tappet engine and how the new oils aren't designed for those valve trains anymore. He suggested BradPenn 10w40 for the prelude since it's practically a race car. That got me thinking about what oils I should be using in my CRV. I'm still contemplating using Amsoil's HDD oil but I don't think it will be cheaper especially if you take the UOA into account. I think I'll try the Rotella until I commit to anything extended drain or really expensive. I know that keeping that flat tappet valve train healthy is most important part of the B20z. I guess I should get my valves adjusted too...