German Castrol in Accord calling for 5w20?

[kenpoed]

I have wanted to try the GC castrol ow/30. Would anyone recommend NOT doing this on a remanned engine after 5k break in? The Honda recommendation is 5w/20 on this model (actually they now want 0w/20)

 

[Brule]

I put it in a civic that recommended 5w20 and the negatives were a drop in mpg (3% loss) and sluggish performance until oil was up to operating temp (10 minutes of driving). If you are doing mainly short trips you might want to avoid it.

 

[dparm]

You can do it, sure. As Brule said, it will sap power and gas mileage, and generate a bit more heat. I see no reason to use something so heavy in that motor unless you were maybe racing it.

There are many good 0w20s that I'd rather use.

 

[kschachn]

I love these "my car specs 0W-20 and I was just wondering if it would be a good/better/best idea to use a really thick oil instead" threads.

 

[Leonardo629]

As a fellow Accord owner, don't do it bro!

Run a quality 0W20, change it every 8000~10000miles and your car will outlast everything else you own.

 

[Merkava_4]

It'll probably perform in a Honda like a straight 30 would.

 

[SatinSilver]

This from an Accord forum I frequent:

Originally Posted By: ;796896
If it were my car I wouldn't be running that.

Castrol (as well as Valvoline) has had a recent history of not passing all of the specs they claim to "exceed".

Based on their product data sheets, the oil is slightly thicker than other brands at both hot and cold, and the colder it gets the thicker it is. Their 5w20 is actually much thicker at very, very cold temps than their 5w30.

It could be draining out of the vtc actuator more easily. It could be as simple as that. or not.

I'd be looking at the following oils:

Shell and their sister brands, Pennzoil and Quaker State. (both are owned by Shell)
The Shell oil is usually less expensive, but just as good.
Motorcraft Semi Syn 5w20 and other ConocoPhillips oils. It seems now that's who makes MC oil, as well as Honda's US factory fill and dealer oil.

 

[901Memphis]

The oil should perform well in that engine but will be much thicker than necessary at all temperatures. A good 0w20 will be much lighter on startup than GC. German Castrol is very close to being a 0w40 and has a high HTHS viscosity. You probably won't notice much difference in power or fuel economy but possibly more bypass events at cold temperatures, which are undetectable to the driver. After all its a Honda it's going to last awhile.

If you want to experiment consider a lighter 5w30 like Pennzoil Platinum or Pennzoil Ultra.

 

[artificialist]

Every Honda I work on seems to sap power when using a higher viscosity oil.

Yes, I think you could run GC if the manual allows API SL. However, it certainly would not be ideal.

 

[AndrewD]

Stick with a energy conserving 5W-20. Mobil 1 comes to mind.

 

[fdcg27]

I used GC for a few runs in our old 2.2 and 2.3.
The 2.3 engine had 5W-20 recommended for it in its later model years.
GC didn't seem to hurt fuel economy or engine responsiveness.
Any advantage to it?
As a thicker oil, it does damp noise pretty effectively.
I don't think that there's any advantage in a Euro-spec high HTHS oil in a typical Honda engine in reducing wear.
GC is a solid oil that meets the claimed certs, but none of those certs apply to Honda engines.
After 5K, your engine is broken in and you can use any oil you wish without concern.