M1 0w20, 6400 miles, 2006 Civic

[Artem]

Originally Posted By: Patman
Originally Posted By: Roob
Silicon seems a tad high to me, could be wrong...400ml consumption isn't to bad, but I would check the oil regularly and add when needed.
Have you tried any other 0w20 oils in the car?


When I first got the car I ran Toyota 0w20 in it, with pretty much the same results. I don't bother adding any oil along the way simply because the specified capacity is actually 3.6L for this engine, and I round it up to 4L when filling up, knowing that by the end of the interval I will still not go below that 3.6L. I'm most encouraged by the fact that this engine is so tight because my 2000 Civic started out it's life using no oil at all but by the 80k mark it started burning quite a bit. My ex wife still drives the car but it's in rough shape, I think it goes through a quart every 2k.



Why not top off the oil, if the level drops to say... half way on the dipstick vs completely full? On my none - little burners, I usually check the oil on a regular basis regardless but top off any tiny bit that's needed about half way into the interval, which to me was about 5-6k miles with my 07 Civic EX with the same R18 engine. Of course I did 10-12k intervals with mine because of quality oil, quality engine and a relatively easy driving style.

I recommend you top off near the end of your regular run and take a sample after driving around for a day or two and check on the TBN. I'm willing to bet that you could run it much further and simply reset the MM @ 15% when it first comes on and run a second interval, changing @ 15% for a total of 10-12k miles (under 2 years)

I'm also willing to bet that with tiny top offs every 6 months, you could easily run that engine till 250k miles without any lube related issues AND the block will be sparkling clean while you're at it!

After doing 2x the mileage that Honda recommends for the 8th gen Civic, and seeing the physical and operational condition of my engine @ 150,000 when it was crashed, I now feel very confident to run Synthetic Oils for longer then the usual 5-6k miles that many people do.

I'm extending the intervals in my 2011 Toyota Avalon past the factory recommended 5k service. I recommend you use the UOA results to it's full potential and do the same to the oil. I KNOW that Mobil 1 can handle 15k in the R18 Civic.

 

[Patman]

Originally Posted By: gathermewool


I guess it doesn't matter too much, since adding 4 quart even, regardless of whether the filter is changed, seems to work out perfectly. I still check after running the engine for the first time after an oil change, though...


I never check the dipstick level at all. Since it uses very little between changes, I find there really isn't a need to check it. I always measure how much oil comes out when I drain it, so if that level ever drastically changes on me, then I'll know how much I'll need to add in order to keep it topped up.

 

[Patman]

Originally Posted By: Artem


I'm willing to bet that you could run it much further and simply reset the MM @ 15% when it first comes on and run a second interval, changing @ 15% for a total of 10-12k miles (under 2 years)


I KNOW that Mobil 1 can handle 15k in the R18 Civic.


I have been thinking a lot about what I should do in the future with the oil changes on this car and for the next one I think I'm going to try something completely against what most of you are saying here, and I'm going to try a shorter interval, just this once. I'm dying to see a UOA on this engine without any winter driving on it. This past winter was the coldest I've ever experienced and even still my numbers were great. But it has me curious as to how much better they might show with only warm weather for the entire interval. And then that sets up to my next oil change after that, at which point I think I will try that idea of resetting the MM at 15%, and not change the oil until another full cycle of the MM when it hits 15% for the second time. The hardest part for me will be having to wait so much longer for the UOA! It's already hard enough having to wait the typical 9 months with this car

 

[Artem]

Agreed on the anticipation for UOA. Hahaha. I used to send my samples EXPRESS Mail, just so I can pull the sample today and have the results tomorrow. Blackstone is on the other side of the country from me, so Priority Mail takes way too long (which is now my typical shipping method).

I honestly doubt you'll see much difference, not counting the typical fluctuations in wear. I don't remember seeing any difference during my testing the Civic. Of course our winter's in Sunny Florida don't get much below zero, we have also have crazy cold winters and I don't see much change in my UOA.

If anything, the shorter run will be the reason for any changes in the data. Just my

 

[fpracha]

Originally Posted By: Artem

If anything, the shorter run will be the reason for any changes in the data. Just my

that's true and the opinion divide on this one runs right thru the middle!

 

[Patman]

True, a shorter amount of miles on the next interval will definitely show lower wear numbers than this UOA, but what I'm looking to see are numbers across the board that are barely above zero.

 

[jhskier25]

6.8cst @100C seems a tad thin...even still, the wear numbers don't indicate anything wrong. Nice report!

 

[gpshumway]

Thanks for posting. Good to see other R18 Civics running M1 AFE. It does seem to shear quite a lot, which is disappointing. My father has been using M1 AFE 0w30 in his Outback and it's much more shear stable in that application than the 0w20 is in my Civic (or yours).

Once my engine is out of warranty and assuming I resolve the high aluminum and silicon readings I've seen in the past, I'm seriously considering going to the new M1 EP 0w20 and just doubling the MM interval.