Seeking Oil Recommendations

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Hello,

1. This is my first post!!!

2. I have three cars for which I would like to do my own oil changes. The information is as follows: Year, Make, Model, Odometer, Recommended Oil from OM:
a. 2000 Honda Odyssey EX, 205,000km (128,000mi), 5W-30;
b. 2006 Honda Civic DX, 170,000km (105,630mi), 5W-20;
c. 2006 Acura TSX, 150,000km (93,200mi), 5W-30

3. I have always taken them to a shop to have the oil changed, but I have more time on my hands now and would like to do the changes myself.

4. I live in Ottawa, Canada where over the course of a year, the temperature typically varies from 5°F to 79°F and is rarely below -12°F or above 87°F. However this year we had many of these -12°F days it seems.

5. My questions are:
a. Should I stay with Conventional oil, or go with High-Mileage, or even Synthetic oil?
b. What is High-Mileage oil, and what are its benefits?
c. Can I interchange them? For example, if I change to High-Mileage now and decide later to go back to Conventional or even Synthetic will it harm the engine, or do I have to stay with High-Mileage in the future? Same as if I change to Synthetic, do I have to stay with it in the future?
d. Considering the age and mileage should I change from the recommended blend or stay with Honda’s recommendations?
e. Finally, should I change the blend in the spring and in the fall? If so, what should I use for each season?

Thank you for your replies..
 
You can interchange them and even blend brands as long as each oil is API certified. To keep it simple I would just by 5W30 in bulk that is on sale and your engines will be fine from a lubrication standpoint.
 
If it was me, I'd put in Castrol Extended Performance 5w-30 synthetic gold bottle (Walmart) and leave it in for 1 yr or 15,000 miles, whichever comes first, in ALL those vehicles. Then use a Fram Ultra oil filter for the best finest filtration and longevity.
You can put in Liqui Moly Motor Saver IF you see a little leakage due to seal conditioners, thats all a High Mileage oil will do extra over a normal synthetic.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: Ottawa1999
Hi fredfactory,
I have the same question: use 5W-30 even for the Civic where the recommendation is 5W-20?

Yes. You could easily. Not much difference between a -20 and a -30, one is 2.6 HTHS and the other is about 3.0 HTHS, and with a higher mileage engine like your Civic, going a notch thicker is fine to fill the slightly increased clearances. (You could use a 0w-20 or 5w-20, any name brand synthetic and go 10,000 miles or 6 months whichever came first, if you feel more comfortable staying with Honda's new engine HTHS viscosity specs. You'll get the same results either way on wear. The -20 oils will give you 1% better gas mileage though.)

I like Castrol Extended Performance products best, although Mobil Extended Performance synth oils are a nice 2nd choice.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: fredfactory
If it was me, I'd put in Castrol Extended Performance 5w-30 synthetic gold bottle (Walmart) and leave it in for 1 yr or 15,000 miles, whichever comes first, in ALL those vehicles. Then use a Fram Ultra oil filter for the best finest filtration and longevity.
You can put in Liqui Moly Motor Saver IF you see a little leakage due to seal conditioners, thats all a High Mileage oil will do extra over a normal synthetic.


Agree √

Or use M1 EP 5W30/yearly oci's with Fram Ultra! (Assuming you have no Leak's or else 5W20 Maxlife from Walmart)
 
Originally Posted By: Ottawa1999
Hi fredfactory,
I have the same question: use 5W-30 even for the Civic where the recommendation is 5W-20?


Yes. When I find Pennzoil Ultra 5W30 for $3.00 a quart I use it in my vehicles that recommend 5W20. I have not lost any sleep using a 5W30 in an application that recommends a 5W30.
 
You'll get a lot of opinions about oil changes here.
Main thing to consider is how often do you want to change oil?
The "Extended Performance" synthetic oils out there give you that option to go a year or 15,000 miles. Also the Fram Ultra is unbeatable for best filtration and endurance.

Others might say use a conventional oil and change every 3 months, but don't buy that. Waste and no better wear results.
 
Any synthetic of your choice! I wouldn't go the High Mileage route if your cars aren't leaking and the engines are clean and dry.

Fram Ultra filters

And save up for some new automatic transmissions!
 
Originally Posted By: fredfactory
You'll get a lot of opinions about oil changes here.
Main thing to consider is how often do you want to change oil?
The "Extended Performance" synthetic oils out there give you that option to go a year or 15,000 miles. Also the Fram Ultra is unbeatable for best filtration and endurance.

Others might say use a conventional oil and change every 3 months, but don't buy that. Waste and no better wear results.


Pfff. There is no better wear results with a "conventional" a 10 to 15K OCI's vs a 15K OCI on a "extended performance" "synthetic".
 
Great thanks for your advice all. Any comments about using different blends or thickness in summer and winter because of the wide temperature variations in Ottawa, Canada?
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: Ottawa1999
Hello,

1. This is my first post!!!

2. I have three cars for which I would like to do my own oil changes. The information is as follows: Year, Make, Model, Odometer, Recommended Oil from OM:
a. 2000 Honda Odyssey EX, 205,000km (128,000mi), 5W-30;
b. 2006 Honda Civic DX, 170,000km (105,630mi), 5W-20;
c. 2006 Acura TSX, 150,000km (93,200mi), 5W-30

3. I have always taken them to a shop to have the oil changed, but I have more time on my hands now and would like to do the changes myself.

4. I live in Ottawa, Canada where over the course of a year, the temperature typically varies from 5°F to 79°F and is rarely below -12°F or above 87°F. However this year we had many of these -12°F days it seems.

5. My questions are:
a. Should I stay with Conventional oil, or go with High-Mileage, or even Synthetic oil?
b. What is High-Mileage oil, and what are its benefits?
c. Can I interchange them? For example, if I change to High-Mileage now and decide later to go back to Conventional or even Synthetic will it harm the engine, or do I have to stay with High-Mileage in the future? Same as if I change to Synthetic, do I have to stay with it in the future?
d. Considering the age and mileage should I change from the recommended blend or stay with Honda’s recommendations?
e. Finally, should I change the blend in the spring and in the fall? If so, what should I use for each season?

Thank you for your replies..


I would run a good high mileage oil in those vehicles as they are all near or over 100K. HM oils are designed to clean out( and keep clean )engines with 75K+ miles, swell seals and gaskets to help reduce/stop leaks, and they contain extra wear additives to help the older engines. Pick one and run it year round. Yes, if you wish you can go to other oil types. Conventional, blend, and full syn are all interchangeable( unless there is a specific warning not to on the bottle ).

Valvoline MaxLife( syn blend & full syn available )is a good one as is Kendall GT-1 HM( syn blend )if you can find it. Royal Purple has a new HM oil as well. I haven't used it but I like their other offerings. I have read that RP up there in Canada is easy to get locally and is priced the same as the name brand stuff so it might be an option for you?

I would stick with the mfg recommended weghts for them and change at reasonable time/mileage limits
 
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Originally Posted By: Ottawa1999
5. My questions are:
a. Should I stay with Conventional oil, or go with High-Mileage, or even Synthetic oil?
b. What is High-Mileage oil, and what are its benefits?
c. Can I interchange them? For example, if I change to High-Mileage now and decide later to go back to Conventional or even Synthetic will it harm the engine, or do I have to stay with High-Mileage in the future? Same as if I change to Synthetic, do I have to stay with it in the future?
d. Considering the age and mileage should I change from the recommended blend or stay with Honda’s recommendations?
e. Finally, should I change the blend in the spring and in the fall? If so, what should I use for each season?


5a) It's entirely up to you and what you want to do. You can stay with conventional or try HM or Synthetic oils. The benefits of synthetics are seen in the extremes, extreme heat, cold, long oil changes, etc. For a normal 4k-5k mile oil change where the weather isn't overly cold or insane heat, conventionals seem to protect just as well as synthetics. Some people will argue this, but I've never seen anything to indicate that conventional oils aren't performing just as good.

5b) HM oils are oils with extra seal conditioners to keep the seals of your engine healthy so that small leaks don't occur. Some people switch to HM after there is a leak or oil consumption, some people believe that the time to switch is before a leak or consumption occurs, and others feel there's never a need for HM oil because all motor oils have some seal conditioners in them. You also don't have to wait until your vehicle has high mileage to start using a HM oil. They are perfectly good motor oils regardless of mileage, so you could even start using them on a new vehicle. I used them on my car when I had 20k or 30k miles on it (there was a really good sale/rebate going on), in fact Valvoline Max Life Full Synthetic was the smoothest oil I ever used in my vehicle.

5c) Yes you can interchange between them. There was an old wives take that if you went to synthetic, you have to always use synthetic, that's not true. You can switch back and forth based on sales, you can even mix them if you have spare quarts left over and need to do a full oil change. It's not ideal, but they can be used with each other in any combination.

5d) I don't fully understand this question. Are you asking about changing oil weights? You can, but there's no need. You could go 5w-30 in all your vehicles, the extra thickness isn't going to affect your '06 Civic. But if it's not inconvenient, then you might as well stick with what Honda said.

5e) We'd need to know more about how the vehicles are used, how many miles are put on them, driving style, driving conditions, etc. Let's say you're putting 10k miles on each vehicle a year. Looks like you're putting an average of 10k-12k miles on your vehicles each year. You could easily do twice a year oil changes on them. Or you could use a quality synthetic and do once a year oil changes. Let us know more about the vehicles and driving conditions and we can help you more.
 
None of your cars are high mileage or even close to having very high mileage, doesn't seem like you drive too far judging by that mileage. I'd do 1 year or 10,000 miles on any quality synthetic and I'd stick to what the manufacturer recommends, but i'd use 0w20 in the Civic. Use some Mobil 1 and I wouldn't go over 10,000 miles unless you do a UOA that shows your driving style can stretch it out longer. Use a good filter, OEM or a Fram Ultra.
 
Sicko,
Thanks for your reply.
Re questions 5d and 5e. Yesterday I read all of the motor oil 101 article on this site, and though I did not understand all of it, there were some indication that as the car got older or in colder weather perhaps it may be wise to go with a thinner oil. This is what I meant, sorry if it was not clear.
Re the driving style. We just use the mostly use the cars to drive around town (to work and back mostly) with the occasional long trip. The Civic is only used in town never for long trips (mostly to work and back). The Acura (belongs to my in laws) and used only in town with perhaps two long trips (about 800mi) each year. The Odyssey is used on perhaps 5 or 6 long trips a year ranging from (400mi to 2000mi (summer road trips)). So driving style is city stop and go. Driving conditions - again clean, the only harsh conditions are Winters in Canada.
Is that sufficient info?
 
Originally Posted By: dave1251
Originally Posted By: fredfactory
You'll get a lot of opinions about oil changes here.
Main thing to consider is how often do you want to change oil?
The "Extended Performance" synthetic oils out there give you that option to go a year or 15,000 miles. Also the Fram Ultra is unbeatable for best filtration and endurance.

Others might say use a conventional oil and change every 3 months, but don't buy that. Waste and no better wear results.


Pfff. There is no better wear results with a "conventional" a 10 to 15K OCI's vs a 15K OCI on a "extended performance" "synthetic".
Not sure I agree, it's hard to get oil up to temp in a cold climate, the extra TBN protection, along with better cold start pumpability, means a better syn can outperform a basic conventional. Unfortunately Canada doesn't get all the FAR & cheap deals we do here in the USA, I don't think they're giving away stuff up there.
 
Originally Posted By: bullwinkle
Originally Posted By: dave1251
Originally Posted By: fredfactory
You'll get a lot of opinions about oil changes here.
Main thing to consider is how often do you want to change oil?
The "Extended Performance" synthetic oils out there give you that option to go a year or 15,000 miles. Also the Fram Ultra is unbeatable for best filtration and endurance.

Others might say use a conventional oil and change every 3 months, but don't buy that. Waste and no better wear results.


Pfff. There is no better wear results with a "conventional" a 10 to 15K OCI's vs a 15K OCI on a "extended performance" "synthetic".
Not sure I agree, it's hard to get oil up to temp in a cold climate, the extra TBN protection, along with better cold start pumpability, means a better syn can outperform a basic conventional. Unfortunately Canada doesn't get all the FAR & cheap deals we do here in the USA, I don't think they're giving away stuff up there.


A PAO synthetic will outperform an conventional in the arctic circle. Must of us do not live in the arctic circle and there are very few off the shelve PAO synthetics on the market.
 
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