Did I make a mistake running 5w20?

[Patman]

My wife's 2000 Civic, which we bought brand new and now has 88k on it, has never consumed oil at all the entire time we've had it, and I've run 5w30 (or 0w30) in it until the last few oil changes. I decided that even though the owner's manual calls for 5w30 (2000 was the last year before they started calling for 5w20 in the manual) that I would give 5w20 a try since she drives mostly short trips of under 10 miles at a time. For the first two intervals with 5w20 (GTX) it did not consume any oil at all, but on this last 5k run (with Petro Canada 5w20, which is supposedly a very well built oil with a good portion of group 3 in it) it used one full quart! Yikes!

So now I'm wondering if I should've just stuck to the 30 weights, or perhaps maybe the PC 5w20 is the problem? I've now got Canadian Tire's Formula 1 5w20 in there, which is simply rebadged Shell Formula 5w20. So we'll see if it still uses a full quart on this 5k run.

Has anyone else gone from consuming no oil at all with 0w30/5w30 to consuming a significant amount with 5w20? I know a quart every 5k isn't cause for alarm under normal circumstances, but having it go from consuming nothing at all (even on a 12k run I did a few years ago) to this amount, disturbs me a lot.

 

[oilyriser]

My car used about 1/2 quart 5w20 in ~9000 km, which is slightly more than it does on 5w30 but still nothing significant like what you experienced. I didn't try the petro canada oil, though. Maybe seals are reacting differently to it.

Is there a drip at the drain plug or seepage at the filter?

 

[Gary Allan]

Quote:
disturbs me a lot.


Of course it's going to freak you. Relax ..wait it out. You don't have a damaged engine. You know that. You may be experiencing the rare case of transitional consumption when switching oils.

 

[Triple_Se7en]

Without looking and relying on my bad

memory, I'm guessing the Petro Canada is a thin 20w -- GTX is a thick 20W.

....Or the Civic just prefers the base oil and add-pack of the GTX more.

Thanks for sharing this info. I've been wanting to try Petro Canada. Now I'm a little iffy.

 

[Titan]

Maybe you have something like a stuck ring that just happened to coincide with you change of oils? I'd do the very-high vacuum technique to see if that was it. Let the rpm's get near redline in 1st gear while going down a steep hill, get off the throttle completely...repeat a couple of times. It can't hurt, and it could unstick a ring if that is the cause.

 

[Patman]

Originally Posted By: oilyriser


Is there a drip at the drain plug or seepage at the filter?


Nope, the filter looked like new still and the bottom of the pan was bone dry.

 

[Patman]

Originally Posted By: Gary Allan
Quote:
disturbs me a lot.


Of course it's going to freak you. Relax ..wait it out. You don't have a damaged engine. You know that. You may be experiencing the rare case of transitional consumption when switching oils.



That's what I'm hoping it is, although now I switched brands again with this interval since I couldn't resist buying the Canadian Tire 5w20 for $8.99 for a 4.4L jug, compared to the $4.99 per liter I paid for the Petro Canada oil!

 

[Merkava_4]

That 5W-20 was acting like a real good penetrating oil; penetrating passed the piston rings and valve guides.

 

[Steelhead]

wife's HMC 5w30 rated car loves any 5w20 or 0w20 I throw in it.
cold winter starts and cold driveoff far better than the old 5w30
been using 20 for last 7 years.
i take it to redline several times a month
ran Mobil 1 5w20 to 8k miles, no oil consumption and still had above 4 TBN

maybe you're due for a Molasoak or AutoRX. Molasoak and Berryman's B12 carbon burnoff did wonders to both of wife's HMC products

both the DOHC 4 cyl and DOHC V6 love moly/zddp adds.
boosting to abt 1200 P and Z, moly to abt 300 ppm

 

[ToyotaNSaturn]

Patman, in a word, no. I don't believe it was a mistake at all. Optimum performance from the 20wt product? No, but you didn't make any mistakes IMO.

 

[Drew99GT]

Look at those temps for Saturday Patman. I'd be glad 5w-20 was in the sump!!!

 

[jmb106]

Originally Posted By: Patman
My wife's 2000 Civic, which we bought brand new and now has 88k on it, has never consumed oil at all the entire time we've had it, and I've run 5w30 in it until the last few oil changes. I decided that even though the owner's manual calls for 5w30 (2000 was the last year before they started calling for 5w20 in the manual) that I would give 5w20 a try since she drives mostly short trips of under 10 miles at a time. For the first two intervals with 5w20 (GTX) it did not consume any oil at all, but on this last 5k run (with Petro Canada 5w20, which is supposedly a very well built oil with a good portion of group 3 in it) it used one full quart! Yikes!

So now I'm wondering if I should've just stuck to 5w30, or perhaps maybe the PC 5w20 is the problem? I've now got Canadian Tire's Formula 1 5w20 in there, which is simply rebadged Shell Formula 5w20. So we'll see if it still uses a full quart on this 5k run.

Has anyone else gone from consuming no oil at all with 5w30 to consuming a significant amount with 5w20? I know a quart every 5k isn't cause for alarm under normal circumstances, but having it go from consuming nothing at all (even on a 12k run I did a few years ago) to this amount, disturbs me a lot.


Interesting i am on my 1st OCI of M1 5w20 in my 99 civic, switched from Mobil Clean 5000 5w30. Havn't had any consumption yet, keeps us upto date on this OCI if theres any consumption. Most likly just from switching brands, keep an eye on it!

 

[teven7492]

Patman just go back to 5w30 Honda's do really well on Havoline and Motorcraft.

 

[Patman]

Originally Posted By: teven7492
Patman just go back to 5w30 Honda's do really well on Havoline and Motorcraft.


Neither of which is available up here.

 

[Patman]

Originally Posted By: Steelhead


maybe you're due for a Molasoak or AutoRX.


I honestly don't think this engine needs AutoRX at all, as for most of it's life it's had either Mobil 1 or GC 0w30, so the insides are probably super clean. When I peak inside the top of the motor through the fill hole, it looks spotless as far as I can see.

 

[Patman]

Originally Posted By: ToyotaNSaturn
Patman, in a word, no. I don't believe it was a mistake at all. Optimum performance from the 20wt product? No, but you didn't make any mistakes IMO.


It's not that I don't think 5w20 can get the job done, as I do think that 5w20 oils will be the wave of the future. It's just alarming to me that it would go from consuming no oil whatsoever on one interval to consuming a full quart in 5k on the next one. I expected this engine to begin consuming oil at some point in it's life cycle, but figured it would get there gradually and I'd just notice it down a 1/4 qt on one interval, then it would be thousands of miles later before it hit 1/2 qt of consumption, and so on.

 

[ThirdeYe]

I would've been alarmed too. I recently switched to using Amsoil in my Honda engine after a lifetime of dino oils, and I haven't experienced any consumption yet, and I have over 2000 miles on it so far. I was expecting some, as I've heard that you can see a temporary increase when switching to synthetic (as you did) so hopefully it'll calm down a bit for you.

 

[ToyotaNSaturn]

Originally Posted By: Patman
Originally Posted By: ToyotaNSaturn
Patman, in a word, no. I don't believe it was a mistake at all. Optimum performance from the 20wt product? No, but you didn't make any mistakes IMO.


It's not that I don't think 5w20 can get the job done, as I do think that 5w20 oils will be the wave of the future. It's just alarming to me that it would go from consuming no oil whatsoever on one interval to consuming a full quart in 5k on the next one. I expected this engine to begin consuming oil at some point in it's life cycle, but figured it would get there gradually and I'd just notice it down a 1/4 qt on one interval, then it would be thousands of miles later before it hit 1/2 qt of consumption, and so on.


I guess we're on the same page. My recent topic expresses the same concern...why 20wt consumption?

I think buster's answer is the most logical reply for my issue, probably the same for your concern, too.

 

[jorton]

Was there fuel dilution during the pc oc? That will increase consumption.

I've been reading more stories about fd this year. 4 years ago af contamination was more common than fd. If mfrs permit it to continue in new models, they'll have to re-engineer for thick oil and discontinue 5w-20.

 

[Patman]

Originally Posted By: jorton
Was there fuel dilution during the pc oc? That will increase consumption.



I'm still waiting on my UOA to see if there was any fuel dilution. They've done all the tests except for TBN (according to their online monitoring setup) so I'm hoping to have the results before close of business today.