M1 0w20 AFE, 6200 miles, 2006 Civic

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Patman

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Here are the latest results from my 2006 Civic, analysis done by Wearcheck Canada:


6,200 miles on oil
April 22, 2017 to Feb 17, 2018 (10 months)
143,600 miles on engine
Mobil 1 0w20 AFE
Fram Ultra oil filter
4.0L oil capacity
750 ml make up oil



Iron 7.5
Lead 0
Aluminum 2.8
Copper 0.6
Chromium 0.5
Nickel 0.2
Tin 0
Silver 0
Vanadium 0.2

Silicon 16
Potassium 1.4
Sodium 5.3
Sulfur 1527

Moly 67
Boron 36
Titanium 0
Calcium 982
Magnesium 649
Manganese 0.2
Antimony 0.8
Barium 0
Lithium 0.2
Beryllium 0
Cadmium 0


Phosphorus 542
Zinc 612

Oxidation 60%
Nitration 66%
Sulfation 68%

Soot 0
Glycol 0
Water 0
Fuel 8%


Viscosity at 100c 6.4
Viscosity at 40c 47.9
Viscosity Index 74


I was really hoping to see no fuel in the sample this time (last time was 5%) but it went the other way!
frown.gif
I put in more 0w20 AFE and did not change the filter, but my original plan was to switch to either 0w20 EP or AP on the next interval after this one. Now I'm wondering if I'm better off to just stick with shorter intervals and cheaper conventional oil. I really don't want to spend a lot of money looking into the cause of this excess fuel, as the car really isn't worth much at all and just needs to last me 4 more years (and then I will be retired so we can get away with just the BMW and Corvette) The car still runs great, there is no hard starting problem (like there was a few years ago when I had a lot of fuel in the oil) so if it weren't for this UOA I would never even know there was any issue at all. Considering the high fuel and low viscosity, wear numbers are excellent!

I had done back to back doses of Gumout Regane over two full tankfulls at the start of this interval to try to lower the fuel (which has worked for me before) and I will try it again this time.
 
Even the new Civics have a fair amount of FD esp the turbo engines. But the wear numbers are very good. Does the car idle a lot and get short trips? Maybe just start it and go and not let it warm up if that's the case. Drive it easy of course till it's warmed up.
 
The oil life monitor was at 20% and I don't do many short trips and I rarely ever idle it to warm it up unless the windows are completely iced over.
 
If you don't do short trips and don't let it warm up, then I would check the injectors.

Although, I think there is nothing to worry about. Just don't extend the OCI with 20 grade.

I'd also switch to xw30 at that mileage.
 
From what I remember with the newer Civics and FD, using a higher octane fuel seems to lower it. Maybe try that for the last few tanks instead of using fuel cleaners. Then see how that works in it. Prob about the same cost.
 
Replacing the injectors really isn't an expense I want to deal with, especially if there are no obvious signs of a problem (other than this UOA, I'd never know there was an issue at all)

I don't see the need for a thicker oil when the wear numbers still look good even with this 20 weight oil thinning out a lot.
 
Wear numbers look good but oil thinned out

If you switch 30 weight then you will have safety margin. If it gets thinner due to excessive fuel, it will still stay in 20 range.

Not to mention 30 and 40 weight is used globally in r18 engine, so it will not hurt running thicker grade.

Also, i didnt mean to replace the injectors, but you can get them checked out

https://www.torontoinjectors.com
 
Why not pull the 4 injectors and send them to Trav? If they're the problem they won't be in very short order. If I were looking to keep car for another 4 years that's what I'd do. It will be money well spent and resolve the issue immediately.
 
The problem is that I don't have the ability to remove them myself, plus sending them across the border would put the car out of commission for quite a while too. I'm surprised with that much fuel in the oil that I'm not seeing any tangible signs of a problem. A few years ago when I ran into this issue with high fuel in my UOAs, I also had a hard starting problem whenever the car sat for more than 24 hours. This car recently sat in the parking lot of the Niagara Falls airport for 10 days, but started up immediately when I returned to it.
 
Originally Posted By: Patman
The problem is that I don't have the ability to remove them myself, plus sending them across the border would put the car out of commission for quite a while too. I'm surprised with that much fuel in the oil that I'm not seeing any tangible signs of a problem. A few years ago when I ran into this issue with high fuel in my UOAs, I also had a hard starting problem whenever the car sat for more than 24 hours. This car recently sat in the parking lot of the Niagara Falls airport for 10 days, but started up immediately when I returned to it.


Ah Canada! My bad. Why not shoot him a PM? He might have some helpful ideas.
 
What about those injector cleaning services offered by a lot of fast lube places, are they effective or just a waste of money?
 
Originally Posted By: Patman
What about those injector cleaning services offered by a lot of fast lube places, are they effective or just a waste of money?


With the rep most of these quick lube places have, I'd pass.
 
Waste of money, I went to have one done at a tire shop type place on the 99 Accord and watched them. They couldn't figure out how to hook up the machine to the car. They told me they couldn't do it. Good thing I watched or probably would have been charged. Asked the service manager at the Honda dealer about it and he said not to bother. Just run some Chevron Techron if I wanted. This as back in 2008 so maybe the Honda dealer now has some type of fuel cleaning service. But I'd watch them to make sure they do it.

Toyota and Subaru have a fuel induction service that they do that seems worth while. Walmart TLE also offers a fuel system cleaner for $20 or an extra $10 if you get an oil change.
 
Originally Posted By: dgunay


I'd also switch to xw30 at that mileage.


+1 , I plan to change our 2016 Civic over to 0W-30 or 5W-30 as soon as I'm out of the powertrain warranty.
My wife does a lot of short trip driving .
 
Originally Posted By: demarpaint


With the rep most of these quick lube places have, I'd pass.



Good point. My current plan of attack is to try out a few different types of fuel system cleaners over the course of a few different tankfuls. Might as well start cheap and see how that goes first. I will do a short 3k interval on this oil and get a UOA and hopefully I will see some improvement there.
 
I like the Gumout line of products too, that's what I've always used in the past. I went out tonight and filled up the tank and put in a bottle of Gumout Regane Complete Fuel System cleaner and I will also do a tankful with the High Mileage stuff above, then one with Regane All in One and then another tankful with Gumout injector cleaner. I figure I might as well mix it up with a few of their different products.

And after giving it some thought, I will be sticking with synthetic oil as I think it can probably handle fuel dilution better than conventional oil would.
 
Originally Posted By: Patman


And after giving it some thought, I will be sticking with synthetic oil as I think it can probably handle fuel dilution better than conventional oil would.


Bumping up a grade to 0W30 would probably help too.
 
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