2018 Civic SI 1.5L Castrol 0w-40 10K OCI

[bink]

Hi, This OCI was from 20k to 30k on the engine. The previous OCI was also 0w-40 from 15k-20k. The previous OCI's were PP 0w-20 at 5k each. I switched to 0w40 after noticing the extra half quart being drained each time. My driving habits are 60 miles a day commute with 90% of that being highway. The car rarely sees short trips as I drive my truck around town. When changing the oil I also discovered an oil leak from either the oil pan or main seal. I wasn't able to get a good look at it. An oil change with filter calls for 3.7 quarts. I drained around 4.25 quarts. After I get the oil leak taken care of this car is most likely sold.

hopefully i attached the report correctly.

 

[The Critic]

The oil leak is probably coming from the cam cover plate. Look for oil on top of the bell housing.

 

[addyguy]

For 'easy' all highway driving, that oil (usually very robust) got beaten up pretty badly.

Would cut back to 5k, if you care...

 

[bink]

Originally Posted by addyguy
For 'easy' all highway driving, that oil (usually very robust) got beaten up pretty badly.

Would cut back to 5k, if you care...


I dont rag on the car but, I enjoy it on entrance ramps on the highway sometimes. Im not banging it off the rev limiter or abusing the car. Its a seden for commuting and not a high performance car. I absolutely will change the oil at 5k if I keep it. Do you think the break down of the oil is possibly due to the fuel dilution?

 

[addyguy]

Absolutely. 3% is a lot of fuel, and its hit the viscosity and TBN hard.

 

[buster]

I'd use a 5w20/10w30 or an oil with a rock solid viscosity modifier in this engine.

 

[Tjbouwhu]

No oil leak, it's accumulation of fuel (GDI engine)...the Honda 1.5l is particularly know for this especially short trips in cold climates. Personally I wouldn't go that many miles on a GDI engines.

 

[bink]

Originally Posted by Tjbouwhu
No oil leak, it's accumulation of fuel (GDI engine)...the Honda 1.5l is particularly know for this especially short trips in cold climates. Personally I wouldn't go that many miles on a GDI engines.


it most definitely does have an oil leak. This car is south of the ohio river. Our winter was mild this year. This car is rarely if ever short tripped. When its cold here (below 32), I drive my 4wd truck. see the pic below. The oil leak is coming from either the crank pulley or the oil pan. I cant get a good enough view on it to determine exactly.

 

[Kjmack]

Why not have Honda fix it ? It's in warranty I assume .

 

[PimTac]

Originally Posted by Kjmack
Why not have Honda fix it ? It's in warranty I assume .



Agree. This should definitely fall under the warranty.

 

[bink]

Originally Posted by PimTac
Originally Posted by Kjmack
Why not have Honda fix it ? It's in warranty I assume .



Agree. This should definitely fall under the warranty.


the oil leak will be fixed under warranty...the crappy fuel dilution doesnt have a "fix". they have a TSB for the northern states. it doesnt really do squat though. honda claims it only happens for short trips and cold weather...

 

[aquariuscsm]

That is a motherload of iron!

 

[dnewton3]

Something isn't adding up ...

OEM OFCI = 3.7 qrts.
Your drain = 4.25 qrts
That's 15% overfilled !!! (essentially more than 1/8th of your sump is overfilled)
Presuming you're not doing that on purpose (I don't know why you would), then you've got 15% fuel and/or coolant getting into the oil. You cannot cheat the laws of physics and math. I don't see any evidence of coolant, so it's likely mostly gas going into your oil. I realize the oil report states 3% fuel, but I suspect it's a LOT more than that. So much for Polaris being accurate on fuel dilution ... And the fact that you state each OFCI has an extra quart means this is an ongoing issue; it's not a one-time oops. Are you actually measuring what comes out, or just estimating? With a calculated 12% fuel, the OCI should reek of gas.

I suspect your Fe is high because of the fuel; also your Al is higher than what I'd expect to see. And the fuel explains why your syn 40 grade is at the low end of a 30 grade.

To be fair, this wear rate isn't atrocious; it's not going to grenade itself. But it's not stellar, either.

Note sure what the Honda dealer will do about it, but I'd at least get it on record with them.

Given that fuel dilution issue, and the probability that Honda isn't going to do anything about it, then I'd shorten the OCI a bit and move to a cheaper lube. No sense spending money on an expensive lube you'll have to dump often. Obviously warrant isn't a concern to you; you're running a non-standard grade already. So perhaps run a 10w-30 conventional oil and just OFCI more often? Try it and see how that affects wear.

 

[bink]

I first noticed the extra "oil" at the second oil change at 10K. I bought one of those 5 gallon hedpacks to keep used oil in and saw that it was a little past the 1 gallon mark. I poured it into a 5 quart oil bottle and saw it was around 4.25 quarts. Thats eye balling it so obviously thats not super accurate, but accurate enough to noticed something was up. So I googled it and came across this site and a couple of honda forums. I wanted to do 10K OCI's so I switched to 0w-40. Ill make an appointment with honda to address the oil leak. Ill do another report with 5k on it and then re-evaluate if I want to keep the car. Thanks for the input!


ohh its ive never seen an extra full quart, always around half a quart.

 

[PimTac]

"ohh its ive never seen an extra full quart, always around half a quart."




A half a quart is still a big percentage considering the small sump capacity of less than four quarts for this vehicle.

 

[Smokescreen]

The 1.5 L DI turbo is the staple for the civic, accord, CRV, line up with many sales around the globe, its too bad about the fuel dilution and wear. Do we know if this is an issue everywhere? I just hear about North America so I don't know.

 

[Blue_Goose]

I have the 1.5L Turbo in my EX hatchback. Granted it's not the SI. The only time I've noticed the oil level high was on the FF.

I've done maybe 4 changes and I'm about to hit 30K on it and I've had the car since mid August of last year. My commute is 100 miles per day round trip with about 98% of it highway. Usually breeze down in the morning but will get caught in some stop and go on the way home.

I purposely only fill the changes not to the top of the dipstick mark....maybe 3.5 quarts? I've been running the last couple of changes to close to what the Maintenance Minder is telling me....I think 9K on last change of Pennz Plat. Filters are either Fram Ultra's or Mobil 1. I check the oil every couple of weeks and generally don't see a rise in the level or smell gas in the changed oil.

I live in NH and did get the 'Product Advisory" letter. I'm thinking about getting it done.

My wife has a 2019 Touring Coupe and got the letter as well. She has had the work done on her car. Her commute is vastly different. Less than a mile.


Maybe I'll do an Oil Analysis next change

 

[Talent_Keyhole]

Originally Posted by bink
Hi, This OCI was from 20k to 30k on the engine. The previous OCI was also 0w-40 from 15k-20k. The previous OCI's were PP 0w-20 at 5k each. I switched to 0w40 after noticing the extra half quart being drained each time. My driving habits are 60 miles a day commute with 90% of that being highway. The car rarely sees short trips as I drive my truck around town. When changing the oil I also discovered an oil leak from either the oil pan or main seal. I wasn't able to get a good look at it. An oil change with filter calls for 3.7 quarts. I drained around 4.25 quarts. After I get the oil leak taken care of this car is most likely sold.

hopefully i attached the report correctly.


Did you provide the Castro product name?

The wear rate per 1000 miles looks to be on the normal range for a GDI engine, Iron is 2.9, Aluminum is 1.1 and Copper is .2. The GM Ecotec GDI non turbo is 5.7/1k miles and 2.5 for non GDI.

Have you found VOA for the Castrol to see about the Titanium if it is an additive. I have seen some use it as high as 80ppm.

After 10k miles I am surprised that the viscosity has not sheard back to a 20W. TBN will always show lower due to the type of test method but seems to have did it's job during this OCI

Fuel % is probably correct, higher amounts results in much higher rates in iron wear and viscosity loss. I would sample at 2500, 5000 and 7500.

Attached is thread with user that shared his UOA for his Civic 1.5lT. He had better results using Amsoil SS, with the same amount of Fuel Dilution.

https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/foru...l-5w-30-sig-series-voa-mfg-020619#UNREAD

 

[John_Dude]

Clean your mass air flow sensor, could be running rich because its dirty, causing extra fuel dilution.

MAF cleaner is like $10 for a can that will last for 10ish uses

Or it could just be because of the direct injection and turbo. Seems like a lot of these new low displacement forced induction engines show a lot of fuel dilution. 0w40 is really all you can do.

 

[WhizkidTN]

I'd stick to the Castrol Edge 0W-40 with 5K OCI max. Rerun the UOA at that point and see what your values become (repost then if you can).