05 Civic 5W20 dino - boosting juice?

[zb11]

Hi guys.......I have a 05 Civic 5sp with about 20k on the clock. I have and will run 5W20, even though I live in Phoenix. First oil change was with PP and the next two with MC. Now I plan on changing to straight dino Chevron (rebate) and a NAPA Gold filter (rebate) with 5k – 7k changes. Most mileage comes from road trips (85%), otherwise errands around town.

I have read much that dino should be fine in a Honda, even in the heat. However, are there any recommendations regarding boosting the conventional? e.g. VSOT, LC, etc. Even if I do not go the additive route, I am sure that I will still sleep well at night.

This particular 5W20 topic may have been already beat to death, but I am sure there are some strong and useful opinions out there. I did check the used oil analysis but did not find this particular combination.

Thanks in advance to all BITOGers.

 

[AstroVic]

My thoughts only:

If you NEED an oil supplement to "boost" the quality of the oil in your crankcase, then perhaps you should just change the oil more frequently. Heck, for the price of the additive you can practically offset the cost of the synthetic oil anyhow!

Also, I would look at the owner's manual. I can fairly certainly guarantee that it will tell you not to use oil additives. Take the recommended OCI and do not exceed it. If you choose to do it more often, then you certainly won't be hurting anything.

From the way it sounds, you are not pushing the oil very hard anyhow. I really wouldn't worry about it under the current maintenance schedule you're using. (I wouldn't push dino much past 5,000 mile intervals, particularly in a new car that I cared about, but that's just me.)

In my 2001 Honda Civic, I ran Mobil 1 5W30 oil/filters for 10,000 mile intervals and had no apparent issues whatsoever. (This was on about 70% highway use.) I sold the car at 70,000+ miles and it still ran like the day I bought it.

 

[427Z06]

If I were going to add anything to the oil in that Civic, it'd be the LC according to Terry's recommendations.

 

[Asystole]

quote:

---

Originally posted by zb11:
[QB] First oil change was with PP and the next two with MC. Now I plan on changing to straight dino Chevron (rebate) and a NAPA Gold filter (rebate) with 5k – 7k changes.

---

May I ask why you switched around so much?

I plan on using PP on my 2006 civic after a few short OCI using Havoline up until 10K.

As AstroVic stated, if you are using a quality oil and filter, and a rather conservative OCI, there probably is no need for any additives. If you are really worried about it, shorter OCI's would offset the cost of additives anyway.

If you absolutely cannot sleep at night unless there are additives in you oilpan, I am sure that everyone would agree that you use them in moderation.

 

[Chris Meutsch]

Run your already-chosen quality dino you mentioned and run it 5k. No additives needed. You could probably go to 7500 if you used Havoline or Motorcraft which are both known to be really great 5w20's. I've been running synthetic in my 2001 Civic way longer than 10k and no worries yet. It's a bulletproof engine IMO.
Not sure about Chevron but their gas treatment rocks.

 

[Ray H]

Phoenix summertime temperatures constitute severe service.

 

[desmonsm]

quote:

---

Originally posted by zb11:
Hi guys.......I have a 05 Civic 5sp with about 20k on the clock. I have and will run 5W20, even though I live in Phoenix. First oil change was with PP and the next two with MC. Now I plan on changing to straight dino Chevron (rebate) and a NAPA Gold filter (rebate) with 5k – 7k changes. Most mileage comes from road trips (85%), otherwise errands around town.

I have read much that dino should be fine in a Honda, even in the heat. However, are there any recommendations regarding boosting the conventional? e.g. VSOT, LC, etc. Even if I do not go the additive route, I am sure that I will still sleep well at night.

This particular 5W20 topic may have been already beat to death, but I am sure there are some strong and useful opinions out there. I did check the used oil analysis but did not find this particular combination.

Thanks in advance to all BITOGers.

---

ZB-
What Napa Gold rebate are you talking about? I didn't know there was one...

 

[dkryan]

zb11:

Yep, Phoenix weather would get my vote for severe service.

I don't consider myself to be an oil additive freak. In fact, I use no oil additives at all. Even though I like FP60 in the gas tank, I don't use LC.

If I were you, with your location and 85% highway miles, I'd go to a full synthetic (Mobil 1 0w20 or 5w20, or Pennzoil Platinum 5w20) and run it to 6k miles or so and perform a used oil analysis to see where the oil is at. The used oil analysis will be the best way to determine how the oil is suited to your engine/geographical location/driving habits.

If you've yet to have a used oil analysis done, I'd recommend doing one at your next OCI in order to establish some sort of "baseline" for future reference.

As an aside, I've used Terry Dyson's services on several occasions and have found his advice to be sound (Dysonanalysis.com).

Good luck.

 

[GoHeels1981]

if you are worried about having a robust additive pack, I suggest you consider Havoline 5w-20, change the filter every 10 k...and do a drain and fill every 2500.

This is overkill, by the way, but I prefer to change more frequently than use additives. A drain and fill using Havoline should run about $6-7 per drain....if you buy it at Sam's ~$1.60 per qt.

Again, this is over the top...but should help you sleep better at nights if this is you concern.

 

[Alcibiades]

I think RayH is right. You could probably get away with what you want to do. If it were my car, however, in that heat, I wouldn't go past 5k with dino.

 

[zb11]

Thanks for the responses. The thoughts here are pretty much where my head is at.

I haven't used additives in the past, but questioned the potential of using of a few select ones after reading BITOG.

I tried different oils due to what I have read here on BITOG.

With the conventional oil I will not be going past 5K (I haven't yet).

The NAPA filter rebate was a surprise. $6.60 back when you purchase two NAPA Gold filters. $4.00 for NAPA Select.

 

[desmonsm]

quote:

---

Originally posted by zb11:
Thanks for the responses. The thoughts here are pretty much where my head is at.

I haven't used additives in the past, but questioned the potential of using of a few select ones after reading BITOG.

I tried different oils due to what I have read here on BITOG.

With the conventional oil I will not be going past 5K (I haven't yet).

The NAPA filter rebate was a surprise. $6.60 back when you purchase two NAPA Gold filters. $4.00 for NAPA Select.

---

Edited post - I found the answer to my question in another discussion. Mods, please remove this post.

[ July 13, 2006, 12:48 PM: Message edited by: desmonsm ]