'08 CRV swap Delo 5w-40 for VRP 5W-20 or 30?

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Jan 12, 2008
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Long Island, NY
My daughters '08 CRV with 247.5k on it, just under 900 miles on the oil. She said since last oil change a month ago power seems to be down and sounds different at idle like not as smooth. MPG's down slightly. I drove it today and it does seem to have lost a bit of it's pep. Could be other things but tires are filled the same. Gas station for fill ups the same. Air filter recently changed, plugs only have about 20k on them (NGK Ruthenium). Valves were adjusted at Honda dealer at about 220k. It's had Gumout Multi-tune at least 2x/year and at least one BG44k about 1.5 years ago. Use is local around town and trips to school, about 8k per year for last 5 years since we got it.

I had the same oil combination in it last time but that was more late winter/spring time and she didn't say anything then. Prior oil to that was PP Euro L 5W-30 with 1qt HPL. She's not your typical girl and pretty in tune with her car, odd noises etc. When she said things in past I found issues even if small. (brakes, power steering, exhaust, tires)

Since I have the oil here in my stash I'm contemplating just swapping to VRP 5W-20 or 5W-30 and try if it makes a difference. I'd save the Delo for the Renegade possibly (filter it anyway).

From what I find.
Delo 5W-40 KV100 = 15.4
PP Euro L 5W-30 KV100 = 11.9
VRP 5W-20 KV100 = 8.4
VRP 5W-30 KV10 = 10.8

Thoughts from the group? It won't get extended drains, I'm doing pretty much 5000 mile changes on my small fleet. I'd probably drain the filter as best as possible and reinstall. I'd hate to waste an old school Honda A01 Filtech.

I'm interested in trying the VRP anyway to clean up more and was planning for future anyway but after more stash got used. I also still have M1 Vanilla 5W-30, PP Euro L 5W-30, 3-4 qts HPL PCMO 5W-30, VRP 0W-20, VRP 5W-20, VRP 5W-30.
 
I've put XXw-40 in a few 4 cylinder vehicles over the years and it always seem to zap the power right out of them.
 
That 5W40 Delo is too thick for that engine. Tried M1 0W40 in my 2008 Acura TL 3.2L VTec when I still owned it years back. Instantly sluggish from the beginning. Didnt even run it 100 miles. Switched it out for a 20 weight full synthetic and it was back to smooth sailing. Honda & Toyota 4 & 6 cylinder engines like 20 weight -- just my opinion.
 
My daughters '08 CRV with 247.5k on it, just under 900 miles on the oil. She said since last oil change a month ago power seems to be down and sounds different at idle like not as smooth. MPG's down slightly. I drove it today and it does seem to have lost a bit of it's pep. Could be other things but tires are filled the same. Gas station for fill ups the same. Air filter recently changed, plugs only have about 20k on them (NGK Ruthenium). Valves were adjusted at Honda dealer at about 220k. It's had Gumout Multi-tune at least 2x/year and at least one BG44k about 1.5 years ago. Use is local around town and trips to school, about 8k per year for last 5 years since we got it.

I had the same oil combination in it last time but that was more late winter/spring time and she didn't say anything then. Prior oil to that was PP Euro L 5W-30 with 1qt HPL. She's not your typical girl and pretty in tune with her car, odd noises etc. When she said things in past I found issues even if small. (brakes, power steering, exhaust, tires)

Since I have the oil here in my stash I'm contemplating just swapping to VRP 5W-20 or 5W-30 and try if it makes a difference. I'd save the Delo for the Renegade possibly (filter it anyway).

From what I find.
Delo 5W-40 KV100 = 15.4
PP Euro L 5W-30 KV100 = 11.9
VRP 5W-20 KV100 = 8.4
VRP 5W-30 KV10 = 10.8

Thoughts from the group? It won't get extended drains, I'm doing pretty much 5000 mile changes on my small fleet. I'd probably drain the filter as best as possible and reinstall. I'd hate to waste an old school Honda A01 Filtech.

I'm interested in trying the VRP anyway to clean up more and was planning for future anyway but after more stash got used. I also still have M1 Vanilla 5W-30, PP Euro L 5W-30, 3-4 qts HPL PCMO 5W-30, VRP 0W-20, VRP 5W-20, VRP 5W-30.
20w
 
A snaphot from a non-US 2018 CR-V onwer's manual . xw-30 ; -40 is totally fine with k20/k24 . And 20 years ago , when the US market had already demanded sae xw-20 oils Euro owner's manuals would not even mention low visc. grades.

cr-v 2018 owners manual1 - Copy.webp
 
Going from an oil that has a kv100 of 10 to 14 is definitely going to hurt power... It's not the oil it's something else. I'm using 5w-40 instead of 0w-20 in a 2.4 Mitsubishi and the engine runs the exact same, has the same throttle response, doesn't feel down on any power, but it is so quiet at idle.

Only in the winter does the 15w-40 in my old trucks make them slightly sluggish leaving the driveway but once they warm up they free rev like always. In the summer they're not sluggish in the cool mornings.

Could just be a slightly clogged air filter or a mass airflow sensor. Oil has never made an engine less smooth at idle. maybe more rattly or more quiet but not vibrate or have a rough idle.
 
With that many miles how about a clogged cat? When you give it gas from a stop it struggles? Just a guess
It doesn't burn any to aid in clogging the cat but if it did, the original was replaced in February '22 after some of Bridgeport CT's stellar residents decided it was worth more to them than my daughter and sawzalled it out. No factory ones available for months on backorder so it got an aftermarket. That got replaced under warranty for CEL a year later.

Not struggling, just not as much oomph if that makes sense. Air filter still look pretty clean but I just ordered another one anyway. NGK Ruthenium only have 40k but I might do them again also if I can get them in time. I had said 20k above but checked book and it was when we got the car and I was doing everything to make sure all was done before she took it to school.

I cleaned TB, and MAF yesterday also. After that I said F it and changed her oil, replaced with 5W-20 VRP since I had the 5qt jug. I removed and drained the Honda A01 filter, let it drain for about 20 minutes re-prefilled and put it back on.

Probably total placebo affect but to me this morning taking on road where I could accelerate more it seemed to get up in RPM's quicker. I didn't notice any idle/vibration differences. I do think I hear a slight exhaust pfft that I want to get checked.

I was going to save and reuse the Delo/HPL combo in the Renegade since the oil only had 900 miles on it. I was starting to filter it through a 25 micron filter but after a short bit said there is no way in good conscience I could re-install that in one of my vehicles. When done it went to AAP to be recycled.

The 900 mile cleaning, color change of 1qt HPL PCMO 5W-30 and 3.5 qts Delo XSP 5W-40. Intrigued to see how fast VRP changes color or what it does to the baffle plate that I was watching get cleaned.

IMG_2783.webp

IMG_2785.webp

IMG_2786.webp
 
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Never really ever a reason to run a 20 grade other than warranty concerns, 5w30 VRP all the way.
In the time I had it I had mostly 5W-30's in it prior to the Delo 5W-40. At some point it will be back to that again but since I still have 10qts of VRP 5W-20 it needs to go somewhere.

Honda did "recommend" 5W-20 for it and that is what's on the oil cap but that was also 17 years ago and I think API SJ from what I looked up. :oops: :unsure: 😁 :ROFLMAO:

No issues as the new Delo 5W-40 bottles I have in stash will get used up in the next 2-3 OCI's on the Renegade. If it changed anything my father-in-law wouldn't realize it anyway with all around town driving and idling. He never does full throttle accelerate on to highways etc.
 
I’ve used Supertech 5w40 Euro in my 2005 CRV for years. Before that I used everything from 0w20 and up - never noticed the slightest difference in feel, etc…I wouldn’t hesitate to use a 20w50 and am co rodent I would see no difference.
 
Its not the oil. Spark plugs, coils. Diagnose the issue.
No misfire codes from coils. How else do you diagnose a potential issue with them? Father-in-laws Renegade he was complaining of lack of power at times, under load, AC on. No CEL's either, his plugs I think when I looked were plain copper so with miles at that time I decided to change them. I did find one coil/boot with the old school grey/ozone punch mark on side. Jeep had a TSB for it BUT they would have had to diagnose in their shop to cover under warranty. They wouldn't replace it as a walk in for me. I bought the one he needed, replaced plugs with Ruthenium and all was well until he needed a new motor under warranty.

On daughters CRV I'll probably pull plugs this week and check them for anything glaring. I'll post pics. I'll inspect coil packs also. I went to order new NGK's as I figure if that far, new ones are just as easy to thread in. They wouldn't be here until Tuesday 19th, I'll be in VA and she'll be on her way back to school. Replacement will need to wait as I'm not spending double the price at Autozone and not ordering from Amazon.
 
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15W-40 in a 2.4L Honda in Canada? :oops:
It's semi-retired, in SoFlo. SuperTech 15w-40 was the best value when I changed it last year, with a ST oil filter. ($16-17 total cost)
 
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in my expierence with the honda 4 bangers, they really jive with PUP 5w-30. my wife’s car would burn anything else until i did a berrymans soak and HPL EC30/VRP mixture. now it goes 15k on HPL PCEO 5w-40 without burning a drop and has plenty of power.
 
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