1999 Honda Civic D16 *Winter Beater*

[laksman91]

There's probably a bunch of threads out there. But maybe this can be different as its pure winter use.

Car: 1999 Honda Civic 102k km (63.3k miles) - original engine, etc
I'm fairly certain the book recommends 5W30.
It's only seen regular nonsynthetic conventional oil from the first owner (I picked it up at 96k km and did a quick conventional oil change with GTX). Thinking about switching it to synthetic.

The car is used strictly as my winter car. Mix of city driving while I'm in school and highway when I head home for occasional weekends. I'd say it will see about 7-8k km/year (4-5k miles) if that. Encounters Canadian winters - southern Ontario. And it isnt really driven hard.

No known problems.

I'm all ears!

 

[Drew99GT]

Originally Posted By: laksman91
Thinking about switching it to synthetic.



Why?

 

[bluestream]

Winter beater gets cheapest dino you can find.

Oh, and this statement is an oxymoron :Encounters Canadian winters - southern Ontario

 

[laksman91]

Originally Posted By: Bluestream
Winter beater gets cheapest dino you can find.

Oh, and this statement is an oxymoron :Encounters Canadian winters - southern Ontario


Eh in London this year we got like 100cm of snow in a few days..

 

[laksman91]

Originally Posted By: Drew99GT
Originally Posted By: laksman91
Thinking about switching it to synthetic.



Why?


I figure with a car so "young" it'd be good to preserve it lol. Can I extend conventional oil for 7-8k km?

 

[daves87rs]

Originally Posted By: laksman91
Originally Posted By: Drew99GT
Originally Posted By: laksman91
Thinking about switching it to synthetic.



Why?


I figure with a car so "young" it'd be good to preserve it lol. Can I extend conventional oil for 7-8k km?


Yep.

Though I'd get a used oil analysis first...

 

[Mau]

I say just use Pennzoil 5w30 conventional.

Don't go synthetic now, we tried that on our accord with PP and it begun to leak. Switched back to Pennzoil Conventional and no issue.

 

[ag_ghost]

Originally Posted By: Mau
Don't go synthetic now, we tried that on our accord with PP and it begun to leak. Switched back to Pennzoil Conventional and no issue.

I've been running Mobil 1 5w30 for over a year (one change) after years of mostly Valvoline 5w30 conventional with no evidence of leaks or consumption in a 99 V6 Accord that is about to hit 90K miles.

With reference to the OP, isn't there some (at least anecdotal) evidence that cars that sit for a long time without running could benefit from synthetic?

 

[laksman91]

Originally Posted By: ag_ghost

With reference to the OP, isn't there some (at least anecdotal) evidence that cars that sit for a long time without running could benefit from synthetic?[/font]


Thats a good point. I'd like to hear others point of view on that

 

[JeremyInMT]

I drive a 97 civic w/147,000 miles on it and use castrol edge 5w30. Winters here are extremely cold. Several times in Feb I saw -22F in the mornings. I park this car outside and it starts right up every time. Runs nice and smooth. I'd try the synthetic. If you get a leak, just use some valvoline maxlife synthetic instead. That car is just getting warmed up, as many of these cars have well over 200,000 miles on them. And yes, if you look on the oil cap, it says 5w30, but don't be afraid to go 0w-30. Another thing you could do if you get a leak is go 50/50 with 5w30 conventional and 0w30 synthetic. I believe a complete refill is 3.8qts with filter change, 3.5 w/o filter change.

 

[shrooms]

Use 0W30 for better flow.

 

[KrisZ]

How on earth going to synthetic will ever contribute to better preservation of this car?

If you want to truly preserve the car and keep it long term, flush all the fluids and keep them topped off. Go over the suspension and check (fix if needed) for rust. Oil type would be the least of my concerns.

 

[JeremyInMT]

Originally Posted By: KrisZ
How on earth going to synthetic will ever contribute to better preservation of this car?
Oil type would be the least of my concerns.


Oil is one of the concerns that is just more fun to talk about. Using synthetic in the cold may help prevent undue cylinder wear which can cause piston slap.

 

[1 SX]

How much faster does a 0 flow then say a 5 or 10 w in the same engine?

 

[mechtech2]

You'll probably only change the oil once a year.
Go for the 0-X full synthetic.
On the days you need it, it will help in bunches of ways.

 

[Mr_Incredible]

If you really want to make your car last, keep it away from salt. Otherwise, any 0w or 5w30 will do the trick. If you think expensive is better, go ahead. Later on you'll realize you over did it, but go right ahead anyway.

My '89 CRX (276,500m)is happy as a little blue clam w/5w30 down to -12F. But anything below zero and I'm in the truck 'cause it's got a better heater.

 

[ltslimjim]

Either way, if you go to a top-end synthetic, you are still saving money compared to those changing once every 3k miles OR 3 months. Those folks are still spending $75 or so a year on the cheapest oils/oil filter combos that can be had or worse yet are paying more for a shop to change it.

 

[oggb]

As mechtech2 said, 0w-something synthetic, change it once a year.

Jeez, I'd be so bored if I had a car I could do that with.

 

[laksman91]

I figure if I used Dino I would change it 2x year, but with a Synthetic, lets say Pennzoil Platinum 5w30 or GC0-30 (how many miles/km are these synths generally good for in these motors). I could probably run that for for the whole duration of the year. Mind you once the weather gets better. I park this car and it will sit for months until Nov/Dec when I put my summer car away.

 

[greenjp]

I used to have a 2000 Civic EX, sold it with about a year and a half ago with 188k miles for $3,600. It had the 1.6l vtec engine and 5 speed manual. Good car.

It spent the first 80k miles or so of it's life under the exclusive care of my then-future wife. She took it to a local garage every 4k miles or so for oil changes with whatever conventional 5w30 they used.

When she moved in and I got my grubby mitts on it I switched it to synthetic and ran it that way for the rest of it's life. I did 6-7k OCIs with Mobil 1 or PP, 5w30 and 5W-20 at times. used oil analysis were fine. It never leaked a drop of oil, before or after the switch.

Only real problems I had with that car was the power steering fluid reservoir getting clogged up (service writer at the Honda dealer diagnosed it over the phone so it may be a common problem), and a nagging ignition issue that was 90% solved with about $800 worth of new distributor and assorted parts.

jeff