2006 Civic 5W30 Mobil1 'SL' - Impressions

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Edit: Apparently I'm an idiot who cannot read. The manual does say not to change the oil until the first service.

I guess I'm screwed.
 
I've changed out my Dads 2001 Civic and 2005 Honda powered Vue at 1,000 miles and both are doing great..

Hondas having special break in oil is IMO just assembly lube.

You did good..
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Enjoy the rig. Bill
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quote:

Edit: Apparently I'm an idiot who cannot read. The manual does say not to change the oil until the first service.

Congratulations on your first steps away from the lemming colony.
 
Haha, yeah it's cold and scary out here away from the rest of my furry friends
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I wonder what the results of a 'different' 5w-20 would hold, namely Pennzoil's 5w-20 Platinum (or the soon to be forthcoming 0w-20).
 
I changed out the factory fill in my '06 Civic EX coupe with 5W20 Pennzoil dino juice at 600mi

Car now has 1100mi on the engine, feels stronger than when the engine is brand new, and I'm gettin about 29mpg in all city driving...

Going to change oil again at 2500mi and switch to Pennzoil synthetic 5W20 when I reach 5000mi.

Contrary to your experience, my engine is smooth as it can be, most of time I can't even feel the engine is running.
 
Good to see I'm not the only one to dump the factory fill early.

TNS - I'm not 100% decided on the upcoming switch to the Amsoil 0W-30...I might do an M1 0/5w-20 run over next winter to see if it does any better than the factory fill. Right now the 5w-30 is hard to beat.

Leonardo, glad to hear you're making out well with the coupe. If I didn't have a 3 year old to heave into the back seat all the time I might have gone with that little rocket ship. The EX sedan isn't too shabby though
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Yeah...the thing that you have me scared about is that one guy on AcuraZine put up a thread asking for help on his TSX...he changed out the factory fill on his 05 TSX at 1500 miles with M1 5w-30 and it is now burning about 1qt/2000 miles.
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I told him to pull a sample of the oil (currently has 4500 on the oil) and to send it off to Terry.
 
Michael, how he broke it in probably has more to do with it then the oil being used, IMO. Just a though.
 
Changed my 2006 Civic over to Mobil1 5W-30 (at approx 1500 miles). Had a 5qt jug of the SL variety around and wanted to test the '30 weight' concept in my civic before I change over to Amsoil 0W-30 in the fall. Interestingly, the owners' manual didn't say anything foreboding about leaving the factory fill wonder oil in there until the first OCI...wouldn't have stopped me anyway. I'm a little jaded on the whole "manufacturer knows best blah blah" when they call for different oils depending on which country the cars are shipped to.

I've also done two drain/fills with Amsoil ATF, so the trans is about 65% syn.

Here are my impressions:

1) Significantly quieter and smoother. With the 5W-20 it sounded like a can full of rocks sometimes. Sounds and feels more pleasant at all speeds / loads / throttle settings.

2) Significant rattle from engine compartment at 1400 rpm is for the most part GONE. It's either being muffled or the engine vibration freq was changed by the slightly thicker oil and it doesn't happen as much.

3) Engine does not 'spin up' quite as fast rpm-wise. Before, the engine would start screaming into the higher rpms with a fairly light touch on the pedal...often more than desired. It seems easier to 'drive smoothly' with the 5W-30 because the rpms don't go through the roof as easily.

Overall - I think I prefer Hondas better with 5W-30 vice 0/5W-20, based on this experience and my experience with a 2003 Odyssey that I ran 5W-30 in. Since wear metals seem to be about the same, I'm OK with sacrificing the minute difference in fuel mileage to get the smoother engine sound & response. I recall my '98 Civic (with 1.7L VTEC) was very smooth with 5W-30 too.

Transmission is smooth as can be with the Amsoil ATF.

On a side note, had to bust out the Channel Locks to get the #@$* filter off! Fortunately it's an easy reach on this new engine.

YMMV, Matt

PS- Happy New Year! I resolve not to buy any more new cars in 2006
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Buster -

I sure hope so. If I've condemned my new car to life as a smoke belching, oil guzzling pig I think I might cry.
 
quote:

Michael, how he broke it in probably has more to do with it then the oil being used, IMO. Just a though.

IIRC, he didn't do anything way out of line while breaking it in. He did say that he has never ran it past 4500RPM though.
 
It shouldn't matter how he broke it in actually. I think it can help by doing a few WOT, but with moder engines, no break in is needed really.
 
quote:

If I've condemned my new car to life as a smoke belching, oil guzzling pig I think I might cry.

You have to screw up pretty bad to condemn a new Honda to a life of smoke belching and oil guzzling.
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I have similar experience and feelings about 5w30 in my wifes 05 CRV. We haven't noticed any real change in mileage either and the engine runs like silk. I dumped the factory fill early as well, ran dino 5w20 for 3000 or so and then switched to Amsoil 5w30. It has about 8000 now and hasn't used a drop. I think I'll put 7500 on this oil and then get a UOA.
 
I totally recant this post!!

Felt like the 5W-30 M1 was holding the Civic back a little bit.

Dropped the M1 (left the filter on) and put some Pennzoil 5W-20 in there. I like the 20 better, at least in this car.

So, am I an idiot for wasting 4 qts of M1? I think not, I learned something at least.

I think my new oil change scheme will be as follows:

April: Change oil & filter w/ Amsoil XL 5W-20 & the EaO13 filter.
October: Change oil only Amsoil XL 5W-20.

I figure if I drive 20K a year or less I'm all set...within Honda's warrantee boundaries and Amsoil's recommendation for EaO filter life.

If/when Amsoil comes out with a 25K/1yr 0W-20 I'll go with that.

[ February 03, 2006, 07:11 PM: Message edited by: Matt89 ]
 
Hi Matt89,
I have an '00 Odyssey and an '03 Civic, both of which I bought new. I switched the Ody from conventional to M1 5W-30 (SL rating) in Apr-2004. The Civic got the same M1 5W-30 SL oil at its first oil change at 4000 miles. Although they ran great, smooth, quiet, etc, I noticed immediately that the engines would not spin-up as fast as previously. I posted here and 8 of 10 people said I was crazy. When the SM rated M1 5W-30 was introduced in Nov-2004, I started using it right away - I noticed that both engines were again free-revving with the SM rated 5W-30. I posted that info here and was again informed that I was crazy. Anyway, when M1 EP (Extended Performance) 5W-30 was introduced I started using it and observed that the engines still are free-revving. The new M1 EP 5W-30 is rated SL, but it is a different formula than the "old" SL (non-EP) from early 2004. I am middle-aged family guy - no racing, WOT, etc, but I try to pay attention changes... That's my story and I'm sticking to it! I thought it might be helpful to you if you decide to try M1 again.

Enjoy your GREAT new car!
 
Thanks SWS.

Interestingly I didn't like what the 5W-30 'did' to my Civic, but the 0W-30 I put in my CR-V didn't seem to have any impact. The 2.4L seems not to be as impacted as the 1.8L.

People will say I'm crazy, but the 06 Civic literally didn't get moving from a stop smoothly with the 5W-30...like you had to mash the pedal. With the 20 in there it is smooth again.
 
Matt89,

Does that auto transmission perform pretty much the same with the drain/fills you did with the Amsoil ATF? Notice any differences?

I have two new '06 Honda Civics, one for the wife and one for myself. I haven't yet done oil changes but we have noticed the rougher idle as compared to the Nissans we were driving before. I do have some GC 0W-30 I'm going to try and then I can make the judgement for myself, as you did.
 
All Honda cars sold in Europe have 5W-30 or 0/5W-40 oil recommendation. I believe the Civic has 5W-30 recommendation.
The xxW-20 recommendation in the US is only because you have CAFE.
 
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