2012 Civic R18Z1 engine oil weight

[Nac Mac Feegle]

I recently acquired a 2012 Civic with the 1.8L engine and this car will go into daily use (15-20K a year). This is currently the only vehicle in the fleet that calls for 0W-20. All of the other cars in the fleet use 5W-30 but two, and that pair only get oil changes every few years. In the interest of inventory management I'd prefer to just run 5W-30 in the new civic. Does anyone have any experience running heavier oil in this engine? The car has about 50K miles and is primarily used in the Mid Atlantic area. Sorry if this has been covered before but my search didn't show anything relevant or recent for this particular engine.

 

[DCDG]

5W-30 is fine.

 

[AdmiralYoda]

5W-30 will be fine and is probably a good idea. Search the internet for the owners manual and check out other countries like Mexico or others in Europe/Middle East. I'd expect those manuals say anything from 5W-30 to 20W-50 will work. In the US, low viscosity oils are usually mandated due to CAFE standards.

 

[Hall]

I'd expect those manuals say anything from 5W-30 to 20W-50

I've actually seen 20W-50 spec'd (or acceptable) for a Honda engine but can't recall which it was now. The engine in question 100% specs 10W-40 around the globe though. Ours (same year, same engine) has run 5W-30 as long as we've had it.

Sorry if this has been covered before but my search didn't show anything relevant or recent for this particular engine.

https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/s...18&c[child_nodes]=1&c[nodes][0]=1&o=relevance

 

[CleanSump]

This is asked every week and the answer is always go for it.

 

[kschachn]

This is asked every week and the answer is always go for it.

But Nac Mac Feegle hasn't asked it.

 

[doverlabs]

Searching and reading is passé

 

[slacktide_bitog]

There is nothing wrong with using 5w30 in your Civic

 

[JunkdrawerDog]

Anything from 0w-20 to 10w-30 will work in your Honda. That's pretty much what H recommends for rest of world applications.

 

[kschachn]

Anything from 0w-20 to 10w-30 will work in your Honda. That's pretty much what H recommends for rest of world applications.

As will a 40-grade or a 50-grade. They will all work.

 

[EvoMan]

I have a 2008 Civic with the 1.8L engine. I’m currently running VRP 5W-30 in it. The car runs fine. I live in east central Florida.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

I've actually seen 20W-50 spec'd (or acceptable) for a Honda engine but can't recall which it was now. The engine in question 100% specs 10W-40 around the globe though. Ours (same year, same engine) has run 5W-30 as long as we've had it.



https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/s...18&c[child_nodes]=1&c[nodes][0]=1&o=relevance

Thanks. Your Google Fu is better than mine. I had about four hits on a search for that engine code.

 

[Intelligent Molecule]

If the only motor oil available in the world was a good quality 5W30, 99% of personal vehicles would do just fine.

 

[Japanese]

I recently acquired a 2012 Civic with the 1.8L engine and this car will go into daily use (15-20K a year). This is currently the only vehicle in the fleet that calls for 0W-20. All of the other cars in the fleet use 5W-30 but two, and that pair only get oil changes every few years. In the interest of inventory management I'd prefer to just run 5W-30 in the new civic. Does anyone have any experience running heavier oil in this engine? The car has about 50K miles and is primarily used in the Mid Atlantic area. Sorry if this has been covered before but my search didn't show anything relevant or recent for this particular engine.

What brand of 5W-30 oil do you run in your other vehicles? The 1.8 Civic will be more than fine with that viscosity as well. And it will feel much better with it vs 0W-20.

As brands for 5W-30 oil I would recommend:
Valvoline Restore and Protect
Penzzoil Ultra Platinum
Castrol EDGE Euro K

 

[lmdshepherd]

Any 30 weight oil will be fine: 0w30, 5w30 or 10w30 will all work.

Personally I'd use whatever 30 weight oil you're using for your other cars for your Civic (assuming the oil meets and/or exceeds oil requirements noted within the civic's owners manual). Happy driving!

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

But Nac Mac Feegle hasn't asked it.

Point taken but I asked for recent feedback about this specific engine. The problem with the search results is that most of the threads that it turned up dated back to when the cars were new. IF I missed a recent and relevant thread, well thats on me. I keep stuff forever so its the long-term results that I'm interested in.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

What brand of 5W-30 oil do you run in your other vehicles? The 1.8 Civic will be more than fine with that viscosity as well. And it will feel much better with it vs 0W-20.

As brands for 5W-30 oil I would recommend:
Valvoline Restore and Protect
Penzzoil Ultra Platinum
Castrol EDGE Euro K

My go-to is Mobil 1 EP, but I've been working through my Advance Auto clearance stash of Total Quartz: MC3 in my Chevy truck (5.3 AFM) and '96 Impala's, TQ LL 2006 Camry (2AZFE). Blackstone results show that both of these oils start out slightly thick and stay that way but the wear numbers all look good (5K changes on the GM stuff, 7-10K on the Camry).

I have two jugs of TQ 0W-20 that I picked up for a nephews car that I no longer maintain. In the interests of science I'll run both of those and then a 5W-30 OCI of the same brand/type and see what the analytical results show.

As side note, the longer change intervals were arrived at by running incrementally longer intervals and analysis. Our commutes have gone from 85/day (her) and 145/day (me) to 30/day and non existent so I'll go back to 5K because its easy to remember.

 

[Japanese]

2006 Camry (2AZFE). Blackstone results show that both of these oils start out slightly thick and stay that way but the wear numbers all look good (5K changes on the GM stuff, 7-10K on the Camry).

Do you have any oil burning by the Toyota? How many miles on it?
That engine has an oil burning issue from the factory—fewer and smaller piston oil holes.

I would suggest to don't run over 5K miles on the 2AZ-FE and run it with Valvoline Restore & Protect if possible.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

Do you have any oil burning by the Toyota? How many miles on it?
That engine has an oil burning issue from the factory—fewer and smaller piston oil holes.

I would suggest to don't run over 5K miles on the 2AZ-FE and run it with Valvoline Restore & Protect if possible.

View attachment 349192

The car has 288K miles on it and I've had it for about 100K, It uses about a half a quart between changes (when I was running 10K OCI's). It does smoke for a few seconds on a cold startup, which I am guessing is valve stem seals. Changing those is a pain, and I decided just to live with it since the overall consumption was so low. From what I've read, the oil consumption problems began en masse with the 2007 model year along with some internal changes- low tension rings perhaps?

This gets back to my original question: Did Honda make any changes to the R18Z engine in 2012 when they changed the oil weight specification or were the internal clearances, piston design, etc. in the 2012 identical to 2011 and earlier?

 

[Japanese]

This gets back to my original question: Did Honda make any changes to the R18Z engine in 2012 when they changed the oil weight specification or were the internal clearances, piston design, etc. in the 2012 identical to 2011 and earlier?

You are fine. A lot of engines were spec'd to 0W-20 after 2010 and their internals weren't changed.

However, if you won't run Valvoline R&P or PUP, it might be better to switch your vehicles from 5W-30 to 0W-30 in order to get better base oils:
Mobil 1 ESP 0W-30
Castrol EDGE Euro 0W-30 LL
or Castrol EDGE Euto 0W-30 A3/B4
https://www.castrol.com/en_us/united-states/home/products/our-brands/automotive/castrol-edge-oils/castrol-edge-euro.html#tab_0W-30%20LL