Considering Synthetic...question?

[mrbanhbao]

Hey i just joined the forum because i heard this forum is very informative and friendly. Anyways i recently bought a Honda Civic Si 2009 with 13k miles back in April. I just got my oil change and it's regular oil (10w30) in mid august. I want to change it out in about 1000 miles to Pennzoil Ultra or Mobil 1 Extended Performance (5w30). Will there be any problem because im switching from reg to synthetic?

I read that i should slowly switch over like use synthetic blend then to full synthetic (i dont think either of the brands is fully synthetic, maybe group III) right..?

Thanks

 

[bepperb]

You don't need to switch slowly, you could go right from a conventional 10-30 to a synthetic 5-30 no problem. Though, I would run the conventional out further than 1000 miles. Actually, you can follow the maintenance minder in your car and probably get 7500+ miles on each oil change no problem. This is calibrated for conventional, with most synthetics there will be a larger margin of safety.

You might want to search for a series of used oil analysises by a member names joefrompa. He had the same car, used lots of different oils and got used oil analysis from a lot of them.

 

[mrbanhbao]

Thanks for the reply. I'll definitely run it a little longer. Do you happen to know if PU and Mobil 1 Extended Performance are group 3 or 4 ?

 

[Audi Junkie]

Nothing wrong with dino in that engine either. In a mild climate, 10w30 is prefered (by me) over 5w30, except if you take mostly very short trips.

 

[Warstud]

Before you change over to synthetic you may want to tell the forum the reason why and if it makes sense to... under your circumstances.

 

[Spyder7]

I switched at 105k km from dino to Pennzoil Platinum syn, in a car that had seen dino its whole life, and there were no issues. You can go back and forth today from one to the other as the issues in the past are now folklore as far as today's oils go, and are to be treated as such.

-Spyder

 

[Audi Junkie]

The difference between the very best oil in the universe and $2 conventional oil is almost undetectable in this application. I tend to think conventional changed more often yields a better result than longer synthetic intervals. The only real thing to change about the oil might be the viscosity, to go slightly thicker if you have consumption or climatic reasons.

Thicker 30 weight oils are limited to a few. German Syntec 0w-30, Mobil 1 0w-40 and Mobil 1 10w30 HM.

I would just wait until you see a good sale or rebate on a good oil, synthetic if you desire, and go from there.

Another way to simplify things is to go with timed intervals of 2-3-4 changes a year, depending on how often you LIKE to change oil, pick a product that can go the miles you anticipate in that time. If you are a 3k guy, synthetic is a complete waste. If you only want to change once or twice a year, synthetic is a good way to go. Following the Honda OLM and using synthetic is a decent option too, but I just like the timed intervals because I need to change for seasons and plan which oils I will use from the stash.

 

[mrbanhbao]

Originally Posted By: Audi Junkie
Nothing wrong with dino in that engine either. In a mild climate, 10w30 is prefered (by me) over 5w30, except if you take mostly very short trips.


oh yeah i don't go too far. My house to work is not more than 2 miles. And home and maybe to my gf house or friends house and back. Maybe the most in one day would be 20 miles a day.

 

[mrbanhbao]

Originally Posted By: Warstud
Before you change over to synthetic you may want to tell the forum the reason why and if it makes sense to... under your circumstances.


I ran synthetic before in my first car and i like the longer intervals oil change. I also read that it offers better protection for yur engine versus conventional oil while im having a spirited driving moment...

 

[andrewg]

For short trips stay with the recommended (as in the manual) 5w30. You also want to pay attention to keeping to the warranty requirements. You could keep that conventional oil in a while....at least 3k. Then, I would buy any quality synthetic in 5w30. And since you drive very short trips, change it out every 4 to 5k. With the low miles you drive that will probably be at about 6 month intervals. I would not be concerned about group 3 or 4. The two oils you mentioned will work fine and protect above and beyond what is required. Just my opinion though....gather all the info you can and make your own decision based on what is important to you.

 

[mrbanhbao]

yea im very certain on switching to synthetic. But just wanted to make sure since i dont know wat type of oil was used before by the previous owner. I just have to decide which brand to use. Im planning to run the oil for about 7k miles max before a change.

 

[Audi Junkie]

Well. Short trip driving is tough on the oil via contamination from condensation and fuel dilution. That being the case, there is no substitute for physically draining out the contaminates, and that is what's accomplished by more frequent changes of conventional verses longer drains of synthetic. There is also the added benefit of fresh friction modifiers, which rapidly become degraded in any oil.

Say you intend full OLM ocis with synthetic oil, not a bad plan, but half-length intervals on conventional will work better and produce a better result, for the same money.

 

[Steve S]

IMO syn oils advantages are for extreme cold starting benefits ,extended oil change intervals, extreme high output conditions where the oil gets run at extreme hot temps and Hondas really don't require syn oil the engines are low stress on the oil by design. I would think as mentioned your intended useage a quality conventional oil change sooner than later would be a better idea.

 

[daman]

Syns are always a win win in my book just too many advantages with them plus....there priced reasonable at Walmart, PU $25 PP $20 Mobil $21 all good prices why not?

 

[rclint]

If it's a 2009 the car will prob go either 7500 or 10k on conventional oil, you will not gain much by going to synthetic because even the extended performance (read extended OCI= oil change interval) is only around 5000 more miles and you will be paying double or more the price for synthetic. So money will not be saved for sure.

As far as more protection unless your car has turbo or requires a specific spec to meet then you will not get any more protection from a synthetic than you would conventional.. I'm sorry it's just not there you read more protection all the time but how can you get that extra protection the synthetic offers ? I have yet to find out myself, I have read some people say I might run the engine hot and synthetic offers that few extra minutes ( I'm not sure how much it would be ?? maybe 1 min maybe 3 I dunno) any route the conventional will protect your engine perfect just like the manufacture calls for. You can drive as spirited as you want by the way the conventional oil will hold up..

Now if you just want to run synthetic as you say then by all means do so, I'm the kind of person that does just what I want to regardless of what anyone else things, says or does LOL.. I also have a Honda a 2002 accord I4 2.3L and I do run synthetic many times as well because I'm lazy, put on a lot of miles so synthetic allows me to get that extra 5000 miles after 10k before an oil change, however I still run conventional a lot as well.. I just keep an eye open for specials etc, and pick up synthetic at or near conventional prices which has been pretty much easy the last year or so I have not run conventional in awhile... (other than cleaning up stray quarts).

All of my opinion surmised into this last few words with your driving conditions I think I would go with conventional, and if I did run a synthetic with the short trips you have I would not extend the miles any. You have it made living so close to work, your woman etc... I drive more than twice the distance to work one way as you drive per week !!

 

[cp3]

I switched both my cars to synthetic today with out hesitation. So far so good....hope the wifes doesn't blow up on the way to work tomorrow!!

 

[daman]

Originally Posted By: rclint

As far as more protection unless your car has turbo or requires a specific spec to meet then you will not get any more protection from a synthetic than you would conventional..

Oh no?

syn advantages in any situation...

extended drain capability's
better extreme high oil temp protection
better deposit control
better sludge control
better cold weather performance
good cleaning capability's
improved MPG capability's

just a few but not getting off the OP topic yes you can switch back and forth.

 

[rclint]

extended drain capability's - The car manufacture recommended OCI is 10k on conventional(I'm 99%) most people will not do this so I doubt he will extend


better extreme high oil temp protection- Ya got me.. can you give me a time when he will need this ?

better deposit control - I doubt he has nay problems with deposits now.. if so with his commute I doubt synthetic will be at operating temp to help combat this

better sludge control- well documented here many Honda engines with super high miles on conventional life with no to little sludge, is it worth double cost over 300k to have a slightly cleaner engine ? that's up to the user I assume

better cold weather performance - Today's 5w-20 conventional oils don't have any problem to my knowledge in the Continental US with cold start, if conventional did have problems with cold start I would assume we would see manufactures recommend synthetic oil in cold climates, as well even if synthetic is "better" in cold weather performance will it help the engine any ? I have also seen a few instances where conventional is just as good as synthetic cold flow or whatever.

good cleaning capability's - If you factored in HDEO which is also a conventional I don't think this would be true, also I don't see a need for cleaning up a 2009 Honda, as well in some circumstances this may well be true the synthetic cleans better, but look at Pennzoil claims how much more could you need than the yellow bottle ?

improved MPG capability's- I have never seen it happen enough to say it's true.. Running 5w-20 both synthetic, and conventional I just don't see a mileage increase enough to may half the difference in the cost of synthetic verses conventional.

 

[Audi Junkie]

Originally Posted By: daman

syn advantages in any situation...


No, not compared to dino changes that are 1/2 as long.

People don't seem to get it, I'm not making a 1:1 comparison, more like 5k on dino vs 10k on synth. How about 6k vs 12k? I know what my pick would be.

 

[daman]

Originally Posted By: Audi Junkie
Originally Posted By: daman

syn advantages in any situation...

extended drain capability's Not relavent
better extreme high oil temp protection Not relavent
better deposit control No deposits in my Hondas
better sludge control No sludge in my Hondas
better cold weather performance after 5k, new conventional oil would have better cold capabilities
good cleaning capability's Not relavent
improved MPG capability's No and not after 5k verses new conventional oil


it's all relevant. have you pulled a cover yet and looked?