Help. 2019 Honda Civic. 1.5t. Engine oil

Wife has a 2018 Honda CRV 1.5T with 16K miles on it. We had no idea the engines in these cars had a dilution problem when we bought it, but I have seen it first hand. Wife drives 20x miles to work and back everyday...but we drive it several times a week at night or weekends on longer trips. The fuel in the oil never evaporates, every time I check the oil level the dipstick smells like gas, and its always above the max line (Even 500x miles after an oil change, fuel is already there). I have changed the oil and filter every 5K, it always wreaks of fuel, and has about 20% more drain out than it should...I'm using stock Honda filters, and Mobil1 0w-20. The first change at 5K, I didn't know about the problem, so I didn't keep the oil...but for the 10K and 15K changes, I kept the old oil. Vehicle is leased and we have a year left before we can gladly dump it back on Honda, so glad we didn't buy it. Problem with the dilution I think is un-fixable as Honda recalled about 400K CRV's in China with this problem, and even with all the fixes applied...they still have dilution problems, just not as much as before. Stinks! Never getting another Honda because of this...have lost all faith in them. How could such a huge critical problem like this be released into production...its only a matter of time before all those turbos start failing, and engines get destroyed
mad.gif
...Honda says this problem with dilution only happens in cold weather areas, with people who drive short distances...WRONG HONDA!!!! We live in So Calif Inland Empire, we're its hotter than the ninth plane of he_l most of the time, drive long distances 3-5x times a week over and above my wife's normal miles, and always let the engine warm up for a few minutes before driving. From what I've read, because of this problem, Honda isn't even allowed to sell any more CRV's in China, they won't let them because of the dilution problem, and inability to fix it.
We're just praying her car makes it to the lease turn in date. If I we're someone who was going to keep any 2018+ Honda vehicle with a 1.5T engine, I would probably go with 5w-30 oil, and change oil/oil filter every 3K just to be safe. But I would seriously consider just getting rid of the car at all costs, again we are fortunate to have leased our POS 2018 CRV.
 
Last edited:
I'm not sure why anyone would recommend a 0w30 or 0w40. You want a lower spread, not greater. Ideally in this egine a 5w20/10w30 IMO. You'r 0w40 crashes into a mid to low 30 grade anyway.
 
Originally Posted by buster
I'm not sure why anyone would recommend a 0w30 or 0w40. You want a lower spread, not greater. Ideally in this egine a 5w20/10w30 IMO. You'r 0w40 crashes into a mid to low 30 grade anyway.

My OW40 Castrol Edge has driven very safely and will not be in any at-fault crash.
It's quieter too and won't run it's mouth, when the radio is off.
It also doesn't ask me for increased money in fuel.
Plus, Dividend yields are up with Titanium stock.

Winner-Winner, chicken dinner.
 
I had a 2017 Civic, same turbo motor as the CRV.

Mine didn't have an oil dilution problem, and not all of them do, enough do so it is a real concern on these motors though.

I bought mine in the fall and drove it through a cold winter, -8 was as cold as I saw, but below 10 was common.

The software updates are only successful in some cases, it can even get worse after the update.

I sold that Civic and bought a 2016 CRV, old school non turbo, while I liked the new CRV better, I wasn't going to gamble that I could get another good 1.5 turbo.

As for the OP, first see if you have an oil dilution problem, if you do, then just change it as often as needed.
 
Originally Posted by Triple_Se7en
Originally Posted by buster
I'm not sure why anyone would recommend a 0w30 or 0w40. You want a lower spread, not greater. Ideally in this egine a 5w20/10w30 IMO. You'r 0w40 crashes into a mid to low 30 grade anyway.

My OW40 Castrol Edge has driven very safely and will not be in any at-fault crash.
It's quieter too and won't run it's mouth, when the radio is off.
It also doesn't ask me for increased money in fuel.
Plus, Dividend yields are up with Titanium stock.

Winner-Winner, chicken dinner.


lol.gif
 
Originally Posted by tobylester
Ok. Sounds like the consensus is 3,000 oci, SuperTech 5w30.

Thank y'all.

That's what I would do if I were planning on keeping the car long term.

These small displacement, turbo engines run hot and tax the oil. What i would do is change out the oil more frequently (3~5k oci's UOA depending), try and get it out on the interstate as much as possible to burn some of that fuel off and use a full syn which better resists (v. mineral) thermal breakdown. As I'm sure you know, bad things begin to happen inside the engine once the oil starts to break down.

Additionally I would factor into the cost of ownership regular UOA's to stay on top of the FD% and signs of wear metals. This data may confirm you're using the right oil at the proper oci's or it might suggest you take corrective action of some kind.

Curious, why aren't these engines considered inherently "severe service" given how hot they run and tax the oil/lubricant????
 
Last edited:
here it gets super cold 4.5 mo. a yr. when my dipstick read 1/4" above full I'd mightyvac a quart out and replace with a half qt. fresh...did that 3 time on that run..look at my
last UOA posted here from last winter and it was very cold here... Blackstone recommended increasing the OCI from 8.8k to 10k...the Edge 0/40 was really in decent shape.
 
Originally Posted by dblshock
here it gets super cold 4.5 mo. a yr. when my dipstick read 1/4" above full I'd mightyvac a quart out and replace with a half qt. fresh...did that 3 time on that run..look at my
last UOA posted here from last winter and it was very cold here... Blackstone recommended increasing the OCI from 8.8k to 10k...the Edge 0/40 was really in decent shape.


I'll take a stab here and say that the high amounts of VII's in a 0w40 were able counter the effects of the fuel dilution??? Of course there is a downside to having high amounts of VII in the oil, right? I think the name of the game is to be using an oil that's gonna a) resist thermal breakdown and b) use an oil that's going to stay in grade with respect to the level of fuel dilution your experiencing. That's where those UOA's come in handy with hard data.
 
The car just got to 1,000 miles. I checked the oil and it was exactly on the full line. So far no riding dipstick levels which is a relief at this point.
 
Originally Posted by Mad_Hatter
Originally Posted by dblshock
here it gets super cold 4.5 mo. a yr. when my dipstick read 1/4" above full I'd mightyvac a quart out and replace with a half qt. fresh...did that 3 time on that run..look at my
last UOA posted here from last winter and it was very cold here... Blackstone recommended increasing the OCI from 8.8k to 10k...the Edge 0/40 was really in decent shape.


I'll take a stab here and say that the high amounts of VII's in a 0w40 were able counter the effects of the fuel dilution??? Of course there is a downside to having high amounts of VII in the oil, right? I think the name of the game is to be using an oil that's gonna a) resist thermal breakdown and b) use an oil that's going to stay in grade with respect to the level of fuel dilution your experiencing. That's where those UOA's come in handy with hard data.

you can choose to look for oils that inherently have high VI without the use of VI improvers and thats what id do, then you dont have to worry as much about shearing. from what ive seen RLI's engine oils are able to reduce dilution and stay in grade.
Im trying out amsoil currently in my lexus (ive got fuel dilution issues as well) and if these next few runs dont improve anything im gonna give RLI a try.
 
Originally Posted by tobylester
4,500 miles this far and the oil hasn't risen and doesn't smell like gas. Maybe I won't have a problem with horrible fuel dilution.


The civics don't tend to suffer from OD, the CRVs are the most likely to be afflicted with OD. Not that it can't happen to a civic, it's just not as likely.
 
One of the many reasons I passed over a 1.5t Honda Civic hatch and bought a Kia Soul with the 2.0 mpi engine. That plus the Kia has a six speed manual, no rev hang and a much lower price with 0% financing.
 
Kirkland 0w20. Get a MityVac fluid extractor. 15 minute OCI every 4K to 5K.
Use a good filter and change it every 2nd or 3rd time.
You won't even have to crawl under or get dirty.
Enjoy your beautiful Civic.

Report back in 200K miles.
 
Kirkland 0w20. Get a MityVac fluid extractor. 15 minute OCI every 4K to 5K.
Use a good filter and change it every 2nd or 3rd time.
You won't even have to crawl under or get dirty.
Enjoy your beautiful Civic.

Report back in 200K miles.
That's exactly what I do with our '18 Accord. Use the extractor at about 3500-4000 miles, then have dealer change/rotate tires when the MM goes off. I don't reset the MM or touch the filter.
 
Have a 2018 CRV with this motor, bought it new and it has 38K miles on it now.

I live ten miles from the closest town do mostly run driving, the vehicle is in a heated garage during the winter, drive 80mph on the expressway when we go down state, and had the update done...still a diluter!

After oil changes, the oil levels rises to about 1/2qt or so above the full mark over the first 500 miles or so and seems to stay there...there seems to be a saturation point where any excess burns off?
Re oil changes, Honda has no ridged requirements... just the API starburst symbol, and recommends 0W20. I use any 30wt (synthetic of course) I run across on sale every 3500 miles, and change the filter every other time.

Other than that, my wife loves the vehicle.
 
Back
Top