Honda 94 ex oil

[blubaustin]

Hello ^_^ Anyways I have a Honda Accord EX 1994 with 198kish miles on it, I change it every 3000 miles with Valvoline maxlife (red bottle) 5w30, with a K&N oil filter. I was wondering if it would be beneficial or not to switch to royal pruple with the royal purple filter? I've read on the forums where it has a higher zinc content but, I haven't really seen a cut dry awnser on it. Some people seem to like RP, some people don't but I was just wondering if anybody out there would care to share why I should or shouldn't with my car. My car doesn't leak oil, and hasn't except one time I had to change the VTEC selnoid gaskets. And the car is used for mostly city driving not highway. There is a cold air intake, and thats about it. Thanks.

 

[bepperb]

No. You or your car are never going to see any benefit from the "better" oil and filter. It would be beneficial to run the MaxLife out to 5000 miles, and maybe save some money by buying a Wix or PureOne filter.

Really, you're already throwing money away. Why make it a larger bundle every time? I assume it's an F series inline 4, that's already going to outlive the rest of the car on 10000 mile OCI's with the cheapest oil and filter you can find.

Take the money you save and get the timing belt and water pump replaced, if that hasn't been done recently. That's a much more pressing issue than the oil and filter you use.

One other note, living in AZ with a cold air kit.... sometimes those don't have the best filtering ability. And depending where in AZ you are it might be dusty. That silicon accumulates in the oil and gets worse over time. So I probably would stick to a 3-5000 mile oci to make sure the oil doesn't get abrasive. But much more important is to make sure the filter is working well, is clean, is oiled if need be.

 

[chubbs1]

Do NOT waste your money on RP oil for that vehicle (or any vehicle for that matter). The regimen you are using now is a sure fire way to keep it going another 198k. The filter you are using is a little pricey and I would keep that on for two oil changes (6k miles). Pennzoil conventional(PYB), Mobil 5k, GTX all would do well over 3k oil changes. You may want to do longer OCI's like 5k or so. Synthetic is not necessary or would be of any benefit to that engine IMO. You are already "pampering" that car.

 

[Artem]

I agree with the above posts, the engine has made it to almost 200k miles without a problem, running on (whatever oil it has used during it's life) now is not really the time to start running a VERY expensive oil like RP.

I almost recommend you extend your Oil Change Intervals to 5k. The factory recommendation for that engine is 7,500 miles and that was with oil made in 1994.

 

[Oregoonian]

Don't change to RP oil and filter...its unnecessary.

Using your K&N filter is overkill....for 3000 OCI's.

IMO...I would continue using the same oil your currently useing (or Pennzoil conventional)...with 4500 OCI....and switch to a Purolator PureOne or Bosch Preminum filter. Both filters are excellent.... and favored by many here at BITOG.

 

[fdcg27]

I have a '97 LX, which is very similar but lacks VTEC.
I had a really clean UOA (posted in that forum) using Plat on a 6K run, with a quart added after 4K.
Filter was an OCD (orange can Fram).
TBN was still very strong, although the added quart would have helped with that. The oil could have gone another 2K easily.
If you really want to use synthetic, PP or PU would be good and proven choices and would cost a whole lot less than RP.
Do yourself a favor and extend your OCIs a bit.
3K is really not needed unless you typically never drive the car far enough on a start to get the oil up to operating temperature.
Also, the K&N oil filter is a useless extravagance.
Try a Puro classic or a Pure One.
Good filters that will keep a little extra money in your pocket.

 

[roadrunner1]

My oldest son has a '95 with v-tec, and going from memory Honda recommends 7,500mi. OCI's with changing the filter every other OC.
The car currrently has 220,000 mi(approx) he has had it since 150,000mi. and we have used 5,000 OCI and changing the filter every OC. I have used a variety of oil over the past several years, now with the Castrol GTX 5w-30. The $7 rebate made it "the choice of the month". These engines are known for being very easy on oil.

 

[Mau]

The K & N is overkill. Switch to Purolator P1 or Bosch Premium (both the same filters). As for oil if you want to stick with Synthetic extend the oci out to at least what the manufacture recommends which looks like 7500 miles.

 

[blubaustin]

Well thanks for the input. Why is K&N overkill? I thought it was a pretty good filter. And I got the car with 169k for free >_> And since then I had been running the maxlife in it with K&N. And I guess I was right that not allot of people on these forums like RP except for someone like NHHEMI. And I'm really just looking for anything to extend the life of the engine, and yest it is a 4 cylinder i believe the engine model is F22B1 engine. One thing I forgot to mention (Sorry I am tired), even though it isn't burning oil, etc the dip stick now has a red residue that is like permantly on the stick. I don't know if its from the maxlife red dye in it. I hope I can get an opionon from someone who uses it to see what they think, and why but I can only hope. Thanks ^_^

 

[bodeh6]

You should try some Pennzoil High Mileage.

 

[blubaustin]

Ya bepperb I am planning on getting the timing belt, water pump, and the thermostat thingy replaced on it here in a month. Its just its pretty expensive to have a mechanic do it =( Probably going to have a value clearance check done while they're at it too.

 

[Oregoonian]

A K&N filter is overkill... because your paying mucho $$ for a top-tier filter that can go 10K....and your only using it for 3K OCI's.

Just leave the filter on for an additional two 3K oil changes.... and you'll get full value out of that filter.

And BTW.....changing oil at 3K is also a waste of good oil, $$$ and time. You can extend OCI's to at least 5K....and not lose any sleep over it.

All the above suggestions...will save a few dollars as well.

 

[blubaustin]

what about my cold air intake Oregoonian? bepperb was saying that it can accumulate more silicon then a normal filter, and I should change it between 3-5k?

 

[Oregoonian]

Originally Posted By: blubaustin
what about my cold air intake Oregoonian? bepperb was saying that it can accumulate more silicon then a normal filter, and I should change it between 3-5k?
Originally Posted By: blubaustin
what about my cold air intake Oregoonian? bepperb was saying that it can accumulate more silicon then a normal filter, and I should change it between 3-5k?
Originally Posted By: blubaustin
what about my cold air intake Oregoonian? bepperb was saying that it can accumulate more silicon then a normal filter, and I should change it between 3-5k?
No comment....as I don't know enough about cold air intakes.

 

[Geonerd]

Your old Honda is very easy on the oil. 3K changer are completely unnecessary.

The K&N filter is great, and can easily go 10,000 miles. As others have suggested, the Purolator Pure 1 is just as good, at half the price.

How about this:

Change the oil every 5,000 and replace the filter every other time. Take the filter off and drain it when not replacing it.

Or

Go for a Syn oil (RP, Castrol, XOM, whatever) and change both at 7000~10,000K.

 

[blubaustin]

Well ya I'm planning on doing a full synthetic i was just wondering about Royal Purple specifically any advantages? Like zinc content etc, anyone who has used it, tested, etc.

 

[ltslimjim]

I don't know what it is, but the PureONE filter gaskets lately have been annoying me. They are the only filters I install that are so easy to over-tighten. I nearly blew my brains out and probably got a hernia trying to remove the P1 off of the Civic this past week!

It left behind the gasket on the mounting surface. Gah! I just need to turn it until it gets some resistance and let it be done with a 1/2 turn past 'resistance'.

...otherwise, yes, good choice for a Honda.

Conventional 5,000 miles is doable, but with city driving and the winter, it might be good to start small, get a UOA. Just be sure to use a factory PCV valve and keep other things within maintenance/servicing properly and you are good to go. It might be a good idea to get a UOA anyway to see how the engine is doing in terms of contaminants/insols etc.

PYB + P1 = good to go for old ricers.

 

[Mau]

Originally Posted By: blubaustin
Well thanks for the input. Why is K&N overkill? I thought it was a pretty good filter. And I got the car with 169k for free >_> And since then I had been running the maxlife in it with K&N. And I guess I was right that not allot of people on these forums like RP except for someone like NHHEMI. And I'm really just looking for anything to extend the life of the engine, and yest it is a 4 cylinder i believe the engine model is F22B1 engine. One thing I forgot to mention (Sorry I am tired), even though it isn't burning oil, etc the dip stick now has a red residue that is like permantly on the stick. I don't know if its from the maxlife red dye in it. I hope I can get an opionon from someone who uses it to see what they think, and why but I can only hope. Thanks ^_^


That residue on the dipstick, my dads 96 with the same F22B1 had it when we got it. In less then 1 run of PP (Pennzoil Platinum) it was gone!

As for K & N its a pricey filter that is capable of much more then 3K oci. Don't fall for the branding and marketing, other filters out there (even the orange can fram can do 3K oci's easily!)

As mentioned before, the F22 is a strong motor, noisy yes but its strong and will live a long life on any oil (as long as it meets the specs) and filter.

 

[blubaustin]

Well thanks for all you're opionons on the oil. I still for whatever reason still want to give the RP a shot but I think I'll wait on it until I get a car with less miles. Thanks ^_^

 

[blubaustin]

Well there was a sale on Royal Purple with a royal purple oil filter for $35 at pep boys so... I dediced to try it out. The oil seems to work fine with the car the only thing I've noticed so far is the engine is a bit quieter when idling and the tempature is lower. I just thought I'd let you guys know.