Honda CRX 230k miles

[MrFrizzy]

Alright, so as the title mentions, I have a 1988 Honda CRX Si with 230,000 miles on it. It leaks more oil than it burns. Over 5,000 miles, it needs about a quart or two (I can't remember which). I got the car around 224,000 miles and I don't know how well the car was maintained before I got it. I changed the oil, all of the filters, and alternator belt when I got it, just to be safe. I used Valvoline MaxLife 5w-30 for the oil change and have been adding to it as need be.

I am a college student who frequently makes the 2.5 hour trip home on the weekends. It is about 90% freeway at 65-80mph. I see oil pressures of 54-58psi @ 3500rpm consistently after I have been driving for 15 minutes or so. I have seen the pressure spike as high as 72psi when driving on a cold start (I know that I should let it warm up first, but oh well). When I find a job, there is going to be a lot of short distance driving too, nothing more than 10-15 minutes. I need a recommendation for what oil I should use. I have done a lot of reading up on this subject and I am looking for second opinions.

I have heard a lot of good things about Pennzoil Platinum, Castrol Edge and, of course, Mobil 1. Those are the three I have considered. I don't have a large constrain on price since my car only takes 4 quarts, but I want something that is more economical than Royal Purple or Amsoil.

Here is some more info for your guys:

• I live in the midwest. I see below 0F in the winter and over 100F in the summer.
• I drive my car somewhat gently, but i'm somewhat rough getting up to speed. Also, I occasionally run the car hard.
• The service manual recommends that I change the oil every 6,000 miles or every 6 months with SE or SF grade oils
• For the ambient temperatures that I may be driving in, the service manual recommends either 10w-30 or 10w-40.
• I am looking to have this motor last as long as possible. I can fix and overhaul all day long, but I don't want to if I don't have to.
• I read this article Motor Oil 101 and it seems that I may benefit from running a lower grade oil, possibly 0w-30 or 0w-20?

Basically I'm looking for what brand and what grade/weight/viscosity of oil you recommend for my application and why. So there you go, have at it! If anyone is looking for more info, just let me know and i'll try and give you what you are looking for.

Thanks!

 

[jjcom]

My first thought was Maxlife after reading it leaks more than it burns. 5w-30 should be pretty good for it, easier on cold starts than 10w-30, and you seem you be getting oil pressure out of it. Using that oil for a 5k mile OCI would be about perfect.

If you're wanting to extend out your oil changes a bit longer, than Mobil 1 HM could also be a good candidate. Valvoline products don't normally do well under extended drain use. If you're wanting to try a 0-30, Mobil 1 AFE product line is good oil and should also be fine to extend your oil changes out longer as well. In away the leaking could help for that, as you're adding in fresh oil on a somewhat regular basis. The disadvantage of switching to a 0-30 oil would be no high mileage versions. If you feel the HM oil is helping reduce the oil leaks, then I'd stick with Maxlife or Mobil 1 HM.

Thanks for all the details, that really helps in recommending in an oil. The oil pressure readings were also helpful. Considering the miles, if I hadn't seen that, I probably would have been more inclined to recommend Rotella T6. Since it has good oil pressure, there's no real need to step up to a xw-40 oil.

 

[MrFrizzy]

In regards to the leaking, it is a very small leak on the back side of the motor. I am not 100% sure where it is, but I wouldn't be surprised if it is just a leaking oil pan. The leak is something that I can fix and i'm not concerned about it, I was just using it as a reference for how much it burns oil (which isn't much at all especially considering the mileage on the motor).

Seeing as how you never mentioned Castrol or Pennzoil, i'll take that into consideration and give Mobil 1 the

. I am definitely willing to try a 0w oil, but I don't want to spend the money for some Mobil 1 and find out after a couple hundred miles that it isn't going to work and I have to change it out. If you believe that I won't run into any major issues, then i'll also take that into consideration when I choose what oil to go with.

Thanks for the input!

 

[chad8]

Honda motors like yours are easy on oil. I would stick with a 5 weight hm . A zero weight will give no benefits to you. If you want a hm oil nextgen has good rebate($20) and they are discontinuing some weights. Meijers had 5w30 for $16.59 last night and 20% off plus another coupon for $2 if you sign up for M perks. So valvoline will pay you to use their oil.
In your car , oil is oil, as long as you keep it full and change it at 5-10000 miles. Just use a filter that will handle it.

 

[skyship]

5/40 is going to be the best viscosity range as the 40 part will reduce the leaks when hot and the 5 part will be low enough in winter. An 0/40 might be better but that will give you less choice and it will be more expensive.
Which major brand it is, does not matter much, but don't take chances on anything cheap and use a manufacturers filter if they are not too pricy.

The high mileage oils are good, but you will do just as well adding a can of Liqui Moly stop leak if you can't fix the oil leak and increasing the viscosity does not reduce it enough.
Unless you spend a lot of time in traffic 5,000 mile OCI's should be good and if you want your engine to last then don't touch the accelerator for 30secs after first start and never go over 2000 rpm until the engine is warm.

 

[cb450sc]

If he is burning two quarts over 5000 miles (and topping up), why not buy a better quality filter and change the oil every 10,000 miles. Obviously a better quality oil would have to be purchased as well.

 

[Hounds]

I'm very familiar with your car. Great Honda. No equivalent today.

WRT your motor oil choices, I'd go with a "good" conventional oil, such as PYB or Castrol's GTX 5W-30 HM, rather than a synthetic. Why? Because you have an oil leak, and either of the two conventionals mentioned is more than up to what you're doing with your Honda while your hunting for the source of the leak. Also, your Honda doesn't "need" a synthetic oil, and if you're changing oil every 5k -- or leaking a qt or more during that interval -- you won't realize any benefits from a synthetic. And any 40W may be more difficult to start in really cold weather.

WRT your oil leak, I'd check the oil filter gasket gasket first, then the valve cover gasket. But a quart or more every 5k is a significant leak (IMHO), if that's what it is. If, OTOH, you're consuming a quart or more every 5k, Castrol's HM will help with that until you can do some engine work.

 

[Chris Meutsch]

My favorite Honda ever, and I'm sorry I didn't get the chance to own one.

I'd go with the others on this, use a HM oil, cheapest you can find. I'd fix that leak as well. Change every 6k per the manual. If it's still burning/leaking/using oil after the first 6k, do the filter change every 10k and top off as needed.
See you at 300k!

 

[Falken]

If the car has very little rust, I would make a list of EVERY problem the car has.

If you have oil pressure problems, it is most likely the bearings, but if you are fixing the oil pan to stop a leak, I'd change the oil pump at the same time. It is really easy to change if you are doing the pan anyway. And you'll get to really see how much sludge is up there with the pan off.

Inspect the oil pan for leaks and cracks!

The next thing I would do is make sure you have no leaks at the back of the motor from a valve cover or the head gasket. Buy Gunk citrus engine cleaner (not the foaming stuff doesn't work as well) and wash the engine, taking care around the air filter box and the wires and plugs etc.

Then you can really see what you are dealing with. Change your plugs and wires, inspect break lines etc.

After a few months of hobbying around on this car, one small project at a time, you'll have a great car.

Use PYB 5W30 on sale until you can get the leaks fixed.

If you can track down a service manual and keep playing with this car, you may even be able to sell it for decent money.

Don't use a High Mileage oil until you can fully see what leaking issues you have, then you can decide how you want to fix them.

 

[CharBaby]

I agree with using any conventional(dino) or HM oil on sale, instead of synthetic oil as, you're loosing oil anyway! Honda's will run 300K miles on any proper weight oil and I have done it myself.

Any of todays oil are better than the oils that were recomended in your owners manual(SE/SF) especially for 5K miles. My 1980 Firebird FORMULA V8's owners manual required SE/SF motor oil and I use todays oil with success(MaxLife/DEFY) but no full syn's.

~ 1988, SG motor oil was introduced and the oils have been getting better all the way to today, which is SN/GF-5. Many dino motor oils that you'll use will be more than enough for your CRX Si.

Most of the dino motor oils today probably rival synthetic oils of yesterday, in terms of shear stability, longevity(> 5k mile OCI), cleanliness, wear protection and on & on! And many dino motor oils in certain grades, even have some sythetic oil already in them but, not addvertised as a syn/blend[contraoversial]

And lastly, you won't be wrong by using a High Mileage Motor Oil but, you may want to fix the leak(s) and see if the motor is buring any oil at all!

My 340K mile Accord didn't burn any oil(no leaks either) in a 3K-4K mile OCI but, @ ~ 5K miles of that OCI, I did start to notice some so, I'd just change it

 

[dorcheat]

Nice car Frizzy!

I drove a 1987 Honda CRX for some five years from 1994 to 1999. I would have drove it forever, but these two seater cars are for single college students and bachelors. I drove mine with 215,000 miles and the engine was going pretty strong before I had to trade it away for a bigger coupe with four seats and plenty of room for my new wife and daughter.

There is one known issue with the Honda D15 and D16 engines is that the piston rings slowly but surely wore with time and resulted in some burning oil.

Be sure to replace the timing belt about every 75,000 miles or so. I used PYB 10W-30 back in the day for what it is worth. Maybe you can pull the valve cover to adjust the valves and have a look to see how clean the engine is.

 

[Nickdfresh]

Stay with MaxLife, or maybe try Quaker State Defy HM oil. You might want to bump up a grade for non-winter driving, maybe try 10W-30 or 10W-40. Using a synthetic will only increase the usage, which really isn't bad at all at 1-2 qts. over 5000 miles. But Mobil 1 High Mileage would probably work...

 

[neevers]

I had a 1989 CRX with the base engine, great car, made it to 296,000 miles when it was taken out by a jeep grand Cherokee.

 

[Audioquest]

Take it from another CRX Si owner (see sig below), the D16A6 could run forever on Crisco. Although I've fed mine nothing but 10W30 or 5W30 synthetic since I bought it new in 91, don't get too hung up on oil. You might want to visit crxcommunity.com and see what other CRX owners are doing in your situation. I've always leaned towards SOPUS products for my CRX - something about Shell and the McLaren-Honda Formula 1 partnership back in the late 80s-early 90s era just seemed right.

 

[MrFrizzy]

Originally Posted By: cb450sc
If he is burning two quarts over 5000 miles (and topping up), why not buy a better quality filter and change the oil every 10,000 miles. Obviously a better quality oil would have to be purchased as well.

I'm mostly leaking oil and not really burning oil.

Originally Posted By: Hounds
I'm very familiar with your car. Great Honda. No equivalent today.

WRT your motor oil choices, I'd go with a "good" conventional oil, such as PYB or Castrol's GTX 5W-30 HM, rather than a synthetic. Why? Because you have an oil leak, and either of the two conventionals mentioned is more than up to what you're doing with your Honda while your hunting for the source of the leak. Also, your Honda doesn't "need" a synthetic oil, and if you're changing oil every 5k -- or leaking a qt or more during that interval -- you won't realize any benefits from a synthetic. And any 40W may be more difficult to start in really cold weather.

WRT your oil leak, I'd check the oil filter gasket gasket first, then the valve cover gasket. But a quart or more every 5k is a significant leak (IMHO), if that's what it is. If, OTOH, you're consuming a quart or more every 5k, Castrol's HM will help with that until you can do some engine work.

I've already changed the valve cover gasket and it was leaking before I did the oil change so I wouldn't suspect the oil filter gasket. I think it's the oil pan gasket due to the unlikeliness that it is the head gasket.

 

[MrFrizzy]

I have also done more work to this car than I had mentioned.

• I have changed the valve cover gasket becasue the #2 spark plug well was filling with oil so I just did the whole job.
• The head looks decently clean under the cover, just some somewhat burned on oil.
• I haven't adjusted the valves, but I have the means to do so I just need the time.
• This motor has had a lot of things removed from it including a battery relocation, factory air cleaner removed and replaced with a custom CAI, and the A/C system.
• I also did a tune up when I got the car. The distributor cap, wires, and spark plugs were all changed out.
• The timing belt was replaced around 200,000 miles (or so i'm told) and seems to be in good shape visually.
• I replaced the water pump around 226,000 miles since it was leaking pretty bad. I left the timing belt cover completely off of motor. It had been removed before I got it and not properly re-installed and sustained some damage from the harmonic balancer rubbing on it along with the belt itself.

 

[Mr_Incredible]

I had an '89 CRX with 280k miles on it. A real hoot to own. I did all the same maintenance items as you did, and new brakes all around, and it ran very well the four years I had it.

I usually got around 40mpg. It dropped as low as 35 on occasion, got around 46 on the highway, and my record mpg was 52.

I had great service from any 5w-30. PYB, GTX, PP, and even M1 0w-30. I tried GTX 5w-20 for an oil change, but had increased oil use afterwards. I didn't use it again. It ran well on the 20w, though it was a bit buzzy and clattery.

The worst problem I had with it (besides the cracked sealing around the hatch that caused leaks into the spare well) was a problem with the spark plug wires. I had recently changed them so thought they were still good as I was hunting down a coughing/spitting problem. Under load or accelleration at around 2k rpm it would buck/spit/cough. Eventually I tracked it down to one of the plug wires that had separated around the plug.

 

[dorcheat]

I consider the Civic CRX probably Honda's best all around car ever. I remember driving in the mountains of Colorado and getting 54 MPG. I do not know if the altitude had something to do with such great mileage, but at the time, I was sure impressed.

I kept an old log book that detailed my fuel economy and looked through it last night. For the time that I owned my 87, my mileage averaged to 43.5 MPG. Top speed was 104 MPH downhill. Maybe I should have brought it to the strip. They were such fun cars to drive!

 

[CharBaby]

I have driven CRX Si's only not the HF or other models. Quite a nice little car in it's day. I was driving on the Canadian QEW in my Accord traveling at about 90 mph and a yellow CRX-Si blew by me like I was standing still. The Honda CRX Si would still be a nice little car to own today!