I will be moving to Colorado next week. My brother and my sister in-law will be living near by. They have a 92 Accord. They take it to a oil change shop every 3,000 miles. I told them I would do the maintenance on it now.
I just bought two bottles of ARX. I also picked up a couple of Wix oil filters before I go. They been using 5W-30 bulk oil for awhile now. I will keep using that viscosity. Should I switch to High Mileage oil or stay with the regular stuff?
They have the 2.2L 4 cyl. This engine will last pretty much forever. I was thinking I would use Havoline or Castrol GTX 5W-30 during the ARX cleaning and probably after. I won't be switching over to synthetic after the cleaning.
Honda with 150,000 miles
- Thread starter Finklejag
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I'd say Havoline simply because its less expensive.
I have 150,000 miles on my Subaru Impreza. I am switching to Mobil 1. I have researched intensely on the synthetic with high mileage engines debate and found synthetic to be the winner. As for the leaking seals, that's because the syn oil is doing it's job of cleaning the sludge in the engine. I was convinced to switch to syn even with the high mileage after visiting the subaru high mileage club and seeing that many of these cars have switched to syn, even after high mileage, and are running great with over 200,000 miles.
Patman
Staff member
quote:That is an old wive's tale that just refuses to die.
Originally posted by bottgers: Not only that, but cars with that many miles that have been run on dino, and then switched over to synthetic tend to start leaking.
My personal experience with a first switch over to synthetic is the following. First synthetic change 210k miles on a 94 Honda. It has not consumed a drop of oil since 4.5k miles it was installed. I'm thinking of dumping it soon though due to the orange filter I noticed underneath the car. Its seems Frams don't have a good reputation. I'll ask for SuperTech next changeover.
quote:Not only that, but if he's taking the time & expense to run A-Rx, any & all potential leaks will be eliminated at that point. No way would I go to the trouble of using A-Rx & simply continue to use dino on short OCIs. A waste of both time & money, IMO.
Originally posted by Patman:quote:That is an old wive's tale that just refuses to die.
Originally posted by bottgers: Not only that, but cars with that many miles that have been run on dino, and then switched over to synthetic tend to start leaking.
Patman... I'm not an old wife, and I've seen several cars run into high miles on dino oil and when switched to syn they start to leak and don't stop leaking......
quote:I switched my old Mitsu Mighty Max Pickup at about that interval. I have no leaks and the consumption stopped, even though the syn is thinner visc. ____________________________________________ I'd probably just stick with the 10W-30 and 5W-30 in Winter with the regular stuff, unless your trying to stop oil consumption problems.
Originally posted by bottgers: Not only that, but cars with that many miles that have been run on dino, and then switched over to synthetic tend to start leaking.
I bought the ARX to clean the engine. I wasn't planning to use synthetic afterwards. So I shouldn't continue to use dino oil after the ARX treatment?
If I do decide to go to synthetic oil, would Mobil 1 0W-20 work in a 92 Honda motor like it does in the new ones?
quote:Absolutely use dino if you want. All the board was saying is that synthetics causing leaks is over-blown out of proportion. I would stay with whatever viscosity Honda recommends. I'd probably stick with dino on a 92 model.
Originally posted by Finklejag: I bought the ARX to clean the engine. I wasn't planning to use synthetic afterwards. So I shouldn't continue to use dino oil after the ARX treatment? If I do decide to go to synthetic oil, would Mobil 1 0W-20 work in a 92 Honda motor like it does in the new ones?
I would switch to Pennzoil's High Mileage Vehicle oil. Theis stuff does really well with high mileage Hondas, even ones with with piston slap noise. I've used it one and Bogatyr has used it in a handful.
It's a tad on the thick side for each given weight so you'll be fine with whatever weight is recommended (5W30 or 10W30), has a beefed up additive package and some ester content to condition older seals.
You can usually find this stuff for $2-2.25 per quart in automotive jobbers and discount stores.
I would, however, consider a synthetic or synthetic blend for winter use. As I said, the Pennzoil HMV is a tad thick and doesn't have a great low temp pour point.
--- Bror Jace
How can you not say Synthetics cause leaks? I've personally seen cars run with dino and not burn or leak a drop. When changed to Synthetic they stated leaking. It's simple, the synthetic oil caused it to leak. Let's just be honest.
I use Mobil Delvac 5W40 exclusively. So I'm not anti-synthetic.
We had an Accord from the previous generation, ran it past 165,000 on dino 5W-30 with no problems, no consumption. My mother in law has a model similar to yours, has been on dino all its life, doesn't consume any either.
If it were my car, and the engine is in good condition, I would be comfortable continuing on dino. I might put in a little Lube control for reasons well documented on this board.
That 1990-94 generation of Accords was a great platform with a fine engine. Well maintained, it'll run for a long time. Just keep an eye on the tranny, change fluid at least every 15K using Honda ATF ONLY!
(known problem with older Hondas)
quote:Counter-point: I've used synthetics since about 1986 or so, in about a half-dozen cars (including my wife's), and have never had a leak traceable to the oil. I had broken drain plug threads in a Civic that used M-1 for ten years, and a bad head cover gasket in my new Toyota (after replacement, with same oil, no leak), so those can't be blamed on the oil. Perhaps under some circumstances this can happen (the fast sludge clearing theory sounds viable), but certainly not in most situations.
Originally posted by Grossomotto: How can you not say Synthetics cause leaks? I've personally seen cars run with dino and not burn or leak a drop. When changed to Synthetic they stated leaking. It's simple, the synthetic oil caused it to leak. Let's just be honest. I use Mobil Delvac 5W40 exclusively. So I'm not anti-synthetic.
The leaks are caused by degraded elastomeric seals and gaskets, which are covered by sludge/varnish deposits from long term use of petroleum oils. The improved detergency of the synthetic lube cleans out these deposits and you can see some weeping of oil in these cases.
The fix is to replace the worn out seals - do this and the problem is solved and will not re-occur
Note: this is generally only a problem in engines that have not been well maintained. If you have been using a high quality petroleum oil and changing it every 3000-5000 miles, it is safe to change over to a synthetic even if you have well over 100,000 miles on the engine. I have personally converted, well maintained 10-12 year old motors to Amsoil with no seal leakage issues.
Tooslick
Dixie Synthetics
The idea that switching to synthetic oil will cause leaks has some limited truth to it. Dino oil can cause a "false" seal to form near some gaskets/seals and no oil gets to the gasket material and it dries out. When you use synthetic oil with its better additives and detergents it will clean out the "false" seal and in a few cases the dried out seal leaked. The number of times this has happened is small and its almost always with older technology gasket material.
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