I wouldnt push dino past 5k..ideas?

[heavyhitter]

I changed the oil on my Mother Inlaws Honda Element. She was at 7,000 on the oil. The car has 85,000 miles and has always been ran on dino that I know of. She says she always got her OC at the 6,000-7,000 mile range. 90% highway miles.

Looking through the fill hole the inside is black and looks like tar. I pulled out the dip stick it has a light to medium brown film on it running up the dip stick I had to scrape it off with my finger nail.

Apparently this engine is sludging up. Whats with the brown on the dipstick? I that sludge or varnish?

On the other hand my wife has an Element same year (2005) as her mom's. (actually her mom liked our Element so she bought one) Has had 5k oil changes with dino and then later syn the last 2 years at 5k interval and the dip stick looks brand new. the inside of the fill cap looks as good as it did when new.

I filled her mom's car up with Q-Horsepower 5w20 and a WIX and told her to get her to see me in 5,000 miles.

Do you guys think that after a few religious OC's with synthetic things should started cleaning up? I was temped to put some 10w30 HDEO oil in there for the summer for the extra detergents.

In the end after seeing her car there is no way Id run a car over 5k on dino.

 

[saberz]

Before blaming the oil, has the PCV valve been serviced and checked? Honda's are notoriously easy on oil.

 

[daman]

Originally Posted By: heavyhitter

In the end after seeing her car there is no way Id run a car over 5k on dino.

I agree never liked dino past 3,000 my self but hey what ever, i don't use the stuff.

anyway yea a 10w30 HDEO Rotela would work or a synthetic PP or M1 with maybe a shot of MMO to jump start it with and do a few short OCI maybe 3-4,000 to start.

 

[Panzerman]

I seriously cant see any reason why anyone would want to go over 5000 miles on dino or 7000 miles on synthetics such as Pennzoil or Quaker state. You can buy the oil at bargin prices if you shop right and use rebates(which can be sorta fun) and if you do it yourself, you can do it for about half price, so why push it. Is there anybody questioning that the 3000 mile guys engine isnt cleaner than the 10000 mile guys? I dont really understand the whole philosophy of pushing long oil changes as long as the oil is affordable and you do it yourself.

 

[daman]

The thing is tho with a quality oil tho purchased at a bargain price will go the distance and perform just fine at a reasonable long OCI,so why waist oil.

 

[Johnny]

5K is the most I would go on any dino.

Here are my limits:

Dino = 5K
Blend = 6K
Synthetic = 7.5K

Agree with Panzerman, oil is cheap.

 

[daves87rs]

Originally Posted By: Anies
Before blaming the oil, has the PCV valve been serviced and checked? Honda's are notoriously easy on oil.




Agreed. And they were highway too....

 

[gathermewool]

Aside from any PCV issues, we need to know whether she was burning oil and, if so, was she checking and topping off as needed? Sludge build up running to 6,000 to 7,000 miles while two quarts down over the interval wouldn't make a fair arguement against extended intervals; however, her refusal to keep tabs on the oil level (and topping up as needed) is.

For those of you who say they "will not..." with dino, please make sure to qualify your statement with vehicle, use, etc. Not all dinos, blends, "synthetics," and synthetics are created equal.


My gf's Honda Fit's maintenance minder seems to be running at ~1,000 miles/10%. Daily, she does very-short-distance driving to work, and then to the gym. On the weekends, though, she drive at the speed limit either 45 minutes to see her mom or 1-1/2 hours to see me. We also take her car on long distance trips, since it gets double my gas mileage!

I see no problem following the maintenance minder, which seems on track for 8kmi+ OCI's, using a good dino oil. This seems to be substantiated by the UOA I've seen on here.

For my '08 turbo Subie, however, it's a different story. I ran the free-dealer-oil-change of Cam2 to just over 3k and the UOA came back showing that it didn't have a lot of life left. 4,600 miles later, the results using T6 were completely different. I think I would have been able to extend out over Cam2 using a better dino oil like Pennzoil or Mobil, but not nearly as long as with T6.

 

[tig1]

I wouldn't go past 5K on dino either. When you start hitting the 7-8K range, I believe most dino oil will start to coke rings(which may not show up for many miles then it's too late) and cause blow by. Dino 5K, Quality synt 10K+.

 

[ericthepig]

Originally Posted By: tig1
...I believe most dino oil will start to coke rings(which may not show up for many miles then it's too late)... Dino 5K, Quality synt 10K+.


Bingo. My thoughts precisely.

200k.

10k+ Synths (but only on topshelf fare - M1, PP, PU, Amsoil, Edge)

 

[Audi Junkie]

Maybe the place she went used off-spec bulk oil?

Hwy miles are EASY, 6-7k short trips is a far different story.

I'm attempting 6 months / 5k of short trips on top-tier synths, and now I'm getting nervous.

 

[rclint]

Wow I can't believe what I just read here on BITOG 5k on today's dino ?? nothing, if you don't trust dino for 5k I don't see how you would trust synthetic for 10k !! Chances are if this is a Honda engine it's just some varnish, Honda's do have some varnish, my 97 had the same thing on the dipstick of course it had 265k on it which ran over 5k dino changes for it's life or 95% of it. My current accord gets 7500 mile OCI on dino, the engine is spotless through the fill hole, and the dipstick.

I would put very very little confidence in judging engine internals by the dipstick or the fill hole, heck all the ruckus raised of the dipstick jimmy commercials, yet I read so much about the dipstick now I know why they made the commercial LOL.

Also I didn't see the most important question asked, what does the manufacture specify for oil change interval ?

 

[sangyup81]

Originally Posted By: heavyhitter
I changed the oil on my Mother Inlaws Honda Element. She was at 7,000 on the oil. The car has 85,000 miles and has always been ran on dino that I know of. She says she always got her OC at the 6,000-7,000 mile range. 90% highway miles.

Looking through the fill hole the inside is black and looks like tar. I pulled out the dip stick it has a light to medium brown film on it running up the dip stick I had to scrape it off with my finger nail.

Apparently this engine is sludging up. Whats with the brown on the dipstick? I that sludge or varnish?

On the other hand my wife has an Element same year (2005) as her mom's. (actually her mom liked our Element so she bought one) Has had 5k oil changes with dino and then later syn the last 2 years at 5k interval and the dip stick looks brand new. the inside of the fill cap looks as good as it did when new.

I filled her mom's car up with Q-Horsepower 5w20 and a WIX and told her to get her to see me in 5,000 miles.

Do you guys think that after a few religious OC's with synthetic things should started cleaning up? I was temped to put some 10w30 HDEO oil in there for the summer for the extra detergents.

In the end after seeing her car there is no way Id run a car over 5k on dino.


I'm starting to suspect bulk dinos don't hold up as well as the ones sold in bottles in stores. Were her oil changes done at a quickie lube? Also, if they failed to change her filter ever these problems can occur.

I'd be comfortable going 7500 miles on dino if I do the oil and filter change myself using a quality dino like Pennzoil, Mobil Clean 5000, Quaker State, Formula Shell, Rotella, ect.

 

[The Critic]

One major oil company's technical hotline (IIRC it was Valvoline) told me that there should not be a difference in engine cleanliness between synthetic and conventional oil as long as both are changed at the OEM recommended intervals.

 

[Robenstein]

Originally Posted By: The Critic
One major oil company's technical hotline (IIRC it was Valvoline) told me that there should not be a difference in engine cleanliness between synthetic and conventional oil as long as both are changed at the OEM recommended intervals.


Of course Valvoline wants you to change the oil at 3k for their warranty.

Personally I would run the Quaker State for 5k and dump it. If you are around check it at times to see just how fast its turning black. It should give you an idea of how good it is cleaning out the engine.

You could go with a high mileage oil like Valvoline Maxlife Blend or full syn, or Pennzoil Platinum to clean it out a bit as well.

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted By: Robenstein
Of course Valvoline wants you to change the oil at 3k for their warranty.


Valvoline says they may recommended 3,000 miles for their warranty program, but they fully stand behind their products for the OEM recommended service interval.

It is unlikely that any oil will do much cleaning, especially if it is just varnish.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Originally Posted By: The Critic
One major oil company's technical hotline (IIRC it was Valvoline) told me that there should not be a difference in engine cleanliness between synthetic and conventional oil as long as both are changed at the OEM recommended intervals.


Probably true if the OEM recommended interval was based on dino. Mercedes paid $100's millions around 2002 to settle a class action lawsuit about their owners got sludge in their engine using dino instead of syn with FSS system, which can be as high as 15k OCI.

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
Originally Posted By: The Critic
One major oil company's technical hotline (IIRC it was Valvoline) told me that there should not be a difference in engine cleanliness between synthetic and conventional oil as long as both are changed at the OEM recommended intervals.


Probably true if the OEM recommended interval was based on dino. Mercedes paid $100's millions around 2002 to settle a class action lawsuit about their owners got sludge in their engine using dino instead of syn with FSS system, which can be as high as 15k OCI.


Yes, that is correct.

 

[nucleardawg]

I could see running dino less than 5k, if I had a known sludger engine...Time of year (weather), and conditions of driving city vs hwy, could also affect my decision.

I also believe that bulk oils used in quick lube shops may not be of the quality as a store bought oil.

Of course I wouldn't use a quick lube though.

 

[sprintman]

All dealerships in Oz use dino unless you ask for syn and none of them changes at 5,000 miles (8,000kms).