Is my engine gonna blow up?

T

TOMJ

Joined
May 17, 2012
Messages
124
Location
Marietta, GA
The '93 Civic in my signature will roll over to 300,000 miles today. Owned it Sept '93, almost 25 years.
Needless to say, we plan on keeping it.
I had always been the 3 month / 3,000 mile oil change guy. A few years ago I did run Mobil Super High Mileage for 5,000 mile OCIs and that was hard to do. Old habits, ya know?
Anyway, it was just a couple of years ago that I switched to synthetic oil. Ran Mobil 1 5w-30 High Mileage for 7,500 mile OCIs with a Fram Ultra filter.
I did the 60,000 mile service over the weekend and put in Mobil 1 EP High Mileage along with a Fram Ultra filter and plan on running it for 1 year or 15,000 miles.

What if after 1 year I'm at 12,000 miles and I run it another 3 -4 months to get to 15,000 miles? Assuming that it's topped off as needed.
During the last 7,500 mile OCI the car used about 1 quart of oil. I topped it off last September and earlier this year.

And one more thing, keeping an oil filter in use for 15,000 miles makes it a pain to remove.
 
I am of the mindset that you don’t change what is working for you. You could run a shorter oci like 5k or 7.5k. It sounds like you will run this car until it goes.
 
If by "blow up" you mean "stop functioning because something inside broke", then your answer is:

Yes, if you keep driving your engine is going to eventually blow up.
 
If you are thinking of going straight to 15k without a UOA, then I assume you are almost all highway miles.
You can probably proceed, I doubt that engine is hard enough on oil to matter.
 
Just hwy commuting? For that, personally I'm good with two 8k mile oil changes with a FU on the Focus.
How much longer are you planning on keeping the car? If you are going for as long as possible, then keep the OCI reasonable. If rust is going to junk the car in a few years, then stretch out those OCI's.
 
I think you should be fine.
But:
-check your oil level, let's say every 1-2 months
-"oil" the filter's gasket and threads before installing.
 
Originally Posted By: PimTac
I am of the mindset that you don’t change what is working for you. You could run a shorter oci like 5k or 7.5k. It sounds like you will run this car until it goes.


Yeah, we plan on keeping the car forever, it's my wife's baby.

After I bought the EP, I thought about just sticking with the Mobil 1 High Mileage and a 7,500 mile OCI.
 
Originally Posted By: maxdustington
If you are thinking of going straight to 15k without a UOA, then I assume you are almost all highway miles.
You can probably proceed, I doubt that engine is hard enough on oil to matter.


This car is used for daily commutes of about 35 miles round trip, "city" driving.
 
Originally Posted By: IndyIan
Just hwy commuting? For that, personally I'm good with two 8k mile oil changes with a FU on the Focus.
How much longer are you planning on keeping the car? If you are going for as long as possible, then keep the OCI reasonable. If rust is going to junk the car in a few years, then stretch out those OCI's.


Mostly "city" driving and no rust here. Drivin' it 'till the wheels fall off. Aside from a few door dings, the car looks great.

I may just stick to the 7,500 mi OCI like I was doing with the Mobil 1.
 
Originally Posted By: TOMJ
Originally Posted By: PimTac
I am of the mindset that you don’t change what is working for you. You could run a shorter oci like 5k or 7.5k. It sounds like you will run this car until it goes.


Yeah, we plan on keeping the car forever, it's my wife's baby.

After I bought the EP, I thought about just sticking with the Mobil 1 High Mileage and a 7,500 mile OCI.




I think this is a solid plan going forward. Check back in when it hits 400k.
 
Go back to the 3 mo 3k plan that worked. You don't want to experiment with wife's baby. More blow by means oil should be changed sooner not less IMO. Nothing like draining crud out the old 3k school way. Maybe it will save the quart needing to be added.
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I agree, stick with what has been working. The Honda engines of that era aren't hard on oil at all though. Stay cheap with 3,000 mile changes and use a decent conventional oil. No need for anything fancy.
 
Originally Posted By: TOMJ
The '93 Civic in my signature will roll over to 300,000 miles today. Owned it Sept '93, almost 25 years.
Needless to say, we plan on keeping it.
I had always been the 3 month / 3,000 mile oil change guy. A few years ago I did run Mobil Super High Mileage for 5,000 mile OCIs and that was hard to do. Old habits, ya know?
Anyway, it was just a couple of years ago that I switched to synthetic oil. Ran Mobil 1 5w-30 High Mileage for 7,500 mile OCIs with a Fram Ultra filter.
I did the 60,000 mile service over the weekend and put in Mobil 1 EP High Mileage along with a Fram Ultra filter and plan on running it for 1 year or 15,000 miles.

What if after 1 year I'm at 12,000 miles and I run it another 3 -4 months to get to 15,000 miles? Assuming that it's topped off as needed.
During the last 7,500 mile OCI the car used about 1 quart of oil. I topped it off last September and earlier this year.

And one more thing, keeping an oil filter in use for 15,000 miles makes it a pain to remove.



What you have been doing has worked very well, I would keep doing what you were doing and stick with it. I have switched from full synthetic oils to synthetic blends and conventional oils to reduce oil consumption problems I have had over the years. 15k oil change intervals is extreme in my opinion, oils today come with a robust additive package to last 7-10-15k but that has nothing to do with dirty contaminated oil, and nothing to do with particulate filtration with the oil filter. If it was my car I would run Valvoline high mileage synthetic blend or Pennzoil high mileage conventional for 4k.
 
Since your car is 25 years old, here's an idea: go back to your Mobil High Mileage conventional oil, change oil every 5k miles, leave the Ultra filter on for 15K miles. It's rated for 20K miles. If you plan to keep the car for another 5 years plus, invest in a Fumoto drain valve. Make life easier.
 
Originally Posted By: TOMJ
Originally Posted By: PimTac
I am of the mindset that you don’t change what is working for you. You could run a shorter oci like 5k or 7.5k. It sounds like you will run this car until it goes.


Yeah, we plan on keeping the car forever, it's my wife's baby.

After I bought the EP, I thought about just sticking with the Mobil 1 High Mileage and a 7,500 mile OCI.


Don't letem scare you.
 
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