Just an interesting tidbit about Honda's B16A engine...

[The_Oz]

Well... ...after months of searching the internet regarding any info about my B16A motor, I finally was able to find a workshop manual for it. The manual seems to have been printed from the UK, although the 1st Gen. B16A is pretty much standard internationally except for North America which did not get a taste of VTEC until the Acura NSX came aboard. Anyway, recommended motor oil is SE/SF/SG 10W30 from -20C to 32C. Interesting to note that the oil chart is covered in a bit more depth. Here is a quick run-down. Multi-Grade 5W20: below -30C to -10C 5W30: below -30C to 0C 10W30: -20C to 32C 10W40: -20C to greater than 40C 15W40 & 15W50: -15C to greater than 40C 20W40 & 20W50: -10C to greater than 40C Straight-Grade 10W: -20C to 0C 20W: -10C to 15C SAE 20: -5C to 15C SAE 30: 10C to 32C SAE 40: 25C to greater than 40C Now, this chart is compared to the US version of the manual for the B18A Non-VTEC and B17A VTEC which are fairly similar to the B16A except for the displacement difference (B16=1.6L, B18=1.8L, B17=1.7L). For the B18A Non-VTEC, the recommended oil is as follows: Multi-Grade only 5W30: below -20C to greater than 40C (Recommended by manual) 10W30: -15C to greater than 40C For the B17A VTEC 5W30: below -20C to 0C 10W30: -20C to greater than 40C (Recommended) I currently own a 1991 Canadian Acura Integra with a swapped B16A from a Japanese Integra. The North American Integra (1990-1993) is supplied by either a B18A Non-VTEC or B17A VTEC motor. Outside of North America, the Integra is known as the Honda Integra (1989-1992), and is equipped with a ZC Non-VTEC 1.6L or B16A VTEC motor. So, I'm not wasting my time then using 5W40 for my B16A I just thought it interesting how non-North Americans think. Regards, Oz

 

[Patman]

For a quick synopsis of the above chart, it basically says "run whatever you want!"

 

[The_Oz]

Well, it's just very interesting that the 10W40 would be the ideal oil for protection, and 10W30 for the sake of fuel economy, IMHO. It's funny that the GS-R guys in the Honda forums (B18C for the 94-01 Integra) use 5W30 year round, and complain that they are having oil consumption issues....hmmmm, I guess they read their manual wrong Regards, Oz

 

[joee12]

quote:

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Originally posted by The_Oz: Well, it's just very interesting that the 10W40 would be the ideal oil for protection, and 10W30 for the sake of fuel economy, IMHO. It's funny that the GS-R guys in the Honda forums (B18C for the 94-01 Integra) use 5W30 year round, and complain that they are having oil consumption issues....hmmmm, I guess they read their manual wrong Regards, Oz

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Even though my 1996 Integra's(142 HP 1.8 Non-Vtec) manual only mentions 5W30, I am switching back to 10W30 at the next oil change. -Joe

 

[Idrinkmotoroil]

when I ran my b16a, I preferred 10w-30 oil over any other weight. I didn't run it in the winter though, I probably would use 5w-30 in the dead of winter if I was running it, and 10-30 in warmer months - spring to fall. The GSR and ITR motors had 5w-30 oil spec'd because Honda developed improved race-bred surface oriented bearings on those engines and found that they could handle 5w-30 quite easily, they left the b16a engine spec'd at 10w-30 weight because they didn't have the improved bearings. This was all before CAFE crap affected things, the latest generation b16a's had 5w-30 oil spec'd. I still ran 10-30 weight and found it was much better in terms of consumption if nothing else.

 

[The_Oz]

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Originally posted by JSIR: when I ran my b16a, I preferred 10w-30 oil over any other weight. I didn't run it in the winter though, I probably would use 5w-30 in the dead of winter if I was running it, and 10-30 in warmer months - spring to fall. The GSR and ITR motors had 5w-30 oil spec'd because Honda developed improved race-bred surface oriented bearings on those engines and found that they could handle 5w-30 quite easily, they left the b16a engine spec'd at 10w-30 weight because they didn't have the improved bearings. This was all before CAFE crap affected things, the latest generation b16a's had 5w-30 oil spec'd. I still ran 10-30 weight and found it was much better in terms of consumption if nothing else.

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It would be interesting to see - I guess - the latest Euro Helms for the latest B16. I guess, I can't really compare the first generation against the third since a lot has happened then regarding oils. On an another note though, I am close in obtaining a UK Helms for the 95-97 Civic which, unfortunately, covers only the D-Series engines. But it would be neat to compare it to US recommendations as well. Regards, Oz