M1 0w40 in a Honda k20z3 engine

[JoeFromPA]

Hey all,

Just finished a run of 10.7k miles on Pennzoil Platinum 5w30 in my 2006 Honda Civic SI (88k miles on her now). based upon my last UOA, I'm sure it sheared down to a 20 grade.

Anywho, I went from PP 5w30 and a Purolator PureOne to M1 0w40 and an M1 filter.

I've put about 100 miles on the new oil and I have to say: distinctly, unequivocally a smoother running engine at start-up, during warm-up and even at higher RPMs once fully warmed up.

I found myself cruising at 3500 rpms when the engine was fairly cold...that never happens, because the engine distinctly feels unhappy at those rpms until it warms up more.

I'm excited to run this oil for 12-15k miles before sampling. Should be a good test!

Joe

 

[mechtech2]

That is exactly backwards to my thinking and experience.
You have a thicker oil that likes to rev high when cold.
Use whatever oil you want, but that makes no sense to me.

 

[Gary Allan]

It does appear counter what one would expect. What he's experiencing is a difference. There are surely some aspects of a leading edge oil that may trump our normal views of viscosity and how it impacts drivability.

 

[Audi Junkie]

Sounds ideal.

 

[iluvhonda]

why would you make a big jump like a 0w40? usually rev happy honda motors go for 10w30 in the summer weather.

 

[buster]

Good choice of all the 40 grades you could have used.

I'm thinking of trying Shell T5 10w30 Rotella in the Honda 4 banger next time around.

 

[fdcg27]

Ran Rotella 10w30 about 7K in our '97 Accord last summer.
3K was as an AR-X rinse, and a run of 4K after that.
Didn't seem to hurt performance or fuel economy at all.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: iluvhonda
why would you make a big jump like a 0w40? usually rev happy honda motors go for 10w30 in the summer weather.


That being said, M1 0w40 is on the low end of the 40-scale; likely indistinguishable from a heavier 0w30 like say GC.

 

[fdcg27]

Both of our Hondas have done 10K each on GC, which included a winter.
Both seemed perfectly happy with it, with no loss of performance or fuel economy.
The point I'm trying to make is that if the car is driven a decent distance each day, enough to warm the oil to reasonable operating temperatures, the grade probably doesn't matter all that much under warm weather conditions.
One might even try a 15W-50, although not in winter cold.

 

[CATERHAM]

Makes no sense to me.

The factory preferred oil is a light 5w30 (HTHS of about 3.0 cP), not even a heavy 30wt. M1's 0W-40 has a HTHS vis of 3.7 cP which is way heavier than necessary for your high reving engine.

The only thing you'll gain by running the heavier oil is a reduction in fuel economy and power.

 

[JoeFromPA]

Caterham - Viscosity ratings are a joke, as your final statement shows (and you know better by now). The oil will quickly shear down to a 0w30 grade oil.

I chose it because it was on sale for $5/quart and has the capability of running a 15k interval with confidence (especially with how much consumption I have). I know it'll be a 0w30 in no time. And frankly, I've run a wide variety of viscosities in both my cars....and (short of going from 5w30 to 15w50 in the turbo), it's never a noticeable power difference. That's my experience, in my cars.

FDCG - I ran 15w50 in my legacy gt during some summer months last year. Felt fine on it, no real difference was noticeable. UOA showed good results too.

This Honda SI has done the following:

26-35.5k Amsoil Series 2000 0w30
35.5k-~50k Amsoil SSO 0w30
~50k-66k Amsoil SSO 0w30
66k-76.5k PP 5w30
76.5k-87k PP 5w0

All backed by UOA and all having good results. I want to stick with the 15k intervals though.

Mechtech2 - Umm, don't I have a thinner oil (when cold) that apparently likes to rev high? How is that counter to thinking? Further, I'm comparing it to the immediate feel of pennzoil platinum after a 10.5k run under hard driving and having consumed over 3 quarts during that run (normal consumption for me since brand new). The oil could easily have been under less than ideal characteristics.

Thanks all,

Joe

 

[ThirdeYe]

I'm using M1 0W-40 in my B18B1 right now. It seems slightly noisier to me, but other than that it seems pretty much the same. I may be wrong about the noise, I'll have to switch to another oil after this and see what I think about the noise. My engine has always been a little noisy, so I'm not that concerned about it and like I said, it could just be my imagination.

 

[CATERHAM]

Joe, firstly I'm sorry to hear that after over 500 posts you don't understand the SAE grading system. A 5w30 will never ever shear down to a 0W-30, it would be fantastic it it could.

The oil you were running, PP 5w30 which has a HTHS vis of 3.1 cP was a good choice and is reasonably shear stable over a typical OCI. Besides a certain amount of shear is not a problem as there is a degree amount of conservatism built-in to a manufacturer's oil recommendations.

 

[SpitfireS]

Smooth = dull = sluggish = slow?

My Honda changed for the better going from a 5W-40 / 0W-40 (~ 14 cSt) to a 0w30 (~10 cSt) especially at higher rpm.

 

[crinkles]

most oil website recommendations recommend 40 weights for even recent honda motors. in aus.

 

[Boss302fan]

What works best in a Honda V6 engine?

 

[JoeFromPA]

Caterham - I'm sorry to hear that after 1100 posts your reading comprehension is so poor

I said, specifically, TWICE, that the M1 0w40 would shear down to a 0w30 equivalent.

I've re-read my post 3 times, and I have no idea where I could've confused you into thinking I was specifying 5w30 shearing to a 0w30.

Thanks for engaging on assertions on an intellectual level though, and not bringing something silly like post-count into it!



Seriously though, twice now you've brought up HTHS as if that was my guiding principle for this oil. It wasn't. I chose an oil that exceeded required specs, and I chose an oil that is suitable for long duration runs.

PP 5w30 had proven in my past UOA to shear down to a 20 grade during my runs. I often beat the snot out of my car, and it's summer time, and I do some idling in heat. I don't want a combination of ambient temps, A/C temps, fuel dilution, and a sheared 5w20 to meet a bad time for me to go WOT.

PP 5w30 is a great oil and, barring something unforeseen with my upcoming 2nd UOA of it, I have no doubt my engine rarely saw metal-on-metal contact. But I wanted something I could run longer, safely, in both viscosity and pH buffer.

Joe

 

[addyguy]

Did you send the PP out for a UOA?

M1 0W-40 is a good oil, and should work well in your Civic. It IS thicker than a 30-weight, but the '0W' rating means it still flows well at start-up.

 

[JoeFromPA]

Addyguy -

Yes, the PP 5w30 is sitting next to me right now in a blackstone container along with a sample of GTX 10w30 from my Legacy GT (trying to show that even a good solid dino like GTX 10w30 can't last 4000 miles in the LGT without shearing).

The PP 5w30 will be my 5th consecutive UOA on this car with no known issues; should be a good trend.

BMW, Audi, Porsche, and others make naturally aspirated high-revving engines (i.e. 7000-8400 rpm redlines) that spec a 0w40, 5w40, or even up to 10w60. I have no concerns about the viscosity of M1 0w40 and how it will act during redline runs in my civic SI, especially given it's history of quickly shearing to basically where GC 0w30 starts.

 

[lexus114]

the last oil change in my RX,I went with the GC 0W-30. So far its very smooth,and the millage is actually up by .5 mpg`s.