Mobil 1 0w20 in 97 Civic

[Luft]

I have a '97 Civic DX which calls for 5w30. Currently Mobil 1 5w30 is in the engine and will be staying there until winter. I've seen a lot of people liking Mobil 1 0w-20 if it's still available and my local Wal*Mart has a decent supply. Should I run that this winter? My trips are usually 20 minutes at the most, and my commute is 15 minutes in third gear through some stoplights.

The engine is very clean by the way... 140kmiles and it didn't leak a drop when I switched it over to synthetic at 132kmiles and the oil looks new after 3000 miles, so it doesn't seem to be stressed. Any advice?

 

[buster]

Absolutely. You can run this oil without any problems in your car and it will benefit from it.

 

[airbus]

Why not just run the Mbil 1 0w30? The reason I like the 0w20 is because of the "0" part of the oil.

 

[Luft]

Can't find 0w30 around here. I'd like extra gas milage if 0w-20 will give any. Should I look around more for 0w-30? My concern was that while 0w-20 seems to work well in the engines that have used oil analysis for it I can't find any for a 6th generation Civic, as it's before Honda started specifying it.

I want a 0w-X oil for this winter, definitely... it gets COLD here! (OK, not cold like Minnesota, but it gets to -20 sometimes...)

 

[buster]

If you read the back of the Mobil 1 0w-20 bottles, it says you can use that oil going back to 1996 for Honda's. I think it's a better oil then the 0w-30. Won't shear and will most likely be a very light 30wt when your at the end of your OCI.

 

[airbus]

Good point.

 

[Luft]

Sweetness! Thanks everyone, I'll be doing that

I don't know why I didn't look at the back of the bottle; I guess I figured it would only list specs, not applications.

 

[ruking77]

This might be unrelated to your issue of 0-5w30 to 0W20 but in my 2004 Honda Civic, I noticed anywhere from .5 to 3 mpg better mileage over 5w20 oem fill conventional. Now I do not know if it is the newness of the motor, but I have 10k on oem fill conventional vs 6-7k miles on the 0W20. It also seems to me to also have less resistance in the engine or winds up better and or faster. When this stash is gone in 100k and I have to go back to the new Mobil 1 5w20 I can confirm or deny differences due to synthetic vs conventional.

 

[Luft]

I just got back from picking up all 6 quarts at Wal*Mart. Since it takes a little less than 4 per change I'm hoping to find another 2 quarts somewhere to have two full changes' worth before needing to go to the 5w-20. Of course, I also hope to have a new car before then...