My review of M1 AFE 0w20...

[gregk24]

This is my first time using M1 AFE 0w20. I have used the 0w30 version before in the Uplander, and it gave it a distinct tick that went away after changing the oil to QSUD. Anyway, we all know that the AFE of oils is excellent, and many have said they it ran quiet and smooth in there Honda 2.4's, which is one reason I wanted to try it. I have ran:
Castrol Syntec 5w20
Castrol Syntec with Titanium 5w20
Pennzoil Ultra SN NON Pure Plus 5w20
Pennzoil Platinum 5w20
Pennzoil Platinum 0w20
TGMO 0w20
Honda Syn Blend 0w20
and now Mobil 1 AFE 0w20, in that order.
All of these are good oils, some are great. Most have made a difference in engine acoustics, whether making the engine louder or quieter. TGMO 0w20 was my favorite at the time I was running it, is ran fairly quiet at all temps, maybe a little more valve train noise, but piston slap was quieter. With all the great reviews of M1 AFE 0w20, and the fact that it was only $22 at WM, I had to give it a try. Well, at first things were nice and quiet, nice and smooth at idle and while driving etc. Well now, at 650 miles into the OCI and with temps cooling down a bit (40's - 60's in the morning) things aren't so quiet anymore. My Accord has piston slap, it has had it since I got it 3 years ago. I was hoping the thicker M1 would be nice and quiet, but I was wrong. The engine is very smooth with this oil, but the piston slap is not very muted with it. Once things warm up the engine is very quiet and I have no complaints. Bottom line, I know this is a great oil and its protecting my engine. Just not as pleased as I thought I would be. This is BITOG so I am splitting hairs, just thought I would share. I wanted to find an oil that was quiet, provided good UOA's and was readily available. Was hoping M1 AFE 0w20 would be the ticket. Maybe things will quiet down once I put some miles on it. Having said that I will be very tempted to go back to TGMO next OCI. We will see.

 

[lawman1909]

What about trying 2 quarts of M1 0W20 AFE and 2 quarts of M1 5W30! My friend did that with his '09 Accord 25k miles ago and his piston slap is minimal now. It used to clatter like pots and pans.. If I am not mistaken, the mixture he said came out to somewhere around a 3W-25.. that was his mathematics though..

 

[gregk24]

Originally Posted By: lawman1909
What about trying 2 quarts of M1 0W20 AFE and 2 quarts of M1 5W30! My friend did that with his '09 Accord 25k miles ago and his piston slap is minimal now. It used to clatter like pots and pans.. If I am not mistaken, the mixture he said came out to somewhere around a 3W-25.. that was his mathematics though..


The piston slap is only while the engine is in its warm up period, during warm up period you want oil to be thinner, not thicker. While a thicker oil might quiet down the slap, it probably would be best for the engine to have a thinner oil. Especially as we enter the winter season. BTW, I notice you have the exact same combo in your K24, how do you like it?

 

[lawman1909]

I like it. It is the first OCI since the FF. I did not notice any difference in engine noise, however the engine is the quietest I have ever driven. My old 1.8L ecotec was a good engine but was LOUD! So maybe I was just use to a louder engine.. Who knows! I plan on trying some QSUD 0W20 next run. How'd you like it?

 

[gregk24]

Originally Posted By: lawman1909
I like it. It is the first OCI since the FF. I did not notice any difference in engine noise, however the engine is the quietest I have ever driven. My old 1.8L ecotec was a good engine but was LOUD! So maybe I was just use to a louder engine.. Who knows! I plan on trying some QSUD 0W20 next run. How'd you like it?


Ive used the QSUD 5w30 in the Uplander, different engine and oil weight, but it ran fine. It was on the quieter side of most oils, which QS is known for. Never used the 0w20 before. Its not available around here, only the 5w20 weight. I only run 0w20's now in the Accord anyway.

 

[147_Grain]

Greg:

Thanks for the feedback!

For 9 and 10 year old vehicles in Florida's warmer climate, I doubt there will be much of a difference in the sound or longevity of your vehicles - perhaps a little, but not enough to lose sleep over.

Running the Fram Ultra for two OCI's on any name-brand quality synthetic oil will likely accomplish your goals. For fun, you can also use a High Mileage product in the Honda 2.4

 

[vinu_neuro]

All oils are so good these days that I typically go for ones that make the engine run quieter. In my experience the Shell/Pennzoil/QS products are by far the best at this, and M1 by far the worst. Castrol is typically pretty quiet too.

 

[Droopy]

I've been using Mobil 1 0W20 advanced fuel economy in 3 engines and it's performed very well. On my Accord the factory fill was louder compared to the AFE. Maybe because the factory fill was diluted with fuel and sheared? So far so good and it's noticeably quiter.

 

[timeau]

Originally Posted By: gregk24
The engine is very smooth with this oil, but the piston slap is not very muted with it.

Please, explain what is this in your opinion, and how could it happen.
In other words, this noise could come even from Harry Potter's broomstick, but not from pistons.

 

[tig1]

Oil can't fix engines that are designed in a way that makes them noisy. For example your Honda is that way, but my Ford Duratechs are very quite.

 

[webfors]

I have mild piston slap during warm up on my ej25. I noticed it was quieter with VWB 5w30 then with AFE 0w30. Solution? Block heater. No more piston slap on cold mornings

 

[timeau]

Originally Posted By: webfors
I have mild piston slap during warm up on my ej25.

See the difference? ;-) Your pistons are cold, so there is a gap between cylinder wall and piston. PYB is more think than M1 0W20, so gaps are filled by oil. When engine is hot, all gaps are filled by expanded piston and rings.
BTW, piston skirt on your EJ25 is short, and this is another reason why you can hear this noise. But I have never heard about short pistons on Honda and Chevy.

 

[0w20something]

I just recently put TGMO in my 2011 Accord 4 Cyl. It is a little smoother and quieter. It is more noticable in the garage during cold start up. I had the Amsoil XLZ in it. No problems here. 73K on it now.

 

[gregk24]

Originally Posted By: timeau
Originally Posted By: gregk24
The engine is very smooth with this oil, but the piston slap is not very muted with it.

Please, explain what is this in your opinion, and how could it happen.
In other words, this noise could come even from Harry Potter's broomstick, but not from pistons.


The Honda K24 is known to have piston slap, its nothing new. It has a metallic tapping sound that goes away when the engine is warmed up. Many of the K24's have this symptom. I have heard other Accords, Elements etc start up and they have the same sound. From other reports it seems to be harmless, and its not causing any oil consumption issues either. Its just noisy, so my goal is to find the quietest running synthetic 0w20 at a reasonable price.

 

[gregk24]

Originally Posted By: tig1
Oil can't fix engines that are designed in a way that makes them noisy. For example your Honda is that way, but my Ford Duratechs are very quite.


Im not trying to "fix" a problem. Im just trying to lessen the noise. Might to back to the TGMO 0w20 route. Tig, I know your a Mobil 1 fan, there is nothing wrong with that. Its a great oil and I like it, its just not giving me the noise cancelling I would like when the engine is in its warm up period.

 

[Nick1994]

Originally Posted By: gregk24
Originally Posted By: tig1
Oil can't fix engines that are designed in a way that makes them noisy. For example your Honda is that way, but my Ford Duratechs are very quite.


Im not trying to "fix" a problem. Im just trying to lessen the noise. Might to back to the TGMO 0w20 route. Tig, I know your a Mobil 1 fan, there is nothing wrong with that. Its a great oil and I like it, its just not giving me the noise cancelling I would like when the engine is in its warm up period.
Makes me wonder if the noise is irrelevant to engine longevity. Perhaps if it makes a little more noise with one oil, that doesn't necessarily mean it isn't protecting the engine as well as a quieter oil. It's a possibility the Mobil 1 could produce a better UOA than even TGMO, that it just makes it a little noisier. I think you should run it to your full 5k OCI and do a UOA and change with TGMO and do 5k, then you'd have two UOA's with identical mileage you can put side by side and really see what has better wear metals etc.

 

[NO2]

You might want to try the M1 0w-20 EP version. Seems to be as quiet as PP (old version) in our vehicles.

 

[Clevy]

Originally Posted By: timeau
Originally Posted By: webfors
I have mild piston slap during warm up on my ej25.

See the difference? ;-) Your pistons are cold, so there is a gap between cylinder wall and piston. PYB is more think than M1 0W20, so gaps are filled by oil. When engine is hot, all gaps are filled by expanded piston and rings.
BTW, piston skirt on your EJ25 is short, and this is another reason why you can hear this noise. But I have never heard about short pistons on Honda and Chevy.


You haven't heard of short Pistons in a Honda or Chevy?

I suggest using Google then because there are easily thousands of threads in dozens of forums that mention piston slap in Chevy engines.

 

[Hokiefyd]

Originally Posted By: gregk24
Originally Posted By: tig1
Oil can't fix engines that are designed in a way that makes them noisy. For example your Honda is that way, but my Ford Duratechs are very quite.


Im not trying to "fix" a problem. Im just trying to lessen the noise. Might to back to the TGMO 0w20 route. Tig, I know your a Mobil 1 fan, there is nothing wrong with that. Its a great oil and I like it, its just not giving me the noise cancelling I would like when the engine is in its warm up period.


tig's engines are always quite. I don't know if that means quite quiet, quite smooth, quite varnish-free, or what...

Oil generally does make a difference...the 2.5L Duratechs in our Fusions at work are not quite quiet at all...they're quite loud and thrashy when cold. Probably piston slap as well. I know they are not using Mobil 1. Oil selection could be making quite the difference.

So, Greg, what was the oil you used last winter, and was it quieter or louder? As you know, ambient start-up temperatures make a big difference here...if you used TGMO only during the summer, that wouldn't make for a good comparison.

 

[timeau]

Originally Posted By: gregk24
Originally Posted By: timeau
Originally Posted By: gregk24
The engine is very smooth with this oil, but the piston slap is not very muted with it.

Please, explain what is this in your opinion, and how could it happen.
In other words, this noise could come even from Harry Potter's broomstick, but not from pistons.


The Honda K24 is known to have piston slap, its nothing new. It has a metallic tapping sound that goes away when the engine is warmed up. Many of the K24's have this symptom. I have heard other Accords, Elements etc start up and they have the same sound. From other reports it seems to be harmless, and its not causing any oil consumption issues either. Its just noisy, so my goal is to find the quietest running synthetic 0w20 at a reasonable price.

OK, seems there is some misunderstanding here.
What the piston slap is? Roughly speaking, piston shakes in the cylinder. Why does it shake? Because engine is cold and there is a gap between piston and wall. Once heated, "feature" should gone. This is a feature, you can't and you should not try to "cure" it.
But I am 99% sure that sound that bothers you comes from valvetrain. Probably hydrolic lifters or something else, IMO.