Just a normal guy here. Trying to keep my head above water after child support for my 12 year old. Keep my cars 10 years plus and 175K miles plus.
Bought a Honda Element after my 1993 Subaru Legacy got KO'd while parked.
I have a routine of changing my oil and filter every other month at ~1.5K or less. I perform most routine maintenance at 1/2 the time period or mileage of the manufacturer's recommendations.
I had been running 5W50 Castrol Syntec in the Subaru without problem that I got at Walmart for $2 a quart. No analysis and no worries.
A friend of mine that has a S2000, nice car, turned me on to the site. You guys have made me nuts!!!! I would have run the 24 quarts of Syntec 5W50 I got at Walmart without concern.
Should I run the 5W50 in my lawn mower forever and get some Exxon 5W20 Superflo for my Element. Can I mix the 5W50 with 5W20 for my Element? Can I run the 5W50 in the summer in the Element and 5w20 in the winter? Can I run the 5w50 year round?
Advice appreciated!!!
Need good advice...Honda 2.4L!!!
- Thread starter deoxy4
- Start date
- Status
If you weren't on warranty, I'd say the 5W-50 summer, 5W-20 winter would be a good option to go with. 5W-50 year round really wouldn't hurt anything either except fuel economy.
However, I'd stick with the manufacturer's recommended oil and grade until the warranty period is up, just to avoid the potential hassle if you do have an engine problem.
Sell the oil to a buddy, save it for later and lawnmowers, or send it to me! ![[Big Grin]](images/icons/grin.gif)
Also, move up to 3K oil change intervals. You're still very safe with that. I don't think your engine will last any longer on 1.5K intervals.
Also, move up to 3K oil change intervals. You're still very safe with that. I don't think your engine will last any longer on 1.5K intervals.quote:Run MC 5w20 in the element. Sell the Castrol 5w50 to me for a $1/qt. All your problems are solved.
Originally posted by deoxy4: I had been running 5W50 Castrol Syntec in the Subaru without problem that I got at Walmart for $2 a quart. No analysis and no worries.
I've got the same engine in my CRV. Just my opinion but I wouldn't be comfortable running the 5W-50 in it. That's to far outside of Honda's spec. I'd stick with 5W-30 or so myself but that's just me.
I got me a John Deere 6.5 HP lawn mower that I tried the Mobil-1 15W50 in and it totally bogged it down. HP lowered greatly as I could tell in thick grass.
My lawn mower is happier with 10W30. lol
JHZR2
Staff member
there have been some great results using high quality 5w-20 oils. I'd use one of those (motorcraft for conventional, mobil1 for synthetic), or else Id use mobil1 5w-30 (its a very light 30 weight oil, so its close to the 5w-20 spec) if your constantly in hot or high stress conditions (desert, mountains, etc).
I wouldnt go heavier.
Also, I think its great that you do such consistent maintenance, but I think that you could go a little further on your oil, and stretch your $$$. Maybe even just change the filter every 1500, and top up with fresh oil, this way your filter is clean and you replace 0.5-1qt of oil while youre at it.
JMH
if you still have the receipt you might be able to take it back and exchange it for Motorcraft 5w20. I use it in my 1.7 civic for minimum of 5k miles. Great oil. Running a 50 weight is good for a subaru not a good idea in a honda. Just my opinon.
5w-20 will be just fine in your Honda. Been using Exxon 5w-20 with oil changes every 5k in a K20A3. Here are my 3 UOAs.
http://theoildrop.server101.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=3;t=001618
IMHO:
For this car I'd stick with something with much less viscosity spread (even with synthetics): 5w-20, 10w-30 and go to 3-5K OCIs. OCIs at 3K miles is very conservative, which you should get comfortable with after reviewing the Used Oil Analysis section. The only reason to change very often is if you get fuel dilution due to short trips (esp. during winter temps) or malfunctioning EFI.
Thinking longevity, make sure you change anti-freeze, brake fluid, axle/trans fluid every other year or so. Also, the PCV system is key to keeping sludge from forming, so make sure it is maintained.
I would also invest in a ODBII reader at around 50K miles and learn the fault codes so that you can monitor and catch sensor failures before they cause bigger problems.
Honda recommends 5W-30 in the Acura TSX 2.4L engine (same block, different head as CRV/Element), so 5W-30 should be fine in the lessor vehicles as well.
Run the Motorcraft 5w20 year round if your car is spec'd for 5w20. It's $1.42/qt. here and is a great oil at really too low of a price. I have a feeling that changing oil before 3,000 miles might be a bad thing if you don't get the filter completely full of oil because you are exposing the car to twice as many 'dry' starts while the filter fills with oil.
I'm with 427 and mikemc...a good dino+ 5W-20 will be just fine in your Element, with 4 K +/- oil changes. Lots of good results reported here from the Motorcraft 5W-20. I have been using the Pennzoil dino 5W-20 with a little Lube Control and Schaeffers 132 added.
No need to change oil so frequently (as you have been in other cars) in a Honda.
quote:Old habits die hard. Before I came here several months ago I always changed mine right at 3k even with Mobil-1. Now I'm pushing 5k but begin to get uncomfortable about it. Takes some getting use to. I bet I wasted a lot of good oil in the past
Originally posted by STSinNYC: No need to change oil so frequently (as you have been in other cars) in a Honda.
![[Mad]](images/icons/mad.gif){kind=icon}
More common folk do need to know about thisquote:That's my reasoning as well along with the fact that some 5W30's or 0W30's are on the thin side of the 30 spec anyways such as the Mobil-1 that I use.
Originally posted by Mr. P: Honda recommends 5W-30 in the Acura TSX 2.4L engine (same block, different head as CRV/Element), so 5W-30 should be fine in the lessor vehicles as well.
- Status
