Oil in South America

[JerryBob]

My wife and I are kicking around the idea of taking an adventure and driving her 2002 Honda Odyssey to Colombia, and giving it to her sister, who lives there.

We would drive to the Canal Zone, and then ship the car to Colombia, since the Panama/Colombia border is both physically impassable, and not that safe, anyway.

The Ody takes 5W20 oil, and I am wondering about my sister-in-laws ability to get parts for it, including the correct viscosity. It only has 70k miles on it and is well maintained. We are well-travelled in Latin America, but I honestly never paid attention to the oil viscosity while down there - too busy sneaking looks at the Latinas....

We both are fluent in Spanish, and are willing to take on the security and logistical challenges. But I am concerned about her sister being able to maintain the vehicle down there.

Curious to get the forum's reaction.

 

[gfh77665]

If 5-20 can't be found, use 5-30 with NO HESITATION. Honda actually specs 5-30 around the globe, except in the CAFE burdened U.S. The tropical climate there even reinforces the use of 5-30 for the Odyssey. 5-30 is perfect in the Honda!

 

[nwjones18]

Originally Posted By: gfh77665
If 5-20 can't be found, use 5-30 with NO HESITATION. Honda actually specs 5-30 around the globe, except in the CAFE burdened U.S. The tropical climate there even reinforces the use of 5-30 for the Odyssey. 5-30 is perfect in the Honda!


+1

 

[sciphi]

Based on widman's posts, getting a decent lubricant down there can be a challenge. Maybe shoot him a message with more details to see what he has to say?

 

[JHZR2]

5w-20 works perfectly in tropical climates. The in laws use it in both hauling trucks and cars seeing severe terrain and climate.

But I wouldn't hesitate to use a heavier viscosity if a quality one was easier to find.

I'd be more concerned with fuel quality.

 

[JR]

Fill the trunk will quality 5w20, and filters. M1 is rollback price at the walmart stores. Then see take a jug and filter to the garage and bam a qality syn oil change every 7.5k to keep the honda running great.


Ken

 

[widman]

In general throughout Latin America you will find SM oils at best, and viscosities as low as 10W-30 in some brands. Most promote 20W-50 and 25W-60.

Here (Bolivia) I am the only one with 0W-20, 5W-20, and 5W-30. I'm also one about 4 brands with SN, although for a year or so I was the only one. Honda dealers use 15W-40 SL. People say Hondas are no good, noisy, etc. Mobil brings in SM oils from Chile. Shell started bringing from the US since they ended up paying for the repairs of a dozen or so engines when they had licensed their production to the plant in Peru that makes Gulf and Cam2.

In Colombia I see Mobil has one GF-5 oil, that being a 10W-30. Colombia probably has a better selection than we do, and more parts, etc., but you might want to bring a few filters (air, oil, cabin).

BTW, you can drive to Colombia. It was done back in the 60's in a Corvair.

 

[JerryBob]

Originally Posted By: widman

In Colombia I see Mobil has one GF-5 oil, that being a 10W-30. Colombia probably has a better selection than we do, and more parts, etc., but you might want to bring a few filters (air, oil, cabin).

BTW, you can drive to Colombia. It was done back in the 60's in a Corvair.






Great info here. Te debo. I guess the Corvair thing was before Ralph Nader wrote "Unsafe at any Speed". My parents had a Corvair and we made several cross-country trips in it while a kid.

Pero los guerrilleros me asustan no me atrevo a pasar la frontera.

 

[Blazer79]

Hey JerryBob, if you decide to drive down, give me a holler. I'm in Guatemala if I can be of any help. Everyone uses 20W50 indiscriminately here. But I can help you find 10W30. Also bring filters. It's difficult to find anything different than Fram orange filters.