Oil Recommendation for Honda Rebuild

[g1tegger]

Hello. Long time lurker, first time poster.

I just got done rebuilding and swapping the engine in my 1989 Acura Integra. After the break-in I was planning on switching to synthetic. I'm following the 100-500-1000 OCI using some cheap Quaker State and WIX filter for the initial break-in. So far I'm 170 miles in and it runs like a top. After break-in I'm looking for an OCI of about 7k-10k miles. The last engine suffered piston slap at 190,000 miles and the oil consumption grew to 1 qt every 300 miles.

Information

1.1989 Acura Integra LS, D16A1 1.6L DOHC Non-VTEC

2. The manual recommends SF or SG 5W30 year round but says 10W30 is acceptable for temps above 20F.

3. I live in beautiful Western WA where temps rarely drop below 20F. Lots of moisture if that matters.

4. I drive the car relatively hard. Max power is made at 5500 RPM so revving it up high is not unusual for me.

5. In the weekdays I have a relatively short commute through town. 10 miles max. On the weekends I do more highway driving. Between 60 to 150 miles per day.

6. No known problems with my engine. Freshly rebuilt.

I appreciate any comments, feedback or questions! Thanks!

 

[BrianWC]

Probably any synth in 5W30.

 

[friendly_jacek]

Not sure what the rebuilt involved, but sounds like too many oil changes under break-in IMHO.
Remember, fresh oil = more friction and wear.
Do next one in 3000 miles and switch to synth.

 

[Rand]

5w30 syn, if you track it or beat on it for extended periods maybe a "light" 40 weight like m1 0w40

 

[g1tegger]

Rebuild involved having the head rebuilt. Boring the block to 75.00 mm. New pistons, piston rings, rod and main bearings. New gaskets, bolts, seals etc. Complete rebuild. Everything is back to factory spec.

The oil after 100 mi. Notice the metal and sediment.

What brands would you recommend. Would any 5W30 synthetic perform well in this engine?

 

[hardcore302]

Why not go for a quality dino?

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: g1tegger
What brands would you recommend. Would any 5W30 synthetic perform well in this engine?


There's nothing wrong with your very short OCIs after a rebuild. A rebuild isn't the same as a new engine from the factory. I'd stick to dino at least for the short OCIs. After that, I'd probably stick to dino, too, but any 5w-30 synthetic should serve you well, especially since you want to extend the OCIs a bit.

 

[friendly_jacek]

Originally Posted By: g1tegger
Rebuild involved having the head rebuilt. Boring the block to 75.00 mm. New pistons, piston rings, rod and main bearings. New gaskets, bolts, seals etc. Complete rebuild. Everything is back to factory spec.

The oil after 100 mi. Notice the metal and sediment.


I see. Then the initial plan you had sounds like a good idea. I used to change factory oils at 1000 miles (don't do it anymore) and never saw that many particles.

 

[jjcom]

I would probably stick with a good conventional for the first 10-15k miles. Probably a bit overkill for a "clean up" so to speak, but I'd just feel safer doing some short OCI with PYB, Mobil Super, etc (Or brand of your choice) before going to a synthetic and extended drains.

 

[g1tegger]

Thanks guys! I'm running 10W30 right now (what I had sitting around). I'll pick up some decent 5W30 dino oil for the next oil change. ~350 miles before that happens! Hopefully the rings have seated and there isn't as much crud in the oil. It definitely runs better than when I first started it.

I used to run Motorcraft 10W30 and Castrol Syntec in the old engine and loved how quiet and smooth it was, hence why I want to give full synthetic a try now that I won't have to top it off every 300 miles. That and I found some pretty bad deposits in the oil holes of the old pistons (got pics somewhere). Maybe I'm paranoid

. I'll wait 10-15K before switching as recommended.

Just out of curiosity, why recommend a conventional oil? I always hear/read about the benefits of a synthetic.

 

[jjcom]

The first few changes are going to be short to get all the break in metals out. No sense in spending more money than you have to. A synthetic would come in handy for extended drain, which isn't an option at the moment, or long periods of high heat, which I don't think the engine will seeing. Once everything is broken in and you no longer need to be doing short oil changes, synthetic will be great for the extended drain options.

 

[bluesubie]

Originally Posted By: g1tegger

Just out of curiosity, why recommend a conventional oil? I always hear/read about the benefits of a synthetic.

Because today's conventional oils are very good and a synthetic isn't always needed. My turbo Forester only gets synthetic, but my naturally aspirated 2.5RS usually gets conventional for 5-7k mile intervals.

-Dennis

 

[Vikas]

Only 190K miles on the engine before needing a rebuild? I am half serious. Was the process gradual or it happened suddenly?

 

[g1tegger]

Originally Posted By: Vikas
Only 190K miles on the engine before needing a rebuild? I am half serious. Was the process gradual or it happened suddenly?

I bought the car at 170K and put the rebuild in at 218K. Around 190K is when I noticed things go downhill. There was a faint ticking/thud which got louder as the miles piled on. It was worse when the engine was cold but was still audible when warm. Valve lash was within spec and the bearings were all good. I could only guess that the piston-to-cylinder wall clearance grew out of tolerance. By the time I swapped it out it was dripping oil out of the exhaust pipe

. I've known people who have taken these engines close to 400K before failure. Now I have a clean slate

Thanks again for the advice and recommendations. I'll keep it on dino until it's fully broken in for sure then try a few oils and see what the teg likes.