Oil Recommendation Needed

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Car is a bone stock 1999 civic si 1.6L B16A2, mileage is just over 160,000. Car is driven fairly easy and garage kept in WA State and really never see's temps below freezing. For the last ten plus years been running chevron supreme 10w-30 (OCI 3k), engine is still strong and no smoke but I do see a drip or two of oil a day on an oil pan on garage floor.

Should I go with a 5w-30 or stick with 10w-30?

Should I go regular oil, blend, full synthetic, high mileage?

I want the engine to run as smooth as possible, protect the engine as best possible and also try to stop the small oil leak if possible (not sure of source) but think a head gasket.
Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
 
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No reason to go down in viscosity, in fact that could make things worse in re the drip. At your age and mileage I'd say switching to a HiMi is prudent and won't hurt anything. (QS, Havoline and ST HiMi are all good options and come in a 10/30 that work just fine for a 3k mile oci) Of course trying to hunt down the source of the leak is advisable. Have you ever had the valve covers or pan gasket replaced?
 
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Originally Posted by Mad_Hatter
No reason to go down in viscosity, in fact that could make things worse in re the drip. At your age and mileage I'd say switching to a HiMi is prudent and won't hurt anything. (QS, Havoline and ST HiMi are all good options and come in a 10/30 that work just fine for a 3k mile oci) Of course trying to hunt down the source of the leak is advisable. Have you ever had the valve covers or pan gasket replaced?



Thanks for the advice, I've purchased the car when it had around 55k on it if I remember correctly and I haven't had either changed.

10w-30 high mileage, will give that a try. Should I go regular, blend or full synthetic or will that not matter much? I have heard in the past going to full syn can cause oil leaks to appear or get worse however not sure if true.

Thanks!
 
Originally Posted by zrxkawboy
^^^Agreed...I'd go with Havoline HM 10W30 from WM.


Originally Posted by aquariuscsm
Stick with 10W30. Maybe try a high mileage version.


Thanks!
 
Originally Posted by MilanoRedSI
Originally Posted by Mad_Hatter
No reason to go down in viscosity, in fact that could make things worse in re the drip. At your age and mileage I'd say switching to a HiMi is prudent and won't hurt anything. (QS, Havoline and ST HiMi are all good options and come in a 10/30 that work just fine for a 3k mile oci) Of course trying to hunt down the source of the leak is advisable. Have you ever had the valve covers or pan gasket replaced?



Thanks for the advice, I've purchased the car when it had around 55k on it if I remember correctly and I haven't had either changed.

10w-30 high mileage, will give that a try. Should I go regular, blend or full synthetic or will that not matter much? I have heard in the past going to full syn can cause oil leaks to appear or get worse however not sure if true.

Thanks!

No reason to change from a dino/blend, which is what I believe Supreme 10/30 is, at this point. It's been good to you this far hasn't it? All of the aforementioned lubes come in a dino/blend flavour if I'm not mistaken.
 
You could go with Quaker State high mileage 10W30. It's a synthetic blend with lots of moly. Almost 200ppm according to PQIA.
 
Originally Posted by Mad_Hatter
No reason to go down in viscosity, in fact that could make things worse in re the drip. At your age and mileage I'd say switching to a HiMi is prudent and won't hurt anything. (QS, Havoline and ST HiMi are all good options and come in a 10/30 that work just fine for a 3k mile oci) Of course trying to hunt down the source of the leak is advisable. Have you ever had the valve covers or pan gasket replaced?



10W30 vs 5W30 is not a drop in viscosity.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://cglapps.chevron.com/sdspds/PDSDetailPage.aspx%3FdocDataId%3D533194%26docFormat%3DPDF&ved=2ahUKEwiQg43hwr3mAhVXsp4KHQ97C7oQFjAAegQIBBAF&usg=AOvVaw10y0SblPtYe0MkLlMsWPVY&cshid=1576614545765

5W30 is actually 'thicker". The whole winter rating throws people off.
 
Originally Posted by MilanoRedSI
Car is a bone stock 1999 civic si 1.6L B16A2, mileage is just over 160,000. Car is driven fairly easy and garage kept in WA State and really never see's temps below freezing. For the last ten plus years been running chevron supreme 10w-30 (OCI 3k), engine is still strong and no smoke but I do see a drip or two of oil a day on an oil pan on garage floor.

Should I go with a 5w-30 or stick with 10w-30?

Should I go regular oil, blend, full synthetic, high mileage?

I want the engine to run as smooth as possible, protect the engine as best possible and also try to stop the small oil leak if possible (not sure of source) but think a head gasket.
Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.



I would not change anything other than "pushing" your OCI out to 5K miles.
 
Originally Posted by dave1251
Originally Posted by MilanoRedSI
Car is a bone stock 1999 civic si 1.6L B16A2, mileage is just over 160,000. Car is driven fairly easy and garage kept in WA State and really never see's temps below freezing. For the last ten plus years been running chevron supreme 10w-30 (OCI 3k), engine is still strong and no smoke but I do see a drip or two of oil a day on an oil pan on garage floor.

Should I go with a 5w-30 or stick with 10w-30?

Should I go regular oil, blend, full synthetic, high mileage?

I want the engine to run as smooth as possible, protect the engine as best possible and also try to stop the small oil leak if possible (not sure of source) but think a head gasket.
Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.



I would not change anything other than "pushing" your OCI out to 5K miles.


So you don't think I'd see any benefit going with a high mileage 10w-30 blend?
 
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Originally Posted by aquariuscsm
Stick with 10W30. Maybe try a high mileage version.

What he said. You could try HM. It won't hurt and some are the same price as regular. Conventional or syn? Your choice. Changing back and forth doesn't hurt anything or cause increased oil consumption. Depends on how much you want to experiment.
 
I would stick with the 10w30 that is working for you and (as others said) try a high mileage flavor, it might help stop the leak.
Since your engine still runs strong, consider going out to 4-5,000 miles on conventional or 7500 miles on synthetic.
It should be fairly easy to see where the leak is coming from and there are several methods for doing this.
 
Originally Posted by dave1251
Originally Posted by Mad_Hatter
No reason to go down in viscosity, in fact that could make things worse in re the drip. At your age and mileage I'd say switching to a HiMi is prudent and won't hurt anything. (QS, Havoline and ST HiMi are all good options and come in a 10/30 that work just fine for a 3k mile oci) Of course trying to hunt down the source of the leak is advisable. Have you ever had the valve covers or pan gasket replaced?



10W30 vs 5W30 is not a drop in viscosity.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://cglapps.chevron.com/sdspds/PDSDetailPage.aspx%3FdocDataId%3D533194%26docFormat%3DPDF&ved=2ahUKEwiQg43hwr3mAhVXsp4KHQ97C7oQFjAAegQIBBAF&usg=AOvVaw10y0SblPtYe0MkLlMsWPVY&cshid=1576614545765

5W30 is actually 'thicker". The whole winter rating throws people off.

Lol... you got me, brain farte. Topic has been discussed ad nauseum.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted by MilanoRedSI
Originally Posted by dave1251
Originally Posted by MilanoRedSI
Car is a bone stock 1999 civic si 1.6L B16A2, mileage is just over 160,000. Car is driven fairly easy and garage kept in WA State and really never see's temps below freezing. For the last ten plus years been running chevron supreme 10w-30 (OCI 3k), engine is still strong and no smoke but I do see a drip or two of oil a day on an oil pan on garage floor.

Should I go with a 5w-30 or stick with 10w-30?

Should I go regular oil, blend, full synthetic, high mileage?

I want the engine to run as smooth as possible, protect the engine as best possible and also try to stop the small oil leak if possible (not sure of source) but think a head gasket.
Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.



I would not change anything other than "pushing" your OCI out to 5K miles.


So you don't think I'd see any benefit going with a high mileage 10w-30 blend?

I guess he's saying you're overthink your drip??🤔 I'd like to hear this one also..
 
Originally Posted by MilanoRedSI
Originally Posted by dave1251
Originally Posted by MilanoRedSI
Car is a bone stock 1999 civic si 1.6L B16A2, mileage is just over 160,000. Car is driven fairly easy and garage kept in WA State and really never see's temps below freezing. For the last ten plus years been running chevron supreme 10w-30 (OCI 3k), engine is still strong and no smoke but I do see a drip or two of oil a day on an oil pan on garage floor.

Should I go with a 5w-30 or stick with 10w-30?

Should I go regular oil, blend, full synthetic, high mileage?

I want the engine to run as smooth as possible, protect the engine as best possible and also try to stop the small oil leak if possible (not sure of source) but think a head gasket.
Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.



I would not change anything other than "pushing" your OCI out to 5K miles.


So you don't think I'd see any benefit going with a high mileage 10w-30 blend?



It may have more seal conditioners it may help.
 
Originally Posted by dave1251
Originally Posted by Mad_Hatter
No reason to go down in viscosity, in fact that could make things worse in re the drip. At your age and mileage I'd say switching to a HiMi is prudent and won't hurt anything. (QS, Havoline and ST HiMi are all good options and come in a 10/30 that work just fine for a 3k mile oci) Of course trying to hunt down the source of the leak is advisable. Have you ever had the valve covers or pan gasket replaced?



10W30 vs 5W30 is not a drop in viscosity.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://cglapps.chevron.com/sdspds/PDSDetailPage.aspx%3FdocDataId%3D533194%26docFormat%3DPDF&ved=2ahUKEwiQg43hwr3mAhVXsp4KHQ97C7oQFjAAegQIBBAF&usg=AOvVaw10y0SblPtYe0MkLlMsWPVY&cshid=1576614545765

5W30 is actually 'thicker". The whole winter rating throws people off.

I got lambasted by @kschachn when I used the word "thicker" when responding to oil on this site.
 
Originally Posted by jtwrace
Originally Posted by dave1251
Originally Posted by Mad_Hatter
No reason to go down in viscosity, in fact that could make things worse in re the drip. At your age and mileage I'd say switching to a HiMi is prudent and won't hurt anything. (QS, Havoline and ST HiMi are all good options and come in a 10/30 that work just fine for a 3k mile oci) Of course trying to hunt down the source of the leak is advisable. Have you ever had the valve covers or pan gasket replaced?



10W30 vs 5W30 is not a drop in viscosity.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://cglapps.chevron.com/sdspds/PDSDetailPage.aspx%3FdocDataId%3D533194%26docFormat%3DPDF&ved=2ahUKEwiQg43hwr3mAhVXsp4KHQ97C7oQFjAAegQIBBAF&usg=AOvVaw10y0SblPtYe0MkLlMsWPVY&cshid=1576614545765

5W30 is actually 'thicker". The whole winter rating throws people off.

I got lambasted by @kschachn when I used the word "thicker" when responding to oil on this site.

Yes, there are some oil Nazi's on here who get their panties in a wad when you use colloquial terms. I try and be consistent in use of the "correct" terminologies but meh, I'm human and make mistakes so c'est la vie....
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted by jtwrace
Originally Posted by dave1251
Originally Posted by Mad_Hatter
No reason to go down in viscosity, in fact that could make things worse in re the drip. At your age and mileage I'd say switching to a HiMi is prudent and won't hurt anything. (QS, Havoline and ST HiMi are all good options and come in a 10/30 that work just fine for a 3k mile oci) Of course trying to hunt down the source of the leak is advisable. Have you ever had the valve covers or pan gasket replaced?



10W30 vs 5W30 is not a drop in viscosity.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://cglapps.chevron.com/sdspds/PDSDetailPage.aspx%3FdocDataId%3D533194%26docFormat%3DPDF&ved=2ahUKEwiQg43hwr3mAhVXsp4KHQ97C7oQFjAAegQIBBAF&usg=AOvVaw10y0SblPtYe0MkLlMsWPVY&cshid=1576614545765

5W30 is actually 'thicker". The whole winter rating throws people off.

I got lambasted by @kschachn when I used the word "thicker" when responding to oil on this site.


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