Pennz Plat 5W30, 3,764 miles, '17 Civic Hatchback

[chinee]

First UOA on this engine.
Changed the oil at 7K, 12K, 15.5K and now at 19,344 miles
That's OCIs of 7K, 5K, 3.5K and 3.7K

December 2018, at the 12K change, I thought the oil had an overpowering gas odor. Did some research and found out about the fuel dilution issue with these engines.

March 2019. So at the 15.5K change (3.5K OCI), I installed a fumoto valve and used Pennz Plat 5W30, which is this UOA.

July 2019. 19,344 miles on the odometer, 3.7K OCI, the drained oil was thin, like water, never seen oil this thin before. Fuel odor was there but moderate and not overpowering. There was no oil consumption nor an increase in capacity, I got just about 3.7 qts out of the engine and filter. Filled with a mix of PP, 2.5 qts of 5W30 and 1.25 qts of 0W20. Based on this UOA, i will change again at 4K or so and refill with ??? (I will read some of the comments here and make a decision).

 

[Imp4]

Hey, you might want to remove your personal information from the post. If it is too late to modify then a moderator can help.

 

[parshisa]

I was always wondering what can possibly happen if the info is not removed? What are possible actions against the person that disclosed this info?

 

[parshisa]

Nothing wrong with this report. Engine is still breaking in. Any 5w30 will work just fine. I'm currently running amsoil before i use it all up. One more fill and i'm on mobil 1 ep 5w30 for 10$/jug and next will be 5w30 magnatec. You can search, there was a guy on here running ST 5w30 in his SI and getting stellar results

 

[Mr Nice]

I agree to change oil no more than 5K miles in those DI turbo engines.

 

[parshisa]

Questionable statement: i ran the oil up to 8k with good results

 

[wemay]

Chinee,

I wouldn't base my choice of oil on these very early UOA. Run it a couple more times on one oil, not a mix, to get a good idea how that specific oil works in your Civic. Fuel Dilution has been an issue so i would still keep my changes at 5K or so, unless the future UOA show you can extend past that. PP is a great choice. But so are all the other majors.

 

[bullwinkle]

Looks like you made a good move changing it-grade into 20 territory, fuel dilution 1% (which isn't horrible, but it would have gotten higher). Do you short trip a lot? Troubling to see in hot weather, would think fuel would boil off.

 

[chinee]

I did leave out the typical usage from my post... This is my daughter's car, typical use is a mix of both short and long trips in Tampa, FL. College is very close but she does make a 40 minute, 25 mile commute twice weekly to drop her cousin from school to home, twice monthly 125 mile round trip to Orlando, and of course the miscellaneous "let's hang out" runs college students have.

With all this activity and mix of short and long trips, in hot Florida, I did not think the fuel dilution would be much of an issue. I cannot change the oil on demand, only when she comes home to visit, so the next OCI could be 4, 5, or even 6K. It should be interesting to follow this engine's UOAs... at least much more interesting than my Sequoia

.

And this drain was taken the morning after she arrived home, after a 200 mile trip. Maybe most of the fuel "boiled off" with that extended highway run.

 

[chinee]

Given how extremely thin and water-like the oil was at this drain, I would really like to change it up. No scientific reason, but I am a bit uncomfortable with how thin that oil was at 3.7K. I like PP because I've gotten extremely good results in my Sequoia, and decent results in my Infiniti G35, in the past. I still get outstanding results with Valvoline Maxlife HM 10W30 in the Sequoia. So I'm pretty brand-loyal to Valvoline and Pennzoil.

But I am open to suggestions...

 

[wemay]

If you want to try a very stout 10W-30, Mobil1 HM 10W-30 has an HTHS of 3.5.

BTW, i does play Cocoa too. ...

 

[dave1251]

Originally Posted by bullwinkle
Looks like you made a good move changing it-grade into 20 territory, fuel dilution 1% (which isn't horrible, but it would have gotten higher). Do you short trip a lot? Troubling to see in hot weather, would think fuel would boil off.


ISLAC 30 grades shearing into 20 grades is not abnormal and not indictive of a lube needs to be changed. The lube here has a lot of life left.

 

[Garak]

Given that you aren't too worried to stay perfectly in spec, if you're wanting something robust, an E6 5w-30 like the one I'm using would work, in addition to wemay's suggestion of a higher HTHS 10w-30.

 

[dave1251]

Originally Posted by chinee
Given how extremely thin and water-like the oil was at this drain, I would really like to change it up. No scientific reason, but I am a bit uncomfortable with how thin that oil was at 3.7K. I like PP because I've gotten extremely good results in my Sequoia, and decent results in my Infiniti G35, in the past. I still get outstanding results with Valvoline Maxlife HM 10W30 in the Sequoia. So I'm pretty brand-loyal to Valvoline and Pennzoil.

But I am open to suggestions...



By you data presented this is far from water like but if you want to present data and completely ignore it by all means.

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

Originally Posted by chinee
Given how extremely thin and water-like the oil was at this drain, I would really like to change it up. No scientific reason, but I am a bit uncomfortable with how thin that oil was at 3.7K. I like PP because I've gotten extremely good results in my Sequoia, and decent results in my Infiniti G35, in the past. I still get outstanding results with Valvoline Maxlife HM 10W30 in the Sequoia. So I'm pretty brand-loyal to Valvoline and Pennzoil.

But I am open to suggestions...


Pennzoil will warranty your engine to 300k if you use it from new (actually starting all the way out to 75k miles)... and you think it's putting you at risk? You think they want to trade a $12/5qt sale for a $3000 engine job? Since you're open to suggestions- keep using PP and the engine will outlive your usefulness for the vehicle. That's a pretty safe bet.

 

[chinee]

dave1251... not ignoring the data... I just don't know any better. Been changing my oil for the last 30 years and this is by far the thinnest drain I have ever seen. Like I said above, no scientific reason for wanting to make a change... just an amateur feeling uneasy about reported issues with this engine, gas odor and thin oil. But if oil veterans tell me "Don't worry, be happy...", I will take a chill pill and continue with the 0W20.

Subie... I don't think I'm putting the engine at risk with the 0W20, just thought there might be some oil vets out there with some interesting and valid ideas for me to try. I believe (in my amateurish mind) that so long as you change your oil regularly, the engine will last... that's why my 2002 Sequoia engine with 330K miles is outlasting every other component under the hood.

I always thought that in a hot climate, going a little thicker might be beneficial, but I've realized that's probably BS. I also thought that car manufacturers went with the lighter weight oils to reduce resistance in a running engine to produce that 0.001% of extra efficiency to help achieve the fuel economy standards.. but that's likely BS as well. I've been dabbling in UOAs since 2003 and I've only got 147 posts on this board... I don't know crap.. but I do enjoy reading the opinions and practices of the BITOG vets. Thanks!

With that said, I will try to keep future OCIs around 4-5K and will probably stick with 0W20, but I may switch up brands to see what's what.

 

[dave1251]

Originally Posted by chinee
dave1251... not ignoring the data... I just don't know any better. Been changing my oil for the last 30 years and this is by far the thinnest drain I have ever seen. Like I said above, no scientific reason for wanting to make a change... just an amateur feeling uneasy about reported issues with this engine, gas odor and thin oil. But if oil veterans tell me "Don't worry, be happy...", I will take a chill pill and continue with the 0W20.

Subie... I don't think I'm putting the engine at risk with the 0W20, just thought there might be some oil vets out there with some interesting and valid ideas for me to try. I believe (in my amateurish mind) that so long as you change your oil regularly, the engine will last... that's why my 2002 Sequoia engine with 330K miles is outlasting every other component under the hood.

I always thought that in a hot climate, going a little thicker might be beneficial, but I've realized that's probably BS. I also thought that car manufacturers went with the lighter weight oils to reduce resistance in a running engine to produce that 0.001% of extra efficiency to help achieve the fuel economy standards.. but that's likely BS as well. I've been dabbling in UOAs since 2003 and I've only got 147 posts on this board... I don't know crap.. but I do enjoy reading the opinions and practices of the BITOG vets. Thanks!

With that said, I will try to keep future OCIs around 4-5K and will probably stick with 0W20, but I may switch up brands to see what's what.



We here use the recommended grade in fleet vehicles and they are ran hard at temps over 110F there are no oil related issues.

 

[chinee]

wemay... don't think I want to move so far up to a 10W30 grade oil.. don't even know what HTHS is... will be doing a little reading when I find some time.

But the Cocoa comment threw me off for about half a minute... until I realized October is right 'round de corner. When you see meh... remind meh 'bout this thread. Later.

 

[wemay]

Originally Posted by chinee
wemay... don't think I want to move so far up to a 10W30 grade oil.. don't even know what HTHS is... will be doing a little reading when I find some time.

But the Cocoa comment threw me off for about half a minute... until I realized October is right 'round de corner. When you see meh... remind meh 'bout this thread. Later.

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