Synthetic oil and worn Honda engines

[Audi Junkie]

I've seen and heard of my share of burned-out Honda engines. This is especially true on the RSX Forums with the K-series. Not to brand-bash, but universally people said it was ONE synthetic oil in particular that they used. I consider this oil to burn-off a lot and is KNOWN to produce excess wear under normal conditions. The condition these burned engines were operated under was hard street driving and minimal warm-ups. Often they were modded, high oil temps and my pet peeve, run on low oil volume. Young operators believe the ONE "synthetic" oil in the recommended 5w-30 is a band-aid for over tuned enignes.

So, yes, it would be partly correct of a Honda mechanic who saw a lot of these engines to assume the oil reported to him by the owners was doing harm to these engines. The mechanic might not understand all the issues, like running low and hot, but I do actually think his conclusion is correct. Would these engines have done better on dino, maybe if it was dino, plus a better grade and maintained with proper warm-up. I don't think much "proof" is required for this connom-sense analysis. It is usefull discussion, imo.

 

[tomcat27]

sometimes I am a little slow. what brand should I NOT put in my Honda? does it come in a black bottle?

 

[Audi Junkie]

Maybe Other Brand Is Lame

 

[Geonerd]

Originally Posted By: Audi Junkie
I've seen and heard of my share of burned-out Honda engines. This is especially true on the RSX Forums with the K-series. Not to brand-bash, but universally people said it was ONE synthetic oil in particular that they used. I consider this oil to burn-off a lot and is KNOWN to produce excess wear under normal conditions. The condition these burned engines were operated under was hard street driving and minimal warm-ups. Often they were modded, high oil temps and my pet peeve, run on low oil volume. Young operators believe the ONE "synthetic" oil in the recommended 5w-30 is a band-aid for over tuned engines.


Why don't these squids run something more robust in their meltdown-imminent engines. This oil you mention has an HTHS of only about 3 - adequate for your grocery getter, but perhaps marginal for this crowd.

Redline anyone? Maybe some of that Australian 10w-60 Edge? Heck, a solid dino based 40 weight truck oil would likely provide several 'X' better protection.

OTOH, if these kids get a kick from bouncing a cold engine off the rev limiter, they're going to have to deal with the consequences. No oil can protect against Human Stupidity!

Looked it up; Honda has those K series engines in quite a high state of tune. Well over 100hp per liter, with a redline near 9K. A hot rodder with more money than sense could no doubt do some damage!

 

[Sink]

Originally Posted By: Geonerd

Looked it up; Honda has those K series engines in quite a high state of tune. Well over 100hp per liter, with a redline near 9K. A hot rodder with more money than sense could no doubt do some damage!




A friend of mine has a 2008. Redlines it on a daily basis, sometimes through 4 out of six gears... on dino oil. It just had its third oil change at 19,500 miles per the OLM.

 

[Liquid_Turbo]

Originally Posted By: Audi Junkie
I've seen and heard of my share of burned-out Honda engines. This is especially true on the RSX Forums with the K-series.


Example? Where are you hearing this from?

Can you link to any information about this?

I own an RSX and frequently browse clubrsx.com, and haven't heard these stories of "burned out" engines.


Originally Posted By: Audi Junkie
Not to brand-bash, but universally people said it was ONE synthetic oil in particular that they used. I consider this oil to burn-off a lot and is KNOWN to produce excess wear under normal conditions.


What exactly are you talking about "universally" people say Mobil 1 produces excess wear, and that Mobil 1 is KNOWN to do this? etc.

Until you can back up your statements, you are simply pulling these garbage statements out of thin air.

 

[chevrofreak]

I firmly believe that Mobil 1 5W-30 is junk.

 

[Superbuick96]

Originally Posted By: chevrofreak
I firmly believe that Mobil 1 5W-30 is junk.

Way to go with a vague statement/opinion! You backed up the first post of the thread nicely, IT ALL MAKES SENSE NOW, brb: i gotta go dump out my Mobil 1 5w-30, and go buy some PP...

 

[GMZ]

Originally Posted By: Superbuick96
Originally Posted By: chevrofreak
I firmly believe that Mobil 1 5W-30 is junk.

Way to go with a vague statement/opinion! You backed up the first post of the thread nicely, IT ALL MAKES SENSE NOW, brb: i gotta go dump out my Mobil 1 5w-30, and go buy some PP...

Lulz, didnt someone post some top end pics of an RSX using dino for 90k ish recently?

 

[CompSyn]

In relation to this topic, I used to run a highly thought of dino oil in my 1.6L Honda Civic engine (changed religiously every 3k). Ran it that way for over 100k. The underside of the valve cover has hard baked-on deposits on it as well as other deposits and tarnishing visible thought out the valve-train area.

My highly skilled and decorated mechanic recommended to change the oil every 1.5k instead of 3k to prevent further deposits and help flush the engine out.

Now while I highly trust my mechanic to perform advanced mechanical procedures on my car, I don’t share his views and opinions on motor oil.

In my experience, I don’t think that dino oil is the answer in small high output engines that have to be revved high to get them in to their power band.

I’m now using a top grade synthetic, and certainly many of use know that not all synthetics are created equal.

 

[cjhepburn]

Generally, doesn't dino have a lower flash point than any synthetic? I would think that the results in these ricers using dino would be much worse because of this.

 

[92saturnsl2]

Originally Posted By: Audi Junkie
"but universally people said it was ONE synthetic oil in particular that they used. I consider this oil to burn-off a lot and is KNOWN to produce excess wear under normal conditions."


Common sense analysis? The only common sense analysis I can see here is that everything you wrote is biased opinion with the intention of stirring up a Mobil 1 debate. Facts? Links?

There is nothing magical about those engines that make them any different or harder on oil than any other high output or even forced induction engine (arguably much harder on oil) on the planet. Every other car runs just fine on Mobil 1 and their engines aren't "burning-out" on a regular basis.

I believe any engine "burning up" is due to poor maintenance or poor engine design no matter what oil is used. If statistics show more engine failures on Mobil1, it's simple probability-- Mobil 1 is far more popular and outsells the other synthetics.

 

[Nickdfresh]

Oh look! Complete without links and evidence. I guess the HTO-06 spec is all about how much wear an oil can produce...

 

[Papa Bear]

Were they using a Fram filter on it ?? That's probably the problem right there ....

 

[jorton]

These cars are modified and raced and many/most are using M1. 5w-30 is energy conserving but the only 30wt that can handle that kind of service is racing or heavy duty oil. Someone tell these guys they shouldn't tune their engines for excessive fuel dilution if they want to have clean valve covers.

Wear for M1 under normal conditions looks higher in uoa but levels are not excessive, or the oil analysis lab would not recommend continued service.

 

[Audi Junkie]

By "burned out", I mean smoking, excess consumption and in cases, loss of compression.

 

[Audi Junkie]

Originally Posted By: Liquid_Turbo

What exactly are you talking about "universally" people say Mobil 1 produces excess wear, and that Mobil 1 is KNOWN to do this? etc.

Until you can back up your statements, you are simply pulling these garbage statements out of thin air.

 

[Audi Junkie]

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1216064

 

[Liquid_Turbo]

Originally Posted By: Audi Junkie
By "burned out", I mean smoking, excess consumption and in cases, loss of compression.


I'll ask again.

Example? Where are you hearing this from? Can you link to any information about this? Facts, data?

A Castrol Edge commercial validates your first post?

 

[Audi Junkie]

Agin, my point is that a mechanic working on these engine "types" would be correct to assume the same ONE brand of oil or just "synthetic oil" he heard was used by the owners is at fault. Thicker oil or better practice would have helped, but that brand might be partly to blame as well.