Varnish or sludge? 2008 CR-V

[PT1]

Originally Posted By: webfors
IMHO 10k miles is too much for conventional oil. It'll get past warranty just fine.


I agree with this....with these types of OCI's we will start seeing more and more VVT related issues out at 100k+. There are lots of oil tubes and passages and valves that will clog or just not work to spec. So, if you want to keep the car past 100k...I would use syn oil and do 5,000 mile oil changes. The manufacturer loves the 100k out of warranty repairs as the price markup for aftermarket parts is huge.

 

[PT1]

Run some PP in there for 2-3 5000 miles OCI's and it will clean it.

 

[Bill in Utah]

Originally Posted By: webfors
IMHO 10k miles is too much for conventional oil. It'll get past warranty just fine. In fact, it will probably still last 200k+. If we lived in a universe where we could examine identical engines, used by the same driver under identical circumstances and the engines torn down side by side with 5k and 10k oci's I'm sure there would be a big difference. I think Honda is pushing the limits of conventional oil with their MM or they know something Bitog data doesn't.


Lets LOOK at the OP....

Originally Posted By: Dave Sherman
I've been running Castrol Syntec in my '08 CR-V, although the last oil change I used Valvoline Synpower since it was slightly cheaper.



He ran Castrol SYNTEC (a syn oil) before and latest OCI was with Valvoline SYNPOWER (a syn oil).

Next....

 

[webfors]

Originally Posted By: Bill in Utah
Originally Posted By: webfors
IMHO 10k miles is too much for conventional oil. It'll get past warranty just fine. In fact, it will probably still last 200k+. If we lived in a universe where we could examine identical engines, used by the same driver under identical circumstances and the engines torn down side by side with 5k and 10k oci's I'm sure there would be a big difference. I think Honda is pushing the limits of conventional oil with their MM or they know something Bitog data doesn't.


Lets LOOK at the OP....

Originally Posted By: Dave Sherman
I've been running Castrol Syntec in my '08 CR-V, although the last oil change I used Valvoline Synpower since it was slightly cheaper.



He ran Castrol SYNTEC (a syn oil) before and latest OCI was with Valvoline SYNPOWER (a syn oil).

Next....


Yeah, saw that. I should have been more specific and stayed on the OP's original topic. Was referring to the fact that Honda doesn't spec syn, yet their OLM (aka MM) averages between 7.5 and 10k miles. Too much IMO.

Bill, would you run 10k oci's with a standard SM conventional?

 

[Dave Sherman]

Thanks for the info, I hadn't considered that being in the cold would contribute to the goop, and since it's about 7 miles to work at 35 MPH tops, most of the trips aren't that long. Yes, I agree 10,000 miles seems a little long for conventional, which is why I use synthetic. I tried to snap some pictures, but they didn't come out that great.

 

[OLAFF]

Nahhh looks normal to me... just dirty oil pooled in there... now if you see stuff that looks like melted chocholate then its a diff story.

 

[Billy_D]

It looks like varnish.

 

[lipadj46]

Does not look too bad.

 

[Carzzz]

varnish! +1

 

[ARCOgraphite]

In cold weather operation, the water vapour in the CC will condense in the VC and fill cap at shutdown and sludge. Usually this will be a whitish or grey "pudding". I dont see this in the photos above.

 

[mechtech2]

Varnish is a thin hard glaze - amber to brown.

Sludge is much thicker and darker. They are separate.

But the third cootie in an engine is an oil/water mixture.

This sounds like what you have. Cold weather and short trips make this occur - it is rather common.

Still, it shows OLMs don't care what is in an oil - they just go by their mileage/RPM algorithms.

 

[ottotheclown]

I do alot and I mean alot of short trips. Dont have the problem of goop. Why because I CHANGE THE oil 3,000 miles or three months. Sorry it is that simple.Hope super bowl is worth all the build up.

 

[webfors]

Originally Posted By: Dave Sherman
Thanks for the info, I hadn't considered that being in the cold would contribute to the goop, and since it's about 7 miles to work at 35 MPH tops, most of the trips aren't that long. Yes, I agree 10,000 miles seems a little long for conventional, which is why I use synthetic. I tried to snap some pictures, but they didn't come out that great.

That just looks like I would expect oil to look like after 10k miles... very dark... maybe a little varnish. Are these pics taken after the new oil has been put in and run at least once?

 

[heypete]

Originally Posted By: Dave Sherman
Yeah, it does seem strange that they don't just settle on 0%, although the "change me now" indications become progressively more annoying as you get closer to 0%. Maybe they just wanted to make REALLY sure you had adequate warning. Mine turns the wrench indicator on at 15%.


I seem to recall reading (here, most likely) that Jiffy Lube did a study and concluded that even with their stickers saying "Come back in 3,000 miles" (or, more accurately, having the "come back for service" mileage being 3,000 miles more than what it was when first serviced), people were averaging 9,000 miles between oil changes.

My mechanic does the same thing, and they usually get people coming back every 5,000-6,000 miles even though the sticker says 3,000.

I'd imagine that most people would ignore the indicator on their dash unless it gets particularly annoying. Personally, I'd like to see some sort of clear, written notice (e.g. scrolling text across an electronic instrument cluster). I'll be that most people don't have the foggiest idea what the lights on their dashboard mean.

 

[Audi Junkie]

I have a friend who swears PZYB cleared varnish in his older Audi.

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted By: Dave Sherman
Schmoe, something must have changed for the '10, since mine says to change at 15%, not 5%. Seems to me the '10 models increased the horsepower slightly, so maybe the MM was recalibrated.

I'll see if I can get a picture of the goop.


The 2010 CRV requires 0w-20.

Originally Posted By: hemitom
That brown goop your getting is from running in cold weather.I would bet that most cars that are not run to full operating temps will get this. Every car that i have ever driven in winter weather has had this under the oil cap .

+1

 

[sven98]

I have the exact same car, similar miles (36k miles). I always change the oil when MM reaches 15%-10% and that averages out to 9000-11000 miles. There is no varnish or sludge but the oil does pool up in that area and thats what it appears to be in the pic. The engine otherwise looks brand new inside there. I use Mobil 1 0w-20.

 

[Dave Sherman]

Well this is interesting. The MM was still at 40%, but out of shear boredom I changed it. I had a variety of 5W-20 bottles lying around that I decided to get rid of, and since Honda calls for 5W-20, it should be no problem. So, it now has about 2 quarts of GTX 5W-20, a quart of Syntec 5W-20, about a half quart apiece of Mobil 1 5W-20 and Syntec Blend 5W-20, and since it still wasn't full yet and I didn't feel like making a trip back to Autozone, I made up the last quart with GTX 10w30. Now I wonder if the Valvoline Synpower 5w30 wasn't doing so well after 7000 miles, because now it's noticeably quieter. It was making a decent clatter when it was cold, but I don't hear it now. Now I'm tempted to just to ignore the MM and go back to changing every 5000 like on my '04.