What oil do you suggest? 2002 Honda Civic Si

[vboy127]

Hi everyone. I am brand new to this forum and hope to learn some new things! Very excited to be here. I'm very particular when it comes to my car. It's a 2002 Honda Civic Si. It's small, decently quick, and great on gas. I bought it used about a year ago with 70k miles. Now It's at 95k miles! So as you can see I commute a lot. haha.

Ever since I owned the car I've been trying to find the best oil and filter for my car. I've gone through Royal Purple, Castrol Syntec, Mobil 1 EP, all in 5w30 weight. Currently however, I'm running Amsoil 10w30, because I heard it is better to run 10w30 in the warmer temps, which in Utah it gets HOT during the summer. Upper 90s and 100+ degrees. Since I switched to amsoil, i've seen about 1 or 2+ mpg to my total mpg average (I record my mileage OFTEN on fuelly.com) Is this due to switching to 10w30? Although i'm seeing improved mileage, is the 10w30 providing me with enough protection? Oh and in regard to filters, i've run honda oem, mobil1, and currently on a Napa gold filter.

So heres my final question: What oil and oil filter do you suggest I run in my vehicle thats cost effective, but not overkill? Heres some info:

Civic Si
-2.0 DOHC with 9.8:1 Compression (not sure if that has anything to do with oil haha)
-My OCI is every 5000 miles and prefer to keep it that way
-I prefer Synthetic oil, I've never run dino oil since owning the car
-Most important things I care about is having my motor last as long as possible, gas mileage, good protection, and decent performance.
-I commute with this car daily, mostly highway. Occasional spirited driving, but nothing hardcore
-Don't mind spending extra money if the oil is good. Although Amsoil may be a great oil, I think running it with 5k OCI could be serious overkill and just wasting my money.
-I want an oil that will provide full protection throughout the 5k miles

Anyway sorry for the MONSTEROUS first post. Your help and opinions will be greatly appreciated!

 

[bepperb]

At 5000 miles, any regularly stocked Synthetic will do you good. PP, M1, SynPower, Syntec and they would all be fine.

For the filter, I usually stick to Purolator/Bosch or WIX/Napa/CarQuest. I've had a few Champ Labs (stp, supertech) which were ok, not amazing but nothing wrong with them either.

At 5000 miles, and in that engine/environment, I doubt there is much difference between 10-30 and 5-30. It's not long enough for shear to be an issue, and with a timing belt and roller rockers it should be pretty easy on oil. I probably would stick to a 5w in winter, though.

 

[Audi Junkie]

lol, I'd run $1.99 dino oil. What makes you think the synth oil produces a better result?

 

[09rexwagon]

Originally Posted By: bepperb
At 5000 miles, any regularly stocked Synthetic will do you good. PP, M1, SynPower, Syntec and they would all be fine.

For the filter, I usually stick to Purolator/Bosch or WIX/Napa/CarQuest. I've had a few Champ Labs (stp, supertech) which were ok, not amazing but nothing wrong with them either.

At 5000 miles, and in that engine/environment, I doubt there is much difference between 10-30 and 5-30. It's not long enough for shear to be an issue, and with a timing belt and roller rockers it should be pretty easy on oil. I probably would stick to a 5w in winter, though.
The k20a3 has a timing chain (I think all Ks are a chain at that).

In all 3 of my Hondas, I've run Castrol GTX 5w30 (dino) and I've beat the [censored] out of them (redline every day but never until at operating temp). I ran them to Honda recommended OCIs (7500 on the Civics and according to the MM on the Accord which is about 7k miles in the 2.4L version of your engine). When I sold my 87 Civic it didn't leak or burn a drop of oil and the cams were spotless (it did have vacuum issues and a leaky broken exhaust mani though ). My 98 Civic was at 190k and was perfect...great mileage (35+ city, 40+ highway), no leaking oil, no burning.

Anyway, on 5k OCIs in the k20a3 you absolutely don't need synthetic, and I don't think you need 10w30 even in that weather. Maybe a k20a2/k20z3 you'd want to run thicker oil in the hot weather and maybe synthetic in those engines but on 7.5k OCIs. Just my opinion.

And stick with Napa Gold (wix) or PureOne PL14610....good stuff.

 

[fito]

I have Mobil 1 5W30 in a 2001 CRV with 110K miles and it runs like new.

 

[vboy127]

Yea, all k's use a timing chain. and thanks everyone for the quick replies. Question though, what is PP?

 

[BuickGN]

Keep doing what you're doing. Amsoil 10w-30 is a fine choice. Since it has a timing chain it's a little more likely to shear the oil and the 10w-30 will give you a larger safety margin.

If you were really anal and wanted the absolute best regardless of cost, you could try Redline 10w-30 but honestly you probably won't own the car long enough to tell the difference. My TL has spent a lifetime on Amsoil 30wt and now Redline 10w-30 and there's no way an engine could be any cleaner inside. At 77,000 miles it looks like someone dumped new oil on a never run engine.

Your filter choices are fine, especially at the short intervals you're doing. IMO, Amsoil EAO and Royal Purple filters are the best if you decide to change the filter every other oil change or extend your oil changes.

 

[vboy127]

I know that the Amsoil is a very good oil. But with the short OCI of 5k, am i draining out oil that is still usable for another few thousand miles? I just don't wanna waste money you know?

 

[bepperb]

I thought it was a B series but I'm incorrect. It is a K series and therefore does have a chain.

Still, 5000 mile OCI is no problem for most oils.

Dino would probably be fine, maybe not the best choice in winter in utah. That OCI is short enough, I'm not sure how hard this engine gets ridden.

 

[vboy127]

Haha, it's pretty much my daily commuter. Like 80% highway. I drive like a grandma most of the time. Every once in a while i'll go WOT and push it a bit, but thats rare.

 

[BuickGN]

Originally Posted By: vboy127
I know that the Amsoil is a very good oil. But with the short OCI of 5k, am i draining out oil that is still usable for another few thousand miles? I just don't wanna waste money you know?


It's as one member here would say, it's about margins.

In reality any cheap dino oil would probably not let you down.

Any synthetic could be considered overkill if you're not doing 15,000 mile intervals.

However, the good synthetic will hold up better in the high ambient temps and freeway driving and give you an extra margin of safety if anything should go wrong like overheating. It will flow better at startup than it's weight suggests. It likely will keep the engine cleaner.

I ran my Amsoil and now Redline to 5,000 mile intervals. I like the outstanding HTHS for the 100c viscosity and the cleanliness yet I like to dump it at reasonable intervals to get all the crud out. If I found myself in a situation where I couldn't get it changed at the normal interval I would have absolutely no problem with taking it an extra thousand or more miles.

 

[Audi Junkie]

If you want to sleep at night, take a sleeping pill. if you want to lubricate your engine, use the oil intended for it, dino 5w-30. I had this engine in my 06 RSX, Havoline and Pennzoil worked great.

 

[Boatowner]

My son has a 2002 Honda Civic EX. It gets Mobil 1 or PP 5w-30 and a Wix oil filter every 6,000 miles. Use a very good oil, change a little too frequently and don't worry. I define a very good oil as being pretty much any full synthetic. In my limited high temperature experience, any synthetic 5w-30 holds up fine and doesn't burn away in just 6,000 miles.

Doesn't Utah have cold areas at night even in the summer? Like the mountains? That is where you might want the 5w instead of 10w, although it can't make all that much difference with a synthetic.

 

[Hounds]

You have a PM

 

[BuickGN]

And a synthetic 10w is good to 0F. The same guys that think a 10w-30 is overkill on the hot end are the ones saying you need a 5w for 50 degree temps.

 

[Hounds]

Originally Posted By: Audi Junkie
If you want to sleep at night, take a sleeping pill. if you want to lubricate your engine, use the oil intended for it, dino 5w-30. I had this engine in my 06 RSX, Havoline and Pennzoil worked great.

Actually, the oil recommended by Honda for the OP's engine is 5W-20, but I happen to agree with you that he'd be better off running a 5W-30.

 

[vboy127]

Originally Posted By: Gurney
You have a PM


PM replied!

 

[09rexwagon]

Originally Posted By: Boatowner
My son has a 2002 Honda Civic EX. It gets Mobil 1 or PP 5w-30 and a Wix oil filter every 6,000 miles. Use a very good oil, change a little too frequently and don't worry. I define a very good oil as being pretty much any full synthetic. In my limited high temperature experience, any synthetic 5w-30 holds up fine and doesn't burn away in just 6,000 miles.

Doesn't Utah have cold areas at night even in the summer? Like the mountains? That is where you might want the 5w instead of 10w, although it can't make all that much difference with a synthetic.
A d series, even the d17 in the 02 is a tank. Anything more than the cheapest 5w30 dino is over kill until you get into a heavily modified one...and no that does not mean a Civic with IHE. I'm talking about turbo, high comp pistons, nitrous etc etc. If you do put syn in a stock d17, I hope you are going 12k plus miles per OC. Blackstone told my friend that his UOA is showing he could probably go to 10k mile OCIs on Castrol GTX dino 5w30 on his 110k mile d16.

 

[Audi Junkie]

There is a Civic UOA at 10k on Havoline DS that looked fine.

 

[PT1]

M-1, PP or QHP 5w20 is what I would run.