What oil should I use in my 2001 Honda Civic HX

[llmercll]

Hi Everyone, I'm wondering what the recommended oil is for my 2001 Honda Civic HX. It has 215K miles, and Honda recommended 5W/30. I live in NY. Sometimes I drive easy and other times more spirited. Probably 70% easy, 30% spirited I live in a rural/suburban setting and often spend time on backroads, highway, and state roads. Very little city, but some. My car has no issues besides a very minor oil leak at the oil pan. I don't know if synthetic is better than conventional, and I don't mind online/in store. Price is a factor, as I'm a student. I will go however long between changes is recommended, but typically aim for no more than 5k miles. I've been using castrol GTX, and was considering castrol gtx high milage. Filter recommendations are welcome as well. Thank you very much!

 

[eljefino]

Keep doing what you're doing. Is the HX the one that gets super MPG?

 

[slowdime]

Any decent hm oil should do ya fine. Penzoil has a good hm and its reasonably priced. Or if you arent too concerned about whether its hm or not, chevron supreme is cheap. I'm a student as well and use that with a store brand filter. Total comes to $11 for a change. There was a uoa of the chevron supreme on here recently and it performed great in the users car for 8k miles. Not saying that you should go that far but it is a good oil for a very good price.

 

[BikeWhisperer]

Run an HM and the oil leak will likely stop. Castrol is a good choice, I'd stick with the 5w-30. For cellulose filters (ie not long OCI synthetic) I would go with Wix or if you have a Napa nearby, look for sales on their Silver and Gold filters. Both are Wix made and quality. Their house brand oil is good too, made by Ashland Oil whom also makes Valvoline and the add packs are pretty similar.

 

[sicko]

Chevron is an excellent oil. If you can find it at a price like the user above, definitely go with it. Since you're talking about a 5k mile oil change interval, any decent oil will be able to handle that. Since cost is a factor, I suggest going to Walmart (since they have the best oil prices) and getting a five quart jug of either SuperTech oil, or Mobil Super 5k oil. For a dollar or two more, you can also get either one of them in a high mileage oil if you want. They are the two cheapest conventional oils they have (cheap in price, not quality) and I believe the two cheapest high mileage oils they have. They'll save you a couple bucks versus the Castrol you're currently using, and they'll protect your engine just as well for 5k miles. Mobil Super 5k is actually my favorite conventional oil, so the fact that it's readily available at a good price is just a bonus. Used oil analysis have shown that it's an excellent conventional oil that will protect your engine very well, and in my instance it was very smooth in my engine. Pick up a Fram filter while you're there and you should be good to go.

 

[mattwithcats]

Stay away from STP, DriveWorks, and ProMotive filters. They are actually smaller 6607 size, instead of 7317... I like the PureOne PL14610, but at 200K+ miles, almost anything works... Use a full synthetic 5W-30, NAPA has a sale every few months, $3.79 a quart... Once again, almost any full synthetic will work. If it's leaking oil, use half high mileage, half normal...

 

[AKhan87]

2001, and you have a small oil leak? seems like a cam seal plug on the top, its a 4-5 dollars part from the dealer and easy to change, its running down to where you think its an oil pan leak. unless you have fixed this.

 

[GMFan]

If this were my car I'd run whatever high mileage oil was cheapest or on sale. Valvoline Maxlife is an excellent choice.

 

[fdcg27]

If this is the cause, then the OP better get to it. Oiling the timing belt is not a good thing.

 

[llmercll]

Thanks everyone. I double checked my manual and my car actually calls for 5w20, not 5w30. I've been using 5w20, just made a mistake in this post. And yeah, the HX is the really gas efficient model. High Mileage motor oil is recommended then? I remember a few years back it seemed like the verdict still hadn't been reached on it's usefulness. Thanks!

 

[Shellguy]

penzoil hm or valvoline max life would be my choice

 

[slowdime]

Originally Posted By: llmercll

Thanks everyone. I double checked my manual and my car actually calls for 5w20, not 5w30. I've been using 5w20, just made a mistake in this post. And yeah, the HX is the really gas efficient model. High Mileage motor oil is recommended then? I remember a few years back it seemed like the verdict still hadn't been reached on it's usefulness. Thanks!

Unless you've got a leak you shouldn't need hm. I've got 165k on the cavalier and don't run hm. But since you do have a leak doing one oci with hm wouldn't hurt to see if it helps.

 

[llmercll]

So HM is good for leaks then, alright. Then my question is whether or not to get castrol gtx hm, pennzoil hm, mobil hm, or chevron hm. Should I just get whichever one is cheaper? Has there been oil analysis that show one is superior to the other? Thanks!

 

[ThirdeYe]

My girlfriend has a 2001 Civic LX and it calls for 5W-20... I'm surprised the HX called for 5W-30. We've been using Quaker State or Quaker State Ultimate Durability in it since we got it a few years back (from 55,000 miles to the current 7x,000 miles). For oil filters, I've been using Fram or Denso. The Densos can be had on Rockauto for under $3 a piece. Oh, and if you have oil leaks, Valvoline MaxLife or Pennzoil High Mileage are both great at slowing down and stopping leaks.

 

[slowdime]

Originally Posted By: llmercll

So HM is good for leaks then, alright. Then my question is whether or not to get castrol gtx hm, pennzoil hm, mobil hm, or chevron hm. Should I just get whichever one is cheaper? Has there been oil analysis that show one is superior to the other? Thanks!

In my experience hm is good for some leaks. I had a weeping rear main on my old s10 and hm did nothing for it. Fixing the leak is preferable if it's something easy to get at. Maxlife is pretty well regarded around here from what I can tell. You can get it in full synthetic as well so it should last a bit longer than conventional hm. If you're on a budget then it isn't a bad idea.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Originally Posted By: llmercll

So HM is good for leaks then, alright. Then my question is whether or not to get castrol gtx hm, pennzoil hm, mobil hm, or chevron hm. Should I just get whichever one is cheaper? Has there been oil analysis that show one is superior to the other? Thanks!

Yes. Get whichever one is on sale at the best price