Oil Recommendation For a 91 Honda Accord

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1991 Honda Accord Ex
2.2L SOHC Four Cylinder
Car has 140,000 miles
I'm the second owner. The first kept it immaculate for twenty years and obviously didn't drive it much.
Florida weather
Suburban/Rural Driving
I prefer to accelerate quicker than most but am not a racer by any means.
The car does have a tick that quiets somewhat after warm up.
I'd like help selecting oil from both ends of the spectrum. Something I can get cheaper and change every 3000 and something synthetic that I could get 10,000 miles out of.
I have to replace the valve cover gasket soon so I will post pictures when I do.
What do you guys think of using 15w-40 for this vehicle?
 
What weight oil does Honda recommend for a 91' Accord ?

IMO....15-40 is way to heavy and would hurt MPG, and cold start-ups (even in Florida).

My guess... and choice would be a 5w30.....PYB...with 5000+/- OCI.
 
Originally Posted By: CB7Accord
1991 Honda Accord Ex
2.2L SOHC Four Cylinder
Car has 140,000 miles
I'm the second owner. The first kept it immaculate for twenty years and obviously didn't drive it much.
Florida weather
Suburban/Rural Driving
I prefer to accelerate quicker than most but am not a racer by any means.
The car does have a tick that quiets somewhat after warm up.
I'd like help selecting oil from both ends of the spectrum. Something I can get cheaper and change every 3000 and something synthetic that I could get 10,000 miles out of.
I have to replace the valve cover gasket soon so I will post pictures when I do.
What do you guys think of using 15w-40 for this vehicle?




1. If you were thinking of using 15W-40, try 10W-40 (conventional) OR 0W-40 synthetic. 5W-40s "tend to be thick" just look at Valvoline Synpower. Its "almost a 50," their SN 5W-40. Thick, viscous oil. In an engine like that it may not be ideal and may in fact be TOO thick. I understand its Florida. But..

2. You could even use 5W-20 Supertech. The reason is due to the cooling system. This is my new understanding.

If you go synthetic, yes run it to 10k even if its Mobil 1. If you get Supertech conventional you can run it to 5000, easy. 3000 is a criminal waste of money in 95% of apps, more useful when cleaning out a messed up or dirty engine (?)

Out of the two.. idk i may like the ST 5W-20 recommendation more. Its lighter oil and your car will "rev more freely" a la Ferrari.
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That said, father once had same car. 1991 Accord EX. The first year without the pop-up lights, IIRC. 5-speed, EX. Sweet ride! basic, but i liked it. It was a tight, fun car, and he showed me on the turns
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That car used.. we had either 5W-30, 10W-30, or 10W-40. Seeing as how it was a Honda 4-cyl, i think we may in fact have been using 10W-30 when a 5W-30 is on the oil cap for that car, IIRC.

Honda 4-cylinders loove 20 or 30 weight oil, irrespective the "W" number.

And FTR: Thats low miles. Row the shifter up/down turns keeping the revs high a la Ferrari and
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160,000 in ~6 months.

Opinions?
 
I haven't the foggiest idea what they recommend and being twenty years old I would think a newer different weight oil would be fine.

I have no idea where the noise is coming from which is why I was curious to try something "heavier" than may be recommended just to see if it quiets at all.
 
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3k oil - 5W30 QSGB or PYB, but you could probably run them to 5k+ with typical suburban/rural driving. If you're set on a 3k interval, then any conventional 5W30 rated API SL, SM, or SN will be fine, so buy what's on sale.

10k oil - M1EP or M1HM, provided UOAs support that interval.
 
Im pretty sure it will be spec'd for 5W30, same as ours.

Im running Amsoil 10W30. this got rid of a noisy top end, similar to your ticking noise possibly?

I personally would not go over a 30 weight, especially with the low miles.

Very nice car.

My advice for you: try a 5K run of Pennzoil yellow bottle conv and get a UOA done. decided from there with the information at hand..make sure the air filter box closes tightly and seals...new filter...off you go...sweet ride!
 
Originally Posted By: CB7Accord
I haven't the foggiest idea what they recommend and being twenty years old I would think a newer different weight oil would be fine.


Honda recommends 5W-30. Edit: THEY MIGHT EVEN RECOMMEND 5W-20 NOW. They do for the Civics. There was a time any 2001 and earlier Civic was 5W-30 spec. Now its 5W-20 "all Civics." Its called back-specing. Knowing what i know now.. should be ok, either one for that engine. Flip a coin...

Quote:

I have no idea where the noise is coming from which is why I was curious to try something "heavier" than may be recommended just to see if it quiets at all.


Some noise normally goes away when engine is warmed up but if you are using a 15W then maybe, just maybe, the tick is due to that. Some cars a tick is completely normal, then goes away with spec'd oil "weight."

HTH.

(btw: When i was 20, i had a BMW 5-speed with an Inline 6.)
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I know, this car gets me compliments all the time. 20 years old and it's still got it! It really is a great machine.
 
I see no reason to use a thick oil in that application. During the summer, I'd use 10w30. For the winter months, 5w30. It will run forever.
 
I know these types of threads can be rather redundant so thanks for the opinions and feedback. Still love to hear from any other 90-93 accord owners regarding their experiences with oil and this vehicle. I couldn't find any Oil analyses for this car
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I run 5w30 in mine. No need to go any thicker than that, IMHO. Currently using Mobil Super high mileage due to a small leak and changing every 6 months due to low annual mileage. If you are looking to change every 3k, then buy whatever is cheap. But you could do a 5k OCI with no problems at all I bet. PYB, QSGB, MS5k are all good, and fairly cheap at Wal-Mart. And both of my Hondas have the tick...nothing to worry about if you ask me, unless it gets worse/fails to go away. Post pics of that top end...I'm curious to see what it looks like.
 
Originally Posted By: bigdawg74
Here is the UOA I had done on the QSHM I had in it before I switched to Valvoline Maxlife HM and then Mobil Super HM.
Thanks for that...It didn't come up in a search..
 
I would run 5w30 PYB with a decent filter (Purolator PureONE, Wix/NAPA Gold) run a 4-5k OCI and get an analysis done. That will tell you if you if you can extend the interval. If you want to go with synthetic, I really like PP. I would go at least 5k, get an analysis done either way.
 
If it's the F22 motor as it is in our 96 Accord then I'd say PYB 5w30 would be good. The new SN stuff with Moly should be the perfect oil for that motor. May even get rid of the tick.
 
Originally Posted By: Mau
If it's the F22 motor as it is in our 96 Accord then I'd say PYB 5w30 would be good. The new SN stuff with Moly should be the perfect oil for that motor. May even get rid of the tick.

Yes it's the F22A4.
 
Easy answer.
ANY name brand 5w30. Whatever is on sale. for a 5k run

Amsoil XL or Signature series 5w30 for 10k runs.


If you wanna cure the tick, or attempt it.....use 1 quart of Marvel Mystery Oil and the rest any conventional 5w30. Run for 3k. Thats how I cleaned up my accord really well. It did quiet it down a lot.

Then run a straight oci of oil only from then on out.
 
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