Motor oil is motor oil?

[meangreenLXi]

Friggin oil light popped on again today after removing still more from my engine. After removing about a quart I drove around and within 5 minutes "bling," oil light. I just decided to take the oil out and replace it. I use 5w-30 and I was caught up wondering :cool2: what is a good oil to use. I usually use a Valvoline dura-blend synthetic. I was wondering if THERE IS ANY DIFFERENCE IN THE BRANDS OF OILS. I saw Castrol 5w30-Drive hard. Valvoline has a high milage brand. I'm sure there are others, but what I wanna know is what is good for a driver that pushes his high milage 3g. I usually drive to work 12 miles coming and going with average speeds 75 - 85mph daily. My oil is ready to be changed every 3000 miles and I wanna use something that hard drivers use to keep their engines performing top notch. What do you guys think about that Royal Purple? What is are some of the top performing oils on the market for guys that push their cars hard regularly?

[Mike's89AccordLX]

Yeah oil is oil. I heard a conversation with a Penzoil dealer and that is exactly what he told a friend of mine. He said buy oil from a company that just made new refineries b/c that's the only difference. B/c it's all made the same, but the newer refineries will probably have better oil.

[meangreenLXi]

So it really doesn't matter if I use the high milage or the hard driving Castrol, to protect against thermol break down?

[shepherd79]

you should use 10w-40. 5w-30 is too thin for our engine.

[meangreenLXi]

Two things with that Shep, I think (not sure) the manual recommends the 5w-30, that's the only reason I did it. The second, the valvoline guy told me once you use the 5w-30 you have to stay with it because it's a higher grade and it would cause problems if you change back to a lower grade.

[Mike's89AccordLX]

That's a line of BULL


I was told that same line by an AMSOIL dealer and I talked with my instructors and they even said that was BS.

The guy said my motor would blow up if I switched and I did and I have been running Halvoline motor oil since then and my car runs great. I've been using Halvoline for about 8 months now.

So yeah that's bull!

[meangreenLXi]

How hard do you run it? Are you a hard driver? I'm tellin ya, i'm usually runnin 80mph 5days a week twice a day. I just thought the 5w-30 was a thicker better quality oil?

[Mike's89AccordLX]

Well I guess I'm a pretty hard driver since I race a little bit. I used to do top speed tests all the time.

[meangreenLXi]

Cool, that's what I wanted to hear, I gotta know that i'm the hardest driver on here. You being a racer definately tops anything i've done as far as pushing a car to it's limits.

[zerotap]

So when I go change my oil this week I should specify some 10w-40 ? Any particular brands. I prefer to use sythetic high mileage oil. I bought the car less than a month ago and just haven't gotten around to having it changed yet. But when I did buy the car and checked the oil level, it was good and the oil color was good. About only thing I need to do is change valve cover gasket as there is a bit of oil leaking from it which is to be expected on a car with 134 thousand miles and change. Oh and what kind of oil filters should I request when I get my oil changed.

[Mike's89AccordLX]

I use Napa Gold oil filters.

[cmzinner]

So when I go change my oil this week I should specify some 10w-40 ? Any particular brands. I prefer to use sythetic high mileage oil. I bought the car less than a month ago and just haven't gotten around to having it changed yet. But when I did buy the car and checked the oil level, it was good and the oil color was good. About only thing I need to do is change valve cover gasket as there is a bit of oil leaking from it which is to be expected on a car with 134 thousand miles and change. Oh and what kind of oil filters should I request when I get my oil changed.

basically, 10W vs 5W goes like this: the "W" stands for "weight" which really all that means is that the 10W-30 is thicker (more viscous) than the 5W-30 at a lower temp (i.e. when the engine is starting)...for we who live in the south, this is now big deal, seeing as how our engine blocks hardly ever see temps on the order of 45F. For yall up north, you might want to consider using the lower weight, 5W-30 during the cold months, b/c it will help your car start more easily in the cold winter (in theory).

as to the second number, 30 vs. 40, that is a general viscosity - viscosity achieved at optimum running temps....basically, stick with 30. If your car is a smoker...kick it up to 40 and this will hinder the amount of oil your old beast consumes...Don't use the 40 just because you have a leaky head gasket - just replace the gasket - nodnod.

to give you a better idea of the second number, piston aircraft engines use an oil with a number somewhere around 90...it's thick as honey. the reason being for this is that they get much hotter than car engines (most are air-cooled), they have a much lower compression ratio, and the blow-by around the cylinders is much greater than that of a car engine...they literally sling oil out the exhaust.

hope all this helps somebody...anyhoo...I'ma go get a beer

[Rendon LX-i]

who lied to u man. yeah oil is oil. but the Valvoline is wack. u leave that shit in your motor for 2 month your motor dirty as hell. and castorl is wack to. on imports i was told by my auto teacher that Mobil 1 FULL SYNTHETIC 5w30 is the best. which it is. cuz i been using it for a long ass time and my engine still has the power and its always clean. 10w-40 is WAY to heavy for are engines.

[cmzinner]

who lied to u man. yeah oil is oil. but the Valvoline is wack. u leave that shit in your motor for 2 month your motor dirty as hell. and castorl is wack to. on imports i was told by my auto teacher that Mobil 1 FULL SYNTHETIC 5w30 is the best. which it is. cuz i been using it for a long ass time and my engine still has the power and its always clean. 10w-40 is WAY to heavy for are engines.

I concur with the Mobil 1 full synthetic....they us a variant of it on the space shuttle...synthetics generally do not allow dirt and unwanted sediments to adhere to your engine parts....it's like Sam Adams, always a good decision.

[riced_roach]

All oil is not created equal. "regular" mineral oil aka Dino oil cannot be compared to synthetic. I guarantee any synthetic would outperform any dino oil. From Amsoil, Motul, Elf etc the additive packages will have better shear protectants than dino.

There is so much to know about motor oil its sick. Like anything motor oil should be used strictly for its application. Ester based synthetics have excellent shear protection yet it may not be super ideal for street daily driver use.

I wouldn't care to use dino oil since it leaves deposits in your engine. If you have experience in engines you would know who uses synthetic or who uses dino just by looking at the valvetrain when you pop off the valve cover. Dino works alright but if you want superior lubrication go synthetic. If anyone begs to differ they have no idea what they are talking about.

Amsoil is an excellent product but they are archaic when it comes to selection. Check out what Motul has to offer or even elf. They have 5w20 and many other modern viscosity blends. Europe is way more upto date than American oil manufacturers. If you compare oil "standards" the Europeans are way ahead of the game.

Hey Mikes89accordlx, have you sent your oil out for oil analysis???? if you havent you have absolutely no proof that Havoline is a superior or excellent product. Amsoil would outperform havoline hands down. Just by using a specific brand for 8months is absolutely meaningless. Have you pulled out your pistons to inspect for any scuffs on the piston skirts??? or cylinder bore (thrust side) have you inspected those parts before using havoline??? If you compare havoline (virgin oil) and after your certain oil change interval I bet the viscosity additives degraded significantly. If you test a synthetic it would hold its own by far better than havoline. I'd guarantee that the zddp (zinc and phosphorus) content of synthetic would be much higher than your joe shmow dino oil.

I think any dino oil (castrol, pennzoil, havoline, wallmart specials...etc) work but if you want superior protection synthetic is the only way to go. Any dino oil rep can talk all day but oil analysis do not lie. One guy can brag about castrol another havoline and another walmart oil. Dino oil has limitations and I would never use it on my personal vehicles.

[MrBen]

Switching to synthetic isn't going to do shit if all you have used for the engine's life is regular oil.

[mattalica]

Not all oil is the same!If that was the case either cheap oil would cost more or the good stuff would cost less.Anyway I drive my car very ,very hard.I only drive about 5 miles to work,Short trips are bad for an engine,and I get on it constantly!Between 70-90 all the way.I was running Valvoline 20-50 and some LUCAS oil stabilizer.I have never had a single problem w/ my engine.It runs great!But this last oil change,about 2 weeks ago,Kragen had 4 qts. of quaker state 10-30 w/ a bottle of SLICK 50 for $14.99!Just the Slick 50 is usually $14.99.So that's what I'm runnin' right now. recently bought a 2g Acord w/ 197,000 miles on it and the owner of it allways put Slick 50 in it and it runs FANTASTIC!It is fast as hell(for what it is)and amzes me every time I drive it w/ the amount of power that it still has.Slick 50 baby!It seems to work pretty damn good!Matt

[accordlxi2.0]

i either use penzoil himilege or synthetic and everyday i floor my car there's rarely been a time when i'm driving slow.
but i like penzoil.
when i had my beretta the bearings
were going and i was low on oil.
i went to put some quaker state in it and the car sound worse, then i tried penzoil it was quiet and the bearing's lasted for about a month or so . . . . .

[Neuspeed87lx]

i wouldnt worry about the brand of the oil .... just make sure it is changed on a regular basis..... i try to change it every 2000 miles ....i just use motorcraft stuff..... i work at a ford dealer and thats what they have

[zerotap]

Thanks for the input. I'll use 10w30 then and just make sure it's synthetic. Never been to particular on brands I just always made sure oil I use is synthetic.Oh, and I don't have a leaky head gasket. It just looks like I need to replace the Valve Cover Gasket. That's expected with the miles on this car. Me and my buddy will probly do it when I change struts out in a couple weeks. Lol and I agree on the beer. I hear MGD calling my name.

basically, 10W vs 5W goes like this: the "W" stands for "weight" which really all that means is that the 10W-30 is thicker (more viscous) than the 5W-30 at a lower temp (i.e. when the engine is starting)...for we who live in the south, this is now big deal, seeing as how our engine blocks hardly ever see temps on the order of 45F. For yall up north, you might want to consider using the lower weight, 5W-30 during the cold months, b/c it will help your car start more easily in the cold winter (in theory).

as to the second number, 30 vs. 40, that is a general viscosity - viscosity achieved at optimum running temps....basically, stick with 30. If your car is a smoker...kick it up to 40 and this will hinder the amount of oil your old beast consumes...Don't use the 40 just because you have a leaky head gasket - just replace the gasket - nodnod.

to give you a better idea of the second number, piston aircraft engines use an oil with a number somewhere around 90...it's thick as honey. the reason being for this is that they get much hotter than car engines (most are air-cooled), they have a much lower compression ratio, and the blow-by around the cylinders is much greater than that of a car engine...they literally sling oil out the exhaust.

hope all this helps somebody...anyhoo...I'ma go get a beer

[cmzinner]

Thanks for the input. I'll use 10w30 then and just make sure it's synthetic. Never been to particular on brands I just always made sure oil I use is synthetic.Oh, and I don't have a leaky head gasket. It just looks like I need to replace the Valve Cover Gasket. That's expected with the miles on this car. Me and my buddy will probly do it when I change struts out in a couple weeks. Lol and I agree on the beer. I hear MGD calling my name.

hey, glad I could help. Honestly, the best thing you can do for your car is the regular oil change and filter change. watch your fluid levels and you'll be golden.

Happy tuning!!

-Chris

[Nuffice]

If I were you I would have the crank bearings checked, just to make sure everything is working well.. I had a similar problem and turned out to be my bearings.

[riced_roach]

Switching to synthetic isn't going to do shit if all you have used for the engine's life is regular oil.

According to who?? Thats like saying your a smoker all your life and its not worth kicking the habit. Ignorance is bliss. Depending on how tired your engine is and if you value the car stick with dino oil if you feel the engine isn't worth it and is needing a rebuild. IF the engine has low mileage on it and its not consuming any oil I'd definitely switch.

[Rendon LX-i]

i agree. shit i spend 32 dollars on my oil change most of the time. thats using Mobil 1 full synthentic and if i want really good oil i use Neo oil. which that stuff is really good. A Riced Roach just let them use what ever oil they want. I guess they dont really know much about oil. OIL IS JUST OIL. yeah okay buddy.riggggggght. lol.

[hondamanlxi]

ive been told that if a car has always had dino oil, switching to syn would "dry out your seals and cause leaks"! True?