Do Different Oils Realy Make A Difference?

**HondaBoy** · 10-30-2002, 05:18 PM

ive gotta say ya, they do. we have a 2002 accord 4 cylinder. realy a nice engine. its broken in just right so its got its full potential of power. but it started getting sluggish. this is when i was visiting in west virginia. it had gone like way over 6000 miles without the oil changed. so we got it done . they put valvoline in. when my granny brought it back and i drove it, i was all , wut the hell did they do to it. it picked up some noticeable power. this time at the dealership, they put in castrol. it dosent have the same power now. maybe it was they type they put in. i have heard from a number of people that Royal Purple works wonders. drag racers have said the same. its almost time for an oil change so thats wut im puttin in. just to try it. i think it was either Horse Power TV or Crank and Chrome that did an engine dyno with Royal Purple, and got a 3-6 hp increase. not bad. its mosdef worth trying.they did all of the oils from the engine to the tranny.

**jteuton** · 10-30-2002, 05:47 PM

3-6 horsepower would probalby be in a 350 chevrelot. In a engine less than half that size look for about 1hp. But its no surprize the slicker the oil the more power to expect. When components are prone to less friction they work faster and generate less heat which are byproducts of increasing power. But new engines (I hate to bring this up cause i know none of our engines are new) need a tad of friction during the break in period so the engine 'sets' right. This is why they discourage use right away.

**Neuspeed87lx** · 10-30-2002, 07:40 PM

i have never heard of oil givin a noticeable power increase ...sometimes after i change the oil i feel better about the car and i "think" it runs better but its all in my head

**HondaBoy** · 10-30-2002, 08:40 PM

yea i am sticking to my feelings of more power. well when we were in west virginia, there was this one part of the road that was totaly strait. i always had to pass on it. this is where i found out that the oil change made a difference. before it wasnt picking up as good, but then that day i got the oil changed i could pass like it was nothing. thats my story and im sticking to it. the thing is i didnt realy know that the oil had been changed till i said wut did u have done. i didnt realy know if my granny had it done or not. but since i didnt know about it and felt the power , i think it made a slight difference.

**ACCORD EX** · 10-31-2002, 12:25 AM

all i know that my car runs better after an oil change !

MIKE

**OldSchoolSwap** · 10-31-2002, 10:08 AM

All i know is that Mobile 1 Synth is the BEST!!!

**markmdz89hatch** · 10-31-2002, 02:01 PM

hell yeah, mobil 1 baby. That's all that the hatch's drank in the past 100K mi. and runs just as clean now as it did then. Now "new addition" aka. "Purple axle-eater" is gonna be converted to it.

**88WhiteLX-i** · 10-31-2002, 04:19 PM

yeah I switched from valvoline syntec to Mobil 1, and the car runs like it was brand new. I would even say it runs better than some cars I know of that are waaaay younger than my car.

**shepherd79** · 10-31-2002, 06:47 PM

i am running on castrol, and it is better than some other ones i tried. I haven't tried to run Mobil 1, my car leaks and smoke oil like no one else.
but if you guys say it is better, i will try it in my new engine.

***A20A1*** · 10-31-2002, 07:36 PM

yeah mobile 1 does tend to seep... but thats a good thing. I've had no troubles with Valvoline 20w - 50 VR1 Racing Oil.

right now I'm using Mobile 1 super syn 10w - 50, in the 86 DX

**87AccordsterLx** · 10-31-2002, 11:52 PM

ok so the first # is the weight so what is the second # again??

***A20A1*** · 11-01-2002, 12:22 AM

the first # is the cold weight, the second # is actual weight.

**jteuton** · 11-01-2002, 10:55 AM

20w-50.......ummmm ok......Honda engines are designed to real tight tolerances and plus the fact that you have an overhead cam signifies the use of 5w-30 oil. If you use anything thicker you will wear your engine out quicker. 20w50 might be ok for a tractor or american made pushrod 350 but it will under lubricate your engine. If your car gets to where it burns oil regarlurly then you will have to keep climbing up the ladder in weights. The thinner the oil the more prone it is to slip past worn rings and valve seals. But where you get to the point you have to get as thick as 20w cold I would say you need a rebuild.

***A20A1*** · 11-01-2002, 06:41 PM

Well 30 sure didn't cut it at 7.5k, but yeah for stock engines 30 weight is fine.

**Mantis88LX** · 11-01-2002, 08:05 PM

im runnning castrol drive hard 10w-30 is this weight good?

also i heard lots of good comments about castrol in honda engines.

***A20A1*** · 11-01-2002, 08:12 PM

yes

**HondaBoy** · 11-01-2002, 08:28 PM

Mantis88LX, u axed about castrol in honda cars. well that is wut my dealership puts in. i guess thats is wut they like to put in. in my new accord, thats wut they put in, but i think it was performing better when i had valvoline in it. maybe its cuz where i wuz when i had valvoline in it was not as humid in the air. here where i live in texas its so humid and that can make our engines run a lil sluggish.

**jteuton** · 11-02-2002, 08:31 AM

You shouldn't change. Stick to what you been using. When you suddenly switch over from say castrol to valvoline after using it for a couple of years....it has a different makeup and sometimes it promotes oil burning and leaking when you change all of the sudden especially to synthetic. I use castrol 5w30 and my car doesn't use any oil. Mantis with it going to be winter soon....next time I changed I would go with 5w30 .....then in the summer use 10w30 or 10w40 cause of the heat. I still wouldn't put anything thicker than that in a car with an overhead cam.

**MoonScryer** · 11-02-2002, 03:13 PM

jteuton: well, if that were true, then what is keeping my engine running?

Valvoline 20w50 VR1 for the last 70,000 mi. I put something less in and it smokes and runs like crap. Just don't know about some thigns, but this I do: 20w50 keeps my engine running.

**jteuton** · 11-02-2002, 03:49 PM

Dude it smokes and runs like crap .....cause you have worn the hell outta all your parts by using that thick shit. Now if you go back to thin it will leak past seals and rings and burn. You have wore your engine really fast these past 70,000 miles and now that is why you can't use the right (thin) oil anymore.

**hondaisthebest** · 11-02-2002, 09:30 PM

I experienced a weird thing with my 345 000 miles accord 89,
when using 20w50 oil i am burning oil at the startup(if its cold weather) because the oil stay in the combustion chamber and burn until the cars warm up, but i have a better protection at higher rpm and dont even use oil when the temps is very hot.
If i am using 5w30 i will not burn oil at startup but when reaching high rpm blue smoke is coming.
What is the solution use 5w30 when very cold outside and 20w50 when its the summer

still not using oil when using this rule

**89accordlxi** · 11-02-2002, 10:49 PM

I live in the midwest with cold winters and hot summers. When I first got my car about 4 years ago, I would take the car to the dealer for oil changes. They used castrol syntec 5w-30. So that is the oil that I have used ever since. So 4 years later with over 200k miles, my car has never burned oil. Its 5w-30 for me......

Peace out....

**doug** · 11-02-2002, 11:00 PM

jteuton, a lot has to do with ambient air tempature at a owners particular location. here in fl were temps avg 75 and above for a good part of the year a 20w 50w is actually recommended for our cars by honda. I use 20w 50w in my gearbox and engine and it happens to be the correct thing to do, even if you don't think so.
just look in helms, chilton, haynes, or honda owners manual for verification.

**jteuton** · 11-03-2002, 12:09 AM

I looked in my Honda manual and it doesn't mention 20w50. In fact I haven't come across a car manual that does. I think is says 5w30 in cold climates and 10w30 in warmer ones. Thats cause 20w (which is the weight when cold) is too thick for any vehicle on startup. In 40 degree weather the stuff is like sludge so how long do you think it takes to reach the vital parts of the engine. I wouldn't be surprised if you hear the engine knocking for first few seconds after you crank it. I'd rather use thin oil and let it burn and replace it than just put heavy syrup in there. I agree once the car is hot 20w50 does a good job at lubricating but its the colder temps you should be worried about. I don't want to fight about this so use what you want.

**HondaBoy** · 11-03-2002, 08:53 PM

my friend has an plymouth acclaim that has the cylinder head gasket leaking and i think its the thin oil he put in. could that be it? it also has about 125000 miles and its a plymouth. not a honda. hahaha.