AutoXer

I often post in oil threads to clear up any misinformation. I've said for a while that I'd post an oil report from an extended change in my D16 as soon as I got one, and I just got my results back today.

The normal duty calls for 7500 mile fluid changes, with a filter change at 15000 miles (every other fluid change):




Severe calls for 3750 mile fluid and filter changes:




I'm currently using 0W-30 Castrol Syntec ('German Castrol') with a K&N Gold filter. I use a hybrid maintenance schedule; somewhere between the severe and normal service duty listed in the manual. I have been draining the oil at 5000 miles, and changing the filter at every other drain.

The last oil change was in June (I beleive) 5750 miles ago. At the last oil change, the filter was not changed, it was a drain and fill, so the filter had nearly 11,000 miles on it. During this OCI, the car saw extremely harsh duty, even by my standards; it was autocrossed every weekend with a co-driver (about 20 runs per day) and a few laps at NHIS. Most of those days were above 90* and near 100% humidity. It was also at highway speeds in those weather conditions for 2-3 hours at a time with the A/C going, with mixed city driving during the week for my commute.

These results are nearly identical to results I had previously gotten with Castrol GTX in a VW that I used to own (4000 mi changes w/ new filter each time). I was using GTX or Syntec blend in this engine until I switched to the German Castrol last year or so. The car is getting close to 120K, and has 210 compression numbers across the board and uses about a quart between changes.

The results are pretty clear, you can stop wasting money on all those extra oil changes:







Modified by AutoXer at 5:26 PM 2/15/2006

AutoXer

Man... almost 4th page already? I guess I shouldn't post things in the evening...

Falqon

cool information, thanks. How did you get that kind of readout? I've never seen such a thing.

Sketch_hs

okay now put a turbo on it and do the test again

AutoXer

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Falqon &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> How did you get that kind of readout? I've never seen such a thing.</TD></TR></TABLE>

The oil analysis was from Blackstone Laboratory:

http://www.blackstone-labs.com/index.html

The full printout looks a bit different, but I cut off the top of the page with my contact info etc.

The test is $20, and I paid an extra $10 for TBN testing, which determines how much additive is left in the oil:

http://www.blackstone-labs.com....html

And here is more info on what all of those numbers mean:

http://www.blackstone-labs.com....html

AutoXer

One last up from page 4 bump for info...

AdamQ3B85

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by AutoXer &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">One last up from page 4 bump for info...

</TD></TR></TABLE>

Hey thanks for the info.
I have to admit that I am a bit paranoid about letting my oil go for more than 2000 miles. I always do an oil/filter change at even less than 2000 miles, lately i have been doing it montly.
I use Natural Mobil 1 Clean 10w-30 with an S2000 Oil filter.

I have been wondering for a while now, if I should switch over to fully synthetic, can you give me any insight? Which one protects better for longer, natural or synthetic?
I also live in south florida, weather down here is always around 100F, would it be save to use 5w-30 like honda specifies? What do you think is generally better for really hot weather?
I have read on bobtheoilguy but I dont much on there, lol.

AutoXer

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by AdamQ3B85 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
I have to admit that I am a bit paranoid about letting my oil go for more than 2000 miles. I always do an oil/filter change at even less than 2000 miles, lately i have been doing it montly. </TD></TR></TABLE>

There's seriously no need for that. Even Honda, assuming you're putting in some generic oil that just meets the minimum SAE requirements, recommends 3750 mi oil changes (see pic above).

AutoXer

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by AdamQ3B85 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
I use Natural Mobil 1 Clean 10w-30 with an S2000 Oil filter.

I have been wondering for a while now, if I should switch over to fully synthetic, can you give me any insight? Which one protects better for longer, natural or synthetic?</TD></TR></TABLE>

As far as the oil, you should be fine with regular dino oil. I used to use Castrol GTX on all my cars, and got similar analysis results with 4000 mile changes. I used GTX or Syntec blend for the first 80K of this motors life as well.

The reason I've switched to the German Castrol is for the ACEA A3 rating, as I'm racing the car more and more. For daily driving (and really, for occasional track days) it's not necessary. Scroll down in this thread to see what I'm talking about: https://honda-tech.com/zero...age=2

What I would stay away from is any of these extended life / clean burn / miracle oil garbage. They use additives and other things to get the properties they're looking for, and sometimes sacrafice protection to get those properties.

Regular oil at the recommended factory (not dealer; check your manual) is fine for 99% of people out there. That oil was in the car for almost 6K mi, the filter around 11K, and it was autocrossed and tracked in 100* heat; so there's no need for you to worry about your oil.

92ehatch

so are you saying that synthetic at 5000 miles in harsh conditions is about the same as regular in normal conditions?

if thats the case, seems like a waste of money of the synthetic.

i use GTX 5w30 change it roughly every 4 (but i have ot add 1 quart after about 2500 miles cause i burn some)

AutoXer

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 93egsedan &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
if thats the case, seems like a waste of money of the synthetic.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

For most people, yes.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 93egsedan &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">so are you saying that synthetic at 5000 miles in harsh conditions is about the same as regular in normal conditions?
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Well, it's hard to compare the two, but from my past experience, if I was using GTX, the results would have been pretty close. The flash point and viscosity numbers might not have been as good, but still passable.

I used dino oil with the same maintenance scedule for the first three years that I had the car, and you can see that the motor is still in great shape. I had even tracked the car with GTX (and I know alot of people who use dino in their race cars), but decided to switch to the GC for a little more protection.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 93egsedan &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i use GTX 5w30 change it roughly every 4 (but i have ot add 1 quart after about 2500 miles cause i burn some)</TD></TR></TABLE>

That should be fine for your car; and I burn off about a quart as well, but I'm almost always in the upper rev range. If you want to know for sure about your oil and motor health, go to Blackstones website. They'll send you a sample kit, and send you back the report for $20.

97dxnut

AutoXer, correct me if i'm wrong, but isn't 'severe duty' characterized as everyday stop-and-go traffic?

Buzzbomb

Good info. It's so hard to convince people that you can go over 3,000 with synthetic oil. LOTS of misinformation out there as far a motor oil.

When I hit 7,500 miles on the AMSOIL in the WRX I'm going to do an oil analysis and post the results.

They say you can go 25,000 or 1 year on the stuff, so I'm going to put it to the test!!

AutoXer

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 97dxnut &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">AutoXer, correct me if i'm wrong, but isn't 'severe duty' characterized as everyday stop-and-go traffic?</TD></TR></TABLE>


Taken directly from the Helms (which is identical to the manual):


<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Helms &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Follow the Severe Conditions Maintenance Shcedule for 199x Model if the vehicle is driven MAINLY under one or more of the Severe Driving Conditions

Severe Driving Conditions:

- Driving less than 5mi per trip or, in freezing temps, driving less than 10mi per trip

- Driving in extremely hot (over 90*F) conditions

- Extensive idling or long periods of stop and go driving

- Trailer towing, driving with a roof-top carrier, or driving in mountainous conditions

- Driving on muddy, dusty, de-iced roads

NOTE: If the car is driven OCCASIONALLY under a "severe' condition, you should follow the Normal Conditions Maintenance Schedule for 199x Model
</TD></TR></TABLE>

I'm not sure what you're getting at, but my duty is well above and beyond severe. I'm in the North East, so there's heavy traffic, de-iced roads, freezing and extremely hot weather, mountains and I carry a roof rack in the winter and trailer my tires in the summer. That's even before I take it to the track.

Really, most people don't need to follow the severe duty schedule. Occasionally and mainly were typed in caps and bolded in the manual, so I assumed that meant they were serious about it. If I can go over the severe duty change interval and be okay, certainly so can most people.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Buzzbomb &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Good info. It's so hard to convince people that you can go over 3,000 with synthetic oil. LOTS of misinformation out there as far a motor oil.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

That's really what my point was. It doesn't even have to do with synthetic though. I used GTX for 5K in my VW (the reccomended 'severe' schedule) and got the same results as above. You just need to do the maintenance, and by following the factory recommended schedule, your motor will be fine.

I really just wanted to clear up all the misinformation. I'm tired of seeing all these threads with people thinking they have to buy synthetic, or change every 3K, when even in the manual it says you don't need to.

Of course those threads end up being 3pages of flame in less than a day; and mine ends up on the 4th page down within an hour. I guess I should have put something about JDM or V-TECH in the title to get more responces