Ok so my dad insists on wasting money on sythetic oil on our 2004 accord ex... i tell him its pointless, and the cost doesnt justify it, that its a daily driven car that rarely ever engages vtec... am i right?

 

if the manufacturer doesnt recommend it in the owner's manual, I see no reason to use it. Its a waste of money in my opinion...unless like I said the manufacturer recommends it. For example: my VW 1.8T required synthetic because conventional oil would bake the turbos...

 

Basically every 7th gen owner I know uses Mobil 1 Full synthetic 5W-20 or 0W-20 in their cars, and have noticed an improvement.

 

lol improvement in what? its probably all in their head(s) anyway...trust me the stuff is a watse of money especially if your honda is mostly all stock (not boosted) If using conventional oil vs. synthetic were so detrimental to the reliability and performance of your honda, trust me honda would have it written in bold print in your owners manual...

 

i use synthetic in my 95, and honestly. i dont ntoice any improvement in performance, but i do notice that when i change the oil, its not as sludgey as the old dino oil. the reason i use it is my car is it sees occasional heavy driving.

if your manufacturer doesnt recomend it, and you drive it very conservatively(the way it was meant to be driven) then yea its alot of money for a little in return. but if your did insist, and if he'll pay for it, thenw hy the hell not?! hahaha

 

My dad read the post and wants to reply... this is him.... Hi, what Iam concerned with is prolonging the life of my engine. Oil sludges causing heat conductivity and more abrasive viscosity then synthetic, the differance is my engines lasts forever.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 97 GSR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">My dad read the post and wants to reply... this is him.... Hi, what Iam concerned with is prolonging the life of my engine. Oil sludges causing heat conductivity and more abrasive viscosity then synthetic, the differance is my engines lasts forever.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I am with you on this one grandpa.

I would rather spend the money. Better safe than sorry.

Synthetic is also better if you go longer with out changing the oil. Synthetic does not break down as fast.

It does not cost that much more to go to synthetic. I would drop to a synthetic blend before I switched to conventional.

 

I thought I was reading somewhere that on engines though that had been using regular for awhile then switch to a synthetic get gunked up because the oil builds up and the synthetic brings out those glumps. That's my main reason for staying with oil vs synthetic oil. 145k and no problems though


EDIT found what I was talking about: from accordinglydone.com GD

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Synthetic oil, as its name implies, is synthetically prepared by sending the long chain (really long chain) hydrocarbons through an insane temperature in the presence of a catalyst "crack" them into smaller and more useful chains. In the "cat cracker" temperatures are so high that when the chains are reformed, they are in a super pure state. This pure state is precisely why you do not want it to burn. Like candle wax, it takes a very hot ignition and a very long time to combust. So then, when you run synthetic in a motor that will attempt to burn it, the oil won't fully combust and instead leave a sticky residue (almost exactly the same compound as tar) inside your cylinders. When your pistons move up and down a few thousand times per minute, that tar is pretty much like sand paper, scarring your rings and cylinder walls and adversly affecting your compression.

Regular oil is very impure, thus containing nitrogens and sulfur. Sulfur as we know combusts with very low ignition temperatures and combusts in a very exothermic reaction. I'm not saying it's okay to burn motor oil but it less painful on your motor than synthetic. Hence why 2-stroke oil was invented. It is a quality lubricant but fully combusts with the ignition of gasoline which recquires very little ignition temperature in vapor form (as we all know).</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by TheMuffinMan &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I thought I was reading somewhere that on engines though that had been using regular for awhile then switch to a synthetic get gunked up because the oil builds up and the synthetic brings out those glumps. That's my main reason for staying with oil vs synthetic oil. 145k and no problems though


EDIT found what I was talking about: from accordinglydone.com GD

</TD></TR></TABLE>
That's why, when you change to synthetic, you should change it again after 750 or 1,000 miles, then go to your normal change interval.

As for the benefits of synthetic in an '04 Accord... I don't think that it would really make that much of a difference but it certainly won't hurt. The cost of an oil change, with your son providing the labor, would be ~ $21 for 5 quarts of Mobil 1 synthetic (you need either 4.0 or 4.5 quarts, don't remember which off of the top of my head), $5.50 for a Honda oil filter, and maybe $0.30 for a new crush washer (so, ~ $26).

 

My auto takes 5 quarts, idk why. I put in 4.5 and the stick told me I needed another 1/2 quart, so when I put it in, it was at the 2nd hole.

I don't think its hurting everything, I honestly think everything in regards to oil, gas, you name it, is one big contradiction. There will always be something contradicting the other statement, and how it is wrong. That is why we never will truly know, because in a forum this large, not everyone will always agree, which is why this thread is pointless.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Heat &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
That's why, when you change to synthetic, you should change it again after 750 or 1,000 miles, then go to your normal change interval.

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

Don't pour in syn. oil at least 6000 miles or second oil change, the syn. oil will not allow seal and rings to break in, changing it at 1000 miles will garrentee you blow by later down the line.

the dino oil is enough for the job for daily driving if you changing it every 3k, same goes for the filter. Most dino oil can handle 7k oil change easy, unless you race the car every weekend.

there is no way you can feel a performance change in oil change, unless your motor is not running right. People invest in quality oil look for the long term payoff more than instant power gain, if you don't plan to keep the car forever, put anything into it and it will run at least 10 year before overhaul. I can't say the same for ford tho

 

What about all the honda engines over the last 20 years that have lasted well over 150k+ miles and over 200k and even over 300k miles using just conventional oil? I dont think that there is any question that honda engines dont last...you dont need synthetic as long as you keep the oil changed regularly and dont beat on it everyday.

 

I don't think that syn will provide any longevity difference over dino IF the oil is changed every 3000 miles.

BUT, syn does allow you to change less often, say 7500 miles rather than 3000 miles. If you did that with dino it would become sludgy and THEN affect engine longevity.

IN CLOSING: Syn doesn't necessarily make your engine last longer but does allow you to span your oil changes out further.

P.S. He is correct about break-in, you don't want to use syn until after you have done that.

 

ok so the 1.8T owner's manual and the dealer are both feeding me bullshit along with all the other 1.8T owner's and Tech's??? ...yeah ok..... When the 1.8T's were first introduced in the jetta's and GTI's the borg warner K03 turbo's kept failing due to people using conventionional...the coventional oil gunks up and clogs the oil feed and return lines on the 1.8T's with the K03 turbos... the dealer and manufacturer discovered coventional oil to be the problem and changed the oil requirement to full synthetic...I personally know a vw mechanic at one of the local dealerships and he told me the same thing...and you also wanna say that the VW owner's manual is bullshit? You need to educate yourself before speaking on something you THINK you know.


Modified by EASY101 at 1:10 PM 8/4/2006


Modified by EASY101 at 4:14 PM 8/4/2006

 

ok then so why did the change in type of oil rectify VW's problem then? They didnt update the turbos or the oil lines...just the oil requirement....ok???


secondly I dont care what alamo says just because they remanufactur turbos and etc...thats just one company of many out there... and I think VW knows whats better for their cars than Alamo does.

 

oil education shouldnt be limited to just this forum dip ****...why dont you explorer the rest of the WWW once in a while...if you dont believe me ask the next 1.8T owner you come across, find out what their respose is and then get back to me *******.

 

you sound so mature I'm people sure listen to you..lol and this is coming from someone who wants to preach about being open-minded to others...you shouldnt hate on VW's... there are plenty of them that are fast as hell....without having to spend 5g's to get them boosted and into the 14's like most hondas I know. lol


Modified by EASY101 at 2:11 PM 8/4/2006

 

I was just wondering for those who say that synthetic is pointless and a waste of money, have ever seen the inside of an engine using mobil 1 synthetic everything is soo clean, look at one using regular oil and it is all stained and dirty, seals also last longer in proven tests! If you arent going to keep your car go ahead and just put regular oil in it save your money, if not i would definetely recommend mobil 1 synthetic or other snythetic oils.

 

I say its pointless because I've seen plenty of cars last decades without having to use synthetic... unless your manufactuer is recommending it, you're just wasting your money....its like paying for premium gas when your engine only requires 87....its a waste of money...


Modified by EASY101 at 3:05 PM 8/4/2006

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by EASY101 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I say its pointless because I've seen plenty of cars last decades without having to use synthetic... unless your manufactuer is recommending it, you're just wasting your money....its like paying for premium gas when your engine only requires 87....its a waste of money...


Modified by EASY101 at 2:41 PM 8/4/2006</TD></TR></TABLE>Exactly, thats been my arguement all along... i think a lot of people just see the commercials and get brainwashed into wanting to put some high end fancy oil in their daily drivers... if you actually have a high performance engine that sees racing frequently it would make sense... but i think that is a good way to put it, its like using premium gas on a car that uses regular... waste of money

 

thank you thank you!

 

I am not getting my opinions from adds or commercials, Have you ever taken the valve cover off of a car using regular oil? It looks brown stained and dirty! If you take the valve cover off a car using synthetic, it looks much cleaner, less dirty! If you dont believe in this try this yourself. Ive been working as a technician at my local honda dealership for a couple of years now and have seen the results, all the technicians that i know that have been with honda forever will highly recommend MOBIL 1 Synthetic and they use this oil in everything they own! Do whatever you think or like, this is just my 2 cents...

 

I've used mobil 1 for almost the entire life of my 2003, k24a4 accord, i recently had two oil analysis on used oil samples and the trace elements/wear metals are extremely low. The motor oil is doing a very good job of protecting the engine.

 

using a synthetic oil does not mean you can extend your oil change intervals. unless stated by the oil manufacturer )like mobil 1's drive clean) you should still change it every 3k(or what your manufacturer recomends).

and i think the diference between a car lasting 200k on dino oil vs syn. oil is how well it runs. im sure iof properly maintained both car will last about the same mileage, but i bet money the one that used syn. would run noticeably better

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by V6iCkSpEeD &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I am not getting my opinions from adds or commercials, Have you ever taken the valve cover off of a car using regular oil? It looks brown stained and dirty! If you take the valve cover off a car using synthetic, it looks much cleaner, less dirty! If you dont believe in this try this yourself. Ive been working as a technician at my local honda dealership for a couple of years now and have seen the results, all the technicians that i know that have been with honda forever will highly recommend MOBIL 1 Synthetic and they use this oil in everything they own! Do whatever you think or like, this is just my 2 cents...</TD></TR></TABLE>

come on, so you are using the valve cover as a sign of good or bad oil?

most newer car have oil change internal at 7500 miles, even with dino oil. If your car is in good condition, the oil is even close to being "wear up" at 3k, syn. oil doesn't mean it will clean better, there's cleaning agent in the oil that do that.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 97 GSR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Exactly, thats been my arguement all along... i think a lot of people just see the commercials and get brainwashed into wanting to put some high end fancy oil in their daily drivers... if you actually have a high performance engine that sees racing frequently it would make sense... but i think that is a good way to put it, its like using premium gas on a car that uses regular... waste of money</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yes and yes, SJ grade dino oil is alot alot more advance than older grade oil, 3k is nothing for the oil, unless you have some mechanic defects with the motor.
Samething with the oil filter, people buying the filter with the most advance bypass valve and change it every 3k, the filter is not even come close to "full/choke" at 3 k, let alone using the bling bling bypass valve.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by V6iCkSpEeD &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I was just wondering for those who say that synthetic is pointless and a waste of money, have ever seen the inside of an engine using mobil 1 synthetic everything is soo clean, look at one using regular oil and it is all stained and dirty, seals also last longer in proven tests! If you arent going to keep your car go ahead and just put regular oil in it save your money, if not i would definetely recommend mobil 1 synthetic or other snythetic oils.</TD></TR></TABLE>

stop worshipping the brand, seriously, there's better oil than M1 just to say the least. M1 is good oil but 90 percent of people using m1 have no real use for it.