<FONT COLOR="blue"> Dood, so my wife takes my civic in to walmart to get oil change.
When I get back from work, I drive it at it's feels super heavy.
I work 3 job..super busy. no time to even do my own damn oil change. </FONT>


I have 2000 civic ex sedan 5spd STOCK with 63k on it. I think it was about 5k since i last change the oil. As a honda guy I've ALWAYS used 5w30w on all the past 6-7 hondas I've owned.

So i don't know what the heck 10w or 15w would do to a stock civic.
Man my car feels slow as ***** in the cold winter (20F) even when it is fully warmed up it seems like when I try to rev it in neatural it still feels like there is too much restriction.

<FONT COLOR="red">
Anyone have issues with that?
Anyone know what I'm talking about?
I know it should be fine but wouldn't getting a 10w + weight oil just be a waste, since the motor has to work harder?
*is there even any benifit to having 10w oil?

</FONT>

TIA

 

You should be fine with 10w or 5w. I changed my oil to 10w-30 for the winter.

Just remember if you live in an area where it gets cold and you put a thicker oil in you're going to have to allot longer warm-up times for the lifters to bring all the oil to the top of the engine as the oil as a whole is more viscous when it's cold and needs to be thinned out a bit by the heat of the engine. Fine for warmup, not good if you're putting it through its paces.

Basically all I'm saying is that if you use a thicker oil and it's cold (below freezing) outside you're going to have to allow more time for your car to warm up in the morning.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Syndacate &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">You should be fine with 10w or 5w. I changed my oil to 10w-30 for the winter.

Fine for warmup, not good if you're putting it through its paces.
</TD></TR></TABLE>


Expand on that some more....
I totally understand that I'll have to wait longer for it to heat up.
BUT my thing is that I don't have the time to sit more than 2 min while the car warms up....
This makes driving the car around while not fully warmed upsucks..

Please tell me there is a GOOD thing about using 10w oil.. ..
if not i'm switching back even it it does cost more money... lol

 

General guideline:


From honda manual:
"An oil with a viscosity of 5W-30 is preferred for improved fuel economy and year round protection in your Honda. You may use a 10W-30 oil if the temperature in your area never goes below 20F.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Charlie Moua &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">


Expand on that some more....
I totally understand that I'll have to wait longer for it to heat up.
BUT my thing is that I don't have the time to sit more than 2 min while the car warms up....
This makes driving the car around while not fully warmed upsucks..

Please tell me there is a GOOD thing about using 10w oil.. ..
if not i'm switching back even it it does cost more money... lol
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Switch back to the 5w.

You want thinner oil in the colder weather.

Sicones's post describes my point perfectly in terms of imagery.

 

I would switch it out if the manual doesn't say it's OK to use. Thicker oil at cold temperatures could cause lack of lubrication in all those tight tolerance areas in the engine.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Perfectionist &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I would switch it out if the manual doesn't say it's OK to use. Thicker oil at cold temperatures could cause lack of lubrication in all those tight tolerance areas in the engine. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Wow...you summed up in one sentence what it took me like 20 to say.

to you.

 

Around here we almost NEVER get to zero degress, at most one or two days a year, so I generally run 10w30 all year long, works for me and oil is clean and normal looking at every change.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by bart2546 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Around here we almost NEVER get to zero degress, at most one or two days a year, so I generally run 10w30 all year long, works for me and oil is clean and normal looking at every change. </TD></TR></TABLE>


so you run 10w all year long..
doesn't your car feel sluggish?

 

question...

i've always used 10w-30...so i've learned that 5w and 10w is the thickness of the oil in weight...and now i know when to use which...but what does the 2nd number mean??like when you say 10w-30 or 5w-30, whats the 30??

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Charlie Moua &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">so you run 10w all year long..
doesn't your car feel sluggish?
</TD></TR></TABLE>

No, because once it reaches operating temperature, it's performing like a 30 weight, which is also why there is no reason for your car to be feeling "sluggish" once warmed up.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by B18CivicEg &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
i've always used 10w-30...so i've learned that 5w and 10w is the thickness of the oil in weight...and now i know when to use which...but what does the 2nd number mean??like when you say 10w-30 or 5w-30, whats the 30??</TD></TR></TABLE>

5W and 10W aren't the "thickness", they indicate the viscosity at low temperatures. The second number is the oil's viscosity at operating temperature.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by B18CivicEg &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">question...

i've always used 10w-30...so i've learned that 5w and 10w is the thickness of the oil in weight...and now i know when to use which...but what does the 2nd number mean??like when you say 10w-30 or 5w-30, whats the 30??</TD></TR></TABLE>

The numbers are a thickness range.

10w-30 means that it acts like 10 weight oil at 0ºF (off) and 30 weight oil at 210ºF (standard operating temperature).

It's known as multi-viscosity oil because its viscosity (thickness) changes in reaction to different temperatures.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Syndacate &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

The numbers are a thickness range.

10w-30 means that it acts like 10 weight oil at 0ºF (off) and 30 weight oil at 210ºF (standard operating temperature).

It's known as multi-viscosity oil because its viscosity (thickness) changes in reaction to different temperatures.</TD></TR></TABLE>

aaah...now i understand it clearly...

thanks for clearing that up.

 

ive allways run 10w-30 in my 97 hatch turbo, for the past 3 years, mobil 1 , works great, love it.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by GiMpInThaCiv &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">ive allways run 10w-30 in my 97 hatch turbo, for the past 3 years, mobil 1 , works great, love it. </TD></TR></TABLE>

I'm not asking in a condescending manner, but how do you know it "works great"? Have you done any UOA's during that period? Again, I'm not being argumentative, I'm just curious.

 

5w-30 in the winter, 10w-30 in the summer. Always. I might mix it up and use a 7w-30,8w-30 in the summer time.

 

thanks for all the info.
man.... something must be wrong with my car.. cause it totally drives different now...

 

i always use 10w all year round and here in colorado lately the nights are 0 o below zero temp and my car starts up normal

 

5w30 and 10w30 have relatively the same cSt at operating temp; saying one is thicker or thinner than the other should be avoided. But it can be generally said that the lower the first number the better cold pumping and pour point properties it will have. Some synthetic 10w30 out there has better flow characteristics than 5w30.

But thats also to say, that if you wanted the best pumpability in any temperature, then get a 0w30; I use 'german' Castrol Syntec when I'm in need of 0w30.
For 10w30 I like pennzoil platinum, Mobil 1, Mobil 1 EP.
For 5w30 I like pennzoil plat, Mobil 1, Mobil 1 EP, Mobil 1 truck and suv. But overall it kinda depends on whats on sale, and what mood i'm in to run what oil.

I've had very good UOA on Mobil 1 10w30 synthetic in almost every car i've ever run it in.

 

Make sure you replace your oil filter on every oil service.