My friend has an EM1 Si and he wanted to put 10w-30 synthetic oil in, instead of 5w-30. his car is pretty much stock except for basic bolt ons. will putting 10w-30 in the car be bad? will it harm it in any way?

 

I always used 10w30. As long as you dont go up to like 20w or 30w then your find.

 

No, it will be fine assuming he isn't running that viscosity when it's extremely cold outside. However, 5W-30 is still the recommended by Honda. Why does he want to run 10W-30 instead?

 

Use what's recommended by Honda.

 

i am using 10w~30w...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by suspendedHatch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Use what's recommended by Honda.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Why would you use anything else on a pretty much stock car anyways?

 

wow....this info is even in the book that comes with your car.

reading onz joo!!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 96hb &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Why would you use anything else on a pretty much stock car anyways? </TD></TR></TABLE>

That's something I could never understand, especially when 5W-30 is very easy to find and no more expensive than other viscosities.

 

Honda reccomends using 5-30w because the oil is thinner than 10-30w. Because the oil is thinner it is able to lubricate different parts of the engine more efficiantly than 10-30w. Honda basis the the right weight oil on the oil clearances in the bearings and other various parts of the motor. If you have the wrong wieght oil, the oil wont be able to lubricate vital parts of the motor as good as 5-30w. But unless your car has built internals then i would highly reccomend sticking with 5-10w oil.

 

Another vouch for 5w-30.

Honda recommend 5w-30 for the life of the car.

 

Was I crazy then for running 20-50 when I first got my GSR? I only used it 2 months but went back to 5-30

 

10w30 is fine as long as you switch it out when it gets cold again. (if it does get cold where your at )

 

honda can run on any type of motor oil... but i use 5w30

 

Good thread. I too wondered why some people used 10w30 on the Civics. Is there any advantage to it? It's thicker or something? I'm about to get my oil changed and I guess i'm just gonna stay with 5w30.

 

only use 10w 30 if where you live stays above 20 degrees f all year 10w 30 is better for things like vavle seals in place that are dry and hot all year round acorroding to what my dads friend told me but you don't want to let the oil get below 20 degrees f because it crystalizes in the valves seals and other engine seals and destroys them. but that is just what I was told they might have changed the oil formulas since he was taught that.

 

this reminds me i have to change my oil!!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by sageuvagony &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Was I crazy then for running 20-50 when I first got my GSR? I only used it 2 months but went back to 5-30</TD></TR></TABLE>

you were problaly crazy IF you didnt have ACL rod bearings at the time...

 

the whole reason why my friend wanted to use 10w-30 instead of 5w-30 is because he had a whole box of it lying around the house and he didnt want to go out and buy another box.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by pli &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">the whole reason why my friend wanted to use 10w-30 instead of 5w-30 is because he had a whole box of it lying around the house and he didnt want to go out and buy another box. </TD></TR></TABLE>

I'm in Oregon, so I guess 5w30 is a necessity

 

From my understandings at normal operating temps, the viscosity of the oils in question are same. It's when they're cold that makes the difference. I use 10w-30 on mine because I have forged internals and it helps keep the cold piston slap noise down at startup. That's why I use it.

But knowing that both oils are the same at operating temps, would there be an advantage at all choosing one over the other?

 

actually it doesnt really matter it all depends on how many miles are on your car most mechanics will tell you to run a thicker oil in a car after it hits 100,000 miles in my accord i bought it with 210 thousand on it and when i got it i changed the oil in it right away from what i didnt know is that the owner who had it before me actually ran 10w-30 in it even tho honda says to run 5w-30 so i put 5-w30 in it and after 1500 hundred miles on it i noticed i was burning quite alot of oil so i just decided to to run some 10w30 in it and the oil consumtion has dramtically decreased and my motor in my accord now has 251,000 thousand on it. i still burn oil in it maybe like a quart every 3000-4000 miles on it nothing major.

 

Don't be a moron and run thicker oil looking for performance, all you'll do is put more drag on the motor because now the pump has to work harder to displace the same oil volume, no to mention that excessive pressures can result, which can lead to oil filter explosions, oil pump bypass valve binding due to excess pressure (easily leads to 0psi oil pressure), and breaking of the oil pump cover due to high speed displacement of cool engine oil. Not to mention is takes practically an eternity for the pump to suck heavy oil up. Any wear you would normally save driving around with a thick oil to maintain correct pressure is sacrificed during initial startup, the point of most bearing wear.

Running thicker oil is just as dumb as putting 80w gear oil in a transmission, all it does is hide the fact that your bearings are shot and that you refuse to service it because it is within specs with a thick oil. Do yourself a favor and put the right weight oil in. An oil pressure gauge never hurts anyone, and you cant be riced for monitoring the oil performance of your engine.

 

I run 10w30
I doubt anyone does it for performance

Living in So Cal makes it practical...

 

i have been using 10w30 in florida for about 4 years now with no problems. only reason i use 10w30 in the first place though is because my dad had it in his old honda for about 13 years and needed nothing more than regular maitnence...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MilanoCivic97 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i have been using 10w30 in florida for about 4 years now with no problems. only reason i use 10w30 in the first place though is because my dad had it in his old honda for about 13 years and needed nothing more than regular maitnence...</TD></TR></TABLE>

Because your dad did it? I'm sure Honda knows what weight motor oil to use, as for all of you who think that this oil is for hot temperatures. The w in 10w-30 specifies cold viscosity, so a 10w cold viscosity, in a hot running area, is no better than using a 5w-30, because they both have a 30 weight hot performance. The 10w will be twice as viscous when it flows cold, but because engines run hot, there is no reason to do this.