Automatic with 160,000 miles. I definitely wanna change all the fluids as I don't know how the previous owner was with maintenance. So first is the Oil and I was wondering if I should use a synthetic oil when I change it? Being such high mileage and all. The second question is about Changing ATF. Should I use the Honda Brand ATF?

 

Yes, change all fluids as mentioned and please ONLY use the Honda ATF for your tranny.. don't use any knockoffs

 

If you see that the previous owner has neglected the oil changes and the engine has a ton of buildup and sludge, then yes I would suggest you use a good synthetic oil (i.e. Mobil 1) to clean it out. Synthetic does a very good job of cleaning out the old gunk (sometimes too good and cause some leaks). As for the transmission, yes Honda ATF ONLY!

 

Synthetic oil doesn't really clean up gunk. Using something like Seafoam would.

Mobil1 Synthetic isn't even that great of a syn, it's the bottom of the barrel. Mobil1 EP is much better.

- Using Seafoam for the motor
- regular dino fluid oil change (just the recommended 5w30) and filter
- honda atf
- honda power steering fluid
- brake fluid
- coolant
- etc

And you're good to roll, it'll cover all your bases and give you some fresh stuff.

 

umm what?... i DO NOT recommend using anything like seafoam. especially in a high mileage engine. if there is too much gunk in the engine it can release too much of it at once and cause more problems than leaving the gunk in there would. i am not saying it doesnt work. i am saying sometimes it works far too well. i recommend using a good non-synthetic oil (i.e. castrol gtx high mileage) for the first 2-3 changes and do them extra frequently if it has a lot of gunk (i.e. at 1500 miles) this will clean it up a lot. todays oils have some good detergents in them. after this then you can switch to synthetic. you may be alright if you use something like seafoam or just go straight to synthetic but it can cause problems.

 

There is a reason Seafoam exists....it's to clean out engine gunk.

I just ran it in my 150k mile Accord, ran it in my friend's 100k Thunderbird V8 dohicky, as have thousands of other people. It is not going to harm the motor assuming the application is done properly and correctly (ie read the can). You're supposed to do an oil change immediately after doing Seafoam to remove any excess in there. No reason to switch to synthetic.

http://www.seafoamsales.com/motor-treatment/index.html


*edit*

And I do know what you're trying to reference, removing built up gunk/oil/grime that is clogging weak points in rubber seals and gaskets could potentially cause leaks. But the same would happen from a transition to synthetic if it was honestly that bad of a situation.

 

I bought my son a 94 Accord last year with 150kmiles (his first car), and we flushed out all fluids (i.e., motor oil, transmission oil, coolant, brake fluid, power steering fluid, and washer fluid). We took out the coolant and washer reservoir to clean, and there was a glob of something at the bottom of both reservoirs that you don't want to be recirculating back into your system. Also replaced lots of other things before handing him the keys. My recommendation is to start off clean and change out all the fluids. Synthetic vs dinosaur oil is a personal preference. If you have no service records from the previous owner, you may also want to replace your timing belt/water pump.

 

Excellent point on the last bit, that completely slipped my mind. Doing the major service on the car should be a priority. I'd also suggest looking at the axle boots and sway bar endlinks along with the other suspension components for wear. My roommate's Thunderbird almost fell to pieces in the front - he replaced literally EVERYTHING suspension wise - ball joints, bushings, tie rods, etc because it was falling apart.

 

I only use Amsoil 5W30

 

Umm...in my experience Mobil 1 is pretty good at cleaning out gunk (this goes for any synthetic), but of course I've used Seafoam a couple of times on my friend's Civic and that also helps, but I don't recommend it to everyone because simply it is pretty easy to do it wrong. Plus, if your engine is in bad condition to start with, the Seafoam won't help you one bit. It's good, but it does not work miracles.

 

What?

You'll probably want to elaborate. If you motor is in "bad condition" it won't help? If your motor is honestly that "bad" then using Mobil 1 (which isn't a *true* synthetic) is going to do even less. And you'll have to do repairs just to get it going.

 

Sorry, I'll elaborate. When I said "bad condition" I meant that on the older higher miles cars the Seafoam can sometimes do more harm than good like badly wearing out the rubber seals. Don't know if it was the Seafoam or not, but that it threw so much gunk out on the Civic that the Civic soon through a CEL or either the Cat being too clogged up or the O2 sensor got clogged from it. Heard the argument about it not being a *true* synthetic and I think that basically boils down to semantics. Not trying to sound like a Mobil 1 fan boy (also use Castrol), but in my experience it cleans up the engine pretty well compared to the other brands I have tried (Valvoline, Penzoil). How do I know this? Not any real scientific tests, but after ever oil change at 3,000 intervals the Mobil 1 stayed cleanest the longest (yes there was a visual difference). Granted, the Valvoline and Penzoil I used were just dino oil.

Not trying to argue with you, I agree with everything that you've said, I've just ran across too many cases of people really messing up their cars by trying Seafoam and not doing it right, the worst case I can remember is not changing the oil immediately after running it through the car and letting it just sit there until their next oil change. Just be careful OP.

 

You're gravy. Just helps to clarify things when using a term like "bad" haha


I ran Mobil1 Synthetic for two changes in the S and recently switched to Amsoil. If you're really wanting to help your motor check out the Mobil1 Extended Performance (but keep similar change intervals) that one ranks MUCH higher performance wise than the regular synthetic.

And like I said in my first post - You have to read the can for the directions, I agree with you on people messing up their cars with it. If you don't pay attention to anything and just dump it all in through the brake booster line or similar you could bend some valves or worse. The problem with your seals would rise eventually with the synthetic as well.

 

Yeah, I see how "bad" can mean a ton of different things haha. Very interesting, I always wondered if the Mobil 1 EP was just a gimmick from the reg. Mobil 1 or was actually worth the extra dollars, I think I'll give it a try next time, hearing your thoughts about it. Heard Amsoil is good stuff.

 

Yes sir, if you're a fan of Mobil 1 then definitely move to the EP. There are so many damn tests for synthetic and dino it's not even funny. The general consensus is however that regular Mobil1 performs much worse than the EP. Then you move up to like Redline/Royal Purple/Amsoil.

Amsoil is just damn expensive - $50 for 5 quarts.

 

http://www.amsoil.com/comparison/motor-oil.aspx

 

50!? *faints*