If my engine burns oil, do I still need to go for oil changes?


It's a 2000 GS-R, 95k, I use AMSoil

 

If your engine is burning oil (substantial amount. Small amount is normal), then you need to find out what's wrong with your car instead of worrying about oil changes.

 

Yes.

 

That depends on how much it's burning. It's normal for it to burn one quart every 1000 miles. Although one quart every 500 miles is not exactly normal, it's fairly common on a higher-mileage engine, and the likely cause is the rings etc - in which case it's a lot cheaper to keep adding a quart of oil every 500 miles than to get a complete rebuild (which may cost $2-3K at an independent mechanic, $4K at a dealer).

 

https://honda-tech.com/forums/acura-integra-6/creating-new-topic-choose-subject-specific-title-not-help-me-asap-2477272/

 

Also remember it's not just the oil but the filter needs to be changed. If you change the oil every 5000 miles for example, I would add oil as necessary for that long and then do an oil change so you can get a new filter on there.

 

Sounds good - thanks for the help guys.


One more thing -- when should I use 5W30 vs. 10W30? As I remember, 5W30 is for more cold weather. But if I have some 10W30 in the car and I need to add more because some has burned off, can I add 5W30?

Or should I only switch to 5W30 at my next oil change?

 

One qt every 1000 miles??? I'm burning maybe 1/2 at 3k miles. Autox season, maybe I'm at 1 qt at 3k miles, but nowhere near 1 qt at 1k. Are you talking about your track car(s)? That, I can understand. But not on a daily driver.

 

You can look in the owner's manual or service manual for viscosity recommendations. On the '94-01 Integra, 5W30 is recommended as the preferred viscosity at all temperatures. You can optionally use 10W30 as long as the outside air temperature is above 20 degrees F, but 5W30 is still preferred.

You can mix 5W30 with 10W30 without any problems. So feel free to add 5W30 if you like.

Not all cars consume the same amount of oil. But it is common (and normal) for higher-mileage Integras to burn up to one quart every 1000 miles without any problems. Yes, for daily drivers, not just track cars. (My ITR burns about one quart every 150 track miles, and that is normal for track use on an ITR.)

 

High mileage, I can understand, but I wouldn't call 95k miles high at all. I've got 116k miles on my GSR and I am at 1/4 to 1/2 at 3k miles. Of course, my RPM's usually stay low, so it may not be as severe as someone that sees lots of high RPM's.

Incidentally, I found that there are quite a few Integra's that are plaged with the loose dipstick tube (for checking the oil level), and that could contribute to some oil loss. Just changed my oil yesterday and noticed that the tube was just all over the place. I plan to get some Hondabond to remedy this problem. Check your t00bs. (For more info, search under "t00b").

 

I run 0w-30 because it gets pretty cold here and it helps her out.

 

How cold is cold? I'm at near 0 at times and I'm fine with 5w-30. If you're in the negatives, perhaps that might help. But I still know of people in -20 to -30 still using 5w-30 without problems.

 

Sitting overnight is the real problem. It will get down to negatives with the windchill and it is prolonged. I used to run 10w30 in my jeep but it wouldn't even start when it was below like 10 degrees sitting overnight.
I never had problems with 5w, but 0w is noticeably easier on startup. They are all the same viscosity at operating temperature anyways.

 

Might want to invest in a block warmer, too. No matter what the weight of the oil, starting up in that temp can't be that good on the engine.

 

Now I only drive the teg in the summer, but I continue to use 0w. I drive the jeep only in the winter and I have a garage now, so it isn't a problem anymore haha.
Thanks for the tip though. I'll keep that in mind for future reference.

 

He's talking about starting the car in temperatures above zero, only below with wind chill and not actual temperature.

I've started my Integra at temps well below zero, no problems with 5W30.

 

What is wrong with using 10W30 in cold weather, or temperatures below 20 degrees F? Why is 5W30 better?

 

That's Acura's recommendation. I assume they advise 5W30 (at all temperatures) because it's thinner so there will be less resistance when starting the engine, especially at cold temperatures for which the 10W30 will be thicker than when it's warmer out.

 

So that may explain why when its 25 degrees F and I start my car up, it idles high for longer, and I do feel some reisitance if I try to just drive it right away after letting it sit in the cold for 8+ hours. Thats the resistance I should be feeling?