I’ve had my 2010 CRV since it had 20,000 miles. Now it has 142,400 mi. A couple years back I received a letter about extending the warranty for oil consumption and piston rings sticking. The beginning of this year my car started using more oil but not 1 qt per 1,000 miles. We just check it more often. Now that the weather is much cooler here in the northeast my piston rings started to stick at start up and made a “diesel” like sound for a few seconds. My husband changed my oil and did not put in the 0W 20 but he put in 5w30 yesterday. He took it for a drive, I drove it to work and home no issues. I went to pick up my son and left my car running as i was reading something waiting for him. Then my engine light came on. Is the oil too thick for this engine? My husband feels the thicker oil will help with increased oil consumption and piston slap. Am I doing more harm to the engine with thicker oil??? Thanks

 

The difference in viscosity between 0w-20 and 5w-30 is pretty marginal, and there is some logic to using a thicker oil to combat burn-off due to stuck piston rings. However, stuck piston rings don't cause a "diesel" sound upon start-up. As the letter you received states, stuck piston rings results in oil usage, especially during highway trips when the engine spends more time at higher RPMs.

The diesel sound up on start-up is caused by 2 things; 1. A lack of oil pressure caused by the fact that the engine hasn't been running long enough to build oil pressure yet, and 2. Cold temperatures causing the internal engine components to be ever-so-slightly smaller than they are at operating temperatures.

#2 is just a side effect of an aging engine. As long as the noise doesn't continue for more than a couple seconds or a minute, there's really no harm to this. Even new engines make noise when the temperature gets cold enough.

#1 is actually exacerbated by using a thicker oil. An engine will build pressure more quickly with a thinner oil because it flows better through the pump and tight engine passages, especially when cold.

My personal opinion is you're better off using the 0w-20 that's recommended by Honda. Especially in colder weather, it's most important to have maximum engine protection during start-up. If the marginally thinner oil causes slightly more burn-off during operation, I would just check it more often and top off when necessary. My Grand Cherokee burns oil due to cylinder wear/ring age and so did my 2001 CR-V. I check the oil level every 1000 miles and add when necessary.

 

Honda will repair the engine if you can show abnormal oil consumption under this warranty extension. You will be asked to file an ongoing oil consumption report and attend the service dept to have the oil checked and topped up when its at the add mark.
I have heard of people draining out oil to "show" less than 1000 miles between adding oil at the dealer, however that is a slippery slope to get a goodwill repair done. But in reality, the oil consumption may increase after the warranty extension expires. The warranty extension repair is a new set of rings and pistons
https://honda.oemdtc.com/399/warranty-extension-sticking-rings-resulting-in-high-engine-oil-consumption-2010-2011-honda-cr-v