I'm changing my oil this weekend. I've been getting a lot of black crap on my bumper lately so I figured I'd try some thicker oil. The compression on the motor is fine, so I'm not sure if this will help or not. Anyway, I already bought a case of Valvoline 20w-30 full synthetic, but I just want to make sure that it's not going to be bad for the engine.

 

Forgot to mention that I'm in Colorado and it's almost winter.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 2-7offsuit &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I've been getting a lot of black crap on my bumper lately</TD></TR></TABLE>

Sounds like excessive fuel to me.

 

or bad valve seals

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by supra8588 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">or bad valve seals </TD></TR></TABLE>

Yeah, but he states that he is running a program similar to Mugen. That throws up a red flag for me. I bet the ECU is running in open loop.

 

i spun a cam bearing on my turbo d16z6 while running 20w-50. same thing has happened to v8 friends of mine. I say use the thinnest oil possible in your situation

 

you car is probably running pig rich, change your pcv valve, are you burning any oil or is there just black soot? 20w50 is way to thick, try mobil1 5w40 truck and suv synthetic, excellent oil

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 91civicDXdude &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i spun a cam bearing on my turbo d16z6 while running 20w-50. </TD></TR></TABLE>

How, considering that the Z6 head doesn't use bearing inserts?

 

So 5w40? It does burn some oil, but depending on who you ask, that's normal for vtec motors right?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 2-7offsuit &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">So 5w40? It does burn some oil, but depending on who you ask, that's normal for vtec motors right?</TD></TR></TABLE>

All engines consume some amount of oil. I have a '99 Prelude that burns around 2.5 quarts between changes (4000 mile intervals) and it doesn't soot the bumper.

 

Cool I'll start with the 5w40 syn and then get some Neptune or Uberdata soon. Hopefully that will solve the problem. Just in case, is there a way to test for bad valve seals with out taking apart the head?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 2-7offsuit &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Cool I'll start with the 5w40 syn and then get some Neptune or Uberdata soon. Hopefully that will solve the problem. Just in case, is there a way to test for bad valve seals with out taking apart the head?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Is the black stuff on the bumper sooty or oily. Does it wash off easily or smear like oil?

 

It doesn't wash off too easily. It's kind of caked on. It usually has to be scrubbed off, but it takes a while before it's noticible or bad enough to do anything about.