I did a search but to no complete answer. For a mild all motor application that sees a fairly spirited drive on a daily basis what motor oils/trans lube do you recommend. I've heard synthetics free up some power and are overall just better than regular oil. Correct me if I'm wrong but once you switch to synthetic you are supposed to stay with it correct? And as far as what to put in the trans I'm clueless. I'll be buying a 2nd gen. Integra soon and it being an old car and on a pretty tight budget want it to run and last as good and long as it can. The car I'm aiming at only has ~145K which is a baby to my previous 2 (220K+) but would actually like to make this one last. What are your opinions on this subject?

Thanks a lot,
Bret S.

 

Synthetics are always better than standard oil. You want to stick with one type of oil because it may not mix well with another type and if it does, the mix of the two oils won't perform the same as either of the constituent oils alone, but it's not a dangerous problem. Early synthetic oils sometimes caused the seals in the motor to swell more than regular oil did. When this happened, the seals would wear down until pressure from the excess swelling decreased to normal. When the owner switched back to standard oil, the seals retracted a bit since the regular oil didn't cause them to swell as much and everything started leaking. Most synthetic oils today don't have that problem. While you shouldn't go back and forth frequently between different oils, you can do complete oil changes (with filter) from synthetic to standard and vise versa without any risk to your motor. You should use whatever viscosity the manufacturer reccomends for your car. There might be a mileage point where they suggest using a thicker oil but you should really only do this if the manufacturer reccomends it. The oiling system wasn't designed to pump much thicker oil. If this is a manual, you want to get the best synthetic 10w30 to fill the tranny with. Honda also makes their own 10w30 manual transmission fluid but I doubt it's better than some high quality syn. There are also oil stabilizers which are additives to put in the oil to make it perform better. These are great with standard oil but good synthetics are stabilized by design. When buying top of the line oil, don't add anything.

 

Personally, I like Quaker State synthetics. Castrol Syntec and Mobil 1 are also top choices. Some people like the Royal Purple but it's expensive and I haven't tried it.

 

Don't use synthetic oil in your tranny it's too slick for the gears/synchros. The Honda MTF and gm/penzoil synchromesh are the best choices. I tried the royal purple synchromesh once and my tranny hated it, changed it out the same week.

 

I had excellent results in my 02 Si's transmission with Redline MTL. I would always recommend a synthetic over a conventional oil. I have also heard people having grinding issues with the Redline so I guess its just a try it and see situation.

 

The Penzoil synchromesh oil is made for GM vehicles and so is not the best choice for Hondas. The main benefit of a synthetic is how well it clings to both itself & parts and also how well it works itself into tight clearances. The thicker the oil, the more gooey it is- the longer a strand you can create by touching it and pulling your finger away. Thicker oil also doesn't get as far into tight areas as a thinner one does. Synthetics are formulated to be "stickier" at given viscosities, giving you more of the sticky strand effect mentioned above while still being thin enough to get into tight clearances. Oil stabilizers create more of this same effect in standard oil.

 

Thanks a lot guys that answered everything. My main concern was the car more than likely has always had regular oil in it and switching to syn. My wife's 00 Eclipse had a lot of lifter noise and I was told switching to syn. And using Lucas Oil Stabilizer would make it go away but it actually made them louder. They must've been clogged up though. Thanks again guys.

 

I have been using regular Pennzoil from the first oil change, [along with a Bitron treatment] in my 94LS, with just over 200,000 K on the 75 shot, [ZEX] 1.8L LS engine that was drag raced it's first 2 years and auto-crossed up until 2 years ago it still runs like a dream, no burning oil or other issues.

BTW, the Bitron treatment I do once every 2 years and oil and filter changes are doubled up, [at suggested intervals and one in between]. 94