Honda Green Oil
 

After failing to obtain Honda's absurdly thin NEXT oil, I settled for the next best thing, Honda's Green oil.

Genuine Honda Hybrid Engine Oil 4 ltr (Honda Green Oil) [08232P99S4LHE] - £40.89 : Buy Genuine Honda Parts, Honda Car Parts & Honda Spare Parts Online

Viscosity at 100c / 40c (cSt):

Mobile One 0w20 - 8.7 / 44.8
Ravenol 0w16 - 7.2 / 38.4
Honda Green Oil - 8.2 / 32.1
Honda NEXT oil - 5.1 / 20.8 (Blackstone Analysis)

Green Oil is much thinner than 0w16 when cold, but closer to a 0w20 when warm.

Yesterday I fixed a small oil leak, did an early oil change (6000mi), and sent a sample of the Mobile One 0w20 I'd been using since I bought the car off to Blackstone for analysis. I'll do an analysis of the Green Oil at the same miles, to get as close to an apples-to-apples as possible.

Subjective experience: Insights have very clattery valvetrains when cold, sounding a lot like an older VW TDI to my ear. When warm the noise mostly goes away and it becomes a very quiet engine. After changing the oil and starting it up, I noticed a very distinct reduction in the noise of a cold engine after about 10-15 seconds.

Over the past 24 hours I've driven the car about 150 miles, and something unexpected has happened - I'm having the damndest time getting it to warm up now. Temperature outside is ~25F. The thermostat starts to open at ~184F, and I'm finding that with no changes to my grille block, I'm now hovering in the 175-180 range when cruising, even when I turn the heat off. It warms right up when I start climbing a hill, but then quickly cools back off once I'm going down the other side. So, I'm going to need to adjust my grille block.

Another thing, it's a bit early but I'm guessing my gas mileage is going to go up a bit. I last drove the car Tuesday, and temperatures were about the same. I averaged 72mpg on my way to Burlington, which is about 30 miles, and 68 on my way back, letting the car sit and cool off in between. I'm not saying the oil is solely or even largely responsible for any improvements I'm seeing, as conditions are slightly different (mostly there's slush on the road now after a snowstorm), and the sample size of a few shorter trips is pretty small, but I snapped this pic on my way to Burlington earlier:

http://i.imgur.com/ulAOjah.jpg


Again, ~25F, roads are mostly clear but wet, with patches of slush here and there.

:D

I'll update this in another 6,000 miles with Blackstone's findings, compared side by side.

If you see how much thinner Green Oil is compared to regular 0W20 at 40°C already, you'll appreciate how enormous the difference must be when it is really cold.

The valves are clattering in the cold because the oil is too thick to lubricate them properly... in that respect Green Oil is much better for your engine than the other stuff.

Nicer running and lower idle in the cold, that was what I found with Green Oil. I want it again for my next batch, as it went back to higher idling when cold on regular oil.

Cool, but very odd with the engine temps.

I really have to change my oil. I haven't since I got the car and I know it is overfilled. The dipstick is over the full mark. I also have no idea what oil is actually in it.

The 100°C of the viscosity analysis is 212°F, so at 176°F (80°C) the Green Oil will already be thinner, provide less friction and run (cool?) faster through the block than other oils which are about the same at 100°C.
It would not be a huge difference, but some difference nonetheless.

When the engine produces less heat under the same conditions it is probably running more efficiently. It is a hopeful sign.

Can these thinner oils be used in older cars like my 1992 civic vx hatchback?

Yes you can. However you really want to do an oil analysis when running anything other than factory specification oil. In general, thinner oil will create more wear than thicker oil in the same engine. Design can change that, but your engine wasn't designed for oil that thin.

I'm no expert, but as I understand it, these thinner oils will have more shear modifiers to help mitigate increased wear, so it's not straightforward. I do know that, in Japan, Honda recommends NEXT oil for all of their hybrids and Earth Dream engines, which would probably be equivalent to something silly thin like a -15w8.

What about 0w30?

0w should be safe in any engine, or at least any semi-modern Honda engine. It will behave like a 30 weight when warm, and like a 0 weight when cold, which is a good thing. You don't need to wait for the oil to get warm to thin out and start lubricating properly.

EDIT: I mostly went with Green Oil because it's thinner when cold than a 0w16. A 0w16 would be thinner when warm, and thicker (than Green Oil) when cold.

If you are concerned about engine temp not being high enough , try a piece of cardboard in front of the radiator .

I did that once , on an older vehicle . Winter time & apparently the tstat stuck open . Little / no heat from the heater core . I was COLD , in the cab .

The cardboard helped me & the engine warm up .

Watch the temp gauge & remove some or all of the cardboard , when it is no longer needed .

God bless
Wyr