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

I already have something like a 90% grille block, just need to adjust it to 95%. :D

How does 90% work in summer ?

God bless
Wyr

I scale it back to ~75-80% when it's warm.

Makes sense .

I remember when I was a kid , Dad used straight 20 weight Gulf oil in both the tractor & car .

Around 35.5 latitude .

Our little Chevy Sonic calls for 5-w30 Dexos specification .

God bless
Wyr

If it's any more than slightly over the Full mark, I'd go ahead and let a little out as soon as you can. I did that recently to get my car down to the mid-way point advocated by Wayne and a few folks here. I'd always been the type to top everything off, before. Probably really easy for the folks with Fumomo valves. :thumbup:

Now that I have instrumentation, it's amazing how much my instantaneous MPG is improved toward the end of a batch of errands as compared to the beginning. We talk about avoiding coolant temps high enough to trigger the power-sucking radiator fans, but I sometimes wonder if it would be worth it to risk more occasional fan cycles if it meant the oil reached operating temp faster, especially in winter. I need to do some more reading on that...

I was on an " Oil " forum , some time ago . It stressed the issue of a cold start .

Best I remember , I think it said most of the engine wear occurs during a cold start , when oil is not circulating properly .

I am guessing the engine will last longer , the quicker it comes up to " tstat temperature " . ( Of course fuel burn is probably more efficient when the engine is at normal operating temperature . )

I have seen many diesel trucks with methods of controlling winter air flow to the radiator .

Any way to make it adjustable for your car ?

God bless
Wyr

Daox is working on an automatically actuated grille block, but for now I have foam inserts that I use to block more or less of the 25% of my grille that isn't permanently blocked.

I put a piece of cardboard in front of my radiator. Depending on the temperature outside I will either partially or completely block it... helps keep the car warmed up. I like the idea of it being auto opened.

I'm intrigued by the possibility of using Honda Green oil in my Insight.

For my purposes, I've solved the need for variable grill blocking. I can block the grill optimally for temps down to sub-freezing. I check my phone's weather app for current and anticipated temperatures before I set out, and insert the appropriate grill block into my grill as needed.

I have three different sheets of coroplast that I've trimmed to different sizes, that fit between the a/c condenser and the radiator - in my car, one is in front of the other. Each sheet is marked for the max outside temp I can use it up to.

Observing my coolant temp on the ScanGauge lets me know when coolant temperatures are getting too high, for whatever grill block is in place at the time. Then I check my phone's weather app to find the outside temperature. Once I have a good peg on how hot the ambient air can safely get for a given sheet of grill block, I mark it with a permanent marker.

I also have most of my upper grill blocked with built up layers of foam window weather stripping. I think most folks here block the lower grill but I went for the upper. Air going through the lower grill has a smoother path to exit the engine bay. Less turbulence, less drag.

What ever happened to Mobil 1's plain single graded zero weight oil?