Oil change recommendations?

[whitevette]

Originally Posted by kanaloa

Suggest you consider TufOil additive to your oil change. Can't post links just yet so you'll have to look it up for yourself!

Don't believe everything (especially TuffOil) you read. P.T. Barnam was absolutely correct....

[Grant-53]

There are more stories about changing oil than Arabian nights. Start with the service rating for your vehicle ie SF or CD. Pour viscosity is for operating temperature. A 5w will flow more quickly to the valve train than a 10w or 15w. Change interval is a function of the oil quality, fuel dillution, and contamination. Oil analysis is commonly used on commercial vehicles where change intervals are much longer or only as needed. The additive package in oil is what breaks down with heat and age. A good oil and filter might go 10k miles of highway cruising or stop and starting on dirt roads might require a change at 4k miles. Both my cars use 5w-30 oil and either a Fram or Wix (NAPA Gold) filter with the bypass valve. If the oil smells like gas or feels gritty change it right away.

[briogio]

Hi, This is my first post and I wanted to know what you guys thought the best oil for mpg would be. I have a '95 Civic CX hatch which at 461,500 kms I've had to replace the stock engine so I replaced it with a VTEC-E engine today! Now I want this beloved car to go 1 million kms. So after much research I'm going to go with my old favourite Castrol GTX 5W 30 but with a can of "Molyslip" with every oil change at 7,000 kms (5,000 miles). I commute about 140 kms (85 miles) a day, mostly highway. I'm definitely going to be experimenting with underbody smoothening and skirts and probably rear wheel covers. It feels really good to get the most mpg possible!

[some_other_dave]

If you like that, go with it.

For best MPG, use the lowest weight that is called for in the owner's manual for the car the engine came out of. I suspect that's either 5W20 or 0W20. A synthetic (or quasi-synthetic like Mobil 1) oil will probably cause a little less friction and pumping losses, and so contribute microscopically to better fuel economy.

For major MPG gains, though, you need to change the way you drive. I'm averaging about a 50% improvement since I started driving for economy.

-soD

[Dr. Jerryrigger]

I tried some 0w30 last winter. It was surprising how noticeable the difference was, though I can't say anything definitively about mileage, I would guess it had a very small improvement. The most noticeable thing was when starting the car cold the RPM's jumped up 600 from where they normally do. When not in gear it would change RPM's quicker i.e. if I quickly opened the throttle it would jump up near the red line and drop back down in noticeably less time than it would with conventional 5w30. I find the same to be true, but less dramatically between syn and conventional of the same weight.

If I was racing my car I would use 0w30. But I'm doing far from that, and engine life is of greater importance to me than mileage. I'm not really sure what to think about this topic, but I won't be going back to 0w.

The last time I changed my oil I use full syn 5w30, that was about 7.5k ago (recommended change at 5k), but it leaks, so I've added a qt of syn, and 2 qt of conventional since then. I'm sure someone will tell me that it's bad to mix (and it might be), but I was out of town, only had 5 bucks, was down more than a qt, and syn was $7.

I'm thinking for my next change I may try 10w30, my engine is old, and there must be some play in components that would benefit from thicker lube.

5w30 or 10w30 is recommended, but 10w is not recommended for temps below 20F (or something like that). But they came up with that for an engine with 0 miles, mine has 140K.

[briogio]

I have changed my driving habits completely, I used to always take an inside lane then outdrag the outside cars before we merged again and follow anyone who went speeding by. It's really a lot of fun "hypermiling" and the old reggae and dub music helps my mindset, actually I turn up the bass really loud when I'm coming home at 3am after my shift and I think it helps the critters not come into my path! lol. My reasoning behind the Moly is friction and I can't afford to do synthetic and additive so I'll do that for a couple of years then try the 0-20W. This is going to be a fun hobby, I love tinkering!

[Shagger]

Originally Posted by briogio

I have changed my driving habits completely, I used to always take an inside lane then outdrag the outside cars before we merged again and follow anyone who went speeding by. It's really a lot of fun "hypermiling" and the old reggae and dub music helps my mindset, actually I turn up the bass really loud when I'm coming home at 3am after my shift and I think it helps the critters not come into my path! lol. My reasoning behind the Moly is friction and I can't afford to do synthetic and additive so I'll do that for a couple of years then try the 0-20W. This is going to be a fun hobby, I love tinkering!

Jah love mon!

[some_other_dave]

Like I said, check the owner's manual first. If you go outside the official recommendations for your engine, you run greater risks of premature wear and damage.

...But there are people around here (and at cleanmpg) who run 0W20 in engines that call for 5W20 at the thinnest...

-soD

[briogio]

Jah love mon!

Oi Shagger!
You a goer?...eh?..eh?.....do ya go??......wot's it like???
JAH! PastaforI,
Yes I.