Is running 5W30 oil in my GE8 fine. I beat the shit outta my car when I drive btw, haha.

 

Is that a question or a statement?

 

Question, sorry....
But yeah, is 5w30 fine to run?

 

We often run an Xw-30 in our Hondas that spec Xw-20, no issues.

We buy what is available, when on sale. 0W-20, 5W-20, 0W-30, 5W-30.


Many xW-30 oils thin down a bit in use, anyway.

If you are hard on your engine, you certainly can't go wrong with one-grade, heavier oil. I think it is telling that Civic Si's have 30 weight oil recommended, while the rest of the Civic line has 20 weight oil.

 

Thanks for the feedback guys.

 

Ok, lets take a step back guys... Contrary to popular belief, running a "thicker oil" does not necessarily protect your engine. In fact, the majority of engine wear occurs when you start your car up in the morning and you driving it before the engine's oil has reached operating tempatures.

Another thing to consider, and this might be a bigger concern if you live in cooler climates (IE it snows where you live), is when your "cold engine" indicator light turns off, it is telling you that your engine's water (coolent) tempature has reached operating temp HOWEVER this is not an indication that your OIL Temp has heated up to operating tempatures...

So in conclusion I REALLY would run what is recommened by your engine's manual EVEN if you beat on your car becasue I BEAT on my car... I also have a 91 EF9 that I track, which doesn't mean i'm an expert but at least shows i'm not pulling this out of my butt.

If you're still doubtful, spend 30-45 minutes and really read over this website:

- Bob is the Oil Guy

It's a great resource on how oil works and how the different viscosity's affect your car.

-Felix

 

is 0w-20 that hard to find?

 

You can special-order anything at an autoparts store or online...so no, it's not THAT difficult to find.

Getting oil at a reasonable PRICE....that's "diffo".


EG I've been shopping the 5 qt containers at Wal-Mart. Over the past few years the amount of 5W-20 has increased...a great deal...when Honda first recommended it on US cars, it was hard to find.


A year or so ago (2010-2011) Mobil1 started promoting their 0W-20 and 0W-30 AFE synthetics. They had rebates that made it a good deal. But, WallyWorld only carried the 0W-30.

So anyway, note what your favorite retailer carries. You can always ask them to special-order a case.

 

This question has been beat to death and revived and then beat to death again ever since we started seeing 20 weight oils.

Use the recommended oil that the manufacturer recommends and be done with it. 20 weight oils protect very well. My 1997 Integra used 5w30 and I beat the holy living shit out of that car, but I never put "thicker" 5w40 in it to supposedly protect it better. Throughout time, when oils gets thinner this is debated. My dad used to use 20w50 and freaked when 10w40 became popular. Same thing happened at the dealership I worked at when cars went from 10w30 to 5w30. Funny.

Use 0w20 and don't worry about it. Contrary to popular belief, we do not know more oil and lubricating systems than the Honda engineers or tribologists who test this stuff to the inth degree.

 

Use 5-30 all summer. Just switched back to 0-20

 

True.

What many of us worry about are specifications that are NOT determined by the engineers.


Examples?

The B20 engines (1st Gen V) where the marketers declared that valve adjustments are not necessary unless noisy. This after consumer magazines pointed out that Honda maintenance costs ran higher than other brands. The Rest of the World, the spec was to check and adjust every 30K miles.

And 20W oils...could these POSSIBLY be specified in order to increase fuel mileage a little for CAFE standards? (The ROW specs 30W...)

 

Carbuff, I see your points. There is no doubt that 20 weight oils have been used for several years do to CAFE. The same was done with the mass adoption of 30 weight in the 80's. The question seems to be, does 20 weight oil protect our Honda Fit engines. The
answer can be found upon studying UOA reports. I find the answer to be a resounding yes, it does. Are there examples that show failures or under performance if 0w20 or 5w20? Absolutely. However the same can be said for 5w30. I do agree with the fact that using 5w30 in a GE8 is just fine, but 20 weight oils should not be discouraged because of feelings that 30 weight has got to be better because other countrys do not spec it.

 

didnt really read what other people said. just skimmed through. but like what others said. always use what is recommended. if it calls for 0w-20, use 0w-20. if it calls for 3.8 quarts of oil, use 3.8 quarts. etc. it's always a safe rule of thumb to go by. the only time i use 5w-20 in my ge8 is when i absolutely cannot find 0w-20, but i live in hawaii so the climate kinda allows me to do so.