Engine Oil
 

Hey Guys,

So my 16 GK since feb is on the 2nd oil change, i've been buying 0w-20 from honda dealership, they are cheaper than the mobile 1 0w20.

I was thinking about going from synthetic to conventional oil due to cost. I read the manual, it says 0w20, i was wondering what number would i need to be looking for conventional oil?

Also, side opinion, what oils have you fit freaks been using for the GK? Like brand, synthetic or conventional or blend? or what brands?

Cheers

All 0w20 is at the very least semi-synthetic. Stick with 0w20.
The maintenance minder system depends on you using the correct oil.

If you cheap out and run lower quality oil, you may need to double up on your oil change frequency to keep the same level of protection, that would make your bargain oil change no bargain at all.

Plus, 0w oils will give easier starting in the cold.

I've been using Quaker state 0w20 full synthetic. You can get it at Walmart for around $23 for a 5 quart jug. Since the fit only uses 3.5 quarts approximately for oil changes, you have extra for the next interval.

All you want is to use the same weight oil. The marketing hype of some brands will tell you all conventional oil is lower quality. Do not believe it. While synthetic oils have a few minor benefits like maximum operation temperature and slower viscosity breakdown, most of what of what you read is total marketing. So use what ever name brand and type you want, but stay with the recommended weight.

use same viscosity

One more vote for Full synthetic 0w20 weight. I havent seen this weight in conventional before nor Semi synthetic. Not sure how tight the engine tolerance these Honda motors are, but I would stick with the recommended weight.

I have run Amsoil 0-30 in my old Accord and two Integras before that.

Before the days of "maintenance minders", I changed my oil every 3,000 miles. The Fit gets its oil changed every 9,000 miles (when the MM reads 20%). Seeing that I'm changing the oil and filter 1/3 as often, I figure it's not worth it to go cheap on oil. I'm still saving $$$.

They changed the oil recommendation from the 2010 Fits to later ones, even not-so-much later ones, to 0W20. I read that it was due to fuel economy standards since the engine was the same.

So I have doubts as to whether there's much difference between 0W and 5W.

That said, why would you screw around and take even a tiny amount of risk when the price difference between synthetic 0W and conventional 5W amounts to almost nothing?

My dealer charges 20 bucks for an oil change. Why would I do this myself?

20 bucks for regular, or synthetic?

I do it myself for the following reasons:

- I know it is being done, and right. I know what oil I use, and that the filter actually got changed. And that I let the oil drain way out, instead of draining most of it and then putting the drain bolt back in and moving onto the next car.

- It's a tiny bit less expensive to do it myself, though not by much.

- It's a ton faster to do it myself than to drive 20 minutes to the dealership, wait for them to do it, then drive home. At home it's maybe a half-hour start to finish, and some of that time, waiting for the oil to drain, I can go back inside the house and do something else.

- If I do it myself I don't get into my car when it's done, start the car,and get blasted by loud music because they changed the radio station and turned the volume up to 11. (yeah, this has happened a lot)

So far I tried ( in order of oil changes ).
- Castrol Syntec 5w20
- Quaker State synthetic 5w20
- Motomaster Formula1 synthetic 5w20 (Canadian Tire house brand)
- Castrol Edge synthetic 0w20

Basically, I get whatever's on sale when it's time for an oil change lol.

So far, Formula1 is the only one that made my engine run quieter; smoother idle; burns less oil too (about 0.8 quarts every 6k miles). You can see even at room temperature that this oil is thicker than the other brands I've tried.

With the other oils, I noticed it burns about 1 quart every 6k miles.

My maintenance minder comes on very consistently betweek 6k to 7k miles.

So I switch to 0w20's when winter, and 5w20's when summer, and it works great for me.

I do oil filter changes every other oil change, as per manual; no issues.

The dipsticks is worth about 1 quart of oil between the top and low marks; I top off when dipstick is half way down in level.

Given the level of investment most of us make into our vehicles. It's usually on of the most expensive things we own, It puzzles me why some people want to go "cheap" on maintenance items like Oil and Filters.

Why?

The difference in price, between the recommended Oil..or Honda OEM..and/or a good synthetic....in the same grade...vs. "Regular Oil" on sale? Is so minimal a benefit given the length of time between Oil changes that IMO you are trading risk of what is best for your engine, for the benefit of literally pennies in your pocket.

Some things I'm really willing to simply pay more for.

Given the investment we make into our cars, Oil and Filters...I don't mind sticking with the "expensive" side of OEM or high quality synthetic.

In the end? If in the life of the vehicle and ownership period, I've paid a few dollars more than really needed...I'm perfectly OK with that.

datz da one i use. mobil1 green cap.

And yeah...There's always Wal-Mart...and/or sales on High Quality Oil.

I use Valvoline Full Synthetic with MaxLife Technology 0W-20 MotorOil, 5 Quarts $22.47
and FRAM Ultra Synthetic Oil Filter, XG7317 $8.40
I buy them from walmart and I do change the oil my self, every time 1QT is left, next time I will be changed the oil for 4 times and the 5th change will be from the 4QTs that left from every time.

I change the BMW (6.9 qt) every 5K and Porsche (9 qt) every 10K with Mobil 1 synthetic from WalMart in 5 qt containers. So, 3.5 qt of 0-20 wt is no big deal. I may change the oil before zero quality shows up even though the manual does not recommend it. It's the green environmental logic. I was looking under the splash guard tonight and found some scrape marks that I did not noticed when I took delivery. Not worth getting it replaced, but, I hate it when they weren't caused by me.

The owners manual only says 0W20 but I don't believe that viscosity is available in anything other than synthetic? Basically they're telling you to use synthetic without directly telling you to use synthetic, if that makes sense?

Everyone seems to want to play powertrain engineer or chemical engineer without realizing what they might be doing to their engine? The below quote and link might explain it better?




"The myth of improving protection by increasing viscosity can actually be harmful to your engine in some circumstances. As much as 70 percent of the wear on an engine occurs at start up. That’s because while the engine has been off, the oil has an opportunity to drain back into the pan and away from the areas it needs to be. Obviously, you want to get oil back to the bearings, the cylinder walls and all the way up to the valve train as quickly as possible to bring the protection back where it should be.

So while a thicker, higher viscosity oil does usually provide a stronger film surface to protect the bearings, that only applies once the oil is in place and ready to do its job. But thicker oil is more resistant to flow, and it takes longer for the oil pump to push it through the oil galleries to where it needs to be. A thinner, lower viscosity oil flows more easily right at startup and gets to those critical areas more quickly. Because of that, a thinner oil can actually do a great job of reducing the wear an engine sees when it is first cranked.

But that’s not the only way the myth of more viscosity can hurt both your engine’s performance and protection. The oil’s viscosity must be properly matched to the components in order for both to work their best. “One of the easier and more popular ways to make more horsepower in modern engines is to use lightweight, thinner piston rings that have less tension between the ring and the wall of the cylinder bore,” Speed explains.

“If you use a motor oil that’s too thick for the application,” he continues, “one of the problems you can run into is those low-tension rings won’t be able to properly wipe the cylinder wall and too much oil will find its way into the combustion chamber.”"


http://www.drivenracingoil.com/news/...for-the-myths/

Disagree.
All 0w20 is classed as 'semi-synthetic' or better, but the spec is still 0w20 (in North America)
Wholeheartedly agree.

How long did it take you guys to change the oil/filter. Are you able to reach all the fasteners to remove the under cover without ramping the front end?