I have a 2006 Accord LX 4cyl AT. I know Honda uses such a "thin" oil to improve gas mileage but I am concerned that it may be too thin for the hot weather. I live in So. Calif & the summer temps range between 85-100 degrees. Will the reccomended viscosity provide enough protection or should I go to a higher viscosity during the summer?
I am currently using Mobil 1 5-20w changed every 6-7weeks or 5000 miles.
Thanks for your help.
Mark

 

i use mobil 1 10-30 in the summer. i think you sould use at least a 30 weight in the summer, maybe even a 40.

 

i agree with light ..

 

If thats the case, which makes sense to me, why does Honda recommed 5-20w only? It would make more sense if Honda recommeded the 5-20 in the winter & 10-30 in the summer.

 

I'm in the minority here but I know the 5W20 will hold up just fine. What a lot of folks don't realize is that many (not all) 5W30 & 10W30 oils sheer down to a 20 weight in very short order. Why would Chrysler Hemi trucks and Ford V-10 trucks recommend this oil also if it was going to cost them engine replacements? Why would Honda when it could cost them dearly?

Simple, the oil works exceptionally well even in heavy towing situations. 5W20 actually requires LESS viscosity improvers than 5W30 and that helps it to be a more stable oil.
If you want to use 5W30 then please do so but there is no sense to the thicker is better syndrome..........and this is coming from a guy that ran Castrol GTX 20W50 in damn near every car he's owned. OH, now Toyota recommends it too! Obviously they are ALL wrong [sm=bs.gif] It has taken me years of reading used oil analysis' and the properties of various 5W20 oils to come to the conclusion that they work great and there's no reason to be afraid of them. Done for fuel conservation? Yes, but the oil was designed specifically to excel at protection and economy.

Now here is something that might change my mind and it has nothing to do with the oil, it has to do with co$t. I use Mobil 1 0W20 and have a good stash of it purchased in 2004. The price on this stuff has gone up over $1.00 per quart since then and it's only available in quarts. When I run out I'll likely go to Mobil 1 5W30 because it's available in 5 Qt. jugs @ Wal Mart for a LOT less than the 0W20. Cheap Bastard? YOU BET! Since our other car uses M1 5W30 I'll only need to buy one oil for both cars. If they come out with 0 or 5W20 in jugs at a better price by then I'll stick with it.

 

I posted this same question at "bob is the oil guy" and as expected got the same varying opinions. It's like asking what the best oil is or what the best car is. Everyone has opinions.
However one response got my attention. It had to do with my OCI versus what was recommended. This was the response.

"Indeed I ran the factory fill, first oil change 10,000 and indeed changed the oil filter at 20,000 miles. So if it were mine I would see your cycles as almost total overkill. In my opinion, it is SO much overkill that if you insisted on 5000 mile OCI's, as much as I like the Mobil One products, I would recommend you going to a conventional 5w20 product. Again this is beyond overkill.

So on the oil you mentioned go a min of 10,000 and do the filters at 20,000, as per OEM recommendation of course. In fact my cycle will be OCI of 20,000 and filter change.

I would almost bet that if you did oil analysis at your stated intervals and the 10,000 mile intervals and 20,000 mile filter change I had mentioned you would see NO statistical abnormalities. Indeed results should be absolutely EXCELLENT."

I know my OCI is overkill but it gives me piece of mind, that is why I do it. But I just can't imagine going 10k on an oil change & 20k on a filter change. It "may" be the recommended intervals but change a filter every 20k? I wonder what the inside of the engine would look like after 100-150k?

I would be interested in hearing from Desert, lightshow, WheelBrokerAng & RTexasF in particular.

 

Mpanelli.........here is my personal view.........change the oil and filter every 3-3.5k.. ..if you reside in cold winter climate, use 5w-20 in winter ,, syntetic oil if you can afford it ,, and use 10w-30 in summer
If you reside in a mild winter climate use 10w-30 all year around

read this ...


https://www.hondaaccordforum.com/How...m_17664/tm.htm

 

I can see the 10K oil change with a full synthetic under most conditions. The 20K filter change is, well, it makes my skin crawl!!!!!
At BITOG, as with all forums, you have to do a LOT of reading. There are some hard facts among the zillion opinions but you really have to search in order to find them. I check the UOA section a lot to see how various oils hold up under various situations. I'm certainly no expert, just a curious consumer that wants to get the most for his money without causing harm.

 

Here's a link to why Ford recommends 5W20:

https://www.fleet.ford.com/FFH/Why5W...sp?News=Rental


By all means use whatever oil you feel comfortable with, I'm not pushing one weight over another just providing some reading material. Oddly Ford's standards set for a 5W20 are TOUGHER than Honda's!!

 

Notice that the quote from BITOG mentions oil analysis. That guy probably has done that, so he's ok for HIS CAR, HIS DRIVING STYLE, and HIS CLIMATE.

If you REALLY want peace of mind, you don't have to change oil at 3k miles. All you have to do is a couple of used-oil analyses. Maybe during different seasons (about $20 each)? That will give you objective evidence about YOUR car, climate & driving habits.

I'm all for long oil change intervals, because of environment & all that. But not without the solid information from oil analysis. What the owner's manual says has to be conservative because the majority of people (non-enthusiasts) will go longer than what it says.