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hondaguy92129
04-19-2010, 06:59 PM
Hey guys just a quick question for the few that frequent this forum LOL

Anyways I have had my EP for about a month now and I changed the oil right when I got it with Mobil 1 Synthetic 5w-30 (the one in the silver jug). Anyways I have heard that mobil 1 is not the greatest synthetic out there for the money? Looking around at various sources/forums I have seen that many people recommend pennzoil platinum in lieu of Mobil 1 or other synthetics.

So does anyone have any input? I would love to run a good oil like Amsoil but honestly I can't really afford it. The cheapest I have seen it is $8.40 a quart and thats pretty expensive for me considering I got my Mobil 1 on sale for $24/gal. I'd like to stay around that price for a gallon of whatever oil I choose, at the most I could go around $30 a gallon.

I'm not as hard as a lot of you guys are on my car, in fact some people would say I baby it haha. I generally let it warm up for 2-4 minutes before driving, shift at 3k and I don't think I'v ever had it above 5k.

Thanks a ton folks!

Tnhatch03
04-19-2010, 07:16 PM
I have not used anything other than MOBIL 1.

There is cheaper oil that is still synthetic. so just buy different ones and see which one ya like. I now have to use Mobil 1 because I run 15w 50.

Cheep3
04-19-2010, 07:25 PM
5-30 Mobile 1 Synthetic for me. Resonably priced and industry standard for quality. For DD (and light track) a perfect choice. For transmission fluid I would definitely recommend upgrading to Amsoil or Redline though.

talonXracer
04-19-2010, 07:27 PM
I can feel a very noticable increase in power when going from Mobil1 to RP, Amsoil etc.

Mobil1 is a synthetic in name only

I use Mobil1 in the non-performance engines I own, like the lawnmower, snowblower, beater truck etc, it is decent oil for sure.

Your best bet is to simply try several and see how they feel to you.

Mechanic
04-20-2010, 02:04 AM
Hondaguy: Virtually everyone who figures out how to open a car hood has a favorite brand of motor oil and half dozen stories (some of which may actually be true) to support his opinion concerning "the" best/perfect motor oil. I'll spare you mine, except to say that 5W-30 is absolutely the minimum oil weight I'd recommend for a K-series engine. When you have some time on your hands, you can stroll over to bobistheoilguy.com and read all that any reasonable person would care to know about motor oil brands and viscosity. IMHO, cost-per-quart should not be your sole criterion.

kenscivic
04-20-2010, 08:56 AM
Hondaguy: Virtually everyone who figures out how to open a car hood has a favorite brand of motor oil and half dozen stories (some of which may actually be true) to support his opinion concerning "the" best/perfect motor oil. I'll spare you mine, except to say that 5W-30 is absolutely the minimum oil weight I'd recommend for a K-series engine. When you have some time on your hands, you can stroll over to bobistheoilguy.com and read all that any reasonable person would care to know about motor oil brands and viscosity. IMHO, cost-per-quart should not be your sole criterion.

Werd, couldn't of said it better. I have used royal purple (once) mobil 1 a few times wal mart brand TONS and now just use valvoline. As long as you don't put 100000000 bagillion miles on the oil and you are not running a super high powered setup any oil will be fine....

hondaguy92129
04-20-2010, 09:19 AM
Hondaguy: Virtually everyone who figures out how to open a car hood has a favorite brand of motor oil and half dozen stories (some of which may actually be true) to support his opinion concerning "the" best/perfect motor oil. I'll spare you mine, except to say that 5W-30 is absolutely the minimum oil weight I'd recommend for a K-series engine. When you have some time on your hands, you can stroll over to bobistheoilguy.com and read all that any reasonable person would care to know about motor oil brands and viscosity. IMHO, cost-per-quart should not be your sole criterion.

Thanks Mechanic. I actually have been browsing over at Bob's site and there is TONS of info. More than I have time (or care to) read. Thats actually where I got the recommendation for the pennzoil haha

Doing some more reading I think a 0w oil is going to be what I use next. Tons of people swearing by it. I only put cost-per-quart because that was the only way I could think of to limit my selection.

Anyways the search continues! I still have a good 2000~ miles to go before oil change so I have time :)

El Mocha King
04-20-2010, 10:07 AM
I use the Mobil 1 5w-30 with the gold cap. wal-mart has it for $26.00 for 5 quarts. It's worked great for me so far. I recently had my valves adjusted any my mechanic commented on how nice the head looked for having almost 100,000 miles so that's a good sign i guess, lol.

hondaguy92129
04-20-2010, 11:23 AM
I use the Mobil 1 5w-30 with the gold cap. wal-mart has it for $26.00 for 5 quarts. It's worked great for me so far. I recently had my valves adjusted any my mechanic commented on how nice the head looked for having almost 100,000 miles so that's a good sign i guess, lol.

actually thats one thing I wanted to have looked at, I don't know if its normal but I noticed last night that there was a loud ticking coming from the engine. Sounded like something is out of wack...

Could that be that my engine needs the valves adjusted?

Sorry for the OT

beechstreet
04-20-2010, 11:28 AM
actually thats one thing I wanted to have looked at, I don't know if its normal but I noticed last night that there was a loud ticking coming from the engine. Sounded like something is out of wack...

Could that be that my engine needs the valves adjusted?

Sorry for the OT

ive had the ticking coming from my motor for as long as I can remember. I'm pretty sure its a normal thing for this motor from all the posts people have made in the past years about the ticking. i recently did the valve lash adjustment on my motor and 1200 miles later the ticking is still present. nothing to be alarmed about, IMHO.

talonXracer
04-20-2010, 11:29 AM
It sure wouldnt hurt to check the valve lash.

hondaguy92129
04-20-2010, 12:00 PM
gotcha. There isn't anything "wrong" as far as I can tell. No strange rumbles from the engine, no loss of power, no strange behavior of any kind. Just a tick.

Anyways I think I have decided to try some of the 0w-40 Mobil 1 next oil change. It seems like the 0w oils are gaining in popularity and I want to see what some of this hype is about. From what I have read the 0w oils are for cold climates as they flow better at lower temps but then operate at the same level as a "normal" 40 oil when warm. Living in San Diego I don't see a problem with cold temperatures but good oil flow is always a good thing...

jeenyusss
04-20-2010, 03:21 PM
ive always used mobil 1

Deadphishy
04-20-2010, 04:24 PM
I need something with a pretty good film strenght, So Amsoil is my oil of choice. RP has great film strength, i just hate how fast it burns.

talonXracer
04-20-2010, 04:52 PM
I tried some Castrol Syntec 5w50, so far I like it.

I do not think I would drop down to a 0w oil, I have had zero issues with 5w in the winter down to -15.

If Amsoil was available at a parts store near me I would use the 5w40 Euro formula exclusively!

Deadphishy
04-20-2010, 04:58 PM
If Amsoil was available at a parts store near me I would use the 5w40 Euro formula exclusively!

Most of out parts stores have it. We have a real good parts store that sells all the odd ball stuff. Then even sell Honda Fluids.

thehulme
04-20-2010, 11:42 PM
i wish places around here had it. never, ever seen it. i would try Amsoil if it were more convenient.

hondaguy92129
04-25-2010, 10:52 AM
hmm so none of you guys use a 0w oil? Haha well considering I have a job again (yay for employment) I think I will splurge on my next oil change and try something "nice" for my car like amsoil. Plus I work at Sears now so yay for employee discount :mbiggrin:

talonXracer
04-25-2010, 11:14 AM
I would NEVER use the 0w oil's in a DD car, I have used a 0w in my polaris ATV's but that is it.

hondaguy92129
04-25-2010, 04:37 PM
I would NEVER use the 0w oil's in a DD car, I have used a 0w in my polaris ATV's but that is it.

well the theory was that you get pressure faster because the 0w flows much quicker when cold. Anyway for me it isn't necessary living here in socal. I'm most likely going to go with a 5w-30 or 5w-40.

bmyers4321
04-28-2010, 02:01 PM
i used to use Mobil 1 but since i switched to Royal Purple 5w30 i dont think ill put anything else in. The engine feels smoother and it runs more quiet than with the Mobil 1. I saw something about tranny fluid in an early post i just stick with Honda MTF.

willy_akino
05-03-2010, 12:59 AM
mobil 1 here...cheap, runs greats and i pulled some decent number with the non synthetic one

cronicEP
05-14-2010, 06:38 PM
I run royal purple 5w-30 with a K&N filter, and i don't think i'll run anything else. To me it feels like the motor responds quicker, smoother with no burps, no more build up and gas mileage is better. The only thing i do not like is the price. But recently my local shop had a special so i bought 2 cases for about 140 bucks.

Hey i wonder how many people on here still run 5w-20...i just talked to a guy that said he ran that weight oil since day one...i told him to try some 30 weight and see how he liked it...someone should post a thread telling people to use 30 weight instead of 20.

What oil filters do you guys use and do they really make a difference?

Mighty_Mouse
05-15-2010, 01:08 AM
I would NEVER use the 0w oil's in a DD car, I have used a 0w in my polaris ATV's but that is it.

That's because you don't understand lubrication.

relativelyprime
06-13-2010, 02:30 PM
What oil filters do you guys use and do they really make a difference?

I was wondering this same thing and was searching for info on this site. I saw many of you use Honda, K&N, and Mobil 1 filters. I've used Wix and Purolator Pure One filters over the years. Any drawbacks to these filters? Would I be better off with a Honda brand filter? Being that oil flow seems so important to these particular engines (as I've been reading on various sites) I was wondering if Wix and Pure One were not good choices (since in my time of searching did not read that anyone uses either of those filters).

beechstreet
06-13-2010, 03:10 PM
I was wondering this same thing and was searching for info on this site. I saw many of you use Honda, K&N, and Mobil 1 filters. I've used Wix and Purolator Pure One filters over the years. Any drawbacks to these filters? Would I be better off with a Honda brand filter? Being that oil flow seems so important to these particular engines (as I've been reading on various sites) I was wondering if Wix and Pure One were not good choices (since in my time of searching did not read that anyone uses either of those filters).

stick with Wix and Purolator

kenscivic
06-13-2010, 04:46 PM
What oil filters do you guys use and do they really make a difference?

That's one thing I will say, the brand of oil filter actually makes a difference on some cases. The higher end ones are usually actually higher end (Unlike alot of the oils/ additives that are just renamed)

Deadphishy
06-13-2010, 05:24 PM
Eneos has a 0w50 that i pretty thick. I did a real simple test. Put some in the fridge along with some of their 5w30. Next day i poured them into a cup with a hole in it. Timed how long it took for it to pour out a set amount. 0w50 went just a tad slower. so close that it i couldn't call it conclusive, but thats good. because the Cold rating should be done at 0 degrees. Major difference when i microwaved them to 150 degrees. 50 weight wasn't like water. Don't get me started on the 0w20. that stuff turned into rubbing alcohol.

relativelyprime
06-13-2010, 09:08 PM
Eneos has a 0w50 that i pretty thick. I did a real simple test. Put some in the fridge along with some of their 5w30. Next day i poured them into a cup with a hole in it. Timed how long it took for it to pour out a set amount. 0w50 went just a tad slower. so close that it i couldn't call it conclusive, but thats good. because the Cold rating should be done at 0 degrees. Major difference when i microwaved them to 150 degrees. 50 weight wasn't like water. Don't get me started on the 0w20. that stuff turned into rubbing alcohol.

But how does it adhere to metal or other moving parts? You can have a lubricant that's very runny but that sticks very well to moving parts, therefore providing good protection. I'm not saying you don't have a point, but there are a million different things to look at. I will agree with your cold weight test as I have compared various viscosities and dino vs. synthetic when the air temperature is -35F. I had similar findings and, personally, I'd rather have the one that's like a liquid :-D

Deadphishy
06-14-2010, 08:05 AM
But how does it adhere to metal or other moving parts? You can have a lubricant that's very runny but that sticks very well to moving parts, therefore providing good protection. I'm not saying you don't have a point, but there are a million different things to look at. I will agree with your cold weight test as I have compared various viscosities and dino vs. synthetic when the air temperature is -35F. I had similar findings and, personally, I'd rather have the one that's like a liquid :-D

I agree. Oil film, Film strenght, and many other factors play a key in how an oil will protech a motor. However i've seen a few Blackstone Oil reports on eneos that tells me it works pretty damn good.

EP3CHRiS
08-04-2010, 05:46 PM
Hey, sorry to high jack, but speaking of oil, i gotta do an oil change this weekend....how much oil does the EP3 take???

beechstreet
08-04-2010, 06:00 PM
Hey, sorry to high jack, but speaking of oil, i gotta do an oil change this weekend....how much oil does the EP3 take???

start with 4.25 quarts and go from there.

EP3CHRiS
08-05-2010, 05:33 PM
start with 4.25 quarts and go from there.

thanks

CivicSier
03-15-2011, 05:53 PM
Would having a quarter of a quart over cause engine noise?