I got a '98 Civic that has always been using Mobil 1 Synthetic oil. This past weekend when I took it to the Honda dealership for an oil change, they forgot to use the oil that I brought along (10w-30 Mobil 1). Instead, they used crappy regular oil Castrol GTX. When they got done, I told them they forgot to use my oil that I provided them and then they took out the regular oil and put in the Mobil 1 synthetic. After parking the car in the garage over the weekend and driving it today, I saw some oil leak on the garage floor. My car has never leaked like that before and I was wondering if they did some permanent damage by putting in regular oil instead of the synthetic? The regular oil was only in the engine for a brief amount of time...about 10 minutes or so and with the engine on for only a few minutes or so. So If anybody knows if putting in regular oil in an engine that has been running on synthetic for its entire lifetime permanently damages it? Do you think that they should be responsible for the damages to the engine if there are any?
Car Leaking Oil
- Thread starter littletemple
- Start date
No, there will be no damage to your car.
Most likely they were in a hurry and didn't let the pan drain completely. They could have also damaged the washer on your drainplug by applying too much torque when they put it back on.
Both of these situations happened to me after an oil change.
Most likely they were in a hurry and didn't let the pan drain completely. They could have also damaged the washer on your drainplug by applying too much torque when they put it back on.
Both of these situations happened to me after an oil change.
Toastedlightly
Diamond Member
- Aug 7, 2004
- 7,214
- 6
- 81
lol.
So the other day my gf fills up my car at Shell, but I always use 76...will Shell have to pay for the damages?
So the other day my gf fills up my car at Shell, but I always use 76...will Shell have to pay for the damages?
I'm not sure if it's a leak or not...thats what i'm wondering about. THere was some oil drippage underneath the car..... the car usually never leaves oil spills like that...
It's just that i remember reading somewhere that you shouldn't both use regular oil and synthetic oil because it causes leakage.
Did you hear that whoosh sound? That was his sarcasim going right over your head.
As for the original question, maybe you should find out where the oil is coming from first before worrying.
Do you guys think they should assume responsibility for it if there is something wrong with the car since they did mess up?
Zenmervolt
Elite member
- Oct 22, 2000
- 24,514
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You're an idiot.
First of all, Castrol GTX is among the best non-synthetic oils you can buy. I've run it in each of my three Porsches (one of which was air-cooled and ran oil temps near 300 degrees fairly commonly) and I've never had problems.
There is no conceiveable way that fresh non-synthetic oil will harm an engine. The leak is likely due to a poor cleanup job by the oil change place, a crushed or kinked washer on the oil drain plug, or an incompletely fastened drain plug.
Furthermore, for normal, liquid-cooled automotive engines on a 3,000 mile change interval there is absolutely no need for synthetic oil. I've had cars with well over 200,000 miles that lived on regular oil their entire lives and still didn't lose even a pint of oil in 3,000 miles.
If you actually thought that there could be any damage to your engine whatsoever by having filled it with a high-grade regular oil like Castrol GTX, then I have some wonderful oceanfront property in Arizona to sell you.
ZV
First of all, Castrol GTX is among the best non-synthetic oils you can buy. I've run it in each of my three Porsches (one of which was air-cooled and ran oil temps near 300 degrees fairly commonly) and I've never had problems.
There is no conceiveable way that fresh non-synthetic oil will harm an engine. The leak is likely due to a poor cleanup job by the oil change place, a crushed or kinked washer on the oil drain plug, or an incompletely fastened drain plug.
Furthermore, for normal, liquid-cooled automotive engines on a 3,000 mile change interval there is absolutely no need for synthetic oil. I've had cars with well over 200,000 miles that lived on regular oil their entire lives and still didn't lose even a pint of oil in 3,000 miles.
If you actually thought that there could be any damage to your engine whatsoever by having filled it with a high-grade regular oil like Castrol GTX, then I have some wonderful oceanfront property in Arizona to sell you.
ZV
Crawl under the car and see exactly where it's coming from, then we'll be able to tell you more about what might be wrong.
I wouldn't be complaining if I were using a different type of regular oil all the time, but I've been using synthetic oil and from what I remember, regular oil and synthetic oil shouldn't be mixed
meltdown75
Lifer
- Nov 17, 2004
- 37,548
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Zenmervolt
Elite member
- Oct 22, 2000
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Kind of. It used to be that synthetic caused leaks. The first formulations of Mobil 1 would eat through seals, for example.
Synthetic oil also flows slightly better, which means that where regular oil doesn't leak, synthetic may flow well enough to leak.
So when synthetic first came on the market people who switched from regular oil to synthetic found that they had more leaks than they thought and some of the more foolish people blamed the "new" leaks on the changeover. In reality though, the switch was completely innocuous, and it was simply that the better flow characteristics of synthetic allowed it to leak from places that regular would not leak from.
Congratulations on being supremely gullible though.
ZV
as long as it doesn't damage the engine in anyway, i'm not complaining at all. The leakage is probably just some untighten plug or filter.....i'm just concerned about the engine condition.... good thing that you guys think it should be okay....i hope so
Zenmervolt
Elite member
- Oct 22, 2000
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radioouman
Diamond Member
- Nov 4, 2002
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Zenmervolt
Elite member
- Oct 22, 2000
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News flash! It's a CIVIC! It will run for 300,000 miles on normal oil just fine. And we've already established that the whole "mixing regular and synthetic" thing is an old wive's tale. 10 minutes with regular oil that's good enough for a Porsche isn't going to hurt your precious little baby.
Sheesh. I miss Roger, handling some of these young kids and their automotive superstitions should really be a two-man job.
ZV
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