"losing oil" - better to go back to regular oil?

[BlahBlahYouToo]

told my mechanic i'm losing oil and he said your car (2004 accord 2.4L) doesn't need synthetic which is thinner. go back to regular oil.

its not leaking (no spots on the ground in my garage) or burning (no smoke out the tail pipes).

i've been running mobil1 5w-30, mostly to be able to go longer between oil changes.
should i go back to regular oil? a high mileage oil? thicker oil?


engine has 80k miles on it. rarely sees vtec (does it even have vtec?) as it is a 5 speed and i shift at ~3-3.5k.

 

[BassBomb]

If it isn't leaking I don't see a problem with staying... as long as you aren't getting low then you should be fine

How low has it been getting and when? Isn't our cars 5W20?

That said a Honda engine will be fine with regular and still last long...

Yours should have VTEC and theres two levels, so yes you still hit VTEC just not the second one (if its like mine...)

 

[JCH13]

told my mechanic i'm losing oil and he said your car (2004 accord 2.4L) doesn't need synthetic which is thinner. go back to regular oil.

its not leaking (no spots on the ground in my garage) or burning (no smoke out the tail pipes).

i've been running mobil1 5w-30, mostly to be able to go longer between oil changes.
should i go back to regular oil? a high mileage oil? thicker oil?


engine has 80k miles on it. rarely sees vtec (does it even have vtec?) as it is a 5 speed and i shift at ~3-3.5k.

Run away from your mechanic. Synthetic oil of the same viscosity rating is not "thinner" than conventional oil.

I would try to figure out why you're losing oil first... how much is it burning? Maybe you've got a PCV problem?

 

[LTC8K6]

How long between changes?

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

i generally have to add a quart at 4-5k miles.
when i first noticed it and checked, there was no oil on the dipstick.


i go about 8k between changes.

 

[LTC8K6]

i generally have to add a quart at 4-5k miles.
when i first noticed it and checked, there was no oil on the dipstick.


i go about 8k between changes.

1 quart in 4-5K isn't bad.

Either switch to regular oil and change it at 5K, or stay with synthetic and check it every 4K.

 

[kornphlake]

Run away from your mechanic. Synthetic oil of the same viscosity rating is not "thinner" than conventional oil.

I would try to figure out why you're losing oil first... how much is it burning? Maybe you've got a PCV problem?

My understanding is that certain synthetic oils, while rated for the same viscosity are manufactured at the low end of the spec to improve fuel economy. Just because a spec is 30 weight doesn't mean that every oil advertised is exactly the same viscosity, 30 weight is a range of viscosity.

 

[dud]

1 quart in 4-5K isn't bad.

Either switch to regular oil and change it at 5K, or stay with synthetic and check it every 4K.

If your engine is not leaking oil and you notice no smoke out the tail pipe then why is your oil low? Based upon what you've posted my bet would be out the tail pipe. You are probably slowly burning oil ... possibly because of worn piston rings.

Just check/change your oil more frequently (like 3K miles). How long does it take you to drive 4-5K miles?

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

If your engine is not leaking oil and you notice no smoke out the tail pipe then why is your oil low? Based upon what you've posted my bet would be out the tail pipe. You are probably slowly burning oil ... possibly because of worn piston rings.

Just check/change your oil more frequently (like 3K miles). How long does it take you to drive 4-5K miles?

that's what i'm wondering. where the heck is the oil going?
what's causing worn piston rings? the car isn't that old, relatively speaking, and only 70k miles on the engine.

i do about 1000 miles a month, so about 5 months.

 

[NutBucket]

It's burning very slowly, hence no smoke. Might be leaking around the valve stems or seeping at rings, maybe even a slow external leak...lots of possibilities. A quart of consumption between changes is perfectly normal. I wouldn't worry about it at all.

 

[overst33r]

Nothing to worry about. Some cars are DESIGNED to burn oil. A good example is the E39 M5, it burns roughly 1qt every 1000 miles, which is normal!

Personally, I'd use conventional oil in your car. Synthetic isn't necessary. IIRC, your manual likely has 7500mi oil intervals on conventional oil. I know my stock S2000 did.

 

[thescreensavers]

My understanding is that certain synthetic oils, while rated for the same viscosity are manufactured at the low end of the spec to improve fuel economy. Just because a spec is 30 weight doesn't mean that every oil advertised is exactly the same viscosity, 30 weight is a range of viscosity.

Exactly, some oils are thinner then others but are all within the same spec

For instance

Castrol Syntec 5W30 is very thin for 30wt while German Castrol is very thick for a 30wt

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

Nothing to worry about. Some cars are DESIGNED to burn oil. A good example is the E39 M5, it burns roughly 1qt every 1000 miles, which is normal!

Personally, I'd use conventional oil in your car. Synthetic isn't necessary. IIRC, your manual likely has 7500mi oil intervals on conventional oil. I know my stock S2000 did.

so it's ok to go back to regular?
i don't recall exactly, but i read somewhere saying it's not always recommended to go back from synth to regular after a certain point.

 

[overst33r]

so it's ok to go back to regular?
i don't recall exactly, but i read somewhere saying it's not always recommended to go back from synth to regular after a certain point.

Yep, change back and forth as much as you want, you'll be fine. What you read is a common myth.

 

[punjabiplaya]

Yep, change back and forth as much as you want, you'll be fine. What you read is a common myth.

and what your mechanic told you about synthetic being thinner is just plain dumb. There's a reason they have weights assigned to them. /facepalm

 

[desy]

You don't have a problem just stick to your intended change interval with synth and top up as needed.
You get better mileage with synth and better cold weather starting

 

[JCH13]

Nothing to worry about. Some cars are DESIGNED to burn oil. A good example is the E39 M5, it burns roughly 1qt every 1000 miles, which is normal!

The cynical part of me thinks they had an oil consumption issue that they couldn't solve, so they said "add 1qt every 1k miles, it's normal! we promise..." :awe:

so it's ok to go back to regular?
i don't recall exactly, but i read somewhere saying it's not always recommended to go back from synth to regular after a certain point.

I believe this rumor started because typically synthetic oil has better/more detergents than conventional oil and so it cleaned out gunk that was plugging an oil leak and thus the car started leaking oil. Switching oil won't cause a problem unless you have, or are really close to having, an oil leak.

 

[JCH13]

Exactly, some oils are thinner then others but are all within the same spec

For instance

Castrol Syntec 5W30 is very thin for 30wt while German Castrol is very thick for a 30wt

But is it really enough to switch away from synthetic and stop an oil consumption issue? They all meet the same specification, is there really an appreciable variation?

If you want a thicker oil, why not switch to 5w40 synthetic and be done with it?

I might be missing something here...

 

[LTC8K6]

If your engine is not leaking oil and you notice no smoke out the tail pipe then why is your oil low? Based upon what you've posted my bet would be out the tail pipe. You are probably slowly burning oil ... possibly because of worn piston rings.

Just check/change your oil more frequently (like 3K miles). How long does it take you to drive 4-5K miles?

His oil was low because he forgot to check it for 8K miles...

Otherwise, he has nothing to worry about. Losing a quart in 4-5K is fine.

 

[thescreensavers]

But is it really enough to switch away from synthetic and stop an oil consumption issue? They all meet the same specification, is there really an appreciable variation?

If you want a thicker oil, why not switch to 5w40 synthetic and be done with it?

I might be missing something here...

I dont think so, conventional oils also have the same variation.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

so what causes piston rings to go bad?

 

[exdeath]

Losing how much oil in how many miles? It's not unusual for a high mileage engine in a standard commuter type vehicle to consume a quart or so during normal operation between 8k+ mile oil changes.

Synthetic doesn't mean "pour and forget" just because the oil can last 100 million miles. You still need to check it regularly, top it off, change the filter, etc.

 

[Ronstang]

Run away from your mechanic. Synthetic oil of the same viscosity rating is not "thinner" than conventional oil.

I would try to figure out why you're losing oil first... how much is it burning? Maybe you've got a PCV problem?

The mechanic simply misstated what is going on, which is common. Synthetic oil has smaller molecules because they are all uniform and thus can leak past seals that would hold in conventional oil. It is very common for a high mileage vehicle that got those miles on conventional oil to leak or loose oil once switched to synthetic.

 

[JCH13]

so what causes piston rings to go bad?

Any number of things... oil starvation, abrasive stuff getting in the intake charge or oil, overheating, getting the 0.000001% of rings that have a mfg defect...

With 80k on a Honda motor I'd bet money that your rings are fine barring criminal negligence or abuse.

 

[CraigRT]

Don't switch. People are stupid. You're fine.