Motor Oil and Gasoline!

[andychau]

Hey guys, I recently purchased a 2000 Civic SI with 63,000 miles. I'm having a hard time deciding which motor oil to use. I know that Synthetic Oil is the best to use but is it worth it to use it on a car with 63,000 miles that probably had regular conventional oil used all it's life? My friend said it is but I want to know more. The same goes for gasoline. The owner's manual says it recommends a grade of 91 or higher for gasoline. How do I know if the previous owner had use 91 or higher it's entire life? Should I be using 91 or higher or will regular unleaded do the job and help the engine live it's potential? Thanks in advance!

-Andrew

 

[nismo.racing.23]

hey congrats on the EM1!! i have the same.. is ur EBP (electron blue pearl)? but i know when i first got mine i used penzoil platinum full synthetic.. then i had oil problems and started using conventional oil... i know ur supposed to use 5w-30 but i use 10w-30 in the summer bc it has a thicker viscosity and wont "slide" past the rings the rings will use it... but anyways back to my point is that i used synthetic at first then realized it really doesnt matter i just wouldnt use like an off brand oil. go with valvoline or penzoil conventional oil. as for gas ive used 92 octane in my car the entire time ive had the car. mostly because its a higher octane which will run hotter and give you a little power u notice in the throttle response. here in nebraska it runs about 2.75/gallon idk what it runs on the east coast. but yes it is wise to run a higher octane gas for overall better performance/gas mileage. Also if u want to increase gas mileage i would invest in some sort of CAI (cold air intake) could be a cheap one off of ebay or maybe you want to get a injen tech. CAI but that also helps with the gas mileage increase and youll notice a slightly faster throttle response. once again congrats on the EM1 purchase and good luck let us know of any modifications you have in mind..

 

[Billy.]

^^ just wow

higher octane burns cooler. it is made for high compression engines to prevent detonation, aka knock, which can destroy your engine by burning a hole through your pistons. a b16 has high compression, thus requires the use of premium grade fuel.

as for the oil, it is wise to stick with conventional oil in your case since the original owner has been using it. switching to synthetic can actually cause loss in compression by breaking down "sludgy" build up that is actually helping to seal up your engine. 10w30 is typical for a daily driver in normal conditions, but in the wintertime it might be wise to switch to something with a lower viscosity so it warms up quicker.

as for the intake, investing in a good quality name brand drop-in filter in your stock airbox, like k&n or green, will get you the same results as those $200+ intakes. the factory air intake on the Si (which is a cold air intake) was specifically designed to maximize low end torque and high end hp for the b16 engine. even Spoon Sports keeps the factory airbox installed on their street cars as they know its best suited for the motor it was designed around.

 

[andychau]

Thanks for the input guys! I don't know for sure that the previous owner has been using conventional oil throughout the cars entire life. But I'm only guessing since he had it serviced for oil changes at dealerships a few times. I know this from carfax. But I guess I'm going for conventional oil then. I also heard from someone that it's not worth it to put 91 or higher unless you go to the track or actually racing and that regular unleaded is fine for the streets or daily driving.

 

[andychau]

Em1

By the way it's Flamenco Black Pearl

 

[Billy.]

By the way it's Flamenco Black Pearl

ftw

I also heard from someone that it's not worth it to put 91 or higher unless you go to the track or actually racing and that regular unleaded is fine for the streets or daily driving.

wrong. your engine doesnt know if youre at the track or sitting in your driveway. compression is compression, and using a low octane fuel in a high compression engine is a no-no anyway you cut it. do you really think risking your motor is worth $2 at the pump? i don't.. but that's just me i guess. i don't see how you can even justify using synthetic oil, but you want to skimp on the gas

 

[andychau]

but lets say that the previous owner has used regular unleaded throughout the lifetime of the vehicle..is it worth it to start using premium now?

 

[00 Coupe EK3]

but lets say that the previous owner has used regular unleaded throughout the lifetime of the vehicle..is it worth it to start using premium now?

If the previous owner knew anything about cars he would of ran 91 or higher. Even the b18b1 which is the ls in an integra requires 91 or higher. Most your dual cam motors with anything over 9:0 compression will require premium. Even my buddy's 240 which has a compression somewhere in the 8's in compression requires 93 octane...When he first got it and ran 87 it was slower and had a knocking noise at times so yeah weather it had 87 89 or 91 ran through it, it doesnt matter, just do what the manual says and run 91 or higher in it. Do that and change your oil and regular maintenance and that b16 will have another 100+k miles in it

 

[Billy.]

if you open the gas tank door it clearly says premium unleaded fuel only

 

[boosted_crx]

I us premium on my si even thought is $3.25 a gallon here in cali. I use full synthetic mobile 1 5w-20 and my car has about 80k miles. I use half a quart of the lucas oil stabilizer too. Synthetic is more crucial for engines that are chain driven like mine. On and belt driven engine synthetic is not as important to use but is still better than using conventional oil. Just remember is you drive hard a lot and high rpm i would use synthetic is does not break down as easy as convetional oil and absorbs more heat too.

 

[andychau]

if you open the gas tank door it clearly says premium unleaded fuel only

I get it Billy! lol THanks everyone.

 

[andychau]

Wait a minute..
I just took a look at the owner's manual again and it says the following, "Use a premium unleaded gasoline witha pump octane number of 91 or higher." following that says, " If you are unable to find premium unleaded gasoline, you may substitute an unleaded regular gasoline. The engine will compensate for the lower octane, but you may notice a slight decrease in power as a result." I will be using 93 grade gasoline but I'm just sharing this..

 

[mixwell]

the main octanes offered in texas are 87, 89, 93. go with anything 91 or higher.

the oil? everyone has something different to say.

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/faq.php?faq=haas_articles

read the article linked above.

 

[andychau]

good s**t.

 

[lethal6]

I agree fully with what Billy has said. You don't gain ANYTHING by running high octane in an engine that isn't designed for it. Even though many people say that it gives more power, better gas mileage, etc. However, if your engine is designed for it, which it is. Running less causes detonation which will hurt it. Doesn't matter if the previous owner ran low octane. He didn't seem to know any better and if he didn't hurt anything he was VERY lucky.

I don't understand how the previous owner didn't know to run higher octane. Can't miss the sticker when you open the fuel door.

 

[mixwell]

good s**t.

well, what i got from that article:

the worse time an engine ever has is at start-up. (due to cold oil.)
use synthetic.
use an oil pressure gauge (and an oil temp gauge).
for every 1000 rpm, there should be 10 psi oil.
@ idle it does not matter since minimal oil is being used.
don't rev motor unless it is at operating temperature.

0w30 is what i may use to start out with (i stay in a very warm region of texas). may go to 0w20 depending on what the oil pressure says.

 

[mymmeryloss]

91 and synthetic...
/thread

 

[EM1_Chris]

I always use 93 octane in my SI.

As for oil, Castrol GTX 10W30 in the summer, 5W30 in the winter. And I use a OEM Honda S2000 oil filter.