Bumping up the oil?

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NeoNoggie

New Member
My 96 Honda Civic EX is rated for 5W-30 all year, or 10W-30 during the summer. The engine has 168k miles on it, and the guy who usually changed my oil says that when an engine gets over 100k miles on it, its time to "bump up the oil" and so he's been putting 10W-30 in it all the time, instead of 5W-30. However, this guy also overfilled my Honda, when I said "It says 3.8 quarts max", he put in 4 quarts stating "Eh it'll hold 4." (Above the top mark of the dipstick 3/4ths of an inch when engine is cool)

In other words, I question his knowledge. So, even on a high mileage car, could I use 5W-30? I dont push the engine hard very often, and everything I've researched says that lower viscosity means it will flow better on startup, and that most engine wear occurs at that time. So would 5W-30 be better for my engine than 10W-30, or has engine wear after 168k miles warranted a constant useage of 10W-30 to protect it? Also, conventional or synthetic?
 
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Sounds like you need to find somebody else to work on your car.. I don't care what he tells you if he overfills your oil level by almost an inch and thinks it is ok he is a moron. Anybody that has ever worked on Hondas knows that a stock Civic engine will not hold 4 qts oil without being overfilled. I would recommend using 5w-30 all the time unless you live in a very hot climate during the summer time. Either way, it's not a big difference at all between the two and 10w30 has the same viscosity as 5w30 once your engine is warmed up.

Do your own oil changes and forget this guy that's only going to cause you problems in the long run..
 
Yeah I'm not going to him anymore. I'm sure he knows everything there is to know about Fords and Chevy trucks, but I dont think he knows anything at ALL about compact cars. I'll start changing it myself, maybe I can do a better job. Thanks for your input.
 
whatever you do, dont put anything higher then 5 w 30 over winter. youl crash burn and die. no im jk . but youl fark your motor..


and putting more oil then what should be there.. ehhh might just cause some smoke.. not that big of a deal
 
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