Oil choice for higher mileage H22A

[Losiracer2]

Ok, today today at school when we all went to get lunch, my friend followed me and noticed my car was puffing SOME white smoke out the back during hard acceleration. Since I can't really see the back of my car when driving, I can't really say how much or at what specific RPM its doing it at.

I don't know if that's due to the nature of having an H22a engine and driving the hell outta it or not but this concerns me. He also mentioned that since I go through about a quart and a half of oil every 1500 miles, I should put conventional Castrol GTX in instead of running the full synthetic Castrol Edge that I currently use.

About every 2 tanks, my dipstick goes from the top dot to about the middle of the two marks.

But what concerns me also is if regular oil would give enough protection, since I do drive the hell outta my car. I don't want to be paying more for oil when in reality if its just being burned. Did H22s require synthetic from the factory?

What do you guys think?

[Restless]

Well if its white smoke thats water cause blueish smoke is oil, but I'm going through the same stuff w/ my H to bro. Only thing is I think I'm burning a little bit more oil than you using the full synthetic castrol edge, but went with the high mileage this time only part synthetic cause none of the wal-marts I live by had the full synthetic. I'm sure from the factory the H motors never required the synthetic oils, but I feel it just gives you a little bit of peace of mind knowing your using some good oil especially for those times when we hit VTEC

[deevergote]

H22s that are a bit worn out will burn some oil. It happens.


Personally, I use Pennzoil Synthetic Blend. No real reason, other than it's what I picked up, and it's been working well. I've been told that I puff a bit of smoke, but my motor also has nearly 200k on it... and I've put it through some major abuse over the years!

I like the blend, because it's not quite as thin as a full synthetic, but it offers more protection than traditional oil. At least that's what I believe... I don't exactly have the tools or knowhow to actually test it!

[wed3k]

if it already burns oil, i dont know if i would waste my money on synthetic. i personally like castrol gtx and i change my oil every 6 months.

[Losiracer2]

if it already burns oil, i dont know if i would waste my money on synthetic. i personally like castrol gtx and i change my oil every 6 months.

yeah if it cuts down on the oil consumption issue then I'm favoring it, right now I'm spending an extra 10 bucks or so between oil changes of 3k miles for more oil.

Will GTX offer enough protection for a high revving engine such as the H22 though?

[wed3k]

like another member said, honda never specified a synthetic and castrol gtx is good shit but if youre worried about it, stick with synthetic even though synthetic will burn more.

[owequitit]

yeah if it cuts down on the oil consumption issue then I'm favoring it, right now I'm spending an extra 10 bucks or so between oil changes of 3k miles for more oil.

Will GTX offer enough protection for a high revving engine such as the H22 though?

Castrol GTX is plenty for a stock H22.

[s2cmpugh]

Synthetic oil is NOT thinner than conventional dino oil, this is a myth that has been around forever and dis-proven mulitple times. People think synthetic oil is thinner because it may exaggerate leaks more, however, it has to do with the size of the molecules being more consistent compared to dino oil. As a result, more oil is able to get by your "leak" since the size of molecules is more consistent.

Thinner oil is a lower weight oil; ie 5w30 vs. 10w30.

If you are burning oil, maybe try a slightly higher weight oil and see if that helps some.

I should also mention that syn. oil removes sludge. That sludge might be preventing leaks from occuring, but once removed allows more oil to flow thru.

The main thing here is keeping on top of oil changes and realizing you do have a high mileage motor that will start to use some oil. It's just part of life.

Not trying to bash anyone, just a pet peeve of mine.

[starchland]

If your burning 1/2 quart like you said, there is no point in running an expensive oil designed for long drain intervals when it will burn off. However alot of people will continue to use synthetic for peace of mind, when a regular oil will easily go 5k while still offering more than adequate TBN retention. If you want to burn money, then continue to use edge.

[Losiracer2]

Synthetic oil is NOT thinner than conventional dino oil, this is a myth that has been around forever and dis-proven mulitple times. People think synthetic oil is thinner because it may exaggerate leaks more, however, it has to do with the size of the molecules being more consistent compared to dino oil. As a result, more oil is able to get by your "leak" since the size of molecules is more consistent.

Thinner oil is a lower weight oil; ie 5w30 vs. 10w30.

If you are burning oil, maybe try a slightly higher weight oil and see if that helps some.

I should also mention that syn. oil removes sludge. That sludge might be preventing leaks from occuring, but once removed allows more oil to flow thru.

The main thing here is keeping on top of oil changes and realizing you do have a high mileage motor that will start to use some oil. It's just part of life.

Not trying to bash anyone, just a pet peeve of mine.

Engine was completely cleaned before I swapped it in, head was separated from block and some valve guides were replaced along w/ the valve stem seals.

If your burning 1/2 quart like you said, there is no point in running an expensive oil designed for long drain intervals when it will burn off. However alot of people will continue to use synthetic for peace of mind, when a regular oil will easily go 5k while still offering more than adequate TBN retention. If you want to burn money, then continue to use edge.

yeah thats why I was favoring GTX a lot more. I drain my oil every 3k regardless, it always seems be be black by about 2k though which has me worried.

[wed3k]

Synthetic oil is NOT thinner than conventional dino oil, this is a myth that has been around forever and dis-proven mulitple times. People think synthetic oil is thinner because it may exaggerate leaks more, however, it has to do with the size of the molecules being more consistent compared to dino oil. As a result, more oil is able to get by your "leak" since the size of molecules is more consistent.

Thinner oil is a lower weight oil; ie 5w30 vs. 10w30.

If you are burning oil, maybe try a slightly higher weight oil and see if that helps some.

I should also mention that syn. oil removes sludge. That sludge might be preventing leaks from occuring, but once removed allows more oil to flow thru.

The main thing here is keeping on top of oil changes and realizing you do have a high mileage motor that will start to use some oil. It's just part of life.

Not trying to bash anyone, just a pet peeve of mine.

nobody said it was thinner, it's finer. gtx is also a pretty good detergent.

[starchland]

I never understand why people choose a high dollar long drain oil and change it out prematurely?! Besides, oil getting black can be from alot of things, equivalently it means it could be cleaning very well, which a group 3 oil may do very well.

[Losiracer2]

well I did a bit more research and some Prelude owners have been using 10w40 with success. Since I live in a VERY hot climate, you think this would be a good choice since summer's coming up? It rarely gets below 32 degrees over here where I live in the Valley