My Honda is currently running on Shell Helix Ultra 5w-40, is this a suitable oil for a 2001 Ap1? I only use the car for every day driving. So it sometimes gets pushed to its limits. But not too often!
What oil would you recommend ? And why?
Thanks. Always appreciated !

 

My suggestion is that you search a bit on the forum for existing threads. There are probably 10 million threads on engine oil.

 

If that is the oil that has been used for 16 years why change now?
Levi

 

Not sure how long it's been in the car. The previous owner only had the car 6 months, and he didn't change it from the previous guy. But for all I know. It could have only been in the car for 2 years. So if there's a better oil out there. Then I'll stick that in the car.

 

How much oil does the motor burn through in 1k miles? If the answer is null, then you have a winner. Any full syn 10/30 5/40 or 10/40 can be run in this engine, and some like Mobil 1 cook off quicker then other brands. So if your motor has a higher then acceptable consumption rate, switch it up until you find an oil that gets used up the least. Thicker oil tends to get eaten up the least as well. That's my main perquisite in selecting an oil for this engine, anything else is secondary.

 

10W30 is recommended.
There is a plethora of threads debating which weight and brand is best.
There is nothing wrong with running the recommended 10W30 and i'd say the majority of reliably running S2k's with most being over 10 years old now are running 10W30 - so why deviate without a very compelling reason??
I'd say just choose a 10W30 full synthetic and brand you trust and change the oil at LEAST every 5k miles and you will have more than enough engine protection.
I will probably just stick with Mobile 1 full synthetic which I also use in my other vehicles. There are often deals on Mobile 1, it's easy to get and I've had no issues.
I'll be changing the oil every 3k which will probably be once a year before it goes into storage.

 

There's no better way to start an argument than talking about motor oil preferences. Shell Helix 5w40 is a great choice if you like that viscosity. I've had good results with Red Line 5w40 so I'm sticking with that right now. Truth of the matter is that you will never see your engine fail prematurely solely based on oil brand choice, so run what you like. I agree with Junky in that choosing an oil based on consumption levels is a good idea when running an Ap1, but that takes a bit of experimentation. I'm willing to bet Shell Helix will work well in all areas.

 

To answer your question with a fairly reasonable answer, really any 10w-30 oil, some may burn a bit more than others, but as long as you keep it filled up you'll be fine.

If you really want to get down to the details, I suggest reading this

https://540ratblog.wordpress.com/201...-test-ranking/

 

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Welcome to the forums!

 

I like Castrol Edge.

Mobil 1 is good oil ...but it tends to burn quickly in all Honda engines (B, K, F series)