My friend who has owned 2 s2000s and believes he is the king of information gave me his suggestion as to which oils to put into my vehicle. To Give background it is an 05 with 13700 miles and the last oil change was about 10000 when i bought the car. The oil actually has been reading low on the dip but I am afraid to even add any cause I am unsure if it is fossil or synthetic and what type, and Honda doesn't know which they put in it. I want to add a quart till the change but i dont wanna damage by mixing fossil and syntehtic. I will get the oil change as a highest priority ... I am only hoping that it is not dangerous as it is below the L point. My question is this. He claims Redline all the way but he suggests using 5-40 as opposed to 10-30. His reasoning is that gives more flexibility to temperatures but I am in LA Area so I'm not sure what he means. He also claims 75w90 gear and mt90. I know there are other options such as Royal or Mobil - 1. Also, I want to do my 15000 mile maitenance now. Which fluids should I change, ( I heard there were about 8 different ones), and what brand/exact type. Also any other suggestions for 15k mile maitenance. I know there are many opinions on this please let me know which you prefer and why! Thanks a bunch!

 

This has been covered ad nauseam Please refer to "the oil journals" sticky at the top of this forum.

 

For oil I use Mobil-1 10w30. MTF I use honda, but will change to mobil-1 if the make mtf. For the rear diff, I'm about to change mine to Mobil-1 75w90 synthetic gear oil. Honda does NOT make a proper gear oil for this car, so don't be gooned by the dealer. Since you don't have that many miles on your car yet, those should be the only fluids to worry about at this time. Good luck, and Enjoy

 

Also of note, check your oil at least once a week. I am not sure how much you drive your S, or how hard, but this is a good measure. I check mine 2-3 times a week. I keep another quart of oil in my car at all times, so if I have to add a little here or there, between oil changes, I can. I change mine every 3,000 miles, and I also use a factory honda filter. PCX-14 is the start of the part #, but if you do a search through the UTH forum, there is a thread on oil filters, and will have the part# for you.

One more thing, if using mobil-1, and you need to add like 200mL of oil, almost any kind can be added, as long as it's the same type. Keep up on the oil, as this is a major thing with these cars, and yes they do burn a little oil. It's natural, around a quart between each oil change

 

I was wrong about the part #. MY bad. Here is the link for the filter thread.

https://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=192750

The first one listed is the right one I believe. Just check it out and you'll find it

 

ThePhoenix Posted on Oct 16 2006, 08:53 PM
First I would like to say this:
It does NOT matter what oil is in there, feel free to top it up with either syn or dino (fossil) oil, in 10W-30 or 5W-40.
95% of al oils are mixable anyway.. the additive package in dino oils is also synthetic
Keeping the oil level up is way, WAY! more important then that 5% change you may have of mixing the wrong oils.
(it is probably less then that but you "have" to put a number on it)

For the rest of your oil questions... there are another 1000 opinions and reasons to use this or that.
Please read the Oil Journals (like VAD mentioned ) for an unbiased opinion from a tribologist (oil guy) named RoadRage.

 

I was in your shoes just a few weeks ago. Exact same spot.
"God I wish they'd just tell me exactly what to get, so I can just get this over with."

After slightly skimming the oil journals I noticed that would be impossible.

So I sat down and read about 7-8 hours worth of these forums, and other oil forums.

Here's the deal, first of all, listen to SpitfireS - this guy knows his stuff very, very well

He's 100% dead on about the oil level issue, ADD SOMETHING, ANYTHING in there at this point. Synthetic, mineral, blend -- just get it in there for now. Oil is so much more important for our engines than normal engines. Hell, VTEC cannot work without adequate oil pressure, and I'm sure you can figure out why oil is so important @8000rpms and above.

Again, as SpitfireS said, the chance that you will damage your engine by adding a different type of oil is laughable at best compared to what you can do to your engine by driving with your dipstick reading below 'L'.

Your friend isn't completely off with his statement, yes, 5W-40 will give you the ability to drive your car safely in a much wider spectrum of weather conditions, but really, 10W-30 is good down to about 0F or about -18c -- equivalent of hell freezing over in LA. 5W-40 is good until way past that, and you should be fine using any of the two.

Oil is a highly debated issue so you really don't have a shortage of sources to get your information from. Google, wikipedia (search motor oil, sae, api, viscosity, etc), s2ki (oil journals)... Also, check out the Bob is The Oil Guy Forums -- its a huge forum, based only on oil.

The recommended standards are listed in your book, as long as the oil you choose fits those standards, you're good to go. 15,000mi/oil change on a high-revving VTEC engine sounds a bit hard, but you never know. You gotta start somewhere though--pick an oil, get your oil changed (and remember to get the corret oil filter put on btw, many members' dealerships have installed the wrong filter (correct filter code is 15400-PCX-004)). If you're interested in long oil change intervals, hit up any of the "oil labs" for analysis of your used oil. They can tell you how much additives are left in your used oil, and you can begin to customize your own oil change schedule according to your own needs/driving style. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to give any names, but blackstone laboratories is the one I use, and there are many other labs that provide this service out there.

Here is Road_Rage's thread that convinced me to switch to the LE-607 differential fluid (which you can buy from hardtopguy.com or ricks2k.com) -- this isn't a suggestion, just some reading that I think would be beneficial.

What everybody is trying to say is, no one can tell you to get fluids A, B, and C. You need to make a decision for yourself that suites your needs or have to listen to your friend and then come here

Just make sure everything is compatible with Honda's recommendations.

Good luck.

 

Thanks brimstone for the "pad on the back"
Honestly.. your answer is much better, you took more time to explain the how & why.
So I'm padding you on the back too

But we are not here to pad eachother on the back.
I was "just" giving my opinion.
On the "it doesnt matter what is in there, add some oil now!" opinion I guess it is safe to say that it is a fact.
If anyone would go into an automotive part store or anywhere else where you could buy engine oil and buy a quart/liter of oil with the viscosity and API label mentioned in your owners manual.. you CAN NOT go wrong.
Dino, Syn.. its all ok to top up with.
brimstone Posted on Oct 17 2006, 03:35 AM
That is what I did, read and read and read....
It didn't make me a tribologist, at best an informed oil enthousiast.

(I feel informed enough now to somewhat go "against" what Honda recommends..
Allthough I'm sticking to the operating temp recommended viscosity being a 30 or 40 weight)


Anyway... Keep those oil levels UP please

 

cliff notes

put in something fast, and dont drive with the oil level so low. i suggest havoline dino oil. it performs as good or better than most synthetics, and should go well with whatever is in the engine. 10w30 is fine for where you live.

i use 10w30 year round and it gets to -20 F during winter. good dino 10w30 is rated to about 35-40 below zero F.

mobil 1 75w90 is fine for gear oil. honda MTF is fine too.

 

Use Amsoil if you care about the engine and want to to last and last.