<mahadragon@gmail.com> wrote
about his/her 2001 Civic LX
> Elle wrote:
>> I would bet it specifies 5W-30.

Per your subsequent post, I see I just lost a bet. I googled
and saw some sites saying Honda started specifying 5W-20 (a
lower viscosity oil than 5W-30, of course) in 2001 so that
the company could report hire fuel mileage to the federal
government. See for example
http://www.synthetic-oil-tech.com/d....s/ford5w20.htm

> > Using an oil that is too heavy reduces fuel mileage.
> > Too light, and engine wear may accelerate.
>
> Thanks for your helpful input Elle! I'll be watching my
> mileage to see
> if my mileage is reduced. I'll also have to look into
> perhaps using a
> synthetic. Although, I'm a bit hesitant because synths
> cost a lot more
> than regular oil, although the trade off is that you don't
> have to
> change as often.

Right. For younger cars, synthetic is definitely more
economical. I count your 2001 as "younger."

> I have a question though, how often is it necessary to
> change the oil
> on newer cars? From my research it looks like there are
> two schools of
> thought. There's the old school where after your car is
> several years
> old you need to change oil every 3,000 miles.

Unless the car is /mostly/ driven under any of the severe
conditions listed below, this oil change frequency is
excessive. Severe Conditions (from the American Honda site:
--Trips of less than 5 miles (less than 10 in freezing
weather)
--Extremely hot weather (over 90 degrees F)
--Extensive idling or stop-and-go driving
--Trailer towing, car-top carrier, or mountain driving
--Muddy, dusty, or de-iced roads

(You are in the U.S., aren't you?)

The 3k miles/3 months frequency is a tactic by Honda
dealers, Jiffy Lube, et al. to sell more service. It's a
funny tactic, because Honda itself specifies 10k miles/one
year for your 2001 Civic.

Do you have an owner's manual? It should state the 10k
miles/one year interval above in its maintenance schedule.

> Then there's the new school of thought where auto
> manufacturers (due to
> better equipment on cars nowadays) say that you only need
> to change the
> oil every 7,000 or even 10,000 miles.
>
> Who is right?

I also think the 1996 study Consumer Reports did on this
reinforces how ridiculous it is to change the oil ever 3k
miles. See the article at
http://www.xs11.com/stories/croil96.htm

As for synthetic, this is much discussed here. A few reports
exist of minor oil leaks resulting from switching older cars
with high mileage to synthetic. But the data is really
scarce. For your 2001 Civic, I think you'd be fine switching
to synthetic. But that's only my opinion.

I have a 178k miles 91 Civic LX. I won't switch it to
synthetic, because synthetic is just a tad too much risk for
my budget if a serious oil leak does occur. Also, I change
my own oil and don't mind changing it more often than what
would be required with synthetic. It gets me under the car
inspecting the CV boots etc.

Synthetic vs. conventional oil is much discussed here. You
can search the newsgroup archives for more opinions. Or
google. :-)