Honda Car Forum

It's now time for an oil change on my '95 Civic. The owner's manual I
downloaded recommends 5W-30, but here in the Philippines all I can
find is 10W-40 and 10W-50. People look at me strange when I ask for
5W-30.

We're located very near the equator, very hot tropical climate and it
never snows; is it safe to use the thicker viscosities? Will it affect
mileage noticeably?

BTW: Does it even make sense to buy multigrade oils here?

Thanks.

"sharx333" <emil.santos@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1170200732.013650.206780@j27g2000cwj.googlegr oups.com...
> It's now time for an oil change on my '95 Civic. The owner's manual I
> downloaded recommends 5W-30, but here in the Philippines all I can
> find is 10W-40 and 10W-50. People look at me strange when I ask for
> 5W-30.
>
> We're located very near the equator, very hot tropical climate and it
> never snows; is it safe to use the thicker viscosities? Will it affect
> mileage noticeably?
>
> BTW: Does it even make sense to buy multigrade oils here?
>
> Thanks.
>

That near the equator the 10W-40 should work fine.

Mike

"sharx333" <emil.santos@gmail.com> wrote in news:1170200732.013650.206780
@j27g2000cwj.googlegroups.com:

> It's now time for an oil change on my '95 Civic. The owner's manual I
> downloaded recommends 5W-30, but here in the Philippines all I can
> find is 10W-40 and 10W-50. People look at me strange when I ask for
> 5W-30.
>
> We're located very near the equator, very hot tropical climate and it
> never snows; is it safe to use the thicker viscosities? Will it affect
> mileage noticeably?
>
> BTW: Does it even make sense to buy multigrade oils here?
>


Multigrade, yes. 5W-30, no. The manual you downloaded was almost certainly
intended for US use and US climate.

Use either 10W-40 or 10W-50 and don't worry about it. 5W is too thin for
tropical locales.

--
Tegger

The Unofficial Honda/Acura FAQ
www.tegger.com/hondafaq/

In article <1170200732.013650.206780@j27g2000cwj.googlegroups .com>,
"sharx333" <emil.santos@gmail.com> wrote:

> It's now time for an oil change on my '95 Civic. The owner's manual I
> downloaded recommends 5W-30, but here in the Philippines all I can
> find is 10W-40 and 10W-50. People look at me strange when I ask for
> 5W-30.
>
> We're located very near the equator, very hot tropical climate and it
> never snows; is it safe to use the thicker viscosities? Will it affect
> mileage noticeably?
>
> BTW: Does it even make sense to buy multigrade oils here?
>
> Thanks.

Plain 30W oil will work. The lower number isn't very important in a hot
climate.

10W-40 probably works too but I've heard that it's more prone to burning
than 10W-30 unless it's synthetic.

On 30 Jan 2007 15:45:32 -0800, "sharx333" <emil.santos@gmail.com>
wrote:

>It's now time for an oil change on my '95 Civic. The owner's manual I
>downloaded recommends 5W-30, but here in the Philippines all I can
>find is 10W-40 and 10W-50. People look at me strange when I ask for
>5W-30.
>
>We're located very near the equator, very hot tropical climate and it
>never snows; is it safe to use the thicker viscosities? Will it affect
>mileage noticeably?
>
>BTW: Does it even make sense to buy multigrade oils here?
>
>Thanks.

You certainly don't need 5W-30, but those wide viscosity range oils
have a bad reputation for breaking down. 10W-30 would be acceptable.
What is the lowest temperature you ever see? I am guessing that your
teeth start chattering at 18C ;-) If that is the bottom you could
even try 20W-40 as long as you don't hear any noise at start-up.

I doubt if you notice any drop in mileage. I guarantee you will get
better mileage than running 5W-30 in Chicago next weekend when the
temp hits -20 C.

> What is the lowest temperature you ever see? I am guessing that your
> teeth start chattering at 18C ;-)

Today it's a 'freezing' 26C (79F), people are already saying it's too
cold
Thanks for all the advice. After reading your replies, I went out and
got
a 10W-50 synthetic (Top1).

I've never tried synthetic before, but I know better than to start a
thread
about synth vs. dino.

Thanks again!

"sharx333" <emil.santos@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1170250276.397321.129830@s48g2000cws.googlegr oups.com...
>
>
> I've never tried synthetic before, but I know better than to start a
> thread
> about synth vs. dino.
>
A truly wise man!