You have asked some good questions.

First of all, American Honda has never recommended the use of 10W40 weight motor oil in your engine, so that is some bad advice you are getting from your auto parts supplier. Your vehicle takes 5W30 all year around, Honda does allow the use of 10W30 during the summer, if you live in an area where temps rise daily above 100 degrees F and you simply want to use the 10w30…However, Honda still says that even in high temps, your engine is still protected with the 5w30.

As far as synthetic goes, it won’t make a big difference. We have found that Honda Civics, Honda Preludes, and Acura Integras, which are all geared low for good acceleration, are also very high RPM engines. Over time, this operation at higher rpms does wear on the top of the cylinder walls. This extra clearance sends some of the compression produced in the combustion chamber, into the crankcase. This results in pressure that must bleed off through the PCV (positive crankcase valve). This pressure is released into the intake, to enable the engine and CAT to burn any hydrocarbons out before sending it into the air….This constant pressure release takes some oil with it. The reason you do not see smoke coming out of your tail pipe is because the CAT cleans it up first….But you probably have some residue (a dry black dust on the rear bumper above the tailpipe), where the exhaust has blown some of it back on the car. Your engine is using some oil and with synthetic being more expensive, I would simply use a good conventional 5w30 during the winter…..And check it every fuel tank fill up to get a idea of the rate of oil consumption. DO NOT use a thicker oil to prevent oil consumption…Remember that the first job of oil is to lubricate and the camshafts are critical because they are the furthest from the oil pump. If you use thicker oil, you will have wear on the cylinder head, where the camshafts are spinning. Simply check and top-off the oil when you fill the gas tank. But I still recommend that you change the oil every 3000 to 3750 miles…That is 3000 miles if you do mostly short trip driving and 3750 if the majority of your daily driving includes 25% to 50% highway driving, or where you drive long enough to get the engine to operating temp for longer than 30 minutes.

On your other questions, you were not clear on the transmission that is in your car, but here you go….The automatic transmission fluid should be changed every year, or every 15,000 miles (whichever comes first) and you should only use the Genuine Honda Fluid. This is very important. Do not use a generic Dextron fluid. Use the Genuine ATF fluid (part # 08200-9001). If you have a manual transmission, you can use 10w30 motor oil, 10w40 motor oil or the Honda manual transmission fluid…I recommend the Honda Manual Trans fluid (part# 08798-9031) because we have found a difference in shifting quality in cold temps when the Manual transmission fluid is used instead of just motor oil. The manual transmission fluid should be drained and filled every 30,000 miles in higher mileage cars. Whether you have a manual or automatic transmission, you will only need 3 quarts (and it won’t require all of the 3rd quart, regardless of transmission).

By experience, I can tell you that the 1995 Acura Integra already has a weak brake master cylinder, so maintaining brake fluid quality is important. The brake fluid should be changed every 30,000 miles as well and you should use DOT 3 or DOT 4. DO NOT USE DOT 5. Also, if you do not do this correctly, you will be replacing a brake master cylinder next summer when the outside temps rise because your brake pedal will be creeping to the floorboard, while you are sitting a traffic light. This would be the result of bleeding the system which can tear and / or nick the seals in the bore of the master cylinder, resulting in internal fluid leakage from chamber-to-chamber. The fluid does need to be changed every 30,000 miles, but DO NOT flush the brake system or bleed the system. Simply pull the old brake fluid out of the master cylinder reservoir, clean the screen, and put the new fluid in.

Hope this helps

P.S. A couple of other questions on fluids. With an automatic what can be expected when the transmission oil/fluid is changed in a manual. How often should the fluid/oil be changed? The same two questions apply to the break fluid. The mechanic wants me to change both. Since it’s a used car, I don’t really have any way to determine when the the transmission fluid was changed. Is there any tale-tale to look out for. Thanks again.

Regardless of what brand or brands were put in the engine prior to your ownership, if you do not know the previous brands, simply use your choice of a major brand that you will be using through-out your ownership.

Most brands use very similar chemical additives for detergents, and anti-friction properties. The problem arises when a car owner changes brands constantly and bases the brand choice on “what’s on sale”.

Don’t do that….Stick with one brand and you will be fine.

I will be writing a separate blog post on this subject but I’ll give you a preview. The brand of oil that you wish to use in your CRV is really your preference. However. once you pick an oil, try to stick with that brand because using different brands of oil may have adverse chemical reactions, due to the various additives that can be in the different brands of oil.

Today’s motor oils are rated by the American Petroleum Institute (API). In the rating of the oils, the API uses a grading system on an “S” scale (for spark, gasoline engines) and “C” scale (Compression, diesel engines). On the back of the container of all major oil brands, there will be something that looks similar to “API Service SM,SL, SJ,SH”. Again, you may also see a C rating in there as well. As I said earlier, the “S” rating is for gasoline engines and the further down the alphabet the second letter is, the better the oil is. For example, SF oil would be considered an inferior motor oil in todays standards. Currently, most major brands (including conventional, partial synthetic, and fully synthetic motor oils) will be SM / SL and that is the important thing. Thanks for looking at our blog posts.

Ed

As a new Honda CRV Owner you have convinved me that 5W20 is definitely the best weigh oil to use. But now what is the best 5W20 to use ?? Castrol, Penzoil, Quaker State, Amzoil etc. What brand of Oil do you use ??

Your local repair shop is wrong. They are using the incorrect oil weight in your 2002 Honda Odyssey if they are putting 5w30 in it.

I do not have a 2002 Honda Odyssey owners manual but I do have a 2004 Honda Odyssey owners manual and that manual clearly states, “always use a premium grade 5w20 detergent oil displaying the API Certification Seal”.

There is also a chart in this owners manual, next to the quote above that illustrates that 5w20 is the proper weight of oil in ambient temperatures (below -20 deg.F thru well over 100 deg.F)

Again, I do not have the 2002 owners manual but this information is on page 211 in an ‘04 Honda Odyssey owners manual.

Honda began recommending 5w20 in the Honda Odyssey in 2002.

As for engine damage, I have no idea. I can find no information in the manuals that indicates that the use of 5w30 is acceptable in any engines that Honda has specified the use of 5w20, but if I were you, I would not immediately go out thinking that I’ve got to get rid of my 2002 Honda Odyssey. I would go out and get some 5w20 oil and a Honda filter and perform that service….today.

If you continue to use this particular shop, I would highly recommend supplying your own oil. That should ensure the correct weight of oil is being used for future oil changes. Incidently, there is a noticable difference in fuel efficiencey between the use of 5w20 and the use of 5w30…. in some cases 1 to 2 MPG.

Thanks for your comments and I hope this helps.

Oklahoma, U.S.