0-20 is not synonymous to syn blend. Syn blend is also 90% Dino and 10% syn.
Some believe that all the answers are in the good book, here is the engine oil page from the owners manual. It does not state if Honda 0W20 is synthetic, synthetic blend or conventional engine oil.
The statement âyou may also use synthetic motor oilâŚâ makes it seem that conventional oil is acceptable however 0W20 engine oil is normally only found as synthetic or synthetic blend.
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⌠which the OP would discover after visiting⌠letâs say⌠both Auto Zone and WalMart.
A shop did that to me while on vacation, 5w20 dino instead of 0w20, did not go back there but went to my regular shop and got the right stuff, sold the ranger with 60k I think, no issues.
Thatâs how I read that statement at the bottom of the page, too.
OP could always call the service department at their local dealership to verify.
If you have your oil changed at a Lube chain, the cost difference between mineral oil and synthetic oil can be huge. Jiffy Lube charges $40 for the full service with mineral oil. They charge almost $100 for the same service with full synthetic oil. The difference in cost for five gallons of oil is no more than $20. The rest is profit.
If you can change it yourself, that will save the most money. Some of the guys here wait for a sale on synthetic and say they pay about the same as the regular price for mineral oil. Around me, we can dispose of the spent oil at the local dump. Pour the oil into the drum and leave the filter upside down in the big funnel on top of the drum.
I would do exactly as stated in the manual, use a 0w20 with the Starburst logo. If you can find a cheap dino 0w20 with a Starburst logo use it. I think all of it is synthetic. If you can lay out on some ramps and a filter wrench you can do your own changes for like 30 bucks, even synthetic.
What exactly is vague?
⢠Genuine Honda Motor Oil
⢠Premium-grade 0W-20 detergent oil with an API Certification Seal on the
container.â Synthetic oil
You may also use synthetic motor oil if it is labeled with the API Certification Seal
and is the specified viscosity grade.
If the oil page in the ownerâs manual is the same as shown above, it appears any name brand oil is ok to use, as long as it has the required viscosity, 0w20 in this case. Any differentiation between âsyntheticâ and âsynthetic blendâ seems to be blurring, and the terms are probably synonymous for most cars these days.
Not if you have a German car or any other that has a special synthetic spec.
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I understand what youâre saying about money being tight. I have a '14 Civic that takes 0W-20, and I understand that Hondaâs dealer counter oil is a synthetic blend. That said, I do my own oil changes, and Walmart sells the Mobil 1 0W-20 for less than $25 for a 5 quart jug. It basically amounts to about $20 a year over the cost of conventional oilâŚNot worth the money savings for peace of mind. I change when the maintenance minder shows 5% oil life remaining (usually around 6,000 miles), and as the Mobil 1 is probably more durable than Hondaâs blend, it gives me less to worry about.
GHAB
He did say âmost carsâ, after all.
I guess the real question isnât how important it is to use synthetic oil if the manufacturer specifies it, but how much you can deviate from the recommended viscosity and not have any problems. I suspect that a difference of only â5â in either number will not hurt anything. For example, I use 5w30 in a car which recommends 10w30 and it hasnât been a problem. Iâm sure going from 0w20 to 5w20 would not hurt anything either, assuming that the oil (and filter) is changed at least once a year or every 5,000 miles.
Are you saying using 0-20 syn oil vs Dino 5-20 is ok?
You could see this scenario.
Or using syn 5-20 is what you are saying?
In case op is a member . . .
Costco stocks Mobil 1 0w20, and itâs often on sale
Mobil 1 0w20 definitely meets all the requirements for a 2013 Honda Accord
My momâs 2014 Honda also requires 0w20, and I just stock up at Costco, when itâs on sale
NAPA occasionally has its house brand 0w20 full synthetic on sale, in case op isnât a Costco member
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From the normal operating temperature (âhotâ) performance 0W20 and 5W20 are 100% equivalent.
This is where your car will spend 99% of itâs operating time.
Their only difference is in their cold temperature performance, where 0W will let you start the car in the lower temperature than 5W.
The labeling system is specifically made to allow for the easy properties comparison:
xxWzz stands for âwill tolerate cold as xx, zz when hotâ.
The lower âxxâ is, the colder starts oil will support.
As long as you use the same âzzâ part as manufacturer prescribes, it is OK.
In other words, next lines are 100% equivalent from the hot operating performance:
0W20 - 5W20 - 10W20(if one existed)
0W30 - 5W30 - 10W30 - 15W30 - etcâŚ
Still, other factors come into play, like âSxâ designation (for gas engines, and and âCxâ for diesel ones), currently âSNâ, which is also equivalent to the âStarburst markâ. The farer the âxâ letter in the alphabet, the ânewerâ and âbetterâ oil is.
This part is forward-compatible and defines the minimal operating properties relevant to the engine protection. In my first car, it required âSFâ, then quite recently is was âSMâ, now I see âSNâ became a norm, which is still perfectly usable in engines designed for âSMâ.
Synthetic or dino?
As long as you use standard oil change intervals, does not really matter as long as viscosity and S-ratings are equal!
You want to go for extended intervals, then you may need to stick to synthetics.
Most likely as car makers push their cars toward 10K intervals, they add âmust use synthetic oilâ purely for this reason, as other properties being equal, it is no difference.
Then costs of post-sale support come into play.
Maintaining logistics of multiple grade oils? EXTRA COSTS!
Getting questions from the customers asking what is better to use? EXTRA COSTS!
I see that car-makers nowadays recommend one-fits-all recipe for all the climate range purely from these reasons.
Having the same âafter-Wâ number, if you live in âwarmâ climate, there are quite good reasons not to get on the lowest âbefore-Wâ number, but rather go higher (and opposite for âcoldâ climates), it has to do with a balance of the oil base-stock and the rate of viscosity modifiers degradation versus the extremes of the expected operating conditions.
From the car health perspective, you have to use oil better suited for your climate zone, but logistics tell âdo one-size-fitls-all and it will get by just fine, at lower manufacturer costsâ.
Still, does not make you religiously follow that advise.
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Donât focus on synthetic or not just buy according to spec which is likely 0W20 weight.
That being said 0W20 can only get achieved by synthetic or synthetic blend oils.
My Toyota Highlander uses 0W-20. Yes the owners manual doesnât say it needs to synthetic or synthetic blendâŚHOWEVERâŚ0w-20 is ONLY synthetic or blend (which I donât know how they do that). So the point is moot.
The OP was unaware of that, I stated that 0W20 was synthetic or synthetic blend in post # 8.
Just bought a 2017. No