Should I change my oil or not?


ijwhiteman

ijwhiteman

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Right as you know my engine has recently been built covered approx 5000miles now.

Changed oil at a 1000miles, after the ring trip approx 3500miles. (Few metal shavings)

Now I have covered approx 1500-2000miles since last oil change i have magnetic sump plug and magnetic oil filter cap so any bits should be collected nicely.

Now oil looks a little black and i have to top up oil every 500miles approx 0.5l. I have only been road driving since august 2011 with occasional spirited drives. Sits over winter months occasionally run up to temp that's all.

Should I change oil prior to track day? Or should I drop it out after?

I want to try a different oil as I burn Silkoline 5w 40 always have so wanted to try some of the millers Motorsport 10w 40. If I change it after I can finish of the 3 litres I have on track and road otherwise I need to buy another bottle of Silkoline.

Probably just being a worrier but feel its time for an oil change.

Thanks in advance.
 
Personally id change the oil after the track day. What about your gbox oil, with your diff you should be changing it fairly regulary. Especially according to mr spoon,
 
Dannyboy205 said:
Personally id change the oil after the track day. What about your gbox oil, with your diff you should be changing it fairly regulary. Especially according to mr spoon,
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I alway do gearbox oil with engine oil. Also have magnetic plug in there too.

tama666 said:
Change it after a track day.
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Normally I would do before and after but finances are not as free flowing as they used to be. Just feel with driving I've been doing the oil won't be doing the best job it could.
 
How long ago was the oil changed? This should be taken into consideration. 0.5l oil usage over 1k miles is rather a lot...
 
Vtec6000 said:
How long ago was the oil changed? This should be taken into consideration. 0.5l oil usage over 1k miles is rather a lot...
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It's more than that more like a litre every 1k miles. No idea where or why it's burning. This engine has been apart twice and still no fix.

Can only be greatfull it burns less on track than it used to.

Oil was changed approx 1500-2000miles ago.
 
ijwhiteman said:
It's more than that more like a litre every 1k miles. No idea where or why it's burning. This engine has been apart twice and still no fix.

Can only be greatfull it burns less on track than it used to.

Oil was changed approx 1500-2000miles ago.
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Yes but how long ago, are we talking 6months or more?

Is the engine smokey at all?
 
Vtec6000 said:
Yes but how long ago, are we talking 6months or more?

Is the engine smokey at all?
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August 2011

It's not leaking,
It's not smoking when driving or when fully up to temperature,
It won't smoke on start up.

Occasional puff on hot start up when it's been sat for a few minutes.

Would smoke if I let it idle up to temperature and rev it (since stopped doing this, I just get in and drive it normally until up to temp)
 
I wouldn't bother changing if its only 2k miles old. Plus you've put a fresh litre in since then that's been burnt off.
Not sure I'd be happy with 1litre per 1kmiles
 
ijwhiteman said:
August 2011

It's not leaking,
It's not smoking when driving or when fully up to temperature,
It won't smoke on start up.

Occasional puff on hot start up when it's been sat for a few minutes.

Would smoke if I let it idle up to temperature and rev it (since stopped doing this, I just get in and drive it normally until up to temp)
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August 2011?? Definitely change that oil lol. If typo and meant 2012 still change the oil.

Have you got a catch can setup on car? Is it throwing a lot of oil out the breathers?
 
As Aonghus says , change it .! You want fresh oil in there after sitting through a cold winter anyways .

The oil usage , Id guess the cylinder honing wasn't the best
 
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It's always burnt oil, we stripped it and changed stem seals. No change.

Had engine rebuilt cost me a fortune pistons, bore, stem seals, guides pretty much everything. Guess what still burns oil.

I have given up and I am just accepting it now. It has cost me to much money and I will never fix it.

I have a recirculating breather catch tank so oil is returned to the sump.

It's just my motor it burns oil. So guess I will have to buy another bottle of Silkoline do track day then change in 1500miles or so.
 
That is very odd, the oil has to be going somewhere! Never oil on the ground under car? Just wondering if you have a leak somewhere
 
With modern synthetic oils they don't deteriorate with age as mineral oil does, but the blackness colour change is carbon deposits from the cylinder Walls ending up in the oil (basically burnt oil).

Even more so with short / infrequent journey driven cars I would recommend changing the oil annually.

I'm at the workshop next Sat if you want to borrow the ramp for a quick oil change, I keep 5 different oils in stock plus can order in specials on request ( probably a lot cheaper than you can buy at) I did notice halfords now stock a track day specific fully synth oil at £30 for 5 ltrs, not sure of the grade.

But as I said at at lunchtime I would always run a higher grade oil for any car that does track days or any form of Motorsport as the stress on the oil is massive compared to road use. Hence I run 10w-60 oil.

Tony
 
Tony topperformance said:
With modern synthetic oils they don't deteriorate with age as mineral oil does, but the blackness colour change is carbon deposits from the cylinder Walls ending up in the oil (basically burnt oil).

Even more so with short / infrequent journey driven cars I would recommend changing the oil annually.

I'm at the workshop next Sat if you want to borrow the ramp for a quick oil change, I keep 5 different oils in stock plus can order in specials on request ( probably a lot cheaper than you can buy at) I did notice halfords now stock a track day specific fully synth oil at £30 for 5 ltrs, not sure of the grade.

But as I said at at lunchtime I would always run a higher grade oil for any car that does track days or any form of Motorsport as the stress on the oil is massive compared to road use. Hence I run 10w-60 oil.

Tony
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10w60 in this uk climate? In a stock honda engine will not be doing you any favours my friend
 
Did you run it in on mineral oil after rebuild or use synthetic ?

If you run an engine in on synthetic oil the rings won't be able to cut into the bores and you end up with glazed bores, it will always burn oil after that until you get it honed again.

Any engine builder that knows his stuff will tell you to use mineral oil for running in, I use millers running in specific 10w-40 mineral oil. Not cheap at about £40 for 5ltrs.

Tony
 
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