Should I change my oil or not?


Tony topperformance said:
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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Im sorry but that is just hearsay. Mineral -> fully synth oil makes no odds with the proper honing.
 
Personally I think the grade of oil you use should be determined by what oil temps your seeing on track.
 
Im sure Ian used minerial oil for the run in period as i remember reading it, done it myself on my two builds but i wouldnt say my oil consumption is 100% thou is nothing compared to 1 litre every 1k so i cant complain.
 
Vtec6000 said:
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
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Definitely being burnt. It's either still from my valves or the bores but I can not be certain. I perform a compression test ever service to check lift of engine. Like I said I have given up. I am monitoring it like I always do and decide if it gets worse by August when my insurance is up I will consider partying ways with it.

Tony topperformance said:
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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Mineral oil for start up approx 30mins, then change to millers 10w 40 running in oil was tuned and driven properly from day one. After 1000 road miles I put silkoline full synthetic in.

Thanks for the offer I can do work at my place its more of the fact I don't have money right now to get oil so will have to wait until mid April.
 
Vtec6000 said:
Personally I think the grade of oil you use should be determined by what oil temps your seeing on track.
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That should dictate whether you need to up your cooling system (bigger rad, oil cooler, water wetter etc.)
You build an engine with bigger clearances to run a 60w oil. It's too thick, hence honda don't suggest it.
Thicker is not always better as you probably know.
 
Jake123 said:
10w60 in this uk climate? In a stock honda engine will not be doing you any favours my friend
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Mobil 1 & millers motorsport fully synth oil, You'd be surprised how thin it is even when cold, but still retains its viscosity even under extreme heat punishment.

Been using 10w-60 in competition cars (even vauxhall engines with hydraulic lifters) for many years never had any problems, but then I always warm my engine up before I rev hard!

Tony
 
Jake123 said:
That should dictate whether you need to up your cooling system (bigger rad, oil cooler, water wetter etc.)
You build an engine with bigger clearances to run a 60w oil. It's too thick, hence honda don't suggest it.
Thicker is not always better as you probably know.
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Absolutely, thicker oil can cost you some power but moving up a grade does help keep oil temps down(I experienced this with my old s14). The correct way would be to fit a oil cooler to try maintain acceptable temps but this isn't always the first choice for people as it's obviously cheaper to change to a different oil.
 
10w60 is 33% thicker than an sae 50, 70% thicker than an sae 40 and over 100% thicker than an sae 30!

So, what's the problem with this thickness?

Well, this is measured at 100degC and at lower temps (70-90degC) all oils are thicker than at 100degC so the problem is compounded to some extent.

The downsides of such a thick oil (when not specified) are as follows:

Additional friction, heat and wear.
A reduction of BHP at the wheels
Lower fuel consumption

The thicker the oil is the more friction and drag and the more power the engine needs to move it around the engine which inevitably translates to less at the wheels.

That was posted by oilman regarding stepping up grades
 
Vtec6000 said:
Personally I think the grade of oil you use should be determined by what oil temps your seeing on track.
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That's exactly what it is. That and clearances. I wouldn't recommend going over 50 weight in a Honda regardless though.
 
How hot is the oil getting? If it's going over 120C, it might be worth trying a 10w-50 to stop the oil consumption, but going thicker than that or to a 10w-50 at lower temps is going to reduce protection. Here's something about using oils that are too thick.

http://www.opieoils.co.uk/pdfs/tech-articles/10w-60-oil.pdf

A 10w-40 might be a better option, or even a different 5w-40 as all oils differ a little, so one may work out better than the Pro S.

Cheers

Tim
 
it does chuff a bit of smoke when the engine is cold - i remember this from following you when we left the house in the morning in Germany

if your engine is using oil then it has to be going somewhere as noted!
 
stevenEK9 said:
it does chuff a bit of smoke when the engine is cold - i remember this from following you when we left the house in the morning in Germany

if your engine is using oil then it has to be going somewhere as noted!
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Yeah I do remember that, didn't smoke at all within first 1000miles the started more so when I started on fully synthetic but has calmed down a lot. Seems to get better the more miles I put on it.

I think and I hope it's rings trying to seat...
 
I had my B18C fully rebuild by Daz at Endless Horizon just before Christmas Last Year. Hi Comp Pistons, new Valve guides, Stem Seals etc and it still uses oil maybe 500mls per 1k road miles. I have yet to track the engine. however Ive never seen smoke from it since the rebuild. He said its normal for a Hi Comp engine to burn more oil that standard.
 
David vti-s said:
I had my B18C fully rebuild by Daz at Endless Horizon just before Christmas Last Year. Hi Comp Pistons, new Valve guides, Stem Seals etc and it still uses oil maybe 500mls per 1k road miles. I have yet to track the engine. however Ive never seen smoke from it since the rebuild. He said its normal for a Hi Comp engine to burn more oil that standard.
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Makes me feel a bit better...
 
Weird these B series don't seem to like being rebuilt, honed or bored.

Mine is almost exactly the same.

Had a B18C rebuilt. Builder/Machine shop was amazed at how little wear was on the block I used and it only needed a light hone.

Drove it straight away once up to temperature on mineral 10w40, changed it at 50miles, again at 150, again at 400 then switched to 5w40 semi syn at 800. Wasn't burning any at all throughout break in. Covered another 1500 miles (2300 total) then it just started drinking it. Not much smoke at first but got worse after 2500mile and the more I used the rev's. Is only on power as the smoke instantly stops on the overrun.

Even now at almost 6000mile after build still Smokes like a trooper over 7k and will drink a good 2-3 liters on a track day. Normal running/driving only drinks 500-700ml / 1000mile.

Recon it either didn't get a proper hone/ the bores have glazed/ or the new rings have failed.

Maybe similar to your engine. Seen this with quite a few B18's.

Would say change the oil and try a thicker grade like 10w50 and see how it faires with heavy use.
 
Mine got rebuilt twice by daz, the first time I got it back it did exactly what yours did Kieran. I got it stripped back Down and found cylinder no4 had a slight taper to it so got a rebore and .5mm oversize pistons no smoke and its done 3-4k miles now but it stills uses oil not as bad as ijwhitemans but still I don't believe that any b18 regardless of mileage uses no oil if driven hard, oem or rebuilt I've seen use oil.
 
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