I know some will disagree with that but I trust Honda's engine designers/engineers. Two observations from the last oil change though.ġ) I change the oil when the oil life monitor tells me to. FWIW, our van doesn't leak any oil nor does it burn any. I see from reading quickly recommendations about changing the viscosity as the age increases and am going to re-read that for further 'education'. I have used the pseudo-synthetic types on occasion. I avoid the $12 choices as well as the $30 choices. In all honesty, I buy a 5-liter bottle at Walmart and pay around $20. As far as brands, I have used Castrol, Valvoline, Penzoil, etc and often the 'high-mileage' varieties as our Odyssey has 150k miles. I have bought a different weight that my '99 Accord specs (5W-30) and used it once. Personally, I do use the recommended weight (I have it saved on our 'shopping list'), which I believe is 5W-20. I'm glad this thread isn't full of people swearing by different brands of oils and it's focused on the viscosity. I agree that the switch from 5w-20 to 5w-30 was driven by MPG ratings. Virgin oil analysis is better than others. If you get a check engine with vtech codes, change back to a 30 weight.įor the price point, I think Castrol Edge is a good buy. I have found similar findings on other Honda forums. I agree with other users that a 40 weight oil might cause issues with the vtech. Once it starts to burn more oil, I will go to 10w-30. I have been running Castrol Edge 5W-30 and only burn 1/2 qt between changes. I have tried Amsoil 5w-20 XL, Super Tech full syn 5w-20 and 5w-30, Royal Purple, and some others. I change the oil based on the maintenance minder, no extended drain interval. My Odyssey had the VCM, so it likes to burn 1 qt between factory OCI on the maintenance minder.

in the end it cost more money and just saved me some time by doing 1 less oil change per year. I would run Amsoil Signature Series 15k+ miles, have oil analysis done etc. I used to be a oil-head with my previous vehicle (2003 Tundra). 90% miles being freeway miles with each run being at least 25 miles/30 min for a total of 50 miles/1 hour run daily, so long enough for the oil to reach and sustain operating temps to do its job. But I got my stash of premium syns super cheap, so why not!Ģ012 Toyota Camry Hybrid gets ~9K mile intervals on Toyota 0w-20. To conclude - I believe in Synthetics, but any leading brand of full synthetic will work just as fine as the other for my use and OCI. Clean valve train pics may not exactly a peek into the internals, but should be reflective to some extent of general health! Valve adjustment is planned soon, so hopefully I will get to share some pics. Of course, there's a lot more meticulous DIY preventive maintenance beyond just oil changes that has ensured a smooth running, problem free engine. Van has 90K, and the engine runs almost just as smooth as I recall from when I bought the van new. A couple of experts, whose experience in fixing these vans I dare not question, recommend no more than 5K on the oil for my kind of use, no matter what the oil vendor claims as the max OCI for the specific oil. The reason for short OCIs is VCM and 'severe' service (read 8 shorter than 5 miles trips a day all through the day). Severe service, so I follow maintenance minder if more severe service in the OCI, or ~6K if enough freeway miles in the otherwise severe OCI. I have a bulk load (at least 10 more oil changes worth) of Napa 0w20, Ultra 5w-20, Ultra 5w-30, and my plan is to use Napa 0w-20 for winter, and a 50/50 mix of Ultra 5w-20/30 in summer. Again.all speculation except the Ashland sourcing! All I can say is Napa syn 0w-20 is an excellent oil which is an unscientific but observant assessment. Napa syn is made by Ashland which is the same company that makes Valvoline synpower. It was only later that Ashland started a separate additive pack process for Napa. Additives may be slightly lower than Valvoline Synpower, or may be the exact same additive package/quantities as some speculate that the first few batches of Napa Syn 0w-20 were just relabeled Valoline Synpower 0w-20 as-is. * Napa Syn 0w-20 - Speculated to be a relabeled Valvoline Synpower 0w-20. * A Valvoline synpower 5w-30 once (I wanted to use it up) * Pennzoil Ultra 5w-20 Synthetic for a bulk of the changes * Honda Dealer 5w-20 for first 4 oil changes. I have used the following over the years: Vehicles operated in California SFO Bay Area weather.

2021 honda odyssey engine