SpinAll4

Here a some pics I took when I had the valve covers off to do some powdercoating. These are both my own personal cars.

Honda D16z6 95 motor, has 250,000 mi and using AMSOIL 5w30 for the last 10k daily driven.





Lexus SC400 1uzfe motor, 97, 112,000 mi and using mobile 1 for the last 25k mi (was daily driven until I picked up the civic)

shern

iTrader: (6)

May I ask what your point is?

mitsuguy

iTrader: (2)

Someone that didn't know anything about cars might take this as some sort of proof that amsoil is better than Mobil1...

The reality of it is that is has more to do with the frequency of oil changes, whether the vehicle was used for city or highway driving, stop and go, or very short trips, and the quality of the oil for the entire lifespan of the engine...

For instance, my Lexus valve covers are extremely clean inside (I would say similar to the Honda ones pictured above) and they have had Mobil1 used for approximately the past 40k miles (change every 5k), but I do not know the interval or type of oil prior... My car just rolled over 200k miles yesterday...

SpinAll4

Just something I though was intersting seeing. I would have though the Lexus valve covers would be cleaner, as I babyed the car and it recived mobile 1 every 3,000 mi since I bought it 3 years ago. It has been very well taken care of by me.

The civic on the other hand has a ton of miles on it, and was probably beat by previous owners. I spend as little money as possibly on it, and it gets driven 120 miles every day I work.

nthach

Hondas are gentle on their oil - compared to most Toyotas. When I did the valve adjustment on my car, there was mild varnish since I did an Auto-RX treatment on it when we first got it. A bath in some warm Ozzy Juice cleaned things up nicely.

I don't trust Toyota's OCI - look what happened on the 1MZ-FE and 5S-FE Camry/ES and Sienna/Highlander/RX motors. The only Toyota product I can trust with the maintenance light is the Prius since its ICE will run until optimal temperature is reached - and it spins faster at startup.

GSteg

iTrader: (15)

Yea Honda is pretty good on oil. I took apart my Acura legend's valve cover with 150k miles on it, and that thing looks practically brand new. It's has only need regular dino oil during its lifetime. My dad's 93 toyota camry on the other hand......

shern

iTrader: (6)

I agree with the posts. Sludge and varnish build up on a valve cover has as much to do with the head oiling characteristics as the oil used as well as the change frequency. I recently pulled the valve cover off a 1991 Accord CB7 w/F22A with 190k miles and the valve cover looked amazing. Standard oil throughout its life, no synthetic. It looked like your Honda valve cover.

Now what would be an interesting comparison would be to pull the valve cover off a motor (preferably Toyota) that has somewhat been neglected and run a few cycles of Amsoil to show its cleaning characteristics. The comparo above seems apples vs. oranges IMO.

nthach

For some reason, the Hondas I've touched - a 2000 Accord, 1998 Civic, and a 2007 Pilot LOVE Pennzoil or Quaker State oil, but they drink M1.

The local Honda dealer I work at uses Quaker State as well, I think its a coincidence.

SpinAll4

I'm working on switching the Lexus over to AMSOIL and running some of their engine flush throug it. That is if I don't just yank the motor right out and slap a 1jz or 2jz in it. I don't know how long it will be as I haven't driven the lexus in months and winter is approaching quick.