symbianDON:
using this, is the quickest way to shorten the lifespan of your engine's rings and cylinders. Stick with 0w20.....the manufacturer's of your engine aren't fo.ol.ish to have recommended the oil

High mileage engines like the op's will burn more oil than new engines

20w50 is perfect for it considering its age..

Some manufacturers recommend thicker oil for older engines

StillDtruth:


Not an expert o but what i do know is 1,000km.is like Wuse to onitsha and back. That means you travelled with the car. And when you travel that colour is what you are going to get. That is what i see whenever i travel and i just get ready to change my oil.

But even with this colour i travel one more time before i change.

So i don't think there is anything wrong with your oil or oil reader. Travel depletes oil.

I didn’t travel during the time of this review. Actually I didn’t even do up to 100km/h at any point during this period. I was shuffling btw a distance of say 20km radius back and forth max.

9icetoo:


Your car does not measure oil quality.

Read what I wrote again.

Your car does not measure oil quality.

You are going from Mobil 1 (fake according to you) to hardex (who told you it's original) and you think you are better off?

Again, do the oil minder reset properly yourself next time or ensure whoever is doing it, did it properly.

Good luck.

Like I said I did the reset myself. Doing the reset is not rocket science anybody should be able to do actually.

On the Mobile 1 container, it says “protects for 20,000 miles guaranteed” and I only did just above 3k kilometers. It doesn’t add up.

I switched to Hardex based on expert advice. He said adulterated Mobile 1 is common. So chances I get adulterated Hardex is slim when compared.

Anyways, thanks.

pimplucious:


I didn’t travel during the time of this review. Actually I didn’t even do up to 100km/h at any point during this period. I was shuffling btw a distance of say 20km radius back and forth max.

Then its your last oil change. I bet it was black like crude oil before you changed it, right?

pimplucious:


Like I said I did the reset myself. Doing the reset is not rocket science anybody should be able to do actually.

On the Mobile 1 container, it says “protects for 20,000 miles guaranteed” and I only did just above 3k kilometers. It doesn’t add up.

I switched to Hardex based on expert advice. He said adulterated Mobile 1 is common. So chances I get adulterated Hardex is slim when compared.

Anyways, thanks.

Regardless of what Mobil 1 says, use your manufacturers recommended Oil Change Interval.

That 20,000 miles has a caveat. It usually applies to vehicles with large oil sumps (the types that take between 8 to 10 liters during service). Yours uses 5 liters max during service.

Again, you are still insinuating that your vehicle gave you a prompt for oil change due to oil quality.

How it assessed that quality is strange.

But what do I know?

Did I idle your vehicle a lot during this period?

Were you in heavy stop and go traffic?

9icetoo:

Regardless of what Mobil 1 says, use your manufacturers recommended Oil Change Interval.

That 20,000 miles has a caveat. It usually applies to vehicles with large oil sumps (the types that take between 8 to 10 liters during service). Yours uses 5 liters max during service.

Again, you are still insinuating that your vehicle gave you a prompt for oil change due to oil quality.

How it assessed that quality is strange.

But what do I know?

Did I idle your vehicle a lot during this period?

Were you in heavy stop and go traffic?

Okay I think I get you. I at no point spent 15min in traffic and didn’t leave the car idling unduly.

The recommended oil is 0W 20 which is quite expensive because of this I expected the oil change alert intervals to last a bit longer unlike the less expensive, low quality ones.

I understand your point now. I will have to stick to the recommended oil change intervals. Irrespective of the time duration I expect, the oil minder must be correct.

pimplucious:
I’m driving a 2012 Honda Crosstour, after servicing it on the 25th of June this year with a Mobil 1 engine oil I bought for 48k, I thought I won’t be bothered with servicing for at least 6months or 10k kilometers whichever comes first.

But to my surprise, just after 1,067km and a bit more than a month, the oil change monitor shows on the cluster board the oil quality has dropped to 10%.

I bought the Mobil 1 engine oil from a Mobil station after assuring me it is genuine.


Is there anyone here using Honda crosstour? Do you experience this same issue using Mobil 1 engine oil?


Pic 1: Date oil was changed and mileage before oil change. Mileage on car before oil change: 181,567

Pic 2: current mileage on car: 182,634

Pic 3: Oil life % reading

Pic 4: Mobil 1 container containing the Mobil 1 oil used.

So you are telling me your car manufacturer specified that you use 0W20

erico2k2:

So you are telling me your car manufacturer specified that you use 0W20

Hell yeah. Conspicuously inscripted on the engine cover. Why? Isn’t 0W20 a good engine oil specification?

They forgot we are in nigeria,engine heat with naija heat snd traffic and mad drivers go make that engine burn oil. All the cars have seen are all burning oul and smoking.from volkswagen tinguan,to lexus ES300,350,c300,c350,glk,camry 2013 upwards,mazda cx,hilux,both clean and rough body...they are all smoking and the owners dont care. Out of 10cqrs,3 still throwing out water from exhaust,the rest are smoking both onbidleband acceleration...that tells u all engine oils are fake in nigeria. When i mean all,round the federation..once it starts smoking,drive hell out of it and resell. Dont repair.original engine oils were not made for nigeria ..dont be fool3dbabout those importing oils,they arenot buying from the company directly, they are still smuggled fake oils imported here. To see your car not smoke after 6months in nigeria, acter it has been bought and driven as tokunbo. That was in 2011.and not 2024

erico2k2:

So you are telling me your car manufacturer specified that you use 0W20

pimplucious:


Hell yeah. Conspicuously inscripted on the engine cover. Why? Isn’t 0W20 a good engine oil specification?

I'm not saying that, was just wondering if that's what ur car manufacturer says.

Nomerci:
They forgot we are in nigeria,engine heat with naija heat snd traffic and mad drivers go make that engine burn oil. All the cars have seen are all burning oul and smoking.from volkswagen tinguan,to lexus ES300,350,c300,c350,glk,camry 2013 upwards,mazda cx,hilux,both clean and rough body...they are all smoking and the owners dont care. Out of 10cqrs,3 still throwing out water from exhaust,the rest are smoking both onbidleband acceleration...that tells u all engine oils are fake in nigeria. When i mean all,round the federation..once it starts smoking,drive hell out of it and resell. Dont repair.original engine oils were not made for nigeria ..dont be fool3dbabout those importing oils,they arenot buying from the company directly, they are still smuggled fake oils imported here. To see your car not smoke after 6months in nigeria, acter it has been bought and driven as tokunbo. That was in 2011.and not 2024

Regards weather and environment, there is not much difference bro, San Francisco is hotter than Burnu state at some point.There are deserts in the USA hotter than the whole of Nigeria and these cars work there so I will disagree however our problem sterns from roadside mechanics and using wrong fluids for one's car.ie using wrong coolant or wrong weight of Oil. On the Ac side, the vast majority of AC people do not even evacuate the cooling line to form a complete vacuum b4 refilling the gas. Fake parts amongst few to mention, You can say that amongst Brake pads as well as Air filter to gasket.

pimplucious:


Okay I think I get you. I at no point spent 15min in traffic and didn’t leave the car idling unduly.

The recommended oil is 0W 20 which is quite expensive because of this I expected the oil change alert intervals to last a bit longer unlike the less expensive, low quality ones.

I understand your point now. I will have to stick to the recommended oil change intervals. Irrespective of the time duration I expect, the oil minder must be correct.

Servicing car is not limited to just oil changes, there are loads of other stuff, a proper service schedule will tell you what to change with your mileage, then you have to reset with a computer.

pimplucious:


Like I said I did the reset myself. Doing the reset is not rocket science anybody should be able to do actually.

On the Mobile 1 container, it says “protects for 20,000 miles guaranteed” and I only did just above 3k kilometers. It doesn’t add up.

I switched to Hardex based on expert advice. He said adulterated Mobile 1 is common. So chances I get adulterated Hardex is slim when compared.

Anyways, thanks.

Not always the case, U need a computer for most of them reason is simple, fraud.Cos your car is sold abroad with service schedule as one of its key point to determine cost in the used car market.

erico2k2:

Not always the case, U need a computer for most of them reason is simple, fraud.Cos your car is sold abroad with service schedule as one of its key point to determine cost in the used car market.

You are right. Most used cars abroad comes with a detailed service history before it can be marketable as buyers usually request for it and most car owners keep a detailed verifiable service history

Nomerci:
Best results is in the morning before u start the car .guage it and share it here.since u have already driven it,it will take overnight for the oil to return back to its guage.so 1st thing tmrw morning is to guage the oil,then post,then sunday morning to,b4 u start the car, guage the oil again and post. Then we would know if the level is dropping or not.

^^^
I thought the correct method is to warm or use the vehicle, shut down, wait 5 minutes or more and then check the dipstick?

pimplucious:


Okay I think I get you. I at no point spent 15min in traffic and didn’t leave the car idling unduly.

The recommended oil is 0W 20 which is quite expensive because of this I expected the oil change alert intervals to last a bit longer unlike the less expensive, low quality ones.

I understand your point now. I will have to stick to the recommended oil change intervals. Irrespective of the time duration I expect, the oil minder must be correct.

^^^
You may have just gotten a bad batch of Mobil 1...or your vehicle just burns Mobil 1. These things do happen sometimes.

Stick to the recommended viscosity and try another brand that meets (or exceeds) your vehicle's oil quality recommendations (API, ILSAC or ACEA). There are a few sellers on here who it seems import directly from overseas. You could give them a try. And...don't be afraid to try brands that aren't popular here. There are several solid motor oils that are not household names here...and they do the job just fine.

Good luck.

Fujiyama:


^^^
You may have just gotten a bad batch of Mobil 1...or your vehicle just burns Mobil 1. These things do happen sometimes.

Stick to the recommended viscosity and try another brand that meets (or exceeds) your vehicle's oil quality recommendations (API, ILSAC or ACEA). There are a few sellers on here who it seems import directly from overseas. You could give them a try. And...don't be afraid to try brands that aren't popular here. There are several solid motor oils that are not household names here...and they do the job just fine.

Good luck.

Hardex seems to be doing better than Mobile 1 which I have switched to. Still observing it though.

pimplucious:


Hardex seems to be doing better than Mobile 1 which I have switched to. Still observing it though.

^^^
Hardex gets a bad rep among some of the experts on here. I am not sure if it is deserved or not.

Fujiyama:


^^^
Hardex gets a bad rep among some of the experts on here. I am not sure if it is deserved or not.

A guy at auto medics, Ikeja recommended Hardex. He said adulterated Mobil 1 is very available in the market compared to Hardex and I kind of agree with him cos most corner shops display Mobil 1 in their stalls and their authenticity can’t be guaranteed.

Fujiyama:


^^^
I thought the correct method is to warm or use the vehicle, shut down, wait 5 minutes or more and then check the dipstick?

This makes me question your opinion in your second post.

9icetoo:
This makes me question your opinion in your second post.

^^^
How do you mean?

The protocol I mentioned for checking oil is straight out of the owners manual for 2 different vehicles...

pimplucious:
A guy at auto medics, Ikeja recommended Hardex. He said adulterated Mobil 1 is very available in the market compared to Hardex and I kind of agree with him cos most corner shops display Mobil 1 in their stalls and their authenticity can’t be guaranteed.

^^^
This adulteration matter is why I stopped using Mobil1 years ago. I wasn't too sure about local oils like Hardex, Sea Horse etc. so I played it safe and went for some well known (and not so well known) foreign brands. They have served me quite well.

Fujiyama:


^^^
How do you mean?

The protocol I mentioned for checking oil is straight out of the owners manual for 2 different vehicles...

Which vehicle if I may ask? Model, make and year would be grand.

Cos I do not see the difference between checking your oil on a cold engine vs running it before checking it.

Anyway, to each his own.

9icetoo:

Which vehicle if I may ask? Model, make and year would be grand.

Cos I do not see the difference between checking your oil on a cold engine vs running it before checking it.

Anyway, to each his own.

^^^

Toyota corolla 2007 (1ZZ FE)
Toyota camry 2011 (2AR FE)

Apparently the logic behind it is that if the engine is warmed up (before switching off and sitting for 5 minutes or more) the oil circulates through the entire engine...and this gives a true picture of the oil level.

I'll look for the page and upload it if I can get my hands on the manual.

pimplucious:
A guy at auto medics, Ikeja recommended Hardex. He said adulterated Mobil 1 is very available in the market compared to Hardex and I kind of agree with him cos most corner shops display Mobil 1 in their stalls and their authenticity can’t be guaranteed.

^^^
Be cautious though.

I checked the API website and found a notice about some products that "that are displaying the API engine oil certification marks without API's authorization. These oils have not been approved by API as meeting any API engine oil standard and are not eligible to display the API certification marks.".

The list of products is here:
https://www.api.org/products-and-services/engine-oil/unauthorized-use-of-api-certification-marks

My reading of the situation is that API focused on the US market. My guess is that API didn't want to take the time and trouble to go to China, Europe, the Americas and some parts of Africa to fish out products using the API certification without approval or authorization. It would probably have found several of such products in each of these markets.

Be cautious. If companies right there in the US can slap the API certification on their oil labels without approval/authorization, what will companies here do?

Good luck.

Fujiyama:


^^^

Toyota corolla 2007 (1ZZ FE)
Toyota camry 2011 (2AR FE)

Apparently the logic behind it is that if the engine is warmed up (before switching off and sitting for 5 minutes or more) the oil circulates through the entire engine...and this gives a true picture of the oil level.

I'll look for the page and upload it if I can get my hands on the manual.

Waiting fir the page.

But let me ask you an innocent question.

What if you spring an oil leak while driving (has happened to folks), and the car gets home without drama. Then, the remaining oil leaks out overnight through the sump where the leak is.
Would it not be smarter to check the oil before you ruin the engine than to ruin the engine and check the oil later?


Apparently you are right according the owners manual I just read for the csmry but that is some bulkshit.

No engine has ever been harmed for checking oil before startup.
Many engines have harned for not checking oil and running without oil after startup.

Check your engine oil on a cold engine with the car parked on level ground.

The difference in volume when warm vs when cold is negligible

The difference in damage when run without oil is a new engine.

Thank you.

9icetoo:
Apparently you are right according the owners manual I just read for the csmry but that is some bulkshit.

^^^

9icetoo:
But let me ask you an innocent question.

What if you spring an oil leak while driving (has happened to folks), and the car gets home without drama. Then, the remaining oil leaks out overnight through the sump where the leak is.
Would it not be smarter to check the oil before you ruin the engine than to ruin the engine and check the oil later?

^^^
Very, very fair question.

If I didn't know better I would say you had planted spies around me. Believe it or not I am in this particular situation right now: there is something wrong with the filter housing on my vehicle and it was leaking oil slowly. I was unaware of this but a random check 3 days ago (while the engine was cold) saved me from disaster. The dipstick was dry - not a drop of oil on it. This is perhaps the second time this has happened to me in over 30 years of driving...and on both occassions I was fortunate enough to check the engine while cold. So I do agree with you - it definitely is possible to have an oil leak that could prove disatrous if one doesn't check the oil before cranking. But the odds of this happening are relatively low.

I actually do both checks: both cold and warm. Cold checks are actually more convenient but I do warm checks when I want to get a more accurate picture of oil levels.

9icetoo:
No engine has ever been harmed for checking oil before startup.
Many engines have harned for not checking oil and running without oil after startup.

Check your engine oil on a cold engine with the car parked on level ground.

The difference in volume when warm vs when cold is negligible

The difference in damage when run without oil is a new engine.

Thank you.

^^^
Fair argument.

But you do know you could check your oil while cold, everythings fine and you go about your business...only for your engine to spring a leak later in the day and the worst happens...

But I get your general point.

Fujiyama:


^^^




^^^
Very, very fair question.

If I didn't know better I would say you had planted spies around me. Believe it or not I am in this particular situation right now: there is something wrong with the filter housing on my vehicle and it was leaking oil slowly. I was unaware of this but a random check 3 days ago (while the engine was cold) saved me from disaster. The dipstick was dry - not a drop of oil on it. This is perhaps the second time this has happened to me in over 30 years of driving...and on both occassions I was fortunate enough to check the engine while cold. So I do agree with you - it definitely is possible to have an oil leak that could prove disatrous if one doesn't check the oil before cranking. But the odds of this happening are relatively low.

I actually do both checks: both cold and warm. Cold checks are actually more convenient but I do warm checks when I want to get a more accurate picture of oil levels.



^^^
Fair argument.

But you do know you could check your oil while cold, everythings fine and you go about your business...only for your engine to spring a leak later in the day and the worst happens...

But I get your general point.

Cold checks for me all day regardless of what manufacturer says.

If it so happens while I am driving, then there is nothing cold or hot would have done about it.

Leaking seals, ruptured seals, leaking oil cooler or leaking oil cooler lines are more common than you think.

Many have started their engines without any oil (probably didn't notice the oil leaks).

I will be so mad with myself if I wrecked am engine because I wanted to a warm check when a cold check would ha e saved me the grief.

Cheers.

Fujiyama:


^^^
Be cautious though.

I checked the API website and found a notice about some products that "that are displaying the API engine oil certification marks without API's authorization. These oils have not been approved by API as meeting any API engine oil standard and are not eligible to display the API certification marks.".

The list of products is here:
https://www.api.org/products-and-services/engine-oil/unauthorized-use-of-api-certification-marks

My reading of the situation is that API focused on the US market. My guess is that API didn't want to take the time and trouble to go to China, Europe, the Americas and some parts of Africa to fish out products using the API certification without approval or authorization. It would probably have found several of such products in each of these markets.

Be cautious. If companies right there in the US can slap the API certification on their oil labels without approval/authorization, what will companies here do?

Good luck.

That’s crazy. A lot of the engine oils with API authentication seals on them are nothing short of fake.

What engine oil do you use?

pimplucious:
What engine oil do you use?

^^^
I use Motul 8100, Shell Helix Ultra, Aisin, Castrol Magnatec and Pennzoil Platinum Ultra at the moment. I have also used Mobil1 and Liqui Moly in the past.