Car feels heavy on last 1000 kms of oil (Honda Civic)

[Abd008]

sharing my observations for any input, i have honda civic oriel 2014, 30k covered with Honda synthetic oil changing on 5k as per Honda, but the issue is at last 1000~`500 km of life i feel the drive very heavy and sluggish:

shall i change oil earlier than 5000 km?

anyone else has the same observations?

[mhaderaziz_official]

Same thing happened with me when I had my oil changed last time. Car is 86K driven ('07 Civic hybrid, 1.3L engine), the car felt a bit heavy on fuel and on acceleration both. Took the car to Honda Center Peshawar road for an oil and oil filter change(they charge Rs. 3270 for that, if anyone wants to know). Told them of the issue and they said that after the oil change it should get better and it did. Before the oil change, the car was give 11-12KPL and after the oil change it was giving around 15-18KPL. The oil that they use for my car is 5W30 which I always change at 3000KMs but that time it was over 3300KMs driven so that 300KM difference played a huge part in its performance. One more thing, the guys there said that after every 10,000KMs or so the car requires proper tuning from a computer.

Get proper tuning done from Honda Center, it takes 3-5 hours depending on how quickly they do it. It'll make a world of difference. Your car is in warranty so they may do it for free if you tell them that the car is giving problems etc...

[ZainMahdi]

@abd008, that performance drop can be attributed to a lot of other things. How were the weather and ambient temperature readings before and after your oil change?
@akramsalman.164 3k km is a waste of money for an oil change, unless you cover 3k km in a year. Going 300 km over that will make absolutely no difference. The change in fuel consumption can be attributed to other factors.

There is no such thing as "tuning" for EFI cars, computerised or otherwise. It has a self-learning ECU, it tunes itself during driving.

[mhaderaziz_official]

@abd008, that performance drop can be attributed to a lot of other things. How were the weather and ambient temperature readings before and after your oil change?
@akramsalman.164 3k km is a waste of money for an oil change, unless you cover 3k km in a year. Going 300 km over that will make absolutely no difference. The change in fuel consumption can be attributed to other factors.

There is no such thing as "tuning" for EFI cars, computerised or otherwise. It has a self-learning ECU, it tunes itself during driving.

I know the factors that are associated with fuel economy, its 90% the driver and 10% others. My father only drives the car, its driven daily. It covers a minimum of 100KMs daily and sometimes even 150-200+KMs everyday. Keeping in mind that, early oil changes keep the car's economy consistent and there is no bad thing in having as early oil change. I sometimes even have the oil changed at 2500KMs just for my satisfaction.
The "tuning" they do is throttle body cleaning and adjustment, ignition timing checking, spark plug cleaning, catalytic converter servicing etc. I am going to have that done within this week and I'll post the photos while they do so. They also use some kind of "carb cleaner" spray kind of thing which they spray on certain parts.

[ZainMahdi]

I know the factors that are associated with fuel economy, its 90% the driver and 10% others. My father only drives the car, its driven daily. It covers a minimum of 100KMs daily and sometimes even 150-200+KMs everyday. Keeping in mind that, early oil changes keep the car's economy consistent and there is no bad thing in having as early oil change. I sometimes even have the oil changed at 2500KMs just for my satisfaction.
The "tuning" they do is throttle body cleaning and adjustment, ignition timing checking, spark plug cleaning, catalytic converter servicing etc. I am going to have that done within this week and I'll post the photos while they do so. They also use some kind of "carb cleaner" spray kind of thing which they spray on certain parts.

There is no good in early oil changes; in fact, it can even be more harmful than extended drain intervals. Modern oils deposit sacrificial material on friction components in the engine; they are heat activated, and only work for extended drain intervals. If you are uncomfortable with extended drain intervals, 5k km is a good place to start.

If you somehow get a Used Oil Analysis (UOA), you will see that most people severely underestimate engine oil life. Metrocab has settled on a 24k km OCI for their fleet; they regularly get UOA's.

[mhaderaziz_official]

Right now, the oil was changed 3500KMs ago. So according to you, I should not have it changed right now and have it changed at 5000KMs or so, right?

[ZainMahdi]

Right now, the oil was changed 3500KMs ago. So according to you, I should not have it changed right now and have it changed at 5000KMs or so, right?

Yes, there is no benefit whatsoever to an early oil change.

[ziyad.ahmad.391]

I second Zain Mahdi bro..Atleast 5k kms if ur using a synthetic oil!

[abuzerkhan]

There is no good in early oil changes; in fact, it can even be more harmful than extended drain intervals. Modern oils deposit sacrificial material on friction components in the engine; they are heat activated, and only work for extended drain intervals. If you are uncomfortable with extended drain intervals, 5k km is a good place to start.

If you somehow get a Used Oil Analysis (UOA), you will see that most people severely underestimate engine oil life. Metrocab has settled on a 24k km OCI for their fleet; they regularly get UOA's.

+1. change at 5k.

[Proverbial_Slang]

I have always experienced the same with my car. I did an experiment to pin point the issue. It came down to the oil filter. I change the oil and filter at 5K Kms but the last time, I changed just the filter at 3K Kms and the car's performance was revived. The color of the engine oil also returned to golden from a murky light brown. From now on, I have decided to change just the filter at 3500 Kms and the oil+filter at 7K Kms. Lets see how this pans out.

My car is a 2008 Liana driven 140K Kms (MASHALLAH) and I use Shell Helix HX-7 5w30 API SM/CF
Synthetic blend.

[aamirahsan89]

I have always experienced the same with my car. I did an experiment to pin point the issue. It came down to the oil filter. I change the oil and filter at 5K Kms but the last time, I changed just the filter at 3K Kms and the car's performance was revived. The color of the engine oil also returned to golden from a murky light brown. From now on, I have decided to change just the filter at 3500 Kms and the oil+filter at 7K Kms. Lets see how this pans out.

My car is a 2008 Liana driven 140K Kms (MASHALLAH) and I use Shell Helix HX-7 5w30 API SM/CF
Synthetic blend.

Why not change your brand of oil filter to a better one, makes no sense to change an oil filter and not the oil.

[saboor73]

Seem like non of you guys ever redlined your rides so that your cars engine is so slughed up that oil start to slugh up soon after oil finishes it detergent BTW oil change at 3k is actually harmful for your engine as oil won't release it protection additive

[aamirahsan89]

Seem like non of you guys ever redlined your rides so that your cars engine is so slughed up that oil start to slugh up soon after oil finishes it detergent BTW oil change at 3k is actually harmful for your engine as oil won't release it protection additive

1+, vehicles need to be driven in high rpms at least once in a fortnight.

[HAshims]

get liqui moly ceretec additive for your car. Its used usually once and good for next 50k KMS

[waleed96]

I don't have the same car, but yes my car also feels sluggish on last 1000 kms.

[Proverbial_Slang]

Seem like non of you guys ever redlined your rides so that your cars engine is so slughed up that oil start to slugh up soon after oil finishes it detergent BTW oil change at 3k is actually harmful for your engine as oil won't release it protection additive

I think you misunderstood the issue. Its a slight heaviness afyer 4K Kms. In my case, its very slight but I feel it because I am a very involved kind of driver. As fir red lining, I have never red lined my engine but yes I drive it spiritedly every now and then which means I rev it upto 5.5k to 6k.
Sluggishness of the engine might not necessarily be due to sludge built up. Slightly weak ignition coils or old plugs could also cobtribute. In addition to that, the dust in the environment and the number if short trios you make also matters. The engine needs to warm up and the oil needs to get hot enough to boil out moisture.

If the filter is doing its job well and is filtering out all the debris, I am happy with it. I wouldn't sacrifice filtration ability for better flow. I use Guard filters and they are a cheap item to replace. Plus I can get more mileage out of the oil I use for which it is designed.

Sent using Curiosity's onboard communications sytem.

[RZ]

Assalam Alaikum.

Early oil change is not beneficial. Always complete the cycle before next oil change. I use Liqui Moly in my 2002 Civic and the interval is 10,000 km. My drive is usually on long routes within Punjab and KPK and at least twice a year to Karachi.

If your car's performance is unsatisfactory, take the baby to other mechanic / dealership.