My Honda has been burning oil the last 2-3 months! I been running 10W-30 Synthetic oil in it for the past 3 Years! Gas mileage sucks around town! But here in Baja the gas isn't that great! Have 136,000 miles on it.
About 1-2 years ago I put Bosch plugs, cap, rotor and always change the oil and filter. I put less than 12,000 miles on the car each year!
I live in a very dusty area with bumpy roads, so kept original air filter setup!

Any suggestions on what I can do to help my Honda stay healthy?

 

I think you're doing a good job with maintenance but what about the original owner? Did you have a chance to talk to him or her about what their maintenance schedule was? Since you live in a dusty area, you might want to use non-synthetic and change it (and oil filter) every 3-4 months. Doing this change interval with synthetic oil can get expensive and I see no need to use expensive oil if you have to change it, often due to the dirty intake air. Also, I have read many times that you should change the intake filter when you cannot see light through it.

 

I bought the car in late 2005 from an older woman who took that car to the dealer everytime she needed something done. She gave me all the records and even the sticker from the window when she first bought it.

Can I change back to regular oil after having synthetic for the past years?
I was told you could not go back...
I definitely want to go back to regular oil!

Do I need to change or adjust anything under the valve cover?

 

The potential problem with older car owners is that they tend to take short trips. The oil doesn't have a chance to get hot enough to get rid of moisture in it. And since the car is not needed to drive to work on a daily basis, the owner may bring it in only when the car reaches 3000-5000 miles, which could be over the course of a year or more.
Yes, you certainly can go back to non-synthetic. I know that the valves in my 97 have to be adjusted every so many years (had mine done 2 years ago). The maintenance schedule may be in the owner's manual. If not, try to get ahold of a service manual; it should be there.

 

If I adjust the valves will that stop the oil burning?

Should I change the oil grade up from 10W-30 to 20W-50?

 

Adjusting the valves will reduce valve noise. It doesn't have anything to do with oil control.

Do you see any sludge inside the valve cover? That is a sign that oil wasn't changed frequently enough, and usually the rings will go bad quickly.

Using heavier oil in a worn engine will usually slow down the rate of burning. You can switch from synthetic to conventional oil and / or back again as often as you want to.

Also of course driving in dusty conditions, the air filter is critical. Do not attempt to clean a stock-type paper filter with compressed air. That will blow little holes in the paper which then let dust into the engine. They must be replaced with a new one when dirty.

 

Don't all the 96-00 civics run on 5W30? Doesn't running a heavier oil cause more wear at start-up?

 

Goto the Mobile web site. They have an oil adviser wizard that recommends the type and viscosity of oil based upon the car's year, model, # of miles, etc. I would not use anything thicker than 10w-30. If your engine continues to burn oil, it's time for repairs.

 

I used to burn 5W30 when I first bought it. It had 94,000 miles on it and ran better than now. I then switched to 10W30 for the past year or more. But I change my oil every 3-5 months since my mileage is so low. That's with synthetic 10W30. I do notice a little more noise under the valve cover, since you mentioned it.
Thanks guys for the advice.
One more thing, I have the same spark plug wires since I bought it, When should they be replaced? I put 42,000 miles on them since new ownership!

 

You will notice misfiring if the wires are bad. There isn't a specific schedule to replace them.