My uncle's "just use the cheap oil" advice cost me an engine rebuild

Uncle Ray has been turning wrenches since the 70s, and he swore up and down that the expensive synthetic stuff was a rip-off. He said any oil that meets the spec was fine, so I ran cheap conventional in my 2012 Civic for about 40,000 miles. At 130k, the rod bearing spun and took the block with it. Machinist at the shop I towed it to showed me the sludge on the pickup tube. He said he sees it all the time with extended intervals and basic oil. I followed the manual too, 5k changes every time. Uncle Ray still doesn't think the oil was the issue, says it was just mileage. But that $3,400 rebuild has me wondering, anyone else seen a car die from cheap oil that met spec, or was I just unlucky?

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beth_hunt6d ago

Trust the machinist on this one, sludge don't lie. I've torn down engines on the cheap stuff and they always look worse inside, even with regular changes. 40k miles of conventional in a modern engine is basically asking for it.