question on oil and main req'd blinking

[Frank01Accord]

Hi, I was wonderin if someone can help me with two questions.

1. What would be the best oil to use in my car. regular or synthetic.

2. My maint req'd is blinking 8 times when I start the car. What does that means.

Thanks


my car is a honda accord-vtec 2001 4 cylinders manual

[Tominos]

synthetic would be best but it is pretty expensive compared to regular oil, like 5-6 bucks a quart for redline. thats like 30 buck oil changes if you do it yourself. and you gain about 1 horsepower. about the check engine light, there is probably something tripping the computer, you gotta look in a manual to see the codes.

[fritz_269]

We've talked about oil alot around here.

Consensus is that synthetic is consistently better than mineral oil - but it does come at a significant price. Synthetic will usually get you a touch more power and a longer engine life.

Both Mobil One and Castrol Syntec are excellent synthetics for their price. High end stuff like Redline, Royal Purple, and Neo are only incremetally better, and they cost a lot more.

On the other hand, a quality mineral oil is a really good choice too. Castrol GTX can't be beat.

Here are a couple of very informative websites:
http://www.fernblatt.com/longhurst/engineoil_bible.html
http://auto.msk.ru/auto/ehoilfaq.htm

PS> Don't do your first oil change until the manual recommended time. The engine is shipped from the factory filled with a special oil that aids in break-in.
----

I think code 8 is the "throttle position sensor", you might double check by asking in the Accord forum. But since your car must still be under warranty, get it to a dealer ASAP.