Oil Type Depending On Mileage

[vanuatoo]

I've heard that fully synthetic oil damages gasket seals and car burns oil on some vehicles with high mileage.

 

Is this the case with VQ35DE engine?

 

Can I safely use fully synthetic oil throughout the whole life of the car?

[adamzan]

Yes and it is recommended to reduce buildup which can lead to oil burn off in the vq motor.

[nismothunder]

I've heard that fully synthetic oil damages gasket seals and car burns oil on some vehicles with high mileage.

 

Is this the case with VQ35DE engine?

 

Can I safely use fully synthetic oil throughout the whole life of the car?

Theres some truth to what your saying,back when syn oil was first coming out people where having trouble becauses the valve guides where made to accept leaded gas,so they where softer then they are to day,and the oil was so full of ditergents it was wearing the valve guides so much in such little time that the cars where smoking badly by the time for another oil change.It is not true to day,the modern cars run on unleaded and last longer then ever before(at least they should...)

But if the engine is a higher milage engine that was never care for then yeah,changing to syn oil mayproduce oil burn off and leaking gaskets,only because the leaks where already there and over time sludge(and carbon) had built up around them,inefect blocking the leak.If its a old engine,or higher miles on it and never had syn oil in it I wouldnt change over from conventail,since the cars been run just fine on dino bones for a long time,and it has provided fine protection.

Now if you buy a old car or truck and have the engine rebuilt(or rebuilt yourself) then it would be great to run syn oil right off the bat,(after break in on proper grade oil)

Syn oil provides less burn off,so if your thinking about going to dino bone oil since your engine that was run its entire life on syn oil,dont,since the oil will burn more rapidly then with syn oil...The only true fix for a smoking engine is a rebuild,But going to a thicker grade(5w-30vs15w-40) oil will produce less burn(plus boost compression a bit in case of worn rings) off then a standerd economy oil...

But this has its own draw backs,more cylinder wear and the canch of spining a bearing if you just hope in and take off in cold weather...Not to mention that it is a little more diffrentcault to start in cold weather.

Edited December 3, 2009 by nismothunder

[vanuatoo]

Theres some truth to what your saying,back when syn oil was first coming out people where having trouble becauses the valve guides where made to accept leaded gas,so they where softer then they are to day,and the oil was so full of ditergents it was wearing the valve guides so much in such little time that the cars where smoking badly by the time for another oil change.It is not true to day,the modern cars run on unleaded and last longer then ever before(at least they should...)

But if the engine is a higher milage engine that was never care for then yeah,changing to syn oil mayproduce oil burn off and leaking gaskets,only because the leaks where already there and over time sludge(and carbon) had built up around them,inefect blocking the leak.If its a old engine,or higher miles on it and never had syn oil in it I wouldnt change over from conventail,since the cars been run just fine on dino bones for a long time,and it has provided fine protection.

Now if you buy a old car or truck and have the engine rebuilt(or rebuilt yourself) then it would be great to run syn oil right off the bat,(after break in on proper grade oil)

Syn oil provides less burn off,so if your thinking about going to dino bone oil since your engine that was run its entire life on syn oil,dont,since the oil will burn more rapidly then with syn oil...The only true fix for a smoking engine is a rebuild,But going to a thicker grade(5w-30vs15w-40) oil will produce less burn(plus boost compression a bit in case of worn rings) off then a standerd economy oil...

But this has its own draw backs,more cylinder wear and the canch of spining a bearing if you just hope in and take off in cold weather...Not to mention that it is a little more diffrentcault to start in cold weather.

 

Now I understand.

 

So it's not the case with VQ35DE I guess.

 

I bought the car a year ago and imported to my country.

It had 44k miles on it.

I've immediately changed the oil and poured 5w-30 long-life fully synthetic oil. That was on 2009-Oct-10.

When I checked the oil level later after several months (I know I should not and will not do that again) it was on L mark.

I calculated and I drove 4000 miles in about 6 month or so.

Later I called some dealer in US and the guy told me that excessive oil burn is more than one quart per 1500 miles. So I guess my engine does not burn oil, because my daily trip is 5 miles at the morning and 5 miles at the evening home-work-home.

In another thread I've written that on highway the car does not burn oil, at least I could not notice it after 300 miles trip.

So I bought 1 quart of the same oil and was adding till I reached 6000 miles and I changed the oil after 10 months from the last change.

 

I don't know what oil the previous owner was using but I plan to use fully synthetic till my income allows me to do so.

 

The only thing that frustrates me is that nissan's premium schedule requires you to change oil and filter every 3 months or 3750 miles, whichever comes first.

In my case it means that I should change oil every 3 months and it's kinda expensive for me because fully synthetic in here is expensive. The change costs me about 100 USD.

Lately I've found a shop that's importing "genuine" oils from Japan.

http://jaytec-lubricants.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1_7_15

 

They have conventional 5w-30. It's cheaper than fully synthetic and it will cost me about 70 USD to change the oil.

 

But as you guys suggest and I believe you I should not downgrade and use fully synthetic forever because my engine is not burning oil yet and because I use fully synthetic it should not in the foreseeable future.

Edited December 4, 2009 by vanuatoo

[CaughtLikeFire]

Now I understand.

 

So it's not the case with VQ35DE I guess.

 

I bought the car a year ago and imported to my country.

It had 44k miles on it.

I've immediately changed the oil and poured 5w-30 long-life fully synthetic oil. That was on 2009-Oct-10.

When I checked the oil level later after several months (I know I should not and will not do that again) it was on L mark.

I calculated and I drove 4000 miles in about 6 month or so.

Later I called some dealer in US and the guy told me that excessive oil burn is more than one quart per 1500 miles. So I guess my engine does not burn oil, because my daily trip is 5 miles at the morning and 5 miles at the evening home-work-home.

In another thread I've written that on highway the car does not burn oil, at least I could not notice it after 300 miles trip.

So I bought 1 quart of the same oil and was adding till I reached 6000 miles and I changed the oil after 10 months from the last change.

 

I don't know what oil the previous owner was using but I plan to use fully synthetic till my income allows me to do so.

 

The only thing that frustrates me is that nissan's premium schedule requires you to change oil and filter every 3 months or 3750 miles, whichever comes first.

In my case it means that I should change oil every 3 months and it's kinda expensive for me because fully synthetic in here is expensive. The change costs me about 100 USD.

Lately I've found a shop that's importing "genuine" oils from Japan.

http://jaytec-lubricants.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1_7_15

 

They have conventional 5w-30. It's cheaper than fully synthetic and it will cost me about 70 USD to change the oil.

 

But as you guys suggest and I believe you I should not downgrade and use fully synthetic forever because my engine is not burning oil yet and because I use fully synthetic it should not in the foreseeable future.

 

 

 

I'm not surprised that your engine was fine with a change to synthetic at 44k - I've changed to synthetic in some vehicles at 120k (miles) and they've been just fine.

 

with a good synthetic oil, you should change the oil and filter at 5-7k (miles). If you're only driving 10 miles per day, you won't have to change your oil often at all. there's no way you need to spend $100 every 3 months.

[vanuatoo]

I'm not surprised that your engine was fine with a change to synthetic at 44k - I've changed to synthetic in some vehicles at 120k (miles) and they've been just fine.

 

with a good synthetic oil, you should change the oil and filter at 5-7k (miles). If you're only driving 10 miles per day, you won't have to change your oil often at all. there's no way you need to spend $100 every 3 months.

every 3 months if I'm too conservative and follow Nissan's premium maintenance schedule.

I plan to switch two dual change mode in a year.

First change before summer on the 1st of June and the second change before winter on the 1st of December.

[lee_cha_nin]

I am having some concerns, will see.

 

Today, I changed oil in my Pathy - 1qt of Marvel Mystery Oil + 4 qt of German Castrol 0W30.

 

Before that, in the past 3 years, because I had 3rd party warranty (paid by dealer), I had to

change oil every 3 months. A lot of $$$ down the drain, but I had to have it done by oil shop.

Since all of them charge about 50 CAD, I did it mostly at Nissan dealer.

3 years x 4 OCIs x $50 = $600.

 

Couldn't wait for the warranty to expire, it's so easy to change oil on Pathy. In my A4, it takes

little bit more effort.

 

For the past 3 years Pathy was getting Shell 5W30, then when the warranty expired, I ran Pennzoil HM for one OCI

with 10% MMO. Today, finally good stuff.

 

It costs me 4x$7 = $28 + $7 filter + $4 MMO = $39 with synthetic

 

Since it's driven mostly short trips with a lot of cold starts, I hope 6 months will be OK

because I have fear of dilution and condensation.

Edited December 6, 2009 by lee_cha_nin

[AROYK]

So synthetic vs normal aside, I've always heard that it's a good idea to switch to thicker oils at high miles. Like using 10W-30 instead of 5W-30. Is this true?

[MY1PATH]

So synthetic vs normal aside, I've always heard that it's a good idea to switch to thicker oils at high miles. Like using 10W-30 instead of 5W-30. Is this true?

 

switching from 5w30 to 10w40 cut my oil consuption in half. 240kmiles

 

5w30 to 10w30 will not make as big of a differance on oil consuption becasue the 5w and the 10w are typically measured @ 32F How long does your oil spend @ that temp?

 

10w30 to 10w40 will help because the 30 and 40 are typically measured @ 200F or 210F which is allot closer to our oil temp when the engine has warmed up.

[Thunderbolt]

I use Moble One Extended performance 10w30 that is good up to 15000 miles protection and wix oil filter and change mine about every 10000 miles.. Right now my Pathfinder has 167000 mile on her and doesn't burn a drop and runs good as when it had 90000 miles.

Edited January 29, 2010 by Thunderbolt

[MY1PATH]

I use Moble One Extended performance 10w30 that is good up to 15000 miles protection and wix oil filter and change mine about every 10000 miles.. Right now my Pathfinder has 167000 mile on her and doesn't burn a drop and runs good as when it had 90000 miles.

The oil May last that long but does it stay clean that long? our hydraulic lifters get noisy from particles suspended in the oil wearing on them as the oil pases thru them. Older cars with timing chains would wear in the same way and that is the true origin of the 3,000 mile oil change.

 

If your think your oil is staying clean enough all 10,000 miles then I guess keep doing what your doing. Mine usually gets darker right arround 3,000.

[4wdRequired]

Clean oil is the most important attribute. Oil mostly needs to be changed because of contamination, not being worn out as in sheared down or additives depleted.

I change oil by the OEM recommended "severe service" schedule in my vehicles. We've had several off-road (farm) trucks go 200k miles without an engine teardown. That's 200k at probably at average 10 mph and mostly in the dirt. 24/7/365 is how they get so many miles at low speed.

 

Clean dino is better than contaminated synthetic. I do use synthetic in my POV's due to sometimes extreme towing duty etc. And syn is a good bet for the far North for easier starts.

 

Used oil analysis is really the only way to determine the right change interval for a vehicle and how it's used. But if you follow the severe service maintenance schedule most vehicles the body will rot before the engine goes.