| Livin |
I looked over the maintenance threads and did not see anything specific to syn oil.
I just had my oil change done at Firestone with Kendall GT-1 Full Synthetic motor oil. They reccomend changes every 6k miles, is this accurate or is it more like 7 or 7.5k?
btw... if you ask why I have them change my oil... becasue it costs me $45 total (tire roatation, taxes, fees - all included) and I never have to mess with a thing.
When I had my previous truck I could get away with 4-5k oil changes with regular oil.
thanks for the input. |
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| njjoe |
Livin-
Asking people how long they go between oil changes is like asking someone about their favorite color. :4: You will get a dozen answers. Personally, I use Mobile 1 (fully synthetic) oil and Mobile 1 oil filter and have opted to go with the 7,500-mile interval, which is the maximum recommended by Nissan.
-njjoe |
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| dborla01 |
Good question and so many answers, depending on IF or not the party answering is trying to sell you frequent oil changes.
You mite do a Google search on oil change-interval questions. A while back there was a site where people were changing filter and not the oil itself and having oil analysis done. One guy had 22K on his original syn oil and no abnormal engine particulates reported.
My own subjective view is that syn oil does not in itself "wear out" or become degraded., unlike dino oil does. I run syn oil in my cars and truck and change the filter every 3K and change the whole deal every 15K. Makes the syn oil truly affordable.
I have used Royal Purple and Mobil One filter til recently due to test reports concerning it's unique benefits. However due to it's price, I have decided to go with Wal-Mart's Super Tech syn, made by one of the major brands, and their filter.
Oil brands and the hype around when to change reminds me of the tooth paste wars of the 1960's and 70's. Crest and Gleem had many believing that their respective products actually were better than the competition and do much more to "prevent cavities"! LOL.
:p :p |
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| Lightninrod |
I've been using Mobil 1 and a K&N oil filter(like its 1" 'nut' on the bottom for easy removal) for years in my vehicles. I agree with Joe on the 7500 miles between changes.
May not change the oil on our Mo myself but I expect to specify Mobil 1 for its changes or may have to bring the oil myself.
Dan |
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| Livin |
Changing the filter more often then the oil is an interesting concept... that may be the way to go.
I think a filter change every 3k might be a bit too often, maybe every 5k or 7.5k and oil change every 15k |
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| dborla01 |
Livin: you are thinking like me! I suspect that the majority of americans are throwing away perfectly good oil. Makes the companies happy.
Some Europeans I know think we are crazy for doing the 3000mile nonsence. :D |
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| ekaxel |
| If you ues a really good filter, like the Amsoil EaO, you don't have to change it more often than the oil. I go 10K or once a year... |
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| Livin |
ekaxel,
Where do you get your Amsoil EaO filters?
Why are they better then Fram, K&N, or Mobile 1 - or anything else? |
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| ekaxel |
I am an Amsoil preferred customer. Dealers are everywhere. Look in the phone book. Go to amsoil.com for technical info on the oil and filters.
I use Amsoil Series 2000 0W30 oil. |
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| Eric L. |
I don't understand why people think changing oil less frequently really saves that much money. Let me see - 5 qts of Mobil One = $25. One tank of gas = $65-70. Which one occurs more frequently?
I believe Mobil One can safely go 7500-10,000 miles per change, but its so cheap to change it ($30 including an OEM filter) at half that interval, I don't see why not. I suppose if you take it to a shop that charges a crazy amount for a synthetic oil change (like $100) then ok, I can understand changing it less frequently. But if you are a DIY type of person, why not use the good stuff and change it frequently so you are always running clean oil. |
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| ekaxel |
| Just something that there is no valid reason to do (IMHO), so I choose not to do it! |
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| shelland |
quote:
But if you are a DIY type of person, why not use the good stuff and change it frequently so you are always running clean oil.
So are you saying it's not "clean" after 4,000, 5,000 or 6,000 miles? (I'm not saying it is or isn't - just playing Devil's advocate) |
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| Eric L. |
quote:
Originally posted by shelland
So are you saying it's not "clean" after 4,000, 5,000 or 6,000 miles? (I'm not saying it is or isn't - just playing Devil's advocate)
Oil at 4000 miles is cleaner than it is at 8000 miles (for the same vehicle) - I don't see how anyone can dispute that. Whether it makes a difference in your engine, who knows. |
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| ekaxel |
"Oil at 4000 miles is cleaner than it is at 8000 miles"
Again, all relative. Filter has a lot to do with it. So do driviong conditions... |
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| Eric L. |
Ok if you think your filter can keep oil just as clean at 8000 miles as it does at 4000, then go for it. For all I know, we can all go 20,000 miles between changes, but its so cheap to change the oil much more frequently, I do it just because it makes me feel better.
Think about it this way - if you were buying a used car and there were choices - one had Mobil One changes every 4000 miles and another every 8000 miles, which one would you take?
Again I know I'm a maintenance nut, as joe would say, but its my MO and I like to keep up with regular maintenance, even if its overkill. |
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| zebelkhan |
quote:
Originally posted by Eric L.
...Think about it this way - if you were buying a used car and there were choices - one had Mobil One changes every 4000 miles and another every 8000 miles, which one would you take?...
I take the black one....:D
But seriously, oil change has a lot to do with your driving habbits, operating temprature, dust, towing, etc. For dino oil it makes a huge difference. For synth. oil, I am not so sure. I think a 7,500 mile oil and filter change interval (for synth.) sounds good. |
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| njjoe |
quote:
Originally posted by Eric L.
Again I know I'm a maintenance nut, as joe would say, but its my MO and I like to keep up with regular maintenance, even if its overkill.
Overkill. That is exactly what it is.
With today's advances in metallurgy and the availability of fully-synthetic oil there is no need to replace engine oil at 2,000 or 3,000 mile intervals, other than peace of mind. If it makes you happy then go for it.
Right now I am 6,950 miles into my 7,500 mile approved-by-Nissan oil change interval.
-njjoe |
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| Eric L. |
quote:
Originally posted by njjoe
Overkill. That is exactly what it is.
With today's advances in metallurgy and the availability of fully-synthetic oil there is no need to replace engine oil at 2,000 or 3,000 mile intervals, other than peace of mind. If it makes you happy then go for it.
Right now I am 6,950 miles into my 7,500 mile approved-by-Nissan oil change interval.
-njjoe
Well in the end, even though there is really no way to tell, I think I have a better chance at reaching high mileage if I change the fluids (oil, coolant, tranny, diff/transfer) religiously. For example, if my CVT goes at 50,000 miles I would *know* it was not because I did not change the fluid often enough. |
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| njjoe |
quote:
Originally posted by Eric L.
For example, if my CVT goes at 50,000 miles I would *know* it was not because I did not change the fluid often enough.
If my CVT goes at 50,000 miles I will also know that it was not because I still had the factory-fill of CVT fluid in the sump. Both JATCO and Nissan expect the CVT fluid to be good for much more than 50,000 miles. If it is good enough for their scientists and engineers then it is good enough for me.
-njjoe |
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| zebelkhan |
quote:
Originally posted by njjoe
If it is good enough for their scientists and engineers then it is good enough for me.
I agree with you joe, then I remember the same scientists and engineers also came up with two different snow-plaw designs for our MOs, and I begin to wonder....:D |
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| Eric L. |
People are free to do what they want. To me, I'd rather spend $200 to change my CVT fluid than $5000 to change the entire CVT. Ok, so there might not be a link between bad fluid and a broken CVT, but its not that expensive to change the fluid so I'll do it. Same goes for the engine - to me $30 for a synthetic oil change every 5000 miles vs the $1000 in gas I spend to drive those miles is such a minor expense, I don't see why not do it.
I do agree that you can probably get 100,000 miles out of the vehicle doing the minimum maintenance, but will you get 200,000? Not sure. |
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| njjoe |
quote:
Originally posted by zebelkhan
I agree with you joe, then I remember the same scientists and engineers also came up with two different snow-plaw designs for our MOs, and I begin to wonder....:D
:2: :2:
-njjoe |
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| cschmidt |
Has anyone tried an oil analysis on their synthetic? I have a diesel and those folks often use synthetic. Their hassle is larger oil pans (more $ per change) and the soot collects faster than the oil degrades. So folks use oil analysis to find their optimal change interval based on their own specifics ( engine, driving habits... ). Of course the reports are $20-25, so that is an oil change cost. But if it indicated that 7500 or greater change intervals were ok, it might end up saving some $ for the subsequent changes.
I'm currently running M1 at 5K intervals in the Mo. Probably overkill but I'm still under warranty. It might be worth sending a sample off at the next change just to see what they have to say. Once I'm out of warranty I might move that interval a bit if the analysis report said all was well.
Thoughts?
Chuck |
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| Eric L. |
I'm all for oil analyses, but one caveat is that the oil test will be specific for *your* engine's wear characteristics, and does not really apply for other vehicles (even identical ones) because no two people have identical driving conditions/patterns. So if you want to do an oil analysis for your own vehicle, the info would be good for you, but only loosely applicable for other MO owners.
The MO's oil capacity is ~5 qts total, so it probably can't go 15,000 miles between synthetic oil changes that say, a newer BMW or Mercedes with 7-9 qt capacity can. |
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| Pat03MO |
| I use the MO's computer to change oil using good 'ol conventional oil (usually around 79 cents/qt after the rebate on a case). Synthetic is of course great, but these days, I'm more concerned with the oil filter's ability to do its job rather than the oil. Also, Japanese engines run a long time if you take care of them at all. Trannies and transfer cases on the other hand seem to require more TLC, so that's where I use my $$ that would otherwise be spent on synthetic. (Actually I do use some synthetic oil, but it goes in my motorcycle that only sees one oil and filter change per year due to the minimal miles it sees each year.) |
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