ok Im about to do my very first oil change on my car. All I want to know is which combo are good for maximas. I think Im going to go with Quaker State high milage oil because I have 170,000 miles and a mobil one oil filter. But there might be a better combo

 

I'm running the Nissan OEM VE filter and Mobil 1 synthetic 5w30

 

castrol GTX and a good filter (STP, mobil 1, OEM, bosch) should be plenty of protection.

 

get rid of the mobil 1. our cars don't like it. run dino oil and change more frequently- especially on a VE that needs clean oil to keep the VTCs from dying.

 

where do you buy dino? never heard of it.

 

Too late they are already dead

 

I assume matt is just referring to non-synthetic.

 

oh, hehe, I am a dumbass and dont refer to oil like that. hehe, synthetic or non.

 

Were you talking about doing use mobil 1 specifically, or the longer change interval. I have been using the Mobil 1 for about 2000 miles now.

 

I just remember seeing it on the Oil Analysis spreadsheet,

 

been putting pennzoil 10w30, and factory oil filters the entire life of the cars and i've had very few problems

 

Unless your car has been running with synthetic before 100,000 miles, you'll be fine. If your car has 100,000 or more...stay as far away from synthetic as you can. Synthetic has a nasty reputation for causing oil leaks because it literally cleans the motor out...along with the oil made seals around gaskets etc. You should probably use Castrol GTX 10w30. That seems to be the best stuff to keep the motor happy, and change every 3-5k miles. I do that with my 86, and she still runs like new.

S

 

pretty much what he said.. the mobil 1 also changed formulations a few months back and it's no longer a full synthetic. it's a blend, and protection levels have dropped dramatically. yet another sign of cost-cutting in the world..

stay with castrol GTX and change 3000-4000 miles and you'll be happy. if you drive like me, stay closer to 3000 mile intervals.

 

ok so you guys are saying to go with a non synthetic oil. But what about the quaker state for high milage engines is that any good and alos is the mobil 1 oil filter any good

 

I've been using Valvoline MaxLife (good for cars over 120000km (or my crappy '99 Dodge Grand Caravan which burns a quart of oil between changes (with only 70000km on it))). Holy Cow, that's a lot of brackets. Just out of curiosity, does anyone know if Valvoline synthetic is full synthetic? I should probably dump the Grand for a nice new Quest, eh?

 

last time i changed my oil on my '92SE was around 92 1/2k miles and that was the first time i did it myself and i used castrol syntec, i heard i was a good oil to use....along w/ the OEM VE oil filter...itz time to change it again in about 200 miles or so, should i stay w/ the syntec?? i now have about 951/2K...

 

...P.S. ive had the car for about 2yrs now...and ever since then my dad insisted on takin it to firestone to have it changed until i decided to take it upon myself to do the oil myself....so im not really sure how the previous owners chose their oil....car was and still is in emaculate condition so im guessing it was takin good care of.

 

i might have 2 disagreeon the synthetic thing...i know matt knows his stuff, and im not saying he's wropng, but here's my limited experience...
i started using castrol gtx oil in the car and after 2,500-3000 miles the motor would sound and "seem" (cant really explain well) different, and after a new change w/ dino oil there was a noticable difference in the way the motor ran (smoother, especially at lower acceleration, and quieter)
after reading the oil analysis stuff bill put out i switched 2 mobil 1 and even after 4k miles, when i change the oil there is no noticable difference in the way the motor sounds, accelerates, etc.
however, i totally agree on what matt said about mobil 1 changing their formula so i will reconsider my oil choice, but it will still be a synthetic oil...just my 2 cents (maybe just worth 1, but what the hey)

 

I used Mobil1 on my VG, and it seems to last a little longer than Castrol GTX, plus it ran a little quieter. But since I've had my VE, I have used Mobil! nearly exclusively, but one time I had to have an emergency oil change (road debris took out the low hanging VE filter), and I used Castrol GTX. I did notice significant reduction in the VTC noise, but the overall engine noise didn't seem to be as quiet for as long as it did with the Mobil1.

And yes, Mobil1 did change their blend. They claim that it is now a higher mileage formula as well. I didn't know that it is not fully synthetic any more, but I think the new formula actually performs better than the old one(I've been using it for about 7 oil changes), which would logically follow, if sythetic oil is not the best for our cars.

 

synthetic oil not good for our car? I bought my 89 brand new from the dealer in 88, changed the oil to fully synthetic, and have used it ever since. 195,000 miles later, I havent had a single engine problem. Thats right, the engine has never been opened. Doesnt burn a drop of oil and runs just as strong the day I bought it. As for the oil filter, mobil 1 and other aftermarket filters often live up to thier claims of improved filtration, but at the expensive of more restriction and therefore higher oil pressure. OEM filters are typicaly the best for flow, and should be replaced on or before (if you drive like me) their schedualed life, regardless of how often you change your oil (fully synthetics last around 10,000 miles, I just change mine when the temperature changes) CHANGING from a non synthetic to a fully synthetic will cause gaskets to swell and fail prematurly.

 

so what do u suggest for me....i dont know wat was in my car b4 i bought it about 2yrs ago...but i used synthetic last time i did a change and that was the fist time I have used it....should i stick with it...or go back to non-synthetic??

 

i think the general consensus is that synthetic is ok, as long as you have been using it, but over about 100,000 if you switch it might cause a few problems, but Castrol, GTX seems to be pretty good, haven't heard anything bad about them where as with Mobil1 there are good AND bad comments. I personally am going with the Casrtol for as long as this engine is in my car!

 

Mobil 1 synthetic 5w30 and Purolator oil filter here.