ezemax99se

I was about to change to synthetic engine oil when my neighbor informed me that he knew someone who had their warranty voided because of synthetic oil. Any input would be appreciated. Thanks.

ny96max

if i were you call your local Nissan dealer before you do the change. But i highly doubt it will void your warranty.

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

No it will not.

But in the worst case, how exactly would they know?

The thing you should be worring about it keeping verifible records of your oil changes.

[maxi-overdose]

iTrader: (3)

Hope u havent changed it yet....

DO NOT USE SYNTHETIC unless u have at least 30 k miles on ur car.

I talked to one of the tech before....synthetic is way too smooth which will break in ur engine improperly. If u choose to use synthetic....u should've done it on ur first oil change and keep it all the way.

B.C.

I would think the engine would be "broken in" well before 30 k.

Also, the Maxima owner's manual says that either mineral OR synthetic is acceptable.

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

What? That doesn't make sense. Either wait until after 30k or do it on the first oil change?

Yes I agree that the engine should have enough mileage before switching to synthetics. But 30k is a tad much if your set on going synthetic. Just to be safe, I think 10-15k is plenty of miles. That is about 1 year of use.

Maxwell

...religion. People have the strangest and most differing opinions about motor oil.

ezemax99se

I have 36,000 now I was about to change it. Jeff you said that 30k is a tad much. Are you saying that I should not switch? I have really heard that it makes a difference but I don't want to switch if it is a bad idea. Thanks for the info man.

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

No-no, not at all. 36k is definately a good time to switch. IMHO any time after the engine is broken in, is a good time. Earlier the better.

MAXDriver

Burning question on guarantee in general-
Who ends up with "burden of proof" ?
You have to prove that it's NOT your fault or Nissan has to prove what YOU DID voids warranty ?

Any lawyer/para-legal onboard ?

B.C.

As I mentioned before, my 95 manual specifically states that EITHER mineral OR synthetic oil may be used. If you would like, I could look it up again and give you the page number.

In my case, since I already knew from my manual that synthetic was acceptable as engine oil, I was more concerned about switching. Therefore, I contacted Nissan HQ in Gardena and established a case number to verify this. My concern was rumors I had heard about gasket leakage after using mineral and then switching. A week later, I was contacted with the answer ... "switching to synthetic after using mineral will do no harm".

Hope this helps.

deezo

iTrader: (3)

When you buy a new car, isn't it said that after the 500mi mark you should change your oil. This is supposed to be their break-in point. I was told by an engine company to do this because as the engine wears in, there are microscopic bits of metal released from the new part getting their new shape. After this point is where I would switch over to synthetic.

Matt_P

Not really, anymore. Many manufactors pre-breakin the engines. In addition some cars come with synethetic from the factory.

Matt P.

ezemax99se

If that oil is good enough for those cars, then I know my 99 Max SE-Limited will love it too. I found an article on synthetic oils and they say in the past you did have to wait for the engine to break-in.

But the new synthetic oils are designed to swell the seals just as the mineral oils do, so it is ok to start with syn. or change at anytime. It even said that even at 100,000 miles it is good to make the change. At 20 degrees farenheit, mineral oils start to really thicken up. At 30 below zero they will not even pour!! The synthetic will pour freely up to almost 60 below zero!! Pretty impressive I think.

Even though I live in VA, and it doesn't get that cold, I think the switch is good. They say if you ever had a major oil leak problem and couldn't shut the engine down early enough, then the synthetic would protect your engine better.

Anyways, I just changed mine out today with Mobil 1 Tri-Synthetic 5W-30 and I think it actually made a difference. It seems to rev easier now. Of course that might be wishfull thinking on my part, but I believe it has improved throttle response. My buddy runs it in a Toyota Pick-up and he said that after changing to synthetic that he had to readjust his idle. It seemed to idle about 200 rpms higher. I guess you could attribute this to less friction in the engine maybe? I am not sure but I hope this info may help some of you. Sorry for rambling too much. Later all.