Hi, everyone!
I am just curious what type of oil should I use for my recently purchased GXE 95: 5W30, or 10W30? Is the sinthetic oil a requirement? I can't see (on the door's sticker) what type of oil was used in my car prior to purchasing it.
I appreciate every advise. Thank you!

Eugene.

 

the manual calls for 5w-30 for most instances and synthetic is not required for the engine. I know that many here like to use it to baby their car-- but it does cost a bit more--

=) hope that helps

Brian

 

Use any name brand FULL SYNTHETIC 5w30.

 

You can stick any crap oil you lie and it will last for a long time.
But treat her like a lady and use synthetic- Mobile One / Castrol Syntech etc.
The car runs cooler and revs faster - thus better acceleration, mileage, power etc.
A few bucks now will send her farther than your probably willing to go.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by VQ Quick
You can stick any crap oil you lie and it will last for a long time.
But treat her like a lady and use synthetic- Mobile One / Castrol Syntech etc.
The car runs cooler and revs faster - thus better acceleration, mileage, power etc.
A few bucks now will send her farther than your probably willing to go.

Thanks, VQ Quick! If they used 5W30 (regular) before, and I decide to switch to sinthetic, do I have to ask for any specific cleaning or other procedures, or just ask to pour the sinthetic in during the closest oil/filter change?
Tanxs!

Eugene.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by elevit

Quote:

Originally posted by VQ Quick
You can stick any crap oil you lie and it will last for a long time.
But treat her like a lady and use synthetic- Mobile One / Castrol Syntech etc.
The car runs cooler and revs faster - thus better acceleration, mileage, power etc.
A few bucks now will send her farther than your probably willing to go.

Thanks, VQ Quick! If they used 5W30 (regular) before, and I decide to switch to sinthetic, do I have to ask for any specific cleaning or other procedures, or just ask to pour the sinthetic in during the closest oil/filter change?
Tanxs!

Eugene.

Ok... no you really don't ahve to do anything... just go and change. But some haev said you need to do "prep work"... I never found this to be necessary.

BTW, search on this subject... there's be A TON of talk about this lately.

-shing

 

and pic up some pina colada butt lotion. Does the trick every time.

 

Speaking of which, I just went to go get my first synthetic oil change. I didn't do the "prep" work as some had said. I took Shing's advice and I just went have them drain the old oil, put in a Nissan OEm filter and filled it up with the 5w-30 Mobil 1 synthetic oil. Btw, does anyone know if it is bad to actually put in 5 full quarts into the engine? I thought that was a bit too much b/c I recall seeing it in the manual that 4.25 quart is the appropriate amount. damn...
oh, guess I shall learn from this the next time around.

 

Too much can potentially be bad b/c your crank can stir up the oil and foam it up.. it the foam gets picked up by the oil pick up... no lube = bad.

Now I don't think that 5 is too bad... 6 or 7 I think is very bad.

-Shing

 

how much oil do you usually have them put in when you do the oil change--I actually wanted to give them 4 quarts and then put in little by little on my own...
like I said, there is always next time...but the good thing now is that instead of changing every 2500 miles (drive in the city--stop and go alot), I am going to move that up to the 5-6000 mark--still city driving though...

hate taking it to the place every three months...now it can wait!!
hahah

 

Thanx, humaras! Do you know if you required to install Nissan OEm filter only, or any other brand name, but similar filter is OK?

Thanks a lot!
Eugene.

 

No you are not requred to install nissan oem only. But why not? piece of mind...

 

anywhere from 4 to 4.5... depends on how long I let it sit there and drain.

-Shing

 

Eugene,

No problem at all. Shing has suggested a OEM filter or a Mobil 1 filter. I personally found it to be more economical by using the Nissan filter because they cost about $4 a piece from Courtesy...and if you buy it along with some other stuff...ie...spark plugs...it makes a good deal. Please note that shipping is expensive from them though--so make sure you have at least a few items to buy when you order to make it worth your while. I had them use the OEM filter...and this morning, I could detect that the car was running a bit quieter...but I haven't pushed it or anything on the highway yet to see how that is. I think it is a good idea to stick with quality stuff--namely the mobil 1 filter or the Nissan filter.
hope that helps Eugene.

Brian =)

 

yeah right. well i ran a $4 bottle of engine drain for 20 minutes to remove crap sludge. then 5w-30 mobil 1 oil.
ran s-l-i-g-h-t-l-y smoother but it's a matter of old oil vs. new oil imo.

 

Nissan OEM filters are supposed to have anti drain back valve to stop all the oil from draining into the pan after sitting... thsi could be why it's running quieter upon start up.

-Shing

 

Thanks a lot, guys, for all your help!

Eugene.

 

ha, you're welcome.

 

most of the info that I know comes from Shing himself--so I think if you'd like to thank anyone--Shing is the man.


I got a question for you guys who have been using synthetic...when the car is on...and if the A/C is not on--can you actually hear your engine running? I have noticed that the Maxima's engine is fairly loud--not just in mine, but in a few others...just wondering if that is true...

 

yeah, the timing chain. i like it!

 

hehe... no problem... just spread the knowledge.

As for noise... mines what I would expect from a car this range. I mean it's fairly quiet. I don't really notice it. so I guess it's not intrusive. Maybe it's cause the car is still relatively new, although it does have lots of miles... in 2 years and 1 month, I've racked up some 53K miles...

-Shing

 

Most people's noticing of synthetic working better is more because it's oil oil vs. brand new oil. The deal with synthetic is that it gets dirty a lot less than normal oil. Thus is stays cleaner longer. Also, it seems to run a little cooler than normal oil.

 

This may be true in most cases... to tell the the truth, I didn't notice anything when I changed over... I used to change oil every 2500 miles, synthetic or not... what a waste of money come to think of it... anyhoo... I do it for a piece of mind and also for the fact that I can go 7500 miles between changes and be ok.

-Shing

 

Rememeber when this forum was being rebuilt earlier this month and we had this long post about oil--well, I normally change my oil--the mineral stuff every 2500 and I do notice this: The mobil one mineral oil is pretty darn good when you first put it in and I would say that I can notice some differrence between that or say shell or some other crap brand... but then again, oil is oil right

I have just driven the car hard last night and earlier this morning with the synthetic stuff...yes, the car is a bit quieter at idle but I do notice the shifting is smoother--but I don't know how long that will last. And to think about it this way, I am pretty busy most of the time, so chances are, I will go and change the oil now--with the synthetics every 5000 or so miles. That in my world would be a good 6 to 7 months and on average is about twice a year...

btw, does anyone know if any nissan dealers around the NYC area do oil changes with synthetics--namely mobil 1?

thanks guys.

 

Again, let me put my 2 cents in.

First and foremost...Castrol Syntec is NOT sythetic. It is mineral based. Castrol was recently sued by other oil manufacturers to remove the word synthetic from their product. They still call it "Syntec" because that is a trademark.
Castrol. IMHO, is crap. Castrol does not drill for their oil. They buy it on the open market from the cheapest bidder. They do not refine their own oil. They also contract that task to the cheapest bidder. Years back when their oil tested number 1 in Consumer's Reports, they were buying their crude oil from WITCO Chemicals (Kendall/Amalie) and had Exxon refine it for them.

SO....when you buy Castrol, it's a crap shoot. DON'T DO IT.
Friends don't let friends use castrol oil.
However, their brake fluid (Castrol LMA DOT4) is good stuff.

Mobil!, on the other hand, IS synthetic. They have always been, and always will be the best stuff on the shelf.
However, all synthetics are quite good, so it's not like you'll see any diff between any synthetic line.
I currntly use Mobil1 in my 2K Civic EX, and my wife's 98 4Runner. In my Max, I use Exxon full synthetic 10W-30. Down here in FL, the summer is a bit brutal, so I use the heavier stuff (10-30 vs. 5-30).

Now for the oil filter.
I like the OEM filter from Nissan. It is well built, and from the ground up, it's for your Nissan.

However...there are some good contenders out there.
Purolater, Wix, ...you get the idea. Just don't use Fram.
they are pathetic. The material they use to build Fram filters are so flimsy. They sometimes have strings tied around the filter element so that it will not bow out. YIKES!

On a similar note....someone mentioned Mobil1 filters.
I have never used them, but I hear good thing about them.
I understand that these are actually made by Champion Labs in IL. They make great filters. They are the guys that make Deutsch filters for AutoZone. Deutsch, by the way, is a good filter for the money.

I'm tired of typing...so I'm gonna go.
Hope this shed some light on the topic.

Later!

 

I guess it is really what we pay for. The price for mobil 1 filters are about $9 a piece whereas the OEM nissan ones from Courtesy are about $4 -5 with shipping.

I actually tried this synthetic and ran it pretty hard this weekend...in general the shifting is pretty smooth with the engine but there were a few instances where I am just stepping on the gas and the rpm can't seem to move about 3000. oh well, I guess overall it is somewhat noticeable...I did pull out the dipstick to take a look at the color of the oil and it seems to have gotten dirty already.
The color of the synthetic which has been in there for about 4 days seems darker than the mobil oil (mineral) after 4 days...is my engine dirty or soemthing?

well, I know I will leave it alone for this winter...

whewww...glad my maintenance is done and ready for old man winter...need a few good coats of wax and I am set.

 

Go with an OE filter. Some of those cheaper FRAM filters do not have a bypass valve. the OE ones will... Cut one in half and take a look (if you're interested) the OE filters are very well-designed.

 

I do notice soemthing--is it me or is it the gas or is it the damn synthetic?
I put in synthetic last thursday and I filled up a tank full at the usual amoco--super 93. I took my trip to Jersey and that is 60 miles at best...and came abck...usually that takes about 1/4 tank...and now I look at the gas gauge and it is just above the middle mark.

I thought that synthetic was supposed to increase gas mileage for a car???
what is happening here!!!

 

I agree with all these dudes on Mobil 1. It is probably the best oil you can get for non racing applications commercially (ie. Redline is better from what I've heard but do most folks really need it and I wonder what the cost is). As for filters I've always used Fram filters in every car I owned after a former friend of mine who used to do commercial sales for Fram/Autolite extolled the virtues of this filter. He was also a mechanic for 'round 20 years. He had mentioned the inferior construction of cheap filters you get with the $9.95 oil change and specifically how the fram ones were really well constructed. Of course his advice was dispensed after he left Fram so I feel it was pretty unbiased. I don't do the changes myself I take it to the local Walmart where they've always done a great job $30 bucks gets a Fram filter and Mobil 1 oil along with topping up all fluids, vacumming the car and checking the tire pressure. Pretty good deal in my opinion since it would probably cost almost $20 to do it myself.

~C

 

You get a synthetic oil change for $30 with a Fram filter? and all the other stuff? that is a very good price--
And walmart does it too huh? that is soemthing...

 

Hey MadJap

Do you have any references for your information regarding Castrol? I have used regular Castrol on all my cars for years and this is news to me.

Thanks

 

Yeah dude,
What's really cool is that Walmart let's you choose what you want to put in your car from off the shelf. Ie. if you want a certain oil or certain filter that they stock on their shelves they will charge you their (cheap) price for it so basically your not at all limited to the bulk cheap junk that all oil change places keep on hand but by the bottle regular retail stuff. I first went there after my little bro had a great experience with his tricked out Impreza and after the Nissan dealer wanted like 25 dollars for a genuine OEM filter and some crap brand of oil I never heard of. ~C

 

This doesn't make sense... 5W30 and 10W30 still has the same viscosity at operating temp, 30. The 5 and 10 refers to cold temp viscosity.

-Shing

 

Funny you said that about the dealers. The dealer around here--Nissan Dealer-- uses the OEM filter and also 5 quarts of Castrol motor oil and they charge 20 plus tax with is about 22 for an oil change. The problem with that is you really don't get a chance to tell them what you want. So, I take it to my mechanic and I pay him $10 plus $3 tip to the guy who actually does the work on the car. I bring my own filter ($5) plus the amount I pay for the synthetic oil which is about $22...so the total cost of the synthetic change would probably run me $40. The cool thing is they let me stand there and watch...so that is cool with me.

Do you know if they do that for all the Walmarts or just selected ones? I can go to this one in Jersey and find out.


[QUOTE]Originally posted by compu_squid
[I]Yeah dude,
What's really cool is that Walmart let's you choose what you want to put in your car from off the shelf. Ie. if you want a certain oil or certain filter that they stock on their shelves they will charge you their (cheap) price for it so basically your not at all limited to the bulk cheap junk that all oil change places keep on hand but by the bottle regular retail stuff. I first went there after my little bro had a great experience with his tricked out Impreza and after the Nissan dealer wanted like 25 dollars for a genuine OEM filter and some crap brand of oil I never heard of. ~C

 

Not true.
5W-30 is a 5 weight oil with PROPERTIES of 30 weight at operating temp. (in stability)
10W-30 is 10 weight with PROPERTIES of 30 weight at operating temp.

I understand that a lot of people think that oil changes thickness when it gets hot....it doesn't (or shouldn't)...if above statements were indeed true, why won't everyone use 0W-30? Or better yet, the 5W-40?

Put some oil in the frying pan....heat the oil up to 95C...does it get thicker? No it doesn't. It does get thicker, however, when the oil molecules start to break down...at like 170 C.

Not trying to start crap...I was at one time going to be an electrochemical major...these are facts.

 

[/I][/QUOTE]

I will look for some articles on this, but I don't have anything right now.
I understand that you've had good luck with Castrol. Well...I'm not surprised...If you love cars as I do, I'm sure you take care of your car. That would mean that you probably change oil at 300-500 mi intervals. Since Castrol still has to meet API (American Petroleum Institute) specs, the oil should hold up well enough in normal use. It's when you beat the hell out of the oil, ie diesel/supercharged/turbo application, the shortcomings will become clear.

Again, I'm not looking to start crap...
You use what works for you...I'll use what works for me.

I was a sales rep for an automotive firm for a few years, and I picked up a lot about little known facts. (especially about motor oil) I actually don't listen to too many mechanic's opinions...I tend to rely on the engineers that actually see test numbers and results...you know that numbers don't lie.

Oh...here's another one about oil that you guys might want to know.....

You know how people tell you that Quaker State oil gums up engines? Well...it's not a 100% true.
What QS did wrong was that they kept 30W ND (non-detergent) oil on the market much longer than they should have. The old timers who used this oil in their 45 Buicks and 51 Cadillacs kept using this stuff. In the early 70s when the operating temp of the average engine started to rise to control emmissions, this oil actually started to break down early and gum up engines.
A lot of mechanics tell you that QS is parafin based oil, and that it turns into wax. Again, a bogus, uneducated statement.
True, QS is refined from parafin based Pennsylvania crude.
But so is Kendall, Amalie, and Pennzoil. Why don't these oils have the negative rap?
Parafin based oil is VERY desirable from a refinery's standpoint, because it yields about 5% more usable refined motor oil. Once it's refined, the base stock is actually more stable than the stuff from elsewhere in the world.
But the "wax" content is no more than any other oil that has been refined from other crudes.

WHEW....I really need to quit typing, cuz I could go on for ever talking about this stuff.

Anyway...please don't take offense at these facts...I can't change facts. After all, we're all on the same team, right?

Mad Jap

 

Whoops...I meant 3000 to 5000 mile intervals...

My bad.

 

I think the best oil right now from what I have heard-- please correct me if I am wrong is Mobil--either the reguarl mineral oil or the synthetic stuff? I love my car a great deal and I do change the oil quite frequent. And because of the city driving--stop and go --very short trips...it is not typical for me to only drive 2500 miles in a few months. I do change it at that time. I try to make it a rule that I change it 4 times a year...

I guess the people who are picky with the stuff they put in their car have cars that last a very long time.

 

From:
http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/2...oil_bible.html

"Think of it like this: a 10W30 oil is a 10-weight oil that will not thin more than a 30-weight oil when it gets hot."

In other words, 5W-30 and 10W-30 will have the same viscosity when hot.

People can and do use 0W-30... it's for use when in extreme cold temps, to ad in start up. Different weight oil will have different pouring property at cold temps. Heavier the oil, harder to pour at cold temp.

-Shing

 

But I see what you are saying. However, my statement is still true. They have the same viscosity at oprating temp.

=P

-Shing