I looked in my manual and it says 4 5/8 quarts, I looked at autozone.com and called autozone and they swear it is 4 1/10 quarts. Now if I had to bank on one or the other I'd say Nissan's recommendation is who I'd go with. But I figured maybe autozones records are more up to date then my 7 year old factory manual and maybe over the coarse of that 7 years it was determined that using a little less oil was better for the maximas?

Help!

 

I put in 4 1/4 quarts and then check it.

 

I always put in 4.5 quarts.

Anyways, is it just me or does the Maxima dipstick like not work at all? I can never check the oil with that thing. I always get these ridiculous readings.

 

4.25 quarts is RIGHT on the dot on my 96....

 

do u really use 4.5 quarts or is it cause u spill .25 quarts accidentally or sumthing???

 

I thought maybe it was just my maxima! On mine there is oil all the way up and down the stick. Otherwise I would have just done what I normally do with other cars... add oil and keep checking the dipstick until it looks about right. My girlfriends 99 Accord (4cyl vtec) is the same way... completely wacky readings, and hers doesn't even have hatch marks or lines or anything, it's just a metal stick with a hole in the middle of it.

My silverados oil stick is great... always easy to read and I usually don't even have to clean the stick off first to get an accurate reading.

 

the key is to look on the BACK of the VQ dipstick to see the level, not the side that faces you as you are extracting it.


The dipstick design is terrible.

 

Same here I always figured I was doing something wrong

 

4.25 qts is what mine holds, crappy dipstick and all. Yes, read the backside of the stock to get the correct level.

 

Yea I checked the other day and I had oil the full length of the stick

 

Thank God I am not the only one with a faulty dipstick LOL

I can NEVER no matter which way I look at it, how long I wait after the car is off, if I pull it out nice and slow, or quick and fast, get an accurate reading. I either have NO oil in my car, or WAY TOO MUCH

 

so regardless of what the dipstick says, just add 4.25 quarts??? i just changed my oil and added 4.25 then i checked the dipstick and it is reading at about an inch above the High/Full. i feel like draining a little bit out. should i worry???

 

Nah... from what I understand most cars are designed to take at least a quart less or more than what they recommend and not have a single probem. In other words you could have put 3.25 in there or 5.25 and it still wouldn't hurt anything. Not to say that it would be optimal by any means, but it shouldn't do any damage.

 

I have had a hard time reading the oil level after an oil change.
There is a trick that helps. Take a paper towel, fold it in quarters, place the dipstick marked side down on the towel. Then slowly raise the dipstick off the towel and you will be able eyeball the oil spot on the towel to the gauged part of the dipstick.