i searched under synthetic oil, oil changes, etc and even the FAQ section but couldn't find exactly the thing I was looking for. I need some advice on what type of synthetic oil to use during my next oil change for a 2k1 max at 23,000 miles... 5w30? Thanks in advance.

 

Were you looking for somebody to actually pour it in your crankcase for you?

There's so much info on oils on this forum it's scary. Download the oil analysis spread sheet.

Mobil 1
OR
Amsoil

There's your choices.

 

It kinda depends on where you're located. Nissan recommends a 5w30 in the manual. If you're in a warmer climate you might not need the extra startup protection of the 5w -- so a 10w30 might be fine. Personally, I'd never go above a 30w oil on a VQ engine unless I was racing in the desert. Mobil1 and Amsoil seem to be good choices for synthetics.

 

Amsoil

 

No Redline Oil for you Maxima guys?

I have run it in the SE-R for years. Just wondering...


BTW just got the 2k GLE that is why I’m poking my nose around learning from the combined wisdom. Well I guess I'm a Maxima guy now.

 

Redline's a great oil, but Amsoil is more geared toward wear protection and is a superior oil in that area. If I competed with a car were every last bit of power was needed, and I rebuilt my engine frequently, I would lean more towards Redline, even though it's way more expensive.

 

It's quite overpriced for what it does. Unless you are blown by a S/C or turbo or NOS, Redline is way overkill.



Use Mobil 1 oil.


If anyone is interested in learning about how oils do in our cars follow the pretty link in my sig.

 

That's not pretty, it's just a text link. Come on Bill, spice it up a little already

 

I was a mechanic for years and had great luck running Mobil 1 in just about everything. Amsoil claims to be even better in tests, so if you choose one of the two you can't go wrong.

 

There's info in Bill's spreadsheet as to why as well. I also some more info about if people are interested.

 

i guess I phrased my question wrong in the sense that I only wanted to know the viscosity of synthetic to run in my car and not what brand as I already know mobil 1 and amsoil are the biggest names around here for our engines.

Maybe you could pour it in for me when you have the time Thanks to everyone else for their info

 

You will be safe with 5w30 pretty much year round unless you are in some very extreme climates.

 

mobil 1 all the time

 

so is 10 w 30 ok for florida climate. i live most of the year in north central florida, and i put 10-w30.

 

Yep.....10W/30 is just fine.

 

Amsoil 5w-30

www.motor-oil-bible.com It'll give you all you ever needed to know about oil. Amsoil ranks best in many areas. Mobil didn't fair so well, but both are excellent oils.

 

I know we’ve beaten viscosities to death before, but I don’t think we’ve ever looked at it this way. If we have, I’m posting it again anyway

People have mentioned that the pour points and borderline pumping temperatures of the 5W-30 vs. 10W-30 is almost identical, so a 10W-30 should be just as usable in cold weather as the 5W-30 for this reason. Those two numbers don’t tell the whole story.

When an oil is graded a 5W or a 10W, a test called the cold crank simulator is used to measure the oil’s apparent viscosity. The test is done at progressively colder temperatures for the lower grades. Just looking at Amsoil, the 5W-30 has CCS viscosity of 2555 cP at –25C. The 10W-30 has a CCS viscosity of 3444 cP at –20C. The 10W-30 is 35% more viscous than the 5W-30 at a temperature 5 degrees warmer. At 40 degrees C, the difference in viscosities is only 10%, but the point is if the engine is in the desert in the summer time, the 5W-30 will still allow faster start-up protection than the 10W-30. Drop the ambient temperatures down to the 40 F number that I see thrown around, and it stand to reason that the 10W-30 will still be thicker than the 5W-30, hence the 5W-30 will still offer better start-up protection and fuel economy.

I realize the differences are getting a little technical at this point, and all the numbers still blow conventional oils away, but I wanted to point out that there are differences from using a 5W-30 vs. 10W-30 even in warm climates. In the grand scheme of things does it really matter and will we as owners ever see them in terms of wear over the lifetime of the engine? I doubt it, and I’m not saying it’s a bad idea to use 10W-30 either. The post was more for people who say there’s no difference between the two as temps. warm up. There is, albeit small one’s compared to dino oils.

 

Recent analysis results of Mobil 1's SuperSyn formulation are quickly deteriorating the credibility of that article/book. It's not the terrible oil that people (myself included) feared it would become. I disagree with a percentage of what it says. The rest is mostly common sense found by searching Google.

 

Yes, you have beaten it to death.



It depends on which hair you want to split. You can also say a 10W will sit on your actual engine parts better instead of completely draining in the crankcase since it is a thicker oil and thus you don't need that extra start protection when cold....

Since I rarely see ambient temps outside of 30 to 80 degrees in my garage (where my car sits and where almost all of its cold starts take place), using 10W/30 is justified in my book, especially given I have 130k on my VG. My VQ, with 50k or so, still gets 5W/30.......

 

I agree, at this point it's splitting hairs. I just wanted to put some more technical info behind the whole argument, you know, for people who might want to search for it later.

 

yep i would think so too, because he is in the sunshine state.

 

My next oil change will definately be Amsoil. I've read some pretty bad reviews concerning Mobil 1...