1) Is anyone running synthetic oil? If so, I have heard that there was a performance increase, is that so?

2) I have less than 2000 miles on my car and I am already having to take it in for service, due to a rotor problem? Is this common on the new Maxima's?

 

I have had my max for over a year and a half and have never had a problem with the rotors, so I don't know much on that subject. But I definitely recommend to you to use synthetic oil. I it just better on your engine overall and the only down side is that it cost a little more that regular oil. I have been using it since the first oil change in my car.

 

I understand that some Maximas are coming from the factory with the brake rotors overtorqued, causing them to warp in a short time (yes, even in the first 2000 miles). There is a TSB out for this, and the dealer is supposed to resurface the rotors according to the TSB, but developing a relationship with a particular service writer at your dealer may make it easier to get them to either resurface or to replace the warped rotors when you take the car to the dealer.

As for the synthetic vs. "real" oil...there's no research data out there. I just don't know, but lots of people are polarized on this one.

-umpopa

 

Save your money! Just use a good quality "regular" oil like Mobile, Kendall, repackaged BMW, etc., and change your oil regularly every 2000-3500 miles.

I've argued the synthetic vs. regular many times with fellow Engineering friends of mine. The best information I've gathered is that the advantage of synthetic is that it gives you an extended break down life, which is good if you plan on changing your oil every 7500 miles as my owner manual recommends. What??? However, I would never exceed 3000 miles and I'll probably change it every 2000-2500 miles while only changing the filter every other change. This is due to an oil analysis comparison I saw showing some oil begins to breakdown after 2000 miles under moderate to extreme driving conditions. Synthetic is also shown to work better in extreme cold climates especially places like Canada. I'm not sure, but I think it's due to the thinner consistency of the synthetic vs. the regular and cold starts. You can go with the synthetic for the long lasting abilities or just religiously change your oil with a GOOD quality regular oil for half the price(Kendall is $2/qt vs. Mobile 1 for $4.50/qt). The major source of my information is from an x-BMW Mechanical Engineer, who now owns a BMW motorcyle shop and designs BMW weekend race bike engines in his spare time. Anyways, I consider him quite a knowledgeable person who uses SAE, BMW, and Ford reference books to back up his statements. Just my thoughts on a loooong debated subject.

 

However, BMW has been using Mobil 1 synthetics exclusively in its cars now for a number of years...

 

Ice.

Changing your oil every xxx miles and then NOT changing your oil filter, is a very bad idea. I would be better to change the filter and NOT change the oil. Why would you run clean oil through a dirty filter? Does not make sense.

And like I always say, if you gonna change your oil every 2-3k, might as well only run your tires until it gets to 1/2 tread than then change those to. And change your plugs every 20k.

 

This I guess is just an opinion since I have nothing to back it up, but I have used synthetic oil in my max ever since the first oil change (as well as all my other cars) and I find it better. No matter which car I've had, used or new, whenever 2500 miles came around, the oil would ALWAYS come out black. No matter which oil, which brand, which grade, etc. Now that I've used synthetic, it ALWAYS comes out clean and NEVER burns oil. Although, regardless of documentation, I'll be neurotic enough to change my oill still every 2500 miles rather than trust the 7500 mile marker with the synthetic oil. I live in NYC and there's lots of stop and go traffic, which supposedly beats on the car (I agree). So I stick with synthetic as well as every 2500 miles. Who cares if it costs another 10 dollars every month. I never understood people who complain about a small amount of money (such as 10 a month or less if you drive less miles) when you're spending so many THOUSANDS on a car you'd like to maintain

 

Before I bought my 2001 Maxima SE I drove around a '92 Camry. Every time I got an oil change(which was every 3,000 miles)I used regular oil. The Camry now has 225,000 miles on it and the engine still runs really good. Now that I have
the new max I wondered if i should change to synthetic oil.
I did a lot of research and there really isn't any "factual" information. Everything I've heard or read is based on opinion. Taking everything into consideration, I've decided to use synthetic oil anyway. I figure it's only a couple of extra bucks a month and I'm willing to take any precautionary action having to do with my new car.
Think of it this way.........wouldnt you want the best for your baby?

 

damn, that's a lot. i use mobile tri-synthetic mobil 1. i change mine every 3k (about every 5 weeks) and i though i did it a lot.. but at 3k, even w/ mobil 1 synthetic used since my first oil change, my oil STILL comes out BLACK.

 

Just a note for everyone. The color of the oil it NOT an accurate indicator of the oil's condition. It means it's doing it's job. For REAL information regarding oil and oil changes, please read these threads: https://maxima.org/forums/showthread...threadid=17796

https://maxima.org/forums/showthread...threadid=12808

https://maxima.org/forums/showthread...?threadid=5734

 

of those on this board.....

Please, people, DO A SEARCH for either "synthetic oil" or "Amsoil".....You'll get quite a few informative posts about this subject, and learn a whole lot more than you are showing in the previous posts......

The 3 Jeff has above are good places to start....

 

I knew someone one question the changing of the oil filter every other change, however I know that Nissan makes filters that last beyond 4-5K miles so I don't worry about changing the filter every other oil change. As to which oil is better for you, you'll never know until you do an oil analysis kit. I plan on sending in my oil after the first oil change to see how the oil I use holds up in the Arizona sun. As to the comment of BMW using Mobile One synthetic, where did you hear this. Every BMW owner/Engineer/Racer I've meet hasn't even know the source of BMWs repackaged oil. I would like to know, since every Ford quarterly report has ranked the BMW repackaged oil FAR superior to most oils they test. Anyways, I know everyone will have there own ideas on the "best" oil and change interval, but for me I trust people who have personal experience and documentation to back up their claims.

 

From what I understand, there have been tests done (by oil manufacturers so they have potential to be biased) that show synthetics give a slight bump in Hp. The problem is that the tests run a vehicle thatr has had all fluids converted to synthetic: oil, tranny fluid, etc... The tests only reveal between 1-5 hp depending on the car.

The reason I use synthetic is b/c it's damn cold in Iowa! There are days that the high is a negative number.

There are 3 reasons to use synthetic:
(1) better flow at lower temperatures,
(2) Can withstand higher temps before breakdown, and
(3) longer lasting viscosity allowing for a longer interval between oil changes.

So if you are going to change you oil every 3,000 miles anyway and live in a temperate climate-save $10 and use regular oil.

 

well my car has about 4500 miles on it right now and i'm putting Amsoil in it at the next oil change. Your engine won't have to work as hard with synthetic oil's which will give ya just a hair more horse's and save ya a few drops of fuel. I'm also using an amsoil oil filter and getting an air filter also. I've been using amsoil for a long time in my cars and motorcyles and IT does make a difference!!!
http://www.amsoil.com

 

It's odd that you accept the fact that an oil filter can go 4-5k easy but refuse to accept that the oil can go at least 4-5k. If you would have read the links I suggested, the oil testing issue has been addressed and proven to great length.

 

an oil filter is not as important as the oil?

Nissan oil filters can last 4 - 5k but oil can only last 3k? Where on earth have you come up with that?

Still confused....

 

Guys, you're living in the old days when engine blocks were baked in a foundry and "machined" when they cranked them up. This article gave me a new outlook on oil changes. I used to be a 3-5K oil change person myself, but this guy has some interesting stuff to say about new engines, breaking them in, and oil/filter changes.

http://cars.about.com/autos/cars/lib...iley083000.htm

It also talks about a little experiment this guy did with his VW Golf with no oil change in 60,000 miles.

 

Quote:

an oil filter is not as important as the oil?

Nissan oil filters can last 4 - 5k but oil can only last 3k? Where on earth have you come up with that?

Still confused....

SAE technical papers, Ford quarterly reports, Mechanical Engineering Text Books, Automotive Engineering International(SAE monthly publication), SAE Handbook(Great book EVERY automotive enthusiast should own!!!), and finally an extremely bright x-BMW Mechanical Engineer now BMW business owner who builds award winning race bike engines in his spare time. These are some of the many sources I used when I decided the oil change procedure I would personally stick with on all my vehicles. So far, my Sentra has 123K+ miles and doesn't burn any oil. I know Nissan can build good products and I believe with religious maintanence procedures it won't make a difference whether I use sythetic or conventional oil. Check out http://www.sae.org for the best published automotive technical papers and information source in the world!

 

I am from the UK and find the marketing of oil changes in the US very peculiar.

Most new cars sold in the UK have a service interval (all of which include an oil change) of 6 to 10k and while there are plenty of oil commercials on TV and ads in the press, none of them ever suggest a 3k oil change or doing a change before the manufacturers specification.

When I lived there I had an elderly MR2 that I always used Mobil 1 in and changed according to the standard manufacturers spec (6k), my mechanic (a friend) thought that I was nuts and should easily be able to stretch the synthetic to 10 - 12k.

BTW it may be $4.50 a quart for Mobil 1 here, but it is $50 for 4 litres (4 and a bit quarts) there... so maybe the stretch would have been a good idea!

 

Didn't answer the question, but ok...whatever....

 

You know Bill. It really doesn't matter. The fact is oil and Nissan filters are good for 7-8k on dino anyway. So any combination of changes inbetween really doesn't matter. If ICE thinks he's getting MORE protection by replacing the oil and not the filter, he's mistaken. If he wants to post a specific article, I'll read it but I've have not seen anything.

Like I always say, might as well change your tires when they are only 1/3 worn out too!

 

The point I was trying to make and failed miserably, is that I have had a very good experience with my old MR2 that never suffered a friction failure while using synthetic and secondly that the 3k oil change paranoia is purely a marketing ploy to get us to buy more oil! Looks like it works a lot too!

 

Interesting article. It had some good points, mixed with some opinions.

 

One could also read this:
http://mr2.com/TEXT/synth_oil.txt

 

Sorry Bill, I thought I did answer your question. There is not an EXACT prescription for oil changes in any of the sources I mentioned. What I meant was that my oil change procedure was formed due to all the information I have read/researched/heard/gathered from the many different areas I listed. To answer your question as to whether an oil filter is not as important as a filter, I say YES. This is due to the fact that filters don't even collect much dirt, particles of metal, or debris during several oil changes. I have talked to several different engineers that have said oil filters do not need to be changed as often due to how good engines are built nowadays. One **** retentive Engineer cut oil filters open at 3000,6000,9000, and 12000 miles for fun and said even at 12,000 the pleates looked brand new and didn't have any noticeable debris trapped in them. So, I believe filters nowdays don't need to be changed as often, because both oil purity and engine quality is much better.


No, I don't believe changing the oil and not changing the filter provides MORE protection than changing the oil/filter at the same time. What I believe and considered when forming MY oil change procedure was that I have been shown a lot of "evidence" that regular oil BEGINS to breakdown as soon as 2000 miles. However, I been told REPEATEDLY by many people including GM/Nissan/VW-Audi proving grounds Engineers that filters can withstand filtering oil for far more than 2000-3000 miles. Therefore, I feel safe in changing the filter every other change due to the fact that I religiously stick to my change intervals and never let them go to long. So, I don't believe 4000-5000 miles on a filter and 2000-2500 miles an oil change is going to drastically harm my engine. Anyways, I know everyone has there own ideas/way of maximizing their engines protection, but NO one is exactly right. So, I'm just telling people what I have learned from my experience and research on the subject. Just take it the way you want too.

P.S: Sorry for the delay, but work has been a pain in the A$$ lately.