wow, my two-wheeler has a bigger oil filter than that!

So, the owner's manual says the first oil change comes at 3,750 miles. at what mileage did your maxima get its first change? one school of thought says the dirty oil is a necessary part of the break-in process. the other school says get the "chips" out asap. which is it?

 

I did my first oil change @ like 1500K or so.. They say that the dino oil from factory is thicker then normal to allow better breakin for the motor. But who know's if that's true.. I did the Mobil-1 Syn 5w-30 and Mobil-1 filter ever since

 

Had my new 03 Se changed at the dealer at 1700. The dealer uses mobil synthetic and OEM filter.

 

What I have always done is replace just the oil with Mobil 1 at 1,000 miles (not changing the filter from the factory), then use Mobil 1 (oil & filter) every 5-6K miles. My first Max (95) now has 130K trouble free miles, I30 30K, and our new Murano will be getting the Mobil 1 today at 1,100 miles!

Change the oil yourself. For what you would pay to have a shop use dino oil you can do it yourself with Mobil 1. Also, my advice is to use either a Nissan or Mobil 1 filter.

 

I changed mine at around 1k miles with Castrol GTX and an OEM filter. I changed it again at 2k with Castrol GTX and a Mobil 1 M1-110 filter. I know this might be overkill but I don't mind spending a little money on oil and changing it alot until I go to synthetic. I tend to believe all the ORG members who have said from their own experiences that the VQ takes a long time to really break in so I don't plan on changing to synthetic until at least 6k-10k miles for that reason.

 

I changed my oil at 1000 miles also (Castrol GTX and OEM filter). Debated whether or not to wait until 3750 but I figured what the hell it's not going to hurt the car. If anything, it's being extra cautious.

 

When I bought my 2002 Maxima my dealer told me to bring it back at 1000 and gave me my first oil change free. Then I switched to Mobil 1 at 4000 and haven't had any problems.

 

Check with your dealer.

The dealer I go to for service has a 'preferred card' for only $85. I get free oil changes for the next 3 years (basically 12 oil changes) and 10% off parts/labor for 3 years.

 

Wait a sec.. just for clarification, 1500k is like.. alot of miles to be doing your first oil change. Do you mean 1500 miles or 1500 km? At any rate, if you did your first oil change and switched to synthetic after only 1500 miles (or km for that matter), your engine was nowhere near being broken in yet and you have done a disservice to your motor imho.

 

Is there any hard data, not just opinion, that using synthetic oil early does harm to the VQ engine? The Mobil 1 web site states you can use it from day one.

 

Its not a matter of the synthetic oil harming your motor. Its a case of using a synthetic oil before dino oil and all of its composition has been allowed to seat the motor and break in the rings, pistons, etc.

Have you ever heard of or experienced the fact that new motors burn more oil than broken in motors? Its because the internals havent had a chance to wear against each other and create tight clearances, wear patterns, etc.

Synthetic oil is too slippery and does not contain the stuff needed to properly break in a motor.

 

I agree with slag, it's not an issue of synthetic oil causing damage to your engine. It's simply allowing the engine to fully break-in before changing over, and based on alot of org members past experiences it takes longer to break in the VQ than most engines.

As for the fact that Mobil 1 says it's OK to do it on their website...what else would you expect? They're in business to sell oil, not to give good advice. The reasoning they give is that some cars come with Mobil 1 synthetic from day 1, which is true, but those engines are designed to run synthetic from the start. Our VQ is not. I'd take anything they say with a grain of salt.

 

 

This is why I waited til 10K be4 I went syn. I dumped the breakin oil at 1K and used Mobil Drive clean 5w30 til 10K, then went to Mobil1 SuperSyn. I still used the syn filter from day 1 but with nissan I will always go atleast 10K be4 I go syn.

 

I started synthetic at 30,000 miles. I now have 32,400 miles.

 

I understand what you are saying but on my 95 Max and 2000 I30 I started using synthetic at 1,000 miles. Neither engine burns any oil that I can tell (never need to add any oil between 5,000 mile changes).

 

32k on an o2?
fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck

 

Ive been thinking about switching to Mobil 1 synthetic but I keep hearing different opinions about making the switch. Some people tell me its not good to do and others say to go for it. I just hit 27k on my max and Ive been running castrol GTX and nissan filters all this time. Think I should switch to synthetic??



-Steve

 

I asked the same question at my dealership when I purchase my 03 SE 2 months ago... they introduced me to their lead mechanic, according to him, your first 2 oil changes should be regular and you can use synthetic after first 2. He sounds like a very smart guy so I am sure he knows what he's talking about...

 

42k here.

 

Damn I only have 29.4 on my 01 were the hell are you people drving. Ive had mine since 9/01

 

I have 27K on my 2000. Why do you guys have so many miles...work ?

 

30% work/school
70% pleasure

I've had my 2k2 since 9/01

 

I switched at 8000 miles. The break in process was almost entirely complete at that point (at least from an analysis standpoint), so I made the call to switch. I lose no to a very minescule amount of oil between changes, and the car runs better (better mileage and all). The truth is your don't know when you're engine is broken in unless you send your oil in for the total analysis.

 

here we go again... tell me, how do you know whether your maxima is burning oil or not? I just did an oil change yesterday and cannot for the tell whether it is under, over or just filled. the dipstick gives me no clue--there is oil all over it and dry spots scattered all over as well. i have tried waiting, with the stick in and out. I have tried first thing in morning. I have tried hot, after 10/20/30/120 minute cool down. all the same. no reliable reading.

I put 250,000 miles on a diesel VW and ran nothing but Fram filters and the cheapest CC rated mineral oil the store had that day. never used oil.

 

I did dino @ 500 miles, then switched to synthetic @ 4k. There are so many schools-of-thought on these issues, I would ignore them all, follow factory recommendations at the very least. If it makes you feel beeter to change more frequently or switch to synthetic at some point, go ahead, it can't hurt and only make it better.

For my other car, which I still have (95 Talon TSi), I did the same as above. Changed @ 500 with dino while still in break-in, then switched to mobil 1 / purelator or fram (which ever was in stock at pep boys) filters every 3-5k.

I now have 130k on that engine, and it runs like new. This is a modified turbo charged eninge BTW that I have mildly beat every day since 1995 when I bought it new. It never burns oil, I never add oil between changes, and I still get the same exact gas mileage I did back in 1995. All this and I have about 20+ HP over factory with my mods.

I pulled the valve cover off for a gasket change about 3 weeks ago, and there was not 1 stain, it looked like brand new aluminum. The cam lobes still has some machine marks in the contact area which I thought was amazing. I never once did an "oil analysis".

 

For a totally dry engine, the amount of oil you would have to add would be 5 and 1/4 quarts (for instance, and overhaul). The amount to add for just an oil change is approximately 3 and 7/8 quarts. The amount of oil to add with the filter change is approximately 4 and 1/4 quarts. When I measure the oil from my drain when I'm changing oil, I get between 4 - 4 & 1/8th quarts each time I've changed it (this is curent to 14 June 2003). I have 17300 miles on my car. I'd say that it's not burning or really using any oil, so to speak. I know I don't get all 4 and 1/4 quarts out of the drain, but I wipe some up in minor spills each time, and also may not drain for "exactly" the same amount of time each time, but I take that into consideration when doing my calculations. Believe me when I say I am **** retentive when it comes to my vehicles and their maintainence (comes from good training in the Navy ). My vehicles tend to get better gas mileage than advertised, and also tend to make slightly more power on the dyno than is usual. That may be from my particular break in process, which differes from the factories specefications. But you can speculate from my experiences what you will...