I just did my 4th oil change today.
I get an oil change every 2500 miles.. Is this too early?

 

Are you using synthetic? If yes, then you are changing it way to early.

 

regardless of the type of oil...2500 miles is a bit too often. If you are using regular oil, stick to the reccomendations of changin it every 3750 miles. If you use synthetic, you can go longer....

 

I use Castrol GTX.

 

I'm used to changing the oil in my car every 3000 miles max. I'd even wanna do 2500 miles like Rba. What if u drive the car really hard? Everytime I changed the oil in my last car at 3000 miles it came out BLACK!

Any comments anyone?

 

I religiously change mine every 3K. Once I use up the oil I have on hand (enough for 2 more changes), I'm going synthetic and will scale it back a bit.

 

i do 2500-3000..
it isn't neccary to do it so often but i doubt it'll hurt it. i live in the boon docks so my engine is a lil more stressed than most ppl that reside on flat grounds.

 

are these hard drivin conditions 2.5-3k? are u guys beatin onthe engine?

 

Well I drive like those cops in the Castro GTX commercial...JK. But I always check the oil after the oil change and at 2500 miles..... Big difference!!.... Yellow and dark brown.

 

dunno but my oil looks pretty dark to me when i change it.. brownish black. hahaha i remember back in the day when i had the jeep, my bro never brought it in to get an oil change. so i swapped out teh oil as soon as i got my license.. poured the diry ooil in a jug, next morning the oil solidified.. the top layer was still sorta liquidy but it was really thick. and lotz of sediments at the bottom of the jug. looked like brown sand and coca cola.

 

No problem... Its kind of really up to you. If you prefer to give your Baby fresh oil, I'm sure it really loves you for it!!!! I know that 3750 is cool for regular oil, however I'm kinda of the opinion that my car deserves fresh 'life blood' every 3k -- I make a lot of short trips and often love to lean (heavily) on the horsepower, so I feel better changing it more often. I guess its more of a personal thing... I myself plan on going the Mobil 1 route when I get to 10k and then changing it a little later than I would otherwise.

 

Well I drive very short distances <4 miles to work, etc.
So every 3 months I change my Mobil 1 and this equates to about 1,700 miles. When seeing the oil and how black and thin it is, I feel my driving style mandates sticking to the 3 month thing regardless of mileage. It's only money and will prolong the life of the engine.

So, it depends on ones driving style. Mostly highway 3-5k
miles is probably ok.

 

Hey RBa, it's a good question your bringing here. Changing your oil every 3000 - 3750 miles is what most company recommend, but changing it every 2500 miles is even better for the engine.

Some engine like our, specially if you live in the south, can get to very high temperature, the more often the oil get heated the faster it will degradate, so if you drive the pedal on the metal often, you better check your oil frequently and change it sooner than later. If you go with synthetic oil it will last longer but will cost you more. When the oil turned black or dark it's a sign of degradation. The premier function of oil is to lubricate moving parts, but it also contribute to keep the engine cooler, so changing the oil frequently is better for your engine.

Imagine a formula one car, they do about lets say 500 miles for a race, do you think they change the oil every 3000 miles, no they change it all the times, before & after qualification and they rebuilt engine after each races.

We are not formula one racers, but some of you out there are driving pretty fast and sollicitate your engine in the high RPM oftenly ( I can't imagine having an S/C and not using it... ) so, changing oil around 2500 miles is very good, and if you beat your engine frequently, change it sooner, perhaps you dont see it, but there is small metal particul in you oil and it act like sand paper, so changing oil also evacuate theses unwanted little demon.

Hope this will help everyone.

Another sick days for me, baddly hit by a virus.

Cheers everyone.

Double A

 

I know that changing more often is not a bad thing, just hits the pocket book. I am looking to go synthetic, but only have 1800 miles on the car. I have noticed that people have been going synth after 5K or longer. Is there a reason for waiting? I wish my car to last forever, and doing a synth change every 3K won't hurt my budget so am I doing myself a favor or diservice by moving to synth for my first oil change and beyond?

 

My high-School Auto mechanics teacher used to always tell us….

You can’t change the oil too often. The only harm you can POSSIBLY do is wearing out the drain plug from removing it so much.

His point was, it can only do good, no harm.

Yes, there is a certain point where it becomes a waste of money.

Then again, if you plan on keeping your car (as I do) for 200,000 miles or so, how much is your peace of mind worth?

I know I’m not wasting my money, because I just plain feel better getting it done every 3K. That peace of mind is worth the $20 and then some.

 

I totally agree.

Double A

 

info. I did not know that. Dino oil for me then. I just figure on the frequency, hey I drive hard, oil changes cost 20 - 30 bucks when using synth so why not keep cleaner oil in the car?

 

This is only my first Max (and I love it!!!!), however I am under the impression that it really takes the engine 6 - 10k to fully break in or something... That doesn't mean that you have to baby it beyond the recommended 1000 miles, just that this is a long life engine that I guess starts to give its best after the 6 - 10k mile mark. I think that is why most people wait until this point to put in synthetic oils... Its a similar thing with the transmission at 15k to going synthetic trans fluid.... I hope this helps.

 

getting the oil change done at the nissan dealer, a regular mechanic, or a place like jiffy lube? is there any differences or benefits or anything?

 

Hey Jeff2k1GLE, if you cant do it by yourself, you should go at the dealer. Why ! you have to make shure that the people who will do it, know your car and know how to handle it. It sound like stupid, changing oil, but let me tell you a story:

2 years ago, I went to a local garage for oil change on my 98SE ( I was on vacation & wanted someone else to do it ) prior to my visit, I called and asked them if they had the oil filter & air filter for my car, they told me yes.

So the guy started to drop oil & removed the oil filter, few minutes later, started to install an oil filter, I was near the guy and could see that this was the wrong filter so I told him. He didn't like the remark and told me to wait in the lobby, saying I cant show him is work, but I insisted and commended him to compare with the old one that was already in the trash can. The guy started to swared ( I was really on his back ), but decide to compare both oil filters, figuring out that I wont let him go so easy. Well the surprise didn't sound funny to him, cuz he had to agree that he was WRONG.

Finally after waiting almost 2 hours and understanding that he couldn't get the oil filter, we agree to put the old one back ( I had no other choice ), otherwise I had to leave him my car for the night, I told him strait no F*****g way.

The next day I remark that there is an oil spill in my drive way, so I was really suspicious and started to check my car and found the oil filter to be punctuate, after checking the oil there was also 1/2 of the oil missing. I was really upset, and called back the garage and told him that I would make him a heck of a reputation.

If something like that would have to happend at your dealer ( which I doubt ) they would pay for the fixe, cuz that would be count as a professional fault, with a street corner garage you would have to go to court for your claim.

Find a good & reputable dealer you can trust, become friend with a technician, when he work on your car give him good tips, this way you will always be treated like a king, and sometimes you'll end up having free services.

You can have anyone doing it, but if somethings happend do they have insurance to cover you damage, and do you want to have anyone playing with your babe.

That's the real question.


Sorry for being so long, but I'm shure it worth it.

Cheers

Double A

 

Ugh.. Where do I begin guys? Read, learn absorb. It's like Rago, it's in there!

It's also doing no harm to change your tires when they are only 1/3 worn too. But I guarantee you 99.99% of everyone waits until their tires are way too worn to change them. Ironic?

http://mr2.com/TEXT/synth_oil.txt

 

I go to the Nissan dealer. They only charge me $22 for the mineral based oil (and I get a car wash out of it). They charge a little more for the Mobil 1. And it only takes 15 to 25 minutes with an appointment.

One instance comes to mind. I had an appointment at 4:30pm on the day that service stays open until 7pm. The service manager told the mechanics that they could all leave when they finished my car. Needless to say that I watched four (yes 4) certified Nissan mechanics change my oil, lube, and inspect the car! Would you ever get that from Jiffy Lube?

 

don't worry about being long, it was definitely worth it, thanks for the advice

 

Changed the oil every 3K on my 1987 Max.. it was going strong at 180K before it's meeting with a speeding Volvo.

I change my 2K at between 3-3500K miles at the dealership and fully expect to get 200K miles from the car.

Changing at 2500 won't hurt anything.. except your bank account.
- Bryan

 

I've seen a lot of BAD reports on Castrol GTX/Quaker State and Penzoil, so I switched to a better brand at 60K miles on my other Nissan car which now has 125K+ miles on it.

If I were you, I would spend a little more money for some better non-synthetic oil and change your oil a little less often like 3000-3500 miles. Definitely NOT the 7850 or whatever it recommends for "light driving" conditions in the manual, but I live in Arizona and there is no such thing as light driving conditions.

You can spend more money on synthetic, but unless your run 6000-8000+ miles between oil changes you aren't gaining anything or saving money except on filters. However, I've read a few studies and talked to a couple Engineers, who say synthetic is superior because it lasts longer before breaking down and excels in SUPER cold areas(Canada) during startup conditions.

Also, use OEM filters! They are pretty cheap from one of our Nissan dealers. Don't mess with FRAM or whatever.

I personally use Kendall GT-1 High Performance 15W-40 grade oil and it runs about $2/qt in 12qt cases. I'd rather spend more money and have a little more protection even though I probably don't need it, since I plan on changing it at 3K religiously(ONLY one change so far at 2990 miles).

 

wutz wrong with home made slicks?

 

i change my oil at 2000 or even less cause i do city driving. so far i've done only like 4 changes on the car and it's a 99......hehehhhehhehe nooooooo cause it only has 10k miles on it!!!go to biener with me this weekend, let's change our oils. give me a holla!!!i need one bad....

just think of this, would you like to use the same pair of underwear for 3850miles or 3 months????

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by RBa
I just did my 4th oil change today.
I get an oil change every 2500 miles.. Is this too early? [/QUOT

YES!

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by wdave

Quote:

Originally posted by RBa
I just did my 4th oil change today.
I get an oil change every 2500 miles.. Is this too early? [/QUOT

YES!

Hey wdave, not necessarly, I depend on how you drive, it is suggested to change oil between lets say 3500-5000 miles, this rule only stick with the average driver.

Do you consider yourself as an average driver ? If yes ! well than you got the answer. If no, than I dont think that the average driver have a Y-Pipe or other mods on his ( her ) car. The average driver type dont street race on a daily base and do not sollicitate the engine like we are. My advice if you street race, changing your oil every 2500 miles is very good for your car.

Cheers

Double A

 

Color of the oil doesn't really tell you the condition. There is a post by Bill and Shing regarding the oil analysis result (they also post a Excel file). Do a search. And you will find out changing Mobil 1 @ 1700 miles is way too early.

 

Hey SunMax, there is many reasons why the oil turn black, this is partly cause by the burned hydrocarbur mixing with oil, the high temperature in the engine is another one ( oil burned ), and cerainly the degradation of some molecul.

Changing the oil every 1700 miles is kind of early. Brushing your teeth 20 times a days, wont make your teeth wither, I will make them erode faster. he he he


Cheers

Double A

 

3000 - 3500 mi is the severe duty recommendation - 7500 is the normal duty interval. Go ahead and change at 2500 - I own oil company stock and appreciate your business.

Dave

 

Hey wdave, that's sound perfect, everyone is happy and if on top of that max.org member make money, what else to say.

Happy living.

Cheers

Double A