messerchmidt

hi guys, my maxima is about to hit 1000km. I posted this in oil forum but got not response.

my question is can i do my own quick oil change now and put in say castrol GTX (dino oil for now to allow a full break-in), is that safe or does it have some kind of "special" oil in there for it to break in properly?

SSurfer

Ha! I did that @ 1200 & yeah I did the same dino stuff too. I did buy a "OEM" filter.

NismoMax80

iTrader: (6)

I changed to GTX at around my first 1000 mile mark. more told me I should than said it was at all harmful. concensus here says break-in fluid is no longer used.

NIKV69

I believe in changing the oil after the break in, which here is 1200 miles. Forget the OEM filter and use a Mobil 1 101 filter. Much bigger and better. If you have to use oem use the 9EOOO not that crap one that is on there now.

SilverMax_04

Excuse us in the US, but I will talk in terms of miles rather than KM. 1000 KM = about 630 miles. That is a little soon to be changing oil. I waited until almost 3,000 miles (about 4750 km). There is nothing wrong with changing early except for waste of money. Use the OEM filter recommended in the fluids and lubes section of this site (or the appropriate Mobil 1 filter).

The concensus on this site is to wait at least until your third or later oil change to consider going to synthetic oil (after about 12,000 miles -- although Nissan says to wait for 20,000 miles).

lightonthehill

I can't argue with what SilverMax_04 says. 630 miles is awfully soon to be changing oil. The oil coming from the factory is not the 'breakin' oil of olden days. It is good quality 5W-30 oil which I kept in my new Maxima for 3,750 miles, and it still looked clear and clean when I had it replaced. Of course I drove those miles very gently on good roads; never over 4K rpms.

But if you wish to change early, maybe the way NismoMax80, SSurfer and NIKV69 took is right for you; change somewhere around/after the end of the 1200 mile 'breakin' period.

I agree with SilverMax_04 that around 12K/third oil change would also be the first point at which I feel synthetic oil should be considered. Going synthetic at the fourth oil change (between 15K and 20K) might be even better. I plan to hold off changing to synthetic until around 40K or 50K, as I am a fairly gentle driver whose miles are mostly easy ones for the car.

I like your choice of Castrol GTX 5W-30.

messerchmidt

thanks for the replies guys, I will wait until about 1200 miles (1920km) to do the oil change, then I am going to do a castrol GTX change.

I am eventually going to move to mobil1 or amsoil after about 15,000km which should be sometime around next september.

NismoMax80

iTrader: (6)

sounds like a plan messer. i'm curious to the intervals in km that Nissan recommendeds for our northern neighbors?

i try to make things simple, so if I were you, I would do a first change at 2000km then add that to the normal interval for the next one. (1st change around 1200 miles, next was 4750, next was 8500 for me)

messerchmidt

I dont mind spending some extra cash if it keeps this car alive and running for years to come. i just wish it was rear-wheel drive. ahh well, next time, G35

SilverMax_04

The conversion basis I use is 100 KM = 63 miles (which comes very close to the first part of your message). But 15,000 KM is about 9,450 miles. Nissan recommends that you wait to 20,000 miles or more than 30,000 KM. I would suggest that you wait at least until 15,000 miles or about 24,000 KM. Will this cause a problem if you change earlier? Possibly but not probably. I made my change to Mobil 1 at about 8,000 miles (12,500 KM) and have not had any problems. If I had it to do over again, I would have used Castrol GTX for one more oil change (a total of 3 dino oil changes every 3,750 miles) with the switch to Mobil 1 (and a 7,500 oil change interval thereafter) when the car got to 15,000 miles.

fredk

From the owner's manual:

"Your engine was filled with a high-quality engine
oil when it was built. You do not have to change
the oil before the first recommended change
interval. Oil and filter change intervals depend
upon how you use your vehicle."

Recommended oil and filter change in Canada is every 6,000 km or every 3 months whichever comes first.

If it will give you peace of mind, you can change your oil as early as you want, it's your money.