bwinter7

I changed because I heard that a 0w was the best oil, and Mobil's website says that it's formulated for high-temperature performance, while maintaining a viscosity that would virtually eliminate dry-starts. It said that porsche and nascar use the 0w-40 mobil 1 standard, so I figured if it's good for a racing application, it's good enough for a Nissan, is my reasoning correct?

Maxim(a)SerjVQ

Actually, Oil that is for "racing" has a quite weak additive package. At least to my understanding, Things like Mobil 20w-50 Racing oil and the like are made to go maybe 1,000mi in a torturous setting, then get changed. The passenger car and OTR truck blends tend to be set up more for conserving energy(read; Fuel economy) and for Longetivity to reduce Maintenance. Most things derived from racing can be equated to more than adequate for street use, but there are always trade-offs. you wouldn't use full racing brakes on your street car unless you're changing them out more often and auto-crossing every weekend, would you? Same applies to most lubricants. they expect more frequent attention.

d00df00d

iTrader: (4)

Okay, cool. Just wanted to make sure you weren't one of those "0w is too thin!!" types.

Yes, Mobil 1 0w-40 is a great oil and works well at high temperatures.

It does have excellent cold flow and pumpability and sticks pretty well to metals, which will be great on a cold start -- for a 40-weight. If eliminating dry starts is a priority for you, there are better options (Amsoil TSO 0w-30, Redline 5w-30, some Motul stuff, etc.).

Mobil 1 0w-40 isn't a racing oil. It's very very definitely a street oil. Porsche uses it in all their street cars. Mobil 1 oil is used in NASCAR (and Formula 1), but definitely not the 0w-40.

The "good enough for them, good enough for me" logic should be applied with care. Yes, the fact that Mobil 1 0w-40 is made for tougher applications does mean it will handle just about anything your engine can throw at it. But it's optimized for engines that are very different from yours, so it won't be AS good as something that's on the same level engineering-wise but more focused on your type of application.



Long story short: Unless your car is modded and you're beating the heck out of it but still trying to get long oil change intervals, trying to choose among top-shelf synthetics is basically splitting hairs. If you REALLY want the best, Mobil 1 0w-40 ain't it, but don't sweat it until your next oil change. And whatever the case, it definitely has no problems in your engine that an equivalent 5w-40 or 10w-40 would solve.

hybridc24k

I only use Wix filters. Napa gold are the made by Wix too. If you do a search online you can find a lot of tests on Oil Filters and Wix seem to be pretty good. Price is good if you buy it online in bulk.

hybridc24k

For oil I like to use Kendal. I remember they had this stress load machine tester at one of the mechanic shops and royal purple had come to show customers how "superior their product was". They did tests on cheaper oils to mobil 1 and royal purple. Royal purple was good and withstood a lot of load and then I asked them to test my oil. I took out Kendal which i had in my trunk and they put it to the test. It was almost as good as mobil 1 and they were shocked especially since it cost less. The funny thing is I can only seem to find it at muscle car shops.

My friends who race recommended Kendal to me back in 1992 and Ive been using it since then. It was good enough to get them 11.6 and 12.01 back then which was damn fast out of their MR2 turbo and civic HB's, figured it was good enough for my little stock car. Haha.

andrei3333

Ok i am coming up on another OCI and certain circumstances may force me to switch oils

choices:

A)change oil at priceclub (costco) for 23.99 + tax using Castrol GTX (5-w30) and a oil filter by Champ (called and the guy said the filter is basically a Fram Double guard with a different label)

B)change oil at wal-mart for the same price 23.99+ tax using pennzoil 5-w30 with a pennzoil oil filter (which a web search showed is the same as a Fram Extra guard)

Conclusion: i want to keep using castrol gtx but since i found that the oil filters offered at costco (made by fram) contain teflon i am not so happy about that idea. and the Fram web site doesnt show much difference between the double guard and extra guard.

so what should i choose out of these two options ?

hubbabubba

Hi,

Great thread!

Just wanted to confirm with you experts here on what would be best for me:

2003 Maxima SE
42,000 miles
Drive mainly on the highway (usually not with traffic), and in the streets of manhattan (try to avoid traffic there too).

I pretty much just go to my local mechanic, but after finding this thread want to treat the maxima better.

So which Mobil 1 and filter should I get? Can you recommend a good place to get them, in person or online. I have probably a couple of weeks before my next oil change.

Thanks so much

pbn85

iTrader: (8)

does the oil filter contain the same amount of oil at all times? Maybe thats why my reading could be off (and for others also)..maybe when theres more oil in the filter the dipstick will show less and when theres less in the filter the dipstick will be higher...

andrei3333

the filter is not that big to have such an effect on the dipstick

ROCKART

iTrader: (23)

yea how do you take the filter off without having all the oil dump out

knight_yyz

iTrader: (40)

Where do you guys find the M1-105 Filter? I used mobil 1's store locator and they don't list that number. For now I will try a couple of the m1-110's which are most likely better than the pennzoil crap I get at the local shop

knight_yyz

iTrader: (40)

ok, never mind, I found the 105's at autozone. But I am confused now. i've read that the m110 is bigger than OEM. Seems to me the 105 is much bigger than the 110

VQuick

iTrader: (17)

Yeah that's right, I'm pretty sure the 105 is the big one.

air_max

Now you can make an INFORMED decision. To believe the hype!

http://www.animegame.com/cars/Oil%20Tests.pdf

00MaxSE

iTrader: (25)

Wow, Mobil 1 FTL?
Royal Purple FTW?

d00df00d

iTrader: (4)

If that's an informed decision, you need to go back to school...

NIKV69

Ok after 70,000 miles I decided to change to synthetic. After reading this thread at length and doing the research I went with Mobil 1 5W30. I already use the Mobil 1 105 filter so that didn't change. Just got done. I plan on hopefully getting 6000-7000 between changes with changing the fliter in the middle of the interval. Has anybody had experience with this?

00MaxSE

iTrader: (25)

That's what I've been doing. But no need to change the filter in the middle. It should be fine.

d00df00d

iTrader: (4)

Agreed.

NIKV69

Wow, figured that would be stretching it but I will see. I mean a $10 filter and 5 minutes under the car is very cheap insurance against premature engine failure. You guys routinely go 6 to 7K with the same filter?

00MaxSE

iTrader: (25)

Yes. If you go 10k or more between changes, then yes you should probably change filters IMO.

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

I think even Amsoil recommends changing the filter at 5k if you want to continue onto 10+k on their oil. So while 7-8k is "probably" okay, it's a few k longer than recommended. I don't know If I'd change the filter at 5k only to change both at 7-8k though.

I'd change the filter at 4k and continue onto the 8k change.

d00df00d

iTrader: (4)

That depends on the oil. What they recommend is a filter change halfway into the OCI, and that's only with their SUPER long-drain oils. For example, with the oil they recommend for a 25k mile change interval, they'd want a filter change at 12.5k miles.

If you're using a big fat filter with a good filter element, like the Mobil 1 105, there should be no problem at all running out to 10k miles (or even more).

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

So if the recommendation is 1/2 the oci, shouldn't he be changing the filter at 4k?

I don't think Amsoil would approve of a 25k oil change with a Mobil 1 filter change at 12.5k. I think they want you to use their filters.

Since only 1 Mobil 1 oil is touted to what....10k or so? Given the 1/2 OCI theory, that would put a filter change at 5k. IMHO, if Mobil 1 doesn't have an oil that will go over 10k or so, I doubt they would engineer a filter that's going to live that long either. IMHO

Bobo

One would have to be rather **** to not trust a Mobil 1 oil filter for a 6,000 to 7,000 mile OCI. Try it and send a sample into Blackstone.

DizzyEdge

I have perhaps an unusual situation and I'm wondering if Synthetic is overkill. Got myself a 96 max, 135k miles, apparently has had synthetic in it since at least 2000, although I wonder about what synthetic since the previous owners gave me a bottle of petro-canada 5w30 syn, and a bottle of normal Castrol Syntec... 5w-50! guh. Anyway, I take transit to work downtown, so I'm guessing I'll only be driving about 8000 miles a year, probably 1500 of those highway. I was going to do 6 month synthetic changes, but I'm wondering with the low miles I'll be putting on the engine, if it's a waste of money? Secondly, people mention the increase OCI with synthetic as it takes longer to break down, but what about dilution with various contaminants which would affect any oil over time/miles.. or is that where getting an analysis comes into play?
Thanks for any answers.

d00df00d

iTrader: (4)

Yes, synthetics do take longer to break down. They also tolerate contamination better, which addresses your other concern. On top of that, they often slow down the rate of contamination by preventing wear. That's why they last longer, in a nutshell.

That said, a synthetic oil with a SUPER wide viscosity spec, like 5w-50, might not be any more resistant to breakdown than a good 10w-30 conventional oil. The really wide spec is almost always achieved with heavy use of polymers that don't always survive over time. By contrast, no good 10w-30 -- synthetic or not -- will need those polymers. So, while the basestock isn't as hardy, the overall resistance to breakdown might be similar.

Anyway, you are correct that an analysis is really the only way to be sure of what's going on in your engine.

DizzyEdge

My intention was to use esso xd-3 0w30 or something similar, I'm just wondering if I only drive 4k miles every 6 months if I'll never come close to needing the added protection of synthetic, and if I should just revert back to GTX or some quality dino? (or maybe 1 yr changes on synth?)

BigFly_2K2SE

iTrader: (1)

I believe you could definitely go to a 1 year OCI with this driving pattern, and synthetic oil would be beneficial to you for three reasons:

- Better resistance to breakdown.
- Better tolerance to contamination (as d00df00d said).
- Easier cold starts in a Calgary winter.

I am sure Bobo will pipe up shortly about wonderous virtues of Esso XD-3 0w30, so I will leave that to him.

DizzyEdge

Awesome, that's what I'll do, thanks guys, I'll probably do an oil analysis after 6 and 12 months just to see what's happenin' inside.

QwikKota

iTrader: (3)

Most high end filters have an anti-drain back valve in them. I know Amsoil and Mobil 1 do for sure. Its basically just a neoprene rubber flapper that helps keep oil up in the top of the engine or anywhere upstream (flow and gravity wise) for a short while. I believe I have been told it will all have drained back down in about an hour. That can affect the dipstick reading so I usually check my oil with it cold and just note the difference it being warm would have made. Its really good for making short trips around town since the oil pump does not have to prime as many passages and the important surfaces get lubrication faster. Yet another reason to buy a good filter, lol. But yes, if the oil filter is mounted sideways like it was on my 96 Max it can drain down slowly to affect the level but not by much. I pour oil in my filter and roll it around to wet the filter material when I put a new one in. The truck's I can almost fill it up before I install it.

Does anyone know if the new Amsoil part # suffix is still the same? It used to be SDF-13 or -20 and now are they EAO13 or EAO20? I bought some 20's yesterday and hopefully they still work!

maximo-SE

iTrader: (7)

i cant seem to find the m1105 filters are autozone or advanced. is it true they have a new version out? I think its called the mobil 1 extended performance....

anyone using these filters for the 02-03 max? let me know the part number since im due for a oil change 1000 miles ago... lol

driftmax

does anyone use amsoil 10w30? Im not sure what viscosity to use, i actually have 20w50 in it right now and I have realised that it is the wrong viscosity

00MaxSE

iTrader: (25)

Read your manual. 5W-30

(at least for the 4th, 5th gens)

Yohann

I have been using Amsoil 10-30 for decades, and it's all I have put in my 98 SE. It's got 154,500 miles now with no mechanical problems. I would not hesitate to use it if I were you. I don't see a benefit to any other viscosity unless you live in extreme cold or extreme heat. The 10-30 does great on start up even below zero and easily handles the summer heat/crazy assed driving pace of North Texas. Unless your engine's manual specifically requires the lower viscosity to be 5 or lower, I don't see a reason to go below 10. Oh, I change the oil at around 20-25k and the Amsoil filter at 11-12k.

d00df00d

iTrader: (4)

20w-50 is okay for hot climates, but you're better off with a thinner oil.

Amsoil 10w-30 is fine for almost any climate. If you already have it, use it and be happy.

If you haven't bought it yet, you might want to get the 5w-30 instead just because it costs about the same and has even better cold flow. The difference will be minimal unless you live where it's REALLY cold.

Either of those oils will be pretty much the best you can get for the money. There is better stuff, but it costs more.

Whatever you do, definitely get an Amsoil EaO oil filter. Everything I keep hearing and reading says it's the best by a comfortable margin.

driftmax

thanks, that was very helpful! The reason why i was wondering about using 10w30 is because i have always used 20w50 so I didnt want to make a big swicth to the 5w30. I think Im going to get the 10w30. I also dont have the manual, the car didnt come with one.

One more question, will that oil be good for the 3.5L engine

d00df00d

iTrader: (4)

Most likely. The only case in which you'd want something else is if you have excess oil consumption. Try the Amsoil and see how it does.

talkinghorse

iTrader: (121)

A little late in responding to this, but with the transition to the EaO filter line, AMSOIL uses a silicone anti-drain-back valve. Silicone valves are superior to those made from other materials since silicone remains more pliable and seals better (thereby preventing drain-back) in extreme temperatures

And yes, the AMSOIL oil filter part numbers carry over from the previous SDF filter line. If you have a question concerning an application, pls visit my web site at www.lubedealer.com/lonestarlubes and select "AMSOIL on-Line Product Guide" from the list on the left side of the page.

QwikKota

iTrader: (3)

I'm a dealer as well. The filter prices are going up $2 each for my truck and a few cents for the Maxima. I'm considering buying some Mobil 1 filters instead but snagging some Amsoil oil before the prices go up in March.

FYI: If anyone is at a website that requires you to search for a filter based on the car and not the filter # a 1992 Mitsu Eclipse 2.0 Turbo will pop up the M1-105 filter.