I used Valvoline for the last 13 years but after reading Bill's reports on the newer oils from Valvoline, I didn't want to take any chances. I also moved to using FRAM oil filters.
My oil change intervals were 5000 miles with the Durablend. With the Mobil 1 I'll go to 8000 miles unless Bill recommends otherwise. If I can go longer, I will.

 

I too made the switch from Val to M1, and think it was a smart move. But before you jump to an 8k change interval, you may want to run a UOA a time or 2 to make sure your engine is performing okay at that length. M1 ought to be okay at that duration, but each engine is unique.

By the way, you may find the longevity test this site is running with different motor oils interesting. http://neptune.spacebears.com/cars/s.../oil-life.html

 

I haven't sent a sample to Blackstone Labs but I'm confident this engine is in great shape at 120,000 miles. As hard as I run the VQ, it still hold its oil to the full mark after every oil change interval, I will send in a sample of my Mobil 1 after my next oil change.

 

Why wait until 8000 miles? For the price of an oil change, I cannot understand why anyone would take chances by extending the time and milage of an oil change. Fram filters cost around $4.00. Four quarts of Mobil 1 cost around $16.00 and some change. All of this for under $25.00 and less than 10 minutes.

It may seem excessive to some, but I change the oil in both my 3rd Gens every payday--twice a month. Every now and then, I may get lazy and hold off until the next week or so, but nonetheless, my oil easily gets changed every month. I am pushing 190K and 155K w/o ANY engine problems whatsoever. Even my prone-to-failure VTCs still work as advertised--they have nice, clean oil to use for their operation.

 

Some people like to actually use their oil until it is close to being "used" instead of changing it every time they turn around:

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....hreadid=100060




I can't understand why anyone would waste money changing barely used oil.



A) Fram filters are consistently built with poor quality control standards. You would be much better off using a Nissan OEM filter for $5 on your vehicles.

B) You are correct on using Mobil 1, although you could save yourself $10 with your oil interval regimen and buy Castrol GTX, which is analysis proven by many members here to easily go 5k intervals on Maxima engines without any issues, so I'm sure 2 weeks won't be a big deal.



Good. That's your perogative. But honestly, you could save yourself time and money stretching that a lot further out.



Your concerns on the VE are legitimate, as the analysis reports on these engines tend to exact harsh stesses on par with the way Honda motors are.


I do hope you seriously consider changing your oil filters to Nissan OEM. I will be test fitting a couple of other filters in the near future, one of which will increase the oil capacity of the overall VG engine by nearly a quart.

 

WOW...I am very interested in seeing what you come up with.