I know our cars recommend 5w30 oil. However, I see that many of you on the forum are using 10w30 Mobil 1. What is your reasoning for using 10w30 over the recommended 5w30?

Thanks,
-Dan

 

Warmer climate use

Fewer viscosity improvers as the weight range the oil has to achieve (10 weight to 30 weight) is less of a spread than a 5W/30, which makes oil less prone to shear



Grand scheme of things, unless you're a New Orleans or further south, 10W/30 isn't really necessary.

 

ok here my reason why i use 10w30:

when ur looking at the 3 oils next to each other on the shelf
5w30, 10w30 & 15w30 the 15w30 says for high performance use, and the owners manual says 5w30 so i split the difference and buy 10w30.

 

I read somewhere that it is the additives(viscosity improvers, as Bill99 says)that more easily break down and cause problems- which is also what Bill is getting at, I guess. Basically, this guy was advocating using straight weight oil- 20W, 30W, etc., and if necessary, adding some STP once in a while. Granted, he was speaking more in terms of older MOPAR engines, but he swears he was able to squeeze another 20-30K miles out of engines that had run multi-vis oil and were considered to be worn out. Kinda makes sense to me, but I am in no way an expert, so I thought I'd get some takes on it. My parents used to run 20w-50 in all of their Hondas, and I was always under the impression that you ran 20W-50 in smaller high rev engines. Any thoughts?

 

The only thought I have is that's a good way to prematurely fry your oil pump and lower fuel economy.

 

OK, I guess that's pretty clear. Thanks, Bill.

 

You have to keep in mind that American engines < > Japanese engines, so their design philosophies have a real impact on what oil should be used anyway. Domestic V-8s can get away with 50 weight oil because their motors are not as tightly toleranced as a high-revving VTEC Honda motor.

 

Makes sense. Thanks for the input. I've been looking through the posts here, so I'll be making a decision now in terms of what type of oil and filter to use. My 90 has 176K on it and has been maintained pretty well up till now, but just with regular dino oil and filter changes. Now that I have it, I wanted to make a more educated decision about what to use. I appreciate the input based on your experiences with the Max. Thanks again!

 

5w30 during winter (temp goes below 0 degrees)
10w30 during summer (temp stays above 0 degrees)

Going to do an oil change in a few days with 10w30 and going to switch to 5w30 in November

 

5w30 or 10w30 either is fine, unless you are experiencing weather under 0 degrees.

 

What's wrong w/15w-50? It never gets cold here.
Jae

 

I had modestly better UOA results running M1 5W30 compared to M1 10W30 in my Max. I thought the higher weight oil would be better, but that wasn't the case in my car. Everyone's engine and driving habits are different, but I'll be sticking to 5W30. And it can get darn hot here in Arkansas.

 

I'd be interested in seeing the UOAs posted for these if you can do so. I presume this was with SuperSyn and not the older Trisynthetic?

 

Running a 10w-30 Dino may indeed produce marginally lower relative fuel economy, higher friction and heat but fry the oil pump? I think not and cannot think of any instance of even hearing of an oil pump failing due to viscosity issues. You could run 20w-50 Dino and not do that IMO. Oil pumps in cars are of the positive displacement. Even a significantly higher viscosity will only lower flow and increase the negative items above. It would not fry an oil pump. Lastly, Nissan even oks the use of 10w-40 in higher temperatures and higher viscosities outside of the USA for the same engines. Now if we are talking about a synthetic 5w-30 vs a synthetic 10w-30, the differences are nominal relative to fuel economy, flow , etc in all but temperatures less than 20 degrees or more below zero.

 

Just stay at 5w30 all year. The oil is made to handle it.

 

Does anyone ever try 0W-30 mobil syn?

 

Based on your location in New York, Mobil 0w-30 would be a good choice for the winter, i.e. November through March. A great cold weather oil for the Maxima. Give it a shot.

 

Depends on which part of NY. His profile says Corona, which should be Queens. In other words, NYC. 0W30 would be overkill for the climate in Queens. 5W30 is fine. Even 10W30 is OK until it gets to cold like snow weather, which is usually January and February. If his locale were Buffalo or Rochester NY, then I'd consider 0W30 in the winter.

DW

 

I understand your point, but 0w-30 is not "overkill" in your words. Just think of it this way, he could use the 0w-30 for six months of winter and do a used oil analysis. At that point, we could determine if the Mobil 1 0w-30 is worth its using or not in the winter.

I agree that 5w30 could be used year round and that would be my preference as well.

 

good info in this thread that i didnt know....

 

which is the best for boosted max? when got mine oil changed I got 10W30 Pensoil Syn.

 

Woo Cho,

Check out the Redline Oils. These were originally designed for racing engines. They can take the heat of forced induction. Amsoil products would be my second choice for boosted applications.

http://www.redlineoil.com/whyredline.htm

Here is where to buy it.

http://www.myoilshop.com/AutoPrds.html

 

In my country the temperature reaches 116 F in summer. I live in Middle East and I own a 2011 Maxima and the owner manuals recommending 5w30, beside that the 10w30 is also recommended in the manual.

Currently the dealer is using 20w50 in all the nissan engines including the infinites. My question is which viscosity do you recommend for the high temperature where I live? Will the 5w30 tolerate the 116 F?
Regards,

 

UP UP

 

20/50 is better than 5/30 at that temp. I would probably run 15/40 myself. I've never been in those temps no the dealers there probably have a better idea than me. No, 5/30 would not do well in your case.

 

20/50 is better than 5/30 at that temp. I would probably run 15/40 myself. I've never been in those temps no the dealers there probably have a better idea than me. No, 5/30 would not do well in your case.

 

asand1 thanks for coming in. BTW, many dealers in my country are using 5W30 & 10W30 grades, example for that is Ford, Mercury, GMC, BMW, etc...

Nissan dearler admitted that they are using 20W50 because it's very cheap oil therfore the service charge will be low.

But if my car manual recommends the 5W30 is it's shown below in Bold, why should I then use a heavy and cheap oil instead.

 

And why not using one of the well known oil in the market if available...

Motorcraft 5W-30 Premium Synthetic Blend Oil properties:

SAE Grade 5W-30
API Service GF-5/SN
Specific Gravity@ 60°F (15.6°C) 0.860
Density, lb/gal 7.17
Flash Point, COC, °C (°F) 206 (402)
Viscosity:
cSt @ 100°C 10.8
cSt @ 40°C 65
cP @ -30°C 6,300
Viscosity Index 163
Pour Point, °C (°F) <-42 (<-44)

http://www.fcsdchemicalsandlubricant...ry=Motor%20Oil


Motorcraft 10W-30 Premium Synthetic Blend Oil properties:

SAE Grade 10W-30
API Service GF-5/SN
Specific Gravity@ 60°F (15.6°C) 0.871
Density, lb/gal 7.25
Flash Point, COC, °C (°F) 224 (435)
Viscosity:
cSt @ 100°C 10.4
cSt @ 40°C 69
cP @ -30°C 5,900
Viscosity Index 157
Pour Point, °C (°F) <-42 (<-44)

http://www.fcsdchemicalsandlubricant...ry=Motor%20Oil

 

Your engine runs at ~180F all day long.

Outside air temperature only matters during startup.

 

I've been told that Nissan in Europe recommends 10W30 weight oil for the exact same engines it is recommending 5W30 weight here. Believe it has something to do with the EPA and fuel mileage (lighter weight oil has a very minor improvement on gasoline mileage). I tend to believe that the engine was designed for 10W30, and you should have no problem using that weight. Would not go with a heavier oil than 10W30 unless the low temps where you live never get below about 40 degrees F.