hey only a couple more miles until i need to change my oil and filter.

i know how to do it but i use 4 quarts right? what is the best oil for my car?
i have over 117000 miles on it. also after i change it, how do i find out my next due?

 

it takes a little less than 5qts. but i dump all 5 in. Your next due date is 3000 mi. from when you changed it or 3 months, whichever is reached first. oh, Castrol GTX is a pretty good brand, i think i run 10w40 in my car.

 

G4
4.25 quarts will do you nicely.

use 5w30 for best gas mileage.

ANy synthetic oil will do just about the same thing

3 months 3,000 miles is the generic timeline for changing oil so lets se first week in may or 120k ish

 

4 quarts and i would personally suggest mobile-one synthetic, along with a mobile-one filter.

 

go buy a haynes manual. if you want to know more than what i mention below,goto the fluids and lubricants section.

the haynes manual calls for 4.25 quarts. but nissan owners manual says 4 5/8 quarts

nissan recommends 5w30 weight oil and intervals of 3750 with regular oil.

 

on the 4.25-4.5 quarts

I change mine every 5k; a while ago a bunch of .orgers did some heavy duty oil analysis and posted the results...every 3k is a rip-off marketing scheme invented by the manufacturers/lube shops.

 

Amsoil synthetic 10W-30. use a nissan OEM filter and change every 5-6k miles.

 

Synthetic oil is good for much longer than regular. Be sure not to overfill the oil either, 5 quarts is a bit much.

 

Lucas oil with castrol gtx best way to go if your not synthetic. I wouldnt suggest switching over either because its a thiner base oil which if you had an oil leak it will leak even more. Use 1 full quart of lucas and about 3 1/2 quarts of castol GTX.

 

i use 4 quarts of castrol gtx high milage and a half can of seafoam. check the stickies on the fluids forum a lot more info there that you should read

 

or you can fix the oil leak. Then use synthetic

 

if you're leaking oil, you should probably fix whether you're switching to synthetic or not. and even if you're not leaking oil, you might start when you switch.

buy 5 qts. of mobil 1 5w30 and an oem filter. use about 4.5 qts. next oil change after this one, try 4000 or 5000 miles.

 

i used about 4.5-5 qts of 5w30 and a napa oem filter.... no probs, runs great, just seafoamed it, and cleaned TB to... feels brand new!

i used 5w30 cause it's cold here, i will change oil before summer, but i needed something thinner!

 

This thread may be really old...not sure but I was searching and stubbled upon it. However I'm not sure if a lot of you are misinformed or what but the 3.0 VQ engine won't take more than 4 quarts. 3 1/2 quarts usually will do it just fine. Same goes for newer Altimas...3.5 quarts will be dead on. I work in a shop and do this 55 hours a week

 

for shizzle???!?!!!!

 

Agree, I can't stand that old school change your oil every 3k miles, with todays cars this is one of those things your dad told you that no longer applies. Also, with as many miles as your ride has, I would consider switching to Mobil 1 syn 5W30

 

These numbers are the closest to being correct in amount, type and milage interval...

 

humm.. interesting.. Ive been running 10w30 synthetic. Only the 10 becuase dad said thats waht i should use.(didnt really bother 2 question him) I reciently read an article in Super Street mag about lub. They recommend a new Quaker State oil. The just released a few new lines of oil. http://www.superstreetonline.com/plu...3_quakerstate/

thats the link to the article. Its very interesting. I live in Fl, would it be ok to use 5w30? i need to change my oil here soon.

 

I just got my 96 Maxima (75k miles).

The previous owner used Amsoil oil and I found the oil is dark and he has not changed it for 12k miles . For convenience and fee purpose, I want to use regular oil.

Can I switch from Synthetic to Regular oil? Any bad side to the engine?

Thanks.

 

umm thats a good question. I wouldnt recommend going from synethetic to regular. Its alright that the amsoil hasnt been changed. Amsoil can go a looong time. If you go back to regular your really not gaining that much. With synethetic you can run it longer. With the regular oil you will have to change it every 3k miles. This thread might get moved to the oils & lub section. Browse over there and you might learn some more. maybe some1 can add on to this i go 2 go meet family at dinner im running late... good luck

 

Back in the early 90's there were some compatability issues between switching from petroleum-based oils to synthetics. With today's synthetics those problems are a thing of the past. You can now switch between "regular" oil and synthetics every other oil change if you wanted. In fact you could mix them together if you like. Compatability is not an issue.

 

By the way, the color of the oil is not a good determination of its continued effectiveness. If you do not have access to oil analysis, the best way to tell if your oil is still good is to rub some between your finger and your thumb. If it feels gritty, it probably needs to be changed. Also, if your oil smells burnt, you should change it. This is only a subjective test, but it tends to be fairly accurate.

 

a little over 4 quarts about 4.25, but honestly use ur dipstick to tell u.

dyno = castrol gtx or valvoline or mobil
syn = amsoil or mobil 1

filter= amsoil, K&n

 

i have to agree, but how can u not feel any gritty ness as soon as the car collects crap?? theres no such thing as the purolator oil filter box markets. once u pour oil in the oil is no way that honey color, or that pure feeling flow. u'll fee grit the instant it goes through the engine.

just change what u feel is right. dont believe the hype.. its simple go by the looks, feel of the car. if the oil is dark that means u might've been overdue and usually this will correlate with the duration of the oil change. meaning the longer = usually darker.

i never took my car to an oil analysis but i keep w/ it about 3k on dyno, 5k on syn and thats how i've been doing it for a few years, and no probs. smoothe engine...

 

-amen to that brotha! 5k is so much easier to do the math... yes, i'm that lazy and i'm an accountant

 

what about the typical japanese co. recommended 3750..

and...isnt there like some old tale about dino juice degrading after 3 months regardless of mileage? what's the truth to this

 

You only change it 3000 miles if you are going to grease monkey and getting because you don't know any better...

 

Dino juice does not degrade after 3 months regardless of mileage. If you are driving 10 or 12K per year you certainly don't have to change the oil every 3 months. If you are driving 15K/year that equates to 3,750 every 3 months on average which is the Nissan recommended OCI.

If you put on more miles in the summer driving season, you probably could change after 5K if it was over say 4 or 5 months.

 

i dunno, the whole degrading after 3 months thing has been half and half for me in terms of others' responses. i can say one thing though, neither my sister nor my mom drive more than 3k miles in 3 months, but i change the oil anyway after 3 months....and i CAN feel the difference (i drive both before and after the changes). and to negate any placebo hypotheses....even my SISTER could tell the difference in her car. if my own younger sister can feel the difference, i think it's worth the time to change it after 3 months...

 

I think that's nonsense! Precisely what difference can you feel?

 

smoother idle and revs

call it what you want, but just imagine a seventeen year old girl who knows nothing about cars, and yet she can legitimately feel the difference. and my sister's the type of person where placebo-like situations never affect her. heck, she can't even taste the difference between a ham and turkey sandwich...

 

Like I said difference did she notice: smoother idle - no, better throttle response -no, quieter engine when cruising - possibly, but would be virtually undetectable. What difference did she notice? And you say you notice a difference - what is it?

By the way, what octane gas do you use? Can you tell a difference there as well?

 

i'm saying SHE told me HER car idled smoother and revved smoother....

 

changing your oil according to miles and condition is more important than using MONTHS to measure.

if u drive it long durations, and put it under stress ;that is, u keep the car running for a long time constantly, u may need to change it more often than not imho. but for regular commute, etc i change my syn at about 5k, also if ur environment is 24/7 dusty and etc etc that plays a role as well.

people do what they want man.. u wanna change at 3k then do so.. just consider diff't situations at different times. not everyone drives a 2005 maxima. a few of us still drive older model cars that hasn't been able to utilize better TECHNOLOGY. a few bucks can't hurt if u really care bought babying ur car..

 

well their trips are all under 5 miles city so i would constitute that as somewhat severe