elix

Purchased a used 03 Max this past February.

I've read the stickies on what filter to use, what dino oil to use and what synthetic to use, how to switch from one to the other, and lots of tips in between.

What I haven't seen is how to tell where I'm at right now.

Bought the car from a small dealership that made the claim that the oil had been changed shortly before they acquired the vehicle at an auction. I don't know who did this change or what they put in it.

Is there an easy way to find out short of sending a sample off somewhere?

The car has over 80K miles on it and I'd like to get it on synthetic if it's not already. I've read it's good to run a few thousand miles on a synth/dino mix during the transition to synth, so what are the ill effects if I'm currently on dino and I put all synth in?

Regardless of this car's past, I want to treat it well now so I'd appreciate any feedback you guys can offer to me and to others in my shoes.

BigFly_2K2SE

iTrader: (1)

I am not sure where you read this, but I have done a fair bit of reading on oils on both this site and occasionally bobistheoilguy.com and I have never read that. I would say just switch to synth at your next opportunity and be done with it.

Maxima880

I agree with BigFly. I've read a lot about synthetic on numerous boards and I've never heard of any ill effects of a complete change to synthetic. If the oil that they claimed to have changed looks really clean then run it for a few thousand then change it. On the other hand if your concerned about the quality of oil that they used then change it now. That's what I'd probably do

kcryan

iTrader: (1)

I like to think im damn good with my oils (and all other fluids in a car for that matter) and i would say you should have no trouble going right over to synthetic, i would run it only for 2500-3000 miles for the first change or 2, then you can extend your OCI but thats it.

Good luck

elix

Hmm OK, I went back and tracked down the post that had me thinking I needed a blend, here's the text.


But that was in 2003 from someone with a lower post count and I noticed several regulars counter the idea after that, so thanks for the heads up. I'll go full synth and swap it out early in case there's sludge released from it's hibernation.

The next plan is to start sending a few changes off for analysis to see how my VQ has been holding up over the years.

DrKlop

iTrader: (3)

I heard about mixing dino and synthetic when you use it the first time but can't confirm whether it's a good idea or not.

What you can do is go through Auto-rx treatment which will clean your engine, restore compression and renew your seals first, and than put in Mobil1.

If you don't want to go through the long and annoying auto-rx process I think it would be a good idea to flush your engine before using synthetic oil.