Hey i always used mobil 1 on my old car but with the maxima that ahs 215,000 i am sure they always used dyno.. as of now it does not leak any oil... i hear some people say that because how mobil 1 runs it will show provles your engine has... if i keep using the conventinal oil it will hide the problems but i wont be getting the best oill is it true mobil 1 will "clear" deposits that dyno maybe using... what do u guys recmomend i do for my next oil change... i hear these maxs can run to 300,000 if cared for properly....

 

i wouldn't doubt that 300,000 mark. I've seen some 300+. Mileage is really just a number though. Good maintenance shows through compression. Do a compression test. If you have good marks go for it. Compression tester is $30 from a local auto parts shop\

 

kool what ios a good compression rate?? and should i be doung that switch to mobil 1 at such high mileage

 

just keep using dino..... the engine might react differently to synthetic after soo many miles.

 

258,000 miles on regular Castrol GTX, including track events.

 

1) Mobil 1 isn't much better than regular oil, unless you want to make it 5k/change.
2) If Mobil 1 leaks, go back to a high mileage regular oil.
3) If you're hoping for extra hp or something, good luck. Mobil 1 does very little for an NA engine running on the street. IMO it's more useful on tracked cars or turbocharged cars. But if you're going to spend extra money on engine oil, Mobil1 is the best value of all the high performance synthetics. It's nowhere near the waste of money that Amsoil, Royal Purple, or Redline are at $8-9/qt.

Dave

 

From the sounds of it your car is running pretty good, if it ain't broke don't fix it. IMO it would be a waste of $$ at this point.

 

I agree stick with what is working this engine made it this far on this oil so why can't it double it if you take care of her in the same manner?

 

Its rare that i say no to synthetics, but in this case, id say no, 215k miles that engine still has lots of life left, easy easy 300k if your nice to it, but it wont really benefit all that much from synthetics, id keep it on a nice diet of Castrol GTX, or Havoline, or if you wanna try it mabye a synthetic blend (i never reccomond those either but in this case it might be acceptable) i would however get some Auto-Rx and run that through atleast twice (google it up its really really really good stuff) and get some chevron techron in the gas. Also is it auto or 5 speed?

good luck with her man

 

Forget mobil 1!!! head for the top.....AMSOIL!

 

...242k miles here, orig. engine & tranny, on just plain ol' Penzoil and the like. why change what got u this far?

 

Let's not forget Mobil 1.

I have 202K and still using Mobil 1. My oil changes are at 10 to 15K.

 

An engine does not "react" to oil.

The only problem that is remotely possible is that, if you have any seals that are on the verge of leaking, they MAY start leaking if you switch to synthetic.

Other than that, synthetic will work great. Whether or not it will be worth the money is up to you.

Either way, I definitely second the suggestion to do an AutoRX treatment.

 

i just started up some bad leaks by using a thiner oil
when i moved back to my 50-20 it still leaks like a siv
internal timeing chain cover, not prety

id stick with what works

 

well i got an automatic... also i am not sure what oil the guy before me used he would just to go random palces and get the oil cahnged .,.. so i am not so sure...

 

Id autorx the tranny too, and just use a good 5w-30, 20-50 is way to thick for NY

 

Oh man. If he just got it changed at random places, they probably used crap half the time (at least).

AutoRX the engine and tranny, and then switch to good synthetic oils.

For the engine, Mobil 1 is good, but you should also consider German Castrol and Amsoil TSO. Those oils are 0w-30 and will work way better in the winter; Mobil 1 also has 0w-xx oils but they're not as good. Also, make sure you run a good oil filter (K&N, Mobil 1, Wix, Amsoil EaO).

For the tranny, use Mobil 1 ATF or Amsoil ATF.

 

you can switch it dosnt matter

 

I would not switch. You are risking oil leaks. In my car i had a small oil leak at 140k miles and i topped it off once with Mobil 1 cause thats what i had sitting around, and the leak got MUCH worse.

 

That may have been a coincidence. Maybe the leak got bigger around the same time as you topped off.

Either way, it's important to note that the only reason synthetic oil "makes leaks worse" is that it leaks more readily because it is made of smaller molecules. If it's a leak, it's a leak... Whether it's exposed sooner or later, you still have to fix it anyway.

 

who cares man.. just use regular oil if it lasted this much on it it will last even more...

 

That's like saying "if that guy lived until 60 smoking four packs of cigarettes a day, he will live even longer if he keeps doing it..."

 

Not really, no one is telling him if he takes a leak in his gas tank for the first 200k miles to keep doing it. Putting conventional oil in the car is not actively HURTING anything like smoking can a person, it's just not necessarily as good as synthetic oil.

A more realistic analogy would be a guy who eats 2 servings of vegetables and an 85% lean burger every day until he's 70 and in relatively good health, we'd tell him to keep doing that rather than changing his diet to 3 servings of veggies and a 90% lean burger. Studies have shown that people in good health and above the age of 65 that change their day-to-day diets radically actually decline in health, even if they engage in what are generally accepted as "healthier" practices.

That's the stance that CAN be taken on the conventional to synthetic issue. I would personally say stick with conventional.

While synthetic oil I would generally recommend due to it's higher lubrication and protection qualities over conventional, everyone here can agree that it WOULD expose already-existing imperfections in some seals. While this isn't necessarily a bad thing on a 70k or even a 100k car, doing this on a car that has 215k I would say is bad. At 215k, I would rather hide the imperfections as long as possible rather than expose them. I think the engine would have a better chance of getting to 300k than if you switch over to synthetic, which will expose problems that need fixing, and the fixing process for oil leaks will require taking things apart that may not fit back together EXACTLY as it was, and then you change things in an already working engine. You could find more problems than you're willing to deal with.

If you're not already leaking, stick with conventional.

 

Stick with conventional oil. On my camaro, I switched to synthetic at 100,000 miles and then BAM! I had an oil leak. On the next oil change, I switched back, and the oil leak went away.

 

no smart a$$.. its not the same if the car already made that much miles that means that regular oil is just fine...

 

Fine, the analogy was a bit off.

But the point is the same: what has taken it this far is not necessarily the best thing for it from now on. What if, for example, there is some bearing in there that is nearing the end of its life? It could be 15k miles away from failure with conventional, but 30k away with a good synthetic.



That's actually even more off. The human body is a living system that adapts to what it gets. An engine is not living and does not adapt.

 

This thread, like another on gasoline, must have recently been moved to Fluids & Lubes. I have not seen it before.

Normally I recommend going to Synthetic oil at between 15 K and 100 K miles or so. But at 215 K miles, I would not make the switch. The seals are old, and the deposits from the dino oil are likely keeping them from leaking. Don't mess with switching. The synthetic oil (or the RX treatment) will remove these deposits and likely give you a leak. You are trying to get max mileage from this Max without spending big bucks on making repairs. Do the dino oil changes at about 5 K miles and leave well enough alone.

 

Yikes. Hadn't thought of this...

 

Just drive it and do what you've always been doing, no reason to flush money down the toilet with the most expensive oil, you are not going to notice the difference and if the car has been performing up to this point you arent losing anything by not going synthetic. Basically you have alot to lose by switching and nothing to gain.

 

Some to lose, only a little to gain at this point is what i would say, Auto Rx however you have alot (of life) to gain, and a little to lose (cost of treatments, well well well worth it, i cant reccomend this enough) If it helps next summer im putting it in the trans, engine, and Power steering of my Allante, which im very very picky with what i put in

 

The AutoRX does not cause leaks. It rejuvenates the seals thereby minimizing the risk of leakage. Go for it! www.auto-rx.com or visit www.bobistheoilguy.com (see the Additives forum).

 

Go with 2 AutoRX treatments which will clean your engine internals and ring packs and rejuvenate the seals.

I'm betwixt and between on whether I would recommend switching to synthetic oil at 215K.

As stated, I suspect you should just stick with a good quality dino oil like Castrol GTX 5w30 and a top notch oil filter, eg. OEM Nissan filter, WIX, Purolator PureOne.

 

I use Wal Mart "Super Tech", synthetic, $12.94 for a 5 qt. Jug, 127,000K & runs like a champ, does not ever burn a drop of oil between changes!

 

127 million miles. Longest lived Maxima evAr.

 

Hey, how can you measure a drop of oil between oil changes.

 

I would do whatever you did to get this far and not change it.