The engine oil is Castrol GTX 5-w30 i have got the car with 203.000 KM on the clock and changed the oil right away and stuck with 5000 KM OCI. i have no previous history for the car. Currently the car has 216.733 KM and the next OCI is coming up at 218.000 KM

On the left is a single drop, on the right is the same thing but with 3 drops. The business card sat for about 1 hour before the shots were taken.


Then we have the Auto tranny. No history once again, but as soon as i got the car i did the drain and fill at the dealer (Assuming they used their Nissan Matic-D , although i doubt its any different from regular Dexron III) at about 204.000KM

Again on the left are 2 single drips, and on the right are 3 drops.


Question #1: Should i increase the OCI of the Castrol GTX 5-w30 to 6000 KM?
Question #2: Should i just follow with the manual and drain and fill the tranny fluid at the dealer again 48.000KM after my first drain and fill ? (that should make it around (252.000 KM)

 

you need to let the blotter soak in overnight to get a good pattern. and then hold it up to a light.

blotters are not the most accurate way to determine if your oil is spent, but they do give you a good clue.

you didn't say how many KMs are on the oil shown above, but 5 KM s is a pretty short OCI, and the photos above, though not fully soaked in, do indicate the oil has much life left.

 

The engine oil above has about 3733 KM on it. i will let the oil fully absorb and take new pictures tomorrow then.

 

Updated pics about 30 hours after the first shoot. The oil definitely spread out further onto the paper card. These things are intensely difficult to shoot due to the close up of the lens and the lighting affects of the see through card.

Here we see he ATF, consuming almost the whole area of the card, its very light and clean looking so thats good news i guess


Here we see the single drop of Castrol GTX 5-w30. Note the inner circle and the outer circle, look at the word "Bathurst", the letter "u" is the size of the diameter difference between the two circles. the outer edge is soft and not sharp or jaggedy. Indicating still young oil perhaps ?


And here is the same Castrol GTX 5-w30 but 3 drips of it wit ha strange 3rd inner circle that is not seen the the single drop photo above. I cant explain this third circle, what is it ?

 

How long does it take you to put 5,000 kms on the clock?

I would be inclined to extend the OCI to 6,000 kms which is standard for the vehicle.

If you were to do a lot of highway driving in short order, you could probably extend the OCI beyond that with no adverse effects.

Use a good oil filter.

 

It takes me 3 months to put on 5000 KM, which i think is average?

I change my oil at Costco (price club) which uses new Castrol GT, and its whatever the filter they put on, which i can tell u looks white

I dont doo too much Hwy driving, most of it is city streets. i would estimate it to be 70/30 city/hwy as of right now, which i hope changes if i get the job that i am after...

but as of right now is it safe to go 6000 KM ?

 

It is safe to go 6,000 km, but I would start using a decent oil filter, and I don't mean Fram.

Use a Nissan OEM filter, WIX, Napa Gold, Purolator PureOne.

The 5,000 km, 3-month OCI is a myth/urban legend.

The VQ engine, with its aluminum block, is not prone to sludge and varnish buildup.

Given you don't know the history of your car, I would be inclined to give it two AutoRX treatments.

 

yeah that auto rx is web only huh, i will consider it.

You see i thought about buying my own filters, but cost becomes an issue. At costco, i get my oil and filter changed for 23.99 + tax (14 % here damn it) that comes out to about 27.35, now thats damn cheap for Castrol GTX.

now add about 15 - 20 for a filter and thats almost $50 per oil change. For this money i could be getting Castrol Syntec at the same costco for 44.99 with filter.

I do agree the aluminum VQ is no sludge maker, so i will extend this oil change to 6000 KM but will keep an eye on the oil from 5000 to 6000 interval

 

The Nissan OEM oil filter is about $10 plus tax at the stealership.

Buy your own Castrol GTX on sale and change your own oil. It isn't rocket science.

Better yet, get your mother to do it for you!

After all she changed your knock sensor, didn't she?

 

yeah but thats cause my hands couldnt fit in the hole, not because i coult not do it .....

But lets put your idea to the test: i see right now at the canadian tire website a 4 Litre jug of Castrol GTX for 16.99 + tax

and the oil filter from nissan for 10 dollars

10 + 16.99 = 26.99 x 14% tax = $$$$ 30.77

still - it is cheaper to get my Castrol From costco for 27.35 tax incl. and all the work is done for me.

+ i dont think the filter matters in normal city driving. its not like i am racing or something....

 

what exactly are you doing and looking for? is there a thread that explains this because i just bought a 99 se and this seems like something i might want to look into. sorry about the newb question but i'm just trying to learn

 

its ok, its a good question: as another user explained to me, this is done to approximate the life remaining in ur current DINO oil (conventional non-synthetic)

taking a business card that is made of paper, no glossy and dropping one or two drops of engine oil on it and leaving it to soak in overnight produces these results

basically, if the endges are smoth even all around, if there is an inner circle present but its also smooth and very similar in colour, not producing a big contrast, then the oil still has life left and can be used. on the other hand if the outer edges of the circle are sharp and uneven, and if therre is one or two inner circles present which are a lot darker in colour and also have sharp and uneven edges then the oil is done...this of course is just an approximation and not a substitute for used oil analysis that can be ordered to be performed on your oil by a lab over the internet.

 

i'll be trying this out tonight

 

You forgot the best one asides from nissan..... Bosch.

 

BTW now here is an example of a new member of the site NOT post whoring to 15 posts, good job man

 

On a healthy engine, I've seen GTX go almost 9~10K km w/o issues on a FRAM filter

 

anyone heard of these filters ?
http://www.champlabs.com/products/oilfilters.html

thats what the place that changes my gtx puts on

 

Notice that not many Americans are replying on this thread. That's because we don't think in terms of Km, but rather in terms of miles. Your 5 k Km is the same as 3.1 K miles. In the world today, that's a very short OCI -- and tends to waste resources. Even 6 k Km is the same as 3.7 K miles, which is consistent with Nissan's shortest recommended OCI. So I recommend you go to the longer 6 k Km interval and not even worry about it.

If you like to worry, then send in a sample of your used oil (collected at oil change) for a lab test rather than do the approximation you are doing with the business card -- it is much more accurate.

Your filter does make a difference, but you are correct, even the Fram filters should be good for the short OCI you are using. I prefer a quality filter, synthetic oil and a longer OCI (just went to 10 K miles or 16 k Km after doing them at 7.5 K miles or 12 k Km -- while my power-train warranty was still in effect). But can't prove that what I'm doing is better than what you are doing.

 

Thankx SilverMax_04 that really was all that i was looking for in a response.

The KM instead of mile thing should not stop people from posting (this helps http://www.worldwidemetric.com/metcal.htm)

The reason im on dyno and not synth is because i dont want to get leaks, right now its not burning a drop and not leaking a drop. so i dont wanna change a thing, just maintenance.

 

With that OCI the dino stuff is just fine (assuming the oil is doing okay). Which from your test, seems okay. Would be nice just for this one time to send a sample to Blackstone to verify your car test.

Jeff92se (American)

 

I understand the reason for UOA tests, but i dont change my own oil, and getting a lube place to take a sample for me..because i know they wount allow anyone over the counter...is quite impossible.

i looked at the oil today, the level is the same as it was when i did these tests, and the colour still looks good, not black, but golden brown, and i have just rolled over the 5000KM mark for the oil change, going to go at 6K from now on

Thanks Guys

Andrei (Russian)

 

id go 7500 KM at least, i go 5k Miles easy on GT.