whats your favorite oil?
12-06-2011, 03:39 PM
#81
There seems to be alot of misinformation on this thread and I think this site will help all future visiotrs to this thread as well http://www.upmpg.com/tech_articles/motoroil_viscosity/ it explains what all the numbers mean and why a multi weight oil is needed. This site is an oil comparison and shows my most "synthetics" are only labeled that way becasue of a legal loop hole and of the print date the only major oil compnies still using a true systhetic oil are mobil 1 and amsoil. Very interesting considering I used to use castrol and come to find out it isnt a true synthetic oil, it can only call itself that through a lgal loop hole.
12-06-2011, 03:57 PM
#82
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Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: NEPA
Posts: 111
There seems to be alot of misinformation on this thread and I think this site will help all future visiotrs to this thread as well http://www.upmpg.com/tech_articles/motoroil_viscosity/ it explains what all the numbers mean and why a multi weight oil is needed. This site is an oil comparison and shows my most "synthetics" are only labeled that way becasue of a legal loop hole and of the print date the only major oil compnies still using a true systhetic oil are mobil 1 and amsoil. Very interesting considering I used to use castrol and come to find out it isnt a true synthetic oil, it can only call itself that through a lgal loop hole.
That being said. If you want to read current unbiased information about motor oil Bob is the oil guy FTW.
Last edited by DrewSER; 12-06-2011 at 04:25 PM.
01-30-2012, 03:27 PM
#83
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Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 888
I've had various makes and models, experienced young cars, new cars, valvoline, mobil 1, etc. etc. In my opinion, a lot of the oil in today's market are pretty good.
I've always stuck w/ MOBIL 1 for my newer cars, but on the older ones, I've used regular mobil, valvoline or castrol w/o any problems. You could say, whatever's floating in the ads at that time to be the determining factor. LOL I plan on keeping my import on mobil 1 for as long as I keep it.
Extended drain intervals don't mean a thing to me. If your car is running smoothe, it's rumming smoothe. If there are leaks, there are leaks.
I've always stuck w/ MOBIL 1 for my newer cars, but on the older ones, I've used regular mobil, valvoline or castrol w/o any problems. You could say, whatever's floating in the ads at that time to be the determining factor. LOL I plan on keeping my import on mobil 1 for as long as I keep it.
Extended drain intervals don't mean a thing to me. If your car is running smoothe, it's rumming smoothe. If there are leaks, there are leaks.
01-30-2012, 10:49 PM
#84
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Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado
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There seems to be alot of misinformation on this thread .... This site is an oil comparison and shows my most "synthetics" are only labeled that way becasue of a legal loop hole and of the print date the only major oil compnies still using a true systhetic oil are mobil 1 and amsoil. ...
According to information that I believe to be true, the legal loop hole you discuss was a court case that Mobil brought against other companies because they were calling their motor oil synthetic. When Mobil lost this case in court, it too began using the ingredients that it was complaining about in the court case - they are cheaper.
So Amsoil and I believe a few other small specialty motor oil manufacturers are the only ones still making a true synthetic motor oil. The rest can call their product synthetic based on the court case, but it is not really fully synthetic.
07-21-2012, 05:24 AM
#88
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Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Northern NJ
Posts: 93
My 2011 now has 9,500 miles (got car in Nov 2010). My first two oil/filter changes were at the dealer. They were free. When I asked what oil/filter was used, I got less than a warm and honest feeling about the answer. So I can't say I really know what was used the first two times. I do know that the car runs great, and if the on-board MPG read out can be trusted, I have gotten up to 28 MPG on a long highway trip, and I average 25 MPG doing about 75% normal highway driving.
The car seems to get better MPG going 80 MPH than 55 MPH. Really. Possibly the engine is awesome or the computer is skewed by miles/time.
Whatever the case, my mechanic (trusted around here for over 25 years) has a 10 year old Maxima (as well as a few other cars) and said not to worry about what the dealer may have put into the car. But, he just changed my oil/filter and gave me a few choices. Various semi-syn, syn, CAM2, Mobil, Royal Purple, filters, etc. We went with Mobil1 5-30w and a WIX 51358 filter.
The car ran awesome before the change, and still does. Can't say it feels better. So I'm feeling good and will monitor performance and MPG and will report back in a few months.
Interesting.
The car seems to get better MPG going 80 MPH than 55 MPH. Really. Possibly the engine is awesome or the computer is skewed by miles/time.
Whatever the case, my mechanic (trusted around here for over 25 years) has a 10 year old Maxima (as well as a few other cars) and said not to worry about what the dealer may have put into the car. But, he just changed my oil/filter and gave me a few choices. Various semi-syn, syn, CAM2, Mobil, Royal Purple, filters, etc. We went with Mobil1 5-30w and a WIX 51358 filter.
The car ran awesome before the change, and still does. Can't say it feels better. So I'm feeling good and will monitor performance and MPG and will report back in a few months.
Interesting.
Last edited by NismoMax80; 08-16-2012 at 10:41 AM.
12-24-2012, 07:38 PM
#89
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Join Date: Oct 2009
Posts: 1,432
The only thing i will put into my 267xxx mile vq is Mobil 1 High Milege 10w30 and a matching Mobil 1 oil filter past 100k miles and my car sees it red line just about every single day and tons and tons of hard miles. i beleave Mobil 1 is the only reason i havent spun a bearing or threw a rod.
12-24-2012, 10:35 PM
#90
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Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado
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You could be right about the Mobil 1 keeping problems away from your engine.
But I maintain that a bigger reason is that Nissan builds a superior engine.
It does not necessarily damage a well built engine to take it near red-line.
You just don't want to "beat" the engine or starve it from proper lubrication.
But I maintain that a bigger reason is that Nissan builds a superior engine.
It does not necessarily damage a well built engine to take it near red-line.
You just don't want to "beat" the engine or starve it from proper lubrication.
04-10-2013, 06:07 PM
#91
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Join Date: Nov 2005
Posts: 87
I've used M1 5w30 (awful) German Castrol 0w30 (pretty good) now I'm using German Castrol Edge 0w40, engine's quieter than the Mobil 1 0w40 and I think the GC is a slightly lighter 40 weight. Great lube-a-dube for the VQ.
Last edited by progrocker; 10-21-2014 at 12:56 AM.
04-21-2013, 07:55 PM
#94
10-14-2014, 08:49 PM
#97
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Join Date: Nov 2005
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Rotella blows 5w30 mobil 1 right out of the water, which is a particularly crappy oil in the M1 lineup (there are pages and pages of oil analysis threads on various oil analysis and technical oil forums that support this). the lubrication properties of M1 5W30 and 10W30 oils are not even in the same ballpark as rotella dino, let alone rotella t6 synthetic.
research oil analyses like I have and see for yourself. if you drive your car hard and want to spall the **** out of your mains and rod bearings and score up your crank by all means, keep using the 5w30 mobil 1. if you drive your car hard and want to actually keep those bearings in good shape, run a better oil, because 5w30 mobil 1 does not hold up. Mobil 1 0W40 on the other hand gets great reviews, but their 5w30 sucks, hard. if you like having an oil that doesn't provide adequate protection within 2500 miles in your car, by all means, keep using M1 5w30 or 10w30. Meanwhile, I'll keep rocking my "cheap ish" Rotella which had excellent UOA @ 4500 miles (meaning the oil was still going strong) and those 4500 miles included TWO track days racing the car and seeing oil temps up to 280*F, and 10 drag strip days, in addition to normal street driving - the oil analysis people recommended that I go 5000-5500 miles on my next change under the same conditions, or that I could go more like 7000 if I don't do any racing, Not only are my results good, ALL of the UOAs for Rotella T Synth have been stellar in the gigantic oil analysis thread on my350z. See where this is going?
Rotella is the superior oil in this comparison. Period. There is no argument.
if you drive the car easy it's likely that you won't notice a difference either way, but if you want the best oil do your research. because the oil you're using sucks, bad, and it's like 1.5 times more expensive per quart, oh and you have to change it 2x-3x as often. Awesome. So you're paying like 3-6x as much for any given oil change interval, and your chosen oil's protection is crap in comparison to the "cheap ish" you're bashing. Good choice.
research oil analyses like I have and see for yourself. if you drive your car hard and want to spall the **** out of your mains and rod bearings and score up your crank by all means, keep using the 5w30 mobil 1. if you drive your car hard and want to actually keep those bearings in good shape, run a better oil, because 5w30 mobil 1 does not hold up. Mobil 1 0W40 on the other hand gets great reviews, but their 5w30 sucks, hard. if you like having an oil that doesn't provide adequate protection within 2500 miles in your car, by all means, keep using M1 5w30 or 10w30. Meanwhile, I'll keep rocking my "cheap ish" Rotella which had excellent UOA @ 4500 miles (meaning the oil was still going strong) and those 4500 miles included TWO track days racing the car and seeing oil temps up to 280*F, and 10 drag strip days, in addition to normal street driving - the oil analysis people recommended that I go 5000-5500 miles on my next change under the same conditions, or that I could go more like 7000 if I don't do any racing, Not only are my results good, ALL of the UOAs for Rotella T Synth have been stellar in the gigantic oil analysis thread on my350z. See where this is going?
Rotella is the superior oil in this comparison. Period. There is no argument.
if you drive the car easy it's likely that you won't notice a difference either way, but if you want the best oil do your research. because the oil you're using sucks, bad, and it's like 1.5 times more expensive per quart, oh and you have to change it 2x-3x as often. Awesome. So you're paying like 3-6x as much for any given oil change interval, and your chosen oil's protection is crap in comparison to the "cheap ish" you're bashing. Good choice.
M1 5w30 gets lots of love around here. I don't get it. It was the first oil I put in my Max and the normal VQ (clicking) sounds were noticeably louder. 
Last edited by progrocker; 10-15-2014 at 10:58 PM.
10-15-2014, 07:51 PM
#98
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Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 294
My last oil change I put in Amsoil Signature Series 5w-30. I'm pretty impressed after the current 4k miles.
My oil usage has been cut by over 50%. Added maybe a pint in 4k miles. With the Rotella T6 I had in there, I put over a qt in at 3k.
Mileage is up over 1mpg. (I watch it like a hawk).
Engine idles eerily quiet. The timing chain used to have a quick growl on start up, now no noise.
I also started running Amsoil SS 5w-30 in my Civic. It's never ran better.
I'm **** about the mechanical condition of my cars. Afterall, I work my a$$ off to afford them.
My oil usage has been cut by over 50%. Added maybe a pint in 4k miles. With the Rotella T6 I had in there, I put over a qt in at 3k.
Mileage is up over 1mpg. (I watch it like a hawk).
Engine idles eerily quiet. The timing chain used to have a quick growl on start up, now no noise.
I also started running Amsoil SS 5w-30 in my Civic. It's never ran better.
I'm **** about the mechanical condition of my cars. Afterall, I work my a$$ off to afford them.
10-15-2014, 11:06 PM
#99
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Join Date: Nov 2005
Posts: 87
There are heavier 30's(like the 0w30 German Castrol) and lighter 40's(like the 0w40 German and Belgian Castrol). These two have close to the same visco specs and are fine for our VQ's. Checking out German Castrol Edge 0w40 in the VQ30 now. First impressions... super smooth, quiet cold starts, gas mileage is down one or two mph but I don't sweat that knowing these engines are pretty tough on oils and run a little on the hotter side. I think they're better off with a heavier 30/lighter 40(between 12 and 13 cSt@100c). I'd rather have a light 40 weight that might shear down to a 30 instead of a 30 that'll shear down to a 20. 
Last edited by progrocker; 10-21-2014 at 12:41 AM.
12-21-2014, 12:01 PM
#101
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Join Date: Dec 2014
Posts: 1
Off the shelf?
Rotella (and other diesel oils) generally provide worlds more protection under harsh operating conditions than do most normal "off the shelf" oils - there are exceptions to this of course. the fact that the VQ's design lends itself well to the properties of heavier diesel oils is a nice benefit.
recommended by the factory and best under exceptional operating conditions are often two different things.
after the analyses I've had done on my own VQ which sees racing conditions, after the analyses done on a couple other buddies who race also, I'm a firm believer in using the better regarded diesel oils in the VQ. i've done the research and participated in the tests myself, and i'm convinced.
recommended by the factory and best under exceptional operating conditions are often two different things.
after the analyses I've had done on my own VQ which sees racing conditions, after the analyses done on a couple other buddies who race also, I'm a firm believer in using the better regarded diesel oils in the VQ. i've done the research and participated in the tests myself, and i'm convinced.
01-04-2015, 09:47 PM
#103
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Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Greater Toronto Area
Posts: 28
My favorite engine oil for 02 maxima. It stops the leak
Liqui Moly 5W-40 LEICHTLAUF HIGH TECH Fully Synthetic Motor Oil:
image hosting over 10mb
Liqui Moly 5W-40 LEICHTLAUF HIGH TECH Fully Synthetic Motor Oil:
image hosting over 10mb
Last edited by Alexyan; 01-04-2015 at 09:52 PM.
01-11-2015, 01:28 PM
#104
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Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Indy
Posts: 11
I just use the nissan specific warranty-grade service oil. Haha, which is really just mobile-1 with a nissan sticker on the bottle, same as that GM Dexos stuff. But hey, I get it for free at work so its what ill use. When an engine only takes 4.8-4.9 that .2-.1 adds up fast enough to save 
01-15-2015, 09:38 AM
#105
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Join Date: Jun 2014
Posts: 561
So I have a new 7th gen and I'm so overloaded by the info. I'm not sure what to use. I changed the oil at 1200 miles with Dino as most people say but I'm coming up on 5000 miles and I'm thinking of going to synthetic amsoil. What is a reasonable amount of time or miles to leave this in? Also, it sounds like filters are a bigger deal than I previously thought. I would love a good recommendation on one of these too? I will probably do this for both my 2012 and 2014 maximas. Thanks.
01-18-2015, 12:24 PM
#106
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Location: The Northeast
Posts: 681
So I have a new 7th gen and I'm so overloaded by the info. I'm not sure what to use. I changed the oil at 1200 miles with Dino as most people say but I'm coming up on 5000 miles and I'm thinking of going to synthetic amsoil. What is a reasonable amount of time or miles to leave this in? Also, it sounds like filters are a bigger deal than I previously thought. I would love a good recommendation on one of these too? I will probably do this for both my 2012 and 2014 maximas. Thanks.
Vary up the oil every change, see what your Max likes best and have fun
01-18-2015, 10:22 PM
#107
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Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado
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You should stay with conventional motor oil for at least 10 K miles before switching to fully syn. (Why do you think the engine comes from the factory with conventional?) This allows your engine to fully break-in. I changed to synthetic at 7.5 K and wish I had gone the full distance. Some even say to stay conventional for the first 15 K miles. But certainly wait until after 10K.
I also agree with the comment above that Amsoil is great synthetic motor oil - but too pricy. Those suggestions are good. I'd buy a name brand synthetic based on price.
Good luck,
I also agree with the comment above that Amsoil is great synthetic motor oil - but too pricy. Those suggestions are good. I'd buy a name brand synthetic based on price.
Good luck,
Last edited by SilverMax_04; 01-18-2015 at 10:26 PM.
01-21-2015, 02:27 PM
#109
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Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado
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After finding antifreeze in my Dodge pickup motor oil when I sent it in for analysis, I always have my used motor oil analyzed after every oil change in both vehicles. (Both heads in the Dodge engine had hair-line cracks that were leaking coolant into the motor oil). The lab continues to tell me that there is still life in my old synthetic oil after 10 K miles - but I change there anyhow. I am worried that the oil filter needs replacing at that time, even if the motor oil remains OK.
02-17-2015, 10:05 PM
#111
I'm at 307K and I run Supertech conventional 5W30 and a Purolator classic. Change at 4-5K.
No issues whatsoever. That you change your oil is more important than what kind of oil you use. Use the correct spec of course.
Sent from my XT1060 using Maxima
No issues whatsoever. That you change your oil is more important than what kind of oil you use. Use the correct spec of course.
Sent from my XT1060 using Maxima
03-02-2015, 11:54 AM
#112
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I have some oil burning in my engine - had it from the first. Has not changed and I now have 145 K miles on her. But I was told by someone (don't know if it is true) that dino oil does a better job of letting the rings properly seat and the engine properly break-in. This person suspected that I changed too soon and thus am getting a little oil burning from my engine. It burns a little more than a quart in 10K miles - which is my oil change interval. (I did not go to this interval until after the engine warranty expired on my car. I was doing changes at 5 K miles with dino oil and 7.5 K miles after going to synthetic - until the warranty ended). To take my engine to 10 K miles rather than 7.5 K would have been one more oil change with dino oil before going to synthetic - not a big deal.
People will often tell you a lot of things based on folklore or what they've heard from some unspecified source. With that said, the industry leaders including Mobil and AMSOIL both state that their products can be safely used in new engines during break-in. Many vehicles, especially high performance cars, come factory-filled with synthetic oil and it's required for service fills thereafter.
I've personally changed my new cars over to AMSOIL engine oil and transmission fluid with fewer than 1,000 miles on them and those engines never used a drop of oil in the extended drain intervals I practice.
It certainly doesn't hurt to wait for some specified amount of time to convert to synthetics, but it's not a necessity.
Last edited by talkinghorse; 03-02-2015 at 11:58 AM.
06-07-2017, 11:55 AM
#113
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Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Cleveland
Posts: 22
I got my 07 with 27k miles, did one blend of valvoline synthetic then switched to mobile 1 -5W30 and change every 9-11k miles. Have 155k now and it doesn't burn oil, so far! Also use on our other cars. it's been a good oil. I get such crappy mpg on my max that i may try 10W30 next time it won't make a difference.
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