I was wondering if any of you guys know a good conventional oil (not synthetic). There are so many brands and I'm not sure which one to choose. If any of you could help me it would be great. Also did anyone notice that the oil filters that you buy at the dealer are a different model number than the one's that came from the factory. The dealer told me that Nissan decided that the different oil filter is better but I'm not sure if that's just a load of crap. Thanks for the help guys.

 

Personally, I'd recommend Valvoline or Mobil. I never had any problems with either of those in my previous vehicles, although I've since switched to synthetic.

 

Mobil all the way.

 

Patel,

Honestly, conventional oil is very similar. Catrol, Mobil, Penzoil, all of them have the same base. Just certain brands put their additives and what not. Alot of people like Penzoil cause of their special additive they put that binds to metal. But in all honestly, its all the same.

Dixit

 

yeah, buy what you want for the most part, it's all basically the same. i've used most of them and you really won't be able to tell the difference.

but i've stuck with castrol for the free stuff you can get with the box of oil. just kidding about that.

 

Got 225,000 miles on a 89 Toyota Celica. Used only Pennzoil 10W-30,
changed oil and filter every 3,000 miles or 3 months whichever came first. Replaced air filter hose and water pump in 13 years. Only performed regular scheduled maintenance other than replacing 2 previous parts. Driven daily, still doesn't use oil! Runs great! Switched 5 other family cars to Amsoil 0W-30 Full Synthetic oil. Didn't convert Celica because of high milage! Personally believe Pennzoil has the finest dino oil!

 

karguy,


I've received your e-mails and look forward to receiving your analysis results when you get them.

 

Used to use Castrol GTX 5w30. It seems to offer good protection (never had issues with oil consumption, leaks) but the engines seemed to develop visible buildup in its internal parts. Haven't been able to find information regarding ash content for Castrol, most likely is high...
I switch to conventional Mobil DriveClean 5w30 in the wife's Villager (75k miles) and for the first oil change in my Maxima. I will be switching to Mobile1 5w30 in the next Maxima oil change.

Pennzoil seems to offer good dino oil too. I always stayed away from Quaker State. Had engine pinging as soon as I switched to it in my old Datsun. Quaker State was bought by Pennzoil since then, so most likely, the formulation is now the same as Pennzoil's.

 

The following is something you might find interesting. It was some correspondance from my brother(Curt)to the Oilman(Kevin). Since it's an email, start at the bottom and read up. I have always used Valvoline All Climate oil and my Bro uses Lubrication Engineers in his '96 WS-6 Firebird. He's pushing 400+HP at the rear wheels with the mods he's made and did a complete teardown of the motor this past winter(he installed a nitrous piston/crank/rod kit and internally balanced the motor). He's mic'd all the clearances and there was amazingly little wear with over 120K on the motor.

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Curt,
The reason that I say they are a waste of time is that we are in a different market than they are. Most of our business is in 55 gal drums and up to 8,000 gal tanks. We are not set up to sell small quantities or be in the retail market like those other companies are. Conversely they are not into the industrial or big truck market like we are. So it would not be very beneficial to Lubrication Engineers to test against those companies.

Test oil --------------------- P/F -- Wear# -- TFOUT (oxidation)

Castrol GTX ------------------ Fail -- NA ----- 121
Havoline Formula 3 ----------- Pass -- 14 ----- 193
Honda ------------------------ Pass -- 14 ----- 323
Mobil ------------------------ Pass -- 16 ----- 218
Mobil 1 ---------------------- Pass -- 12 ----- 509
Mopar ------------------------ Pass -- 19 ----- 237
Motorcraft ------------------- Fail -- 207
GM Goodwrench ---------------- Pass -- 16 ----- 221
Pennzoil --------------------- Fail -- 231
Quaker State ----------------- Pass -- 11 ----- 157
Total Quartz 5000 ------------ Pass -- 17 ----- 219
Toyota ----------------------- Pass -- 14 ----- 222
Phillips 66 Tropartic -------- Pass -- 17 ----- 153
Valvoline All Climate -------- Pass -- 17 ----- 247
Valvoline Dura Blend --------- Fail -- 166
Western Auto ----------------- Fail -- 190
Lubrication Engineers 5w-30 -- Pass -- 6 ------ 481

Look for low wear# combined with a high TFOUT# (oxidation) and you will find the best oil.
Kevin
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Kevin,
Can I have the updated list anyway? Why is Amsoil, RedLine and Royal Purple a waste of time? I see quite a few people say they use it, but I know it's snake oil. I was just hoping to have some ammo as to why
Curt
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Curt,
The updated list of the 5w-30 oils does not list Amsoil, Redline or Royal Purple. Those oils are not very much competition so a waste of time to test.
Kevin
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Kevin,
I was wondering if I could get an updated list of all 5w-30 and 10w-30 oils that you have tested. I'd especially like to see some numbers from such oils as Amsoil, RedLine and Royal Purple if available.
Curt

 

carl,
what does the pass and fail refer to; what was tested??

 

Are those tested oils conventional or synthetic?

 

I don't know what any of that crap means, but I'm buying Mobil One from now on...

 

I'm currently running Valvoline All-Climate in all my cars.

Worth noting is that my engine machinist strongly discourages use of Castrol, particularly in performance/high rpm use. And from another board I've picked up similar comments from a Jiffy Lube tech regarding Pennzoil (that Pennzoil owns the Jiffy Lube chain notwithstanding).

Regarding filters, I ended up with 3 of the short ones last time (15208-65F00), which are specifically listed for some of the 4-cylinder Nissans). I'd rather use the long ones (15208-9E000).

Norm

 

Thata boy.

 

Victor,

Sorry the delay in responding to you, I had surgery for a kidney stone and I'm just now getting around again. The pass/fail refers to the wear number and if it's too high, they fail the oil. Most of the oils in the list are dino oils except for Mobil 1 and the partial synthetic Valvoline Durablend. It's interesting to note that the Durablend failed the test and had a low (meaning bad) oxidation rating. I had never heard of Lubrication Engineers until my brother started using it. I'm not promoting it at all, but he liked it because of the low wear number and the fact they use it in a lot of high horsepower military engines (my bro was a Navy helicopter parts engineer). The Lubrication Engineers oil is available mail order only (they sell primarily to the military and don't advertise) and is about the same price as the Mobil 1. Keep in mind the listing was performed by a chemical engineer working for Lubrication Engineers and was some internal testing they were doing for their own information.

I used to build high perf motors and the machine shops I took them to for balancing always said to use Valvoline because the engine would be as clean internally at 100k miles as when it was assembled. That was before Mobil 1 was on the market. When I started buying the Maxima's, I went back and forth between Mobil 1 and Valvoline and I'm still undecided as to which to use. I only keep the cars for 3 years and I've kept meticulous records of the oil changes and the gas mileage. Being the nutty engineer that I am, I've run statistical analysis on both of the oils v/s gas mileage and the only difference I ever noticed was during a bitterly cold winter with short trips. I keep the oil changed at 3k intervals and since I don't keep the cars for very long, I'm having a hard time trying to justify spending the extra money for the Mobil 1 even though I'm convinced it's a much better oil.

 

Empirically (i.e. data from baseline analyses that have not been released in the new oil analysis spreadsheet), Valvoline dino isn't very strong compared to Pennzoil or Castrol GTX.


The best dino oil for Maximas:

ULX-110
Castrol GTX (not the Syntec Blend crap)

I recommend: Castrol GTX because ULX is around $4/quart and relatively difficult to get

Why? Because they have been analysis-proven here and have very strong initial TBN values for dino oils (both rival that of some synthetics) and tend to stay strong over extended drain intervals.

The real world is where results matter.

 

MOBIL 1 Full Syn 5W30 for me. I mean if the corvettes come out of the factory with that in their engine and they put it on the oil cap, then it's gotta be good. Don't you just love my logic.

 

I have always used Mobil 1 since the late 70's while in Europe. I used Mobil 1 on a 200SX and BMW 2002; always drove them petal to the medal in Germany where there is no speed limit. That made me a believer.

Pedro

 

Ya'll got any love for Quaker State 5W-30?