I did my second oil change Sat. This is the first one I have done myself on the max. I'm only at 9,400kms and I noticed that the oil looked metallic in the sun. I made sure that I let it drain for at least .5 hr which I know wasn't done at the skippy lube.
Everyone think this is normal from break-in and that my extended drain just got out the initial stuff that should of been drained on the first change
I still have my drained oil....you think I should take it to somewhere and get it checked
Thanks
Ron

 

I've never seen metal in my oil. It doesn't sound good.

Does the Mobil 1 look that way when it's new?

You'd think the oil filter would catch most of whatever is floating in the oil. Maybe the synthetic looks like that normally?

 

It wasn't synthetic I took out...It was synthetic I put in. I went 4700kms on the factory oil, 4700 on my first change and every change has been with a nissan filter????

 

Ron,

To find out for sure if there's metal in the sample and to find which components it's coming from, I suggest you send in a sample to have it analyzed. They will also be able to tell you if it's from the normal break in process, but my guess is it's not. That sounds like an awful lot of metal to be normal, but then again, I've never drained it on a car that new before either.

Try http://www.blackstone-labs.com , they probably have the best format for what you would be looking for in this case.

 

The metallic look was mostly in a swirl in the middle of my pan which made me hope it was the last bit to come out from the bottom of the pan

 

are u an auto or manual??? maybe its shavings from your clutch =X

 

You should perform your first oil change at 2000 miles or less. That is probably why you have shavings. This is the most critical time period in an engines life!

Jesse

 

auto...

 

Uhh... and how would clutch shavings end up in the oil (engine or gear)?

 

Seriously consider having your oil analyzed after you get 3k or so on this interval. It's most likely wear and won't be a big deal.

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....hreadid=100060





VQs can easily take 10,000 miles to properly break-in, ESPECIALLY when going to synthetic at an early age in the motor's life.

 

I think you went synthetic way to early. As far as you first oil change at 4700km, that is a bit high. My opinion would be that the first oil change should be done no more than 1200 miles. Then another at 3000 and then every 3000. Id wait till 12k miles before changing over to synthetic.

 

what you *SHOULD* do is take your old filter to the dealer, let them cut it open and inspect the filter. *that* is where the metal will be.

OR you can run a magnet in the oil you drained and really see if what you thought you saw was really metal.

But I think taking the filter to the nissan dealer would be a good idea on many levels..

 

Asking the Nissan dealer to do something?

 

Dont worry about the first oil change at 12k miles. Ever since I got my car, I had my very first oil change at 3000 miles, and then every 3000 miles using regular oil until 85,000. I switched to mobil 1 at 85k and I've got 120k now and not a single problem.

 

I would.. He's doing 3500 mile changes, (Note he said km, not mi).. he's still under 12K. Under 12K, everything is covered and Nissan really cant dispute that. So, yeah.. the dealer.

 

at Tim thinking the dealer will do something.



Are you sure you are sticking to that advice?

 

depends on the severity. metal in oil would be one of those things....

honestly, if it were me, I'd fedex a sample to Blackstone.. Or, I'd got to Home Depot and get a pipe cutter to open the filter and take a look myself, *then* I'd go to the dealer. But I dont expect everyone to be that obsessive compulsive...

 

Ron,

If you decide to go the route of sending your oil to get tested, you can send it to Agat Labs in Mississauga (http://www.agatlabs.com). I get my oil tested frequently and use them. Next, I do not think your drain interval was too long, I changed my oil the first time at 3000 km. I believe most people who own Maximas would run the car 8-10k km before changing their oil the first time. Most people who visit this site are quite **** about their cars and do not represent the vast majority of car owners. The are very few people on this site who have had any engine problems whatsoever...the VQ is a very well built engine. My advice to you is to run 6-8k km drain intervals with synthetic, use OEM filters (easier to get warranty work if required), document all oil changes with receipts, and get your oil tested periodically. Most importantly, relax and enjoy your ride. You've got 100k km to make a warranty claim. If your engine craters at 60k km, you've covered yourself and you get a new engine! Enjoy.

 

you should take it to the dealer and have them check it out.

 

Have it analyzed. There is no other way to tell period.

 

First I would suspect the Nissan filter. It is probably as cheap as a FRAM.

I to use Mobil 1 with the NAPA gold filter, their best. The filter costs around $10 and is far superior to others. A NAPA store wil have a cut away filter so you can see the difference.

 

You have no idea what you're talking about

Napa might be okay but again you have no idea what you are talking about. And what does that have to do with the filter? From what I've seen, the filter doesn't contain any metal(other than the case). So whether or not the filter is catching the metal or not, there is still alot of metal coming from the ENGINE.

 

Just to clear up the confusion 4700kms is = to 2914 miles and that was my longest drain interval. I got my filter back out of the garbage and it's now sitting in a glad bag and the liter of oil (.908 quarts) from the bottom of my drain pan is also sitting with it. I will keep you all up to date with any info I find out about it and thanks for the help.
P.S.I may try the magnet in the oil and opening the filter up as my first step


Metric conversion site

http://www.allmath.com/metric.asp?mode=SOLVE

 

Unless your drain pan was clean, you may have corupted your sample if it has mixed with sludge that was already there. This will mean that it is not representative of the stuff that was in the car. BTW a litre is bigger than a quart

 

if you really had alot of metal, your filter material will be *bling* *bling*

You probably wont get much from the oil now, the metal will have settled to the bottom. You can probably just see it if you pour it into another container.

 

It was a brand new drain pan and yes a litre is bigger than a quart. They only take 4 litres on a change with filter. I meant to say 1Quart = .908 litres