Ok so I know the topic of oil brand type etc is an ongoing debate can of worms BUT thought I would ponder the following topic anyway. Here goes:

My 99 max california spec car has about 253k miles on it. I've had this car for about 5 or 6 years. I'm running dino oil, and I change it typically every 3000 - 4000 miles. Car holds oil fine, NO leaks and i might need to add about 1/2 quart every 2000 miles. Does this sound about right for a VQ? Not sure what kind of oil the original owner was running, synthetic or dino, I don't know. I'm still in contact with him, I reached out to him to ask, I'll update once I hear back from him. I'm from that school that does not switch to synthetic oil if a car has been running on conventional dino oil it's whole life.

So yea, I've been reading about the need for high zinc oil for flat tappet engines. Anyone have an opinion about running high zinc oil in our VQ's? Are VQ's considered to be flat tappet since they have solid lifters? I've heard the zinc has been phased out of oils because it messes up the cat converters.

I have an old 62 ford falcon straight 6 170ci. It has solid lifters and flat tappets, so yea I'll be running the high zinc stuff from now on in that car. Same goes for my daughter's 73 buick riviera 455ci V8.

 

I’ve used Shell Rotella T6 5W-40 in both my ‘94 F150 Lightning and in my ‘99 Maxima for many many years.

... for a reason.