I will be doing all the servicing to my Altima and don't want to void warranty

[ZQ8 Blazer]

I've been working on cars/trucks for the last 12 years and will not let anyone else touch my vehicles. It's like letting a stranger have sex with your wife. I even have a lift in the garage because I do so much mechanic work.

When we bought the car the dealership tried to tell me that I cannot change my own oil and it will void my warranty, I'm 26, but look 16 so I don't know if that because I look young and inexperienced or if they were just trying to milk me down the road for some cash. Anyway is there anything I need to do besides keep a book of services done to the car so they don't try to pull some warranty being void or saying I did something wrong BS?

Also the dealership told me to buy their oil/filters. If I don't do this will it void my warranty? Can I just use Mobil 1? How many miles do you guys go on full synthetic? Do you use any type of special oil filter?

[phobs]

As long as you keep your receipts and mileage records and use API certified oil like Mobil 1, then you will be fine. I would progressively switch to synthetic Mobil 1. At around 2500 miles I changed my oil to Mobil Clean 7500 which is a synthetic blend and when I hit the 5000, I will switch to synthetic Mobil 1, then just regularly change oil at intervals of 5000. As for oil filters, you can get OEM ones for cheap or spend double the money for better quality ones such as Mobil 1/K&N. I just use part #15208-9e000 OEM oil filters from my recent collection.

[Mr.Coupe]

That's a bunch of BS dude. You can change your own oil. Like stated just keep all reciepts. I also do my own services on my cars. I was a Volkswagen TECH from the age of 16-20 so I know my SIHT. As for the oil filter I buy the OEM filters. In your pouch were the owners manuel is you have a booklet with service info that the dealer can fill out. Everytime I service my cars I fill the page out and staple ALL reciepts to the page. A warranty is VOID is you install any aftermarket parts to the car that cause a problem to the engine, suspension, brakes or the part of the vehicle that was altered. On my car I use Mobil 1 5W20. That's my input on the subject. Hopes it helped. Welcome to the forums.

Ricky C.

[ZQ8 Blazer]

Ok thanks guys.

So I still need to change the full synthetic every 5k? I know with Valvoline 75k+ I'll change it every 7-8k on my Blazer and it still comes out pretty brown and the engine has about 150k on it, I've read that you can even go a lot longer than that.

[dangeris]

It depends what kind of driving you do. I do a lot of highway driving so I change my oil every 6K and I use Mobil 1 ALWAYS Like you I don't let just anyone work on her, just a selected few Where did you get your lift and is a 2 post or 4 post lift? So jealous you have a lift

[ZQ8 Blazer]

I'd say 60% highway, 15% parkway and 25% city. So what do you guys think?

I got the lift used for $600 and it took about $400 of hydraulic fluid. It's air over hydraulics. We dug a 10 ft deep hole using nothing but water and a post hole digger, yes it took a while, but no one had an auger that deep around here for rent.

It's a single post which IMO the only thing better is a 2 post that has one post on each side. I can remove a transmission out of a truck in no time, but we also have a front bucket tractor with a transmission holder that we built so that makes it very easy to drop out. Also it's very easy to lower a truck compared to having to sit on the ground.

[dangeris]

Nice. I'm building a garage this year with 10' walls. Looking to get a 2 post lift myself

As for your driving situation, is the car brand new? Is it past the break-in period. If so, check the fluid on your fingers at 5K..if it's still amber and doesn't feel or smell burnt, I'd check it again at 6K and possibly change it then. I have 27K on mine and when I had it in the shop a couple of weeks ago, I had them check the cvt fluid and the mechanic said I must baby my car cause my cvt fluid is still in perfect condition! He told me to come back when I get close to 50K

[phobs]

What lift are you planning to get, dangeris? BendPak?

[vonivo]

Oil and a filter is the cheapest thing you can do to prolong the life of your engine. when i hear of people going beyond 5k with synthetic it turns my stomach...did you at least change the filter once...no just what i thought...do yourself a flavor and change em both at at least 5k its the cheapest and best thing you can do for your engine.

[dangeris]

What lift are you planning to get, dangeris? BendPak?

Dunno yet but I am leaning towards that brand. XPR-9FX to be precise

Oil and a filter is the cheapest thing you can do to prolong the life of your engine. when i hear of people going beyond 5k with synthetic it turns my stomach...did you at least change the filter once...no just what i thought...do yourself a flavor and change em both at at least 5k its the cheapest and best thing you can do for your engine.

You're sadly mis-educated in regards to Full Synthetic Oil. There has been countless records of people going 5-10K miles on full synthetic before changing oil. the technology of oil production in the synthetic world has made leaps and bounds from what oil technology was 20 yrs ago. I don't replace my oil often because I don't live in an area which requires me to stop and go all the time. If I did, my changes would be more frequent. And Yes, I change my oil filter every time I change my oil.

Your comment of:

...did you at least change the filter once...no just what i thought...do yourself a flavor and change em both at at least 5k its the cheapest and best thing you can do for your engine.

Who was that directed to?
Modified by dangeris at 12:59 PM 2/13/2009

[Beak]

haha here we go again... i change it at 3000-4000. i never let it go past 3500.. thats just me. i drive her hard and almost allways change it at 3k. mobile 1 + k&n or mobile 1 filter. if im "throwing my money away" thats fine. at least my engine is healthy.

[ZQ8 Blazer]

dangeris:How are you going to use a lift w/ 10ft walls? Mine lifts the the main part of the lift 6 ft in the air, then there's another 6"-10" before it actually touches the car. Unless you're going to have exposed trusses and just move two out of the way which is what we did.

Yes the car is brand new with 6k on it, but it was changed @ 2,500. After seeing how much it costs to have them change the fluid in the CVT I'm going to research how to do it myself.

vonivo:EVERYONE READ THIS, lots of good info here:

The Altima's are recommended to be changed every 5k on traditional. The 3k method is from back in the day when the older traditionals broke down a lot quicker than the new traditionals. A lot of shops will still tell you to do it every 3k, but hey if they didn't they'd be losing money. A lot of people don't know this so they still do the 3k, which doesn't hurt anything, but you don't have to.

As far as a filter goes all you have to do is use a magnet (which you don't have to do on a newer car since it will have some small shavings from the break in anyway) then cut the filter open to inspect it. Use Seafoam every 3k in the gas and then @ every oil change in the oil(as per instructions on the label). This will prolong the life of the car and make an older vehicle run better. Synthetics take a long time to break down when compared to traditional oils, have less to no impurities, lubricate better, and they're just a lot better as well so this is why you can go longer between changes. If you want some REALLY good oil then go with Royal Purple, but it's pretty high $ stuff. BTW Mobil 1's filters are designed to last until 15K

I have been doing this with my Blazer for the last 50k(has about 150k on it) and I haven't had a single problem, infact it now runs better than it did 50k ago. I change my Blazer every 8k with the Valvoline I use. I will be using the 5k Mobil 1 in the Altima, but this is only because she doesn't put 5k on it during a 6 month period. We live on a rural area and have very little stop and go so we can go a lot longer between changes, but I still do 8k on the Blazer mainly because I have the lift, get bored, and it takes under 20 min. for me to do it.

Mobil 1 has 5k, 7.5k, and 15k oils for oil changes, they're a very reputable company and wouldn't claim their oil could hold up for that long if it didn't.

Now with that being said synthetics should still be changed every 6 months if you have not driven the recommended mileage for an oil change. Also if you give you vehicle hell on a regular basis then the oil will need to be changed sooner

dangeris Beat me to it, oh well read above as it's still informative.

[Beak]

nice

[ZQ8 Blazer]

Why thank you.

[CPS]

Make sure that you use a quality oil filter with an anti-drainback valve like the factory filter has. WIX and Purolator make excellent filters (as a matter of fact the factory original filters have been cut open and are identical to Purolator). Stay away from Fram.

[phobs]

By the way, OEM is Fram in disguise.. the 65f00 and recently the 9e000.

[CPS]

They are most assuredly NOT Fram filters. The only Fram filters with the correct anti-drainback valve are the astronomically expensive ones, the Tough Guard or whatever they are called. You put a Fram on a Nissan and you instantly have startup rattle because of the lack of oil pressure. We have swapped filters out in our shop with the customer present to prove that the filter was the cause of the noise. This has been an issue ever since the old days, like the KA motors with the 55Y00 filter.

[phobs]

I over exaggerated a bit but technically Nissan skimped on their oil filters. Instead of using metal end caps they are now utilizing cardboard ones like Fram. The whole design of the OEM filters still incorporate silicon anti drawback valves not rubber and metal bypass valves instead of plastic, but the only similarity is the cardboard end caps. I still got some made in Japan/China ones left over which have the metal end caps (ones with the orange anti drawback valves, instead of the new black ones).