Oil Change

[SHIFT_CR]

I'm at 2000 miles on my coupe and was wondering at what miles would yall guys change the oil? also, which type of oil would yall use for the 2.5?

[SHIFT_2.5S]

I think Nissan recommends 5W30.

[generic808]

I'm using regular mineral oil until I get to 20,000 miles, then I'll switch to a synthetic. With mineral oil I change it every 3000 miles and with synthetic I'll change every 5000 miles. That's just how I do it.

[bembol]

Again, this also applies to my sister's 2.5S. I have the 3.5 SE and will be using Castrol German Synthec 0W-30

[dangeris]

Mobil 1 Synthetic all the way baby...right from the get go!

[nissantech06]

Mobil 1 Synthetic all the way baby...right from the get go!

+1 on that one. First oil change: 700 miles.

[shift_mikey]

+1 on that one. First oil change: 700 miles.

+1 first oil change will be 1000 miles, mobile 1 for life!!

[nissantech06]

+1 first oil change will be 1000 miles, mobile 1 for life!!

Every car I've had Mobil1 in heats up faster and runs better. I also am a firm believer of 1. doing your first OC before 1000 miles to get the sediment and crap out of the engine (I don't care what anyone says, pre-broken-in or not) and 2. I don't go over 3500 miles. Again, I don't care what anyone says about 5000 miles between OCs, oil is oil whether it's synthetic or not. It gets dirty.

[jmack]

The owners manual states oil change every 3,750 mile or 3 months under normal stop and go traffic and up to 7,500 miles with only highway miles(read serviceand maintenece manual carefully for max performance). Now, I wouldnt go 7,500 miles between changes on conventinal oil. Also our techs recommend not switching to synthetic until after a few oil changes because the seals are still setting and synthetic stop normal break-in.Have a good one!

[Gwennyffer]

Hi there. Trucks are a bit different (that's what I have) but I have friends with Sentra and Altima and they both use synthetic, changing it every 3,000 to 5,000 kilometres (what's that in miles - don't know).

[nissantech06]

The owners manual states oil change every 3,750 mile or 3 months under normal stop and go traffic and up to 7,500 miles with only highway miles(read serviceand maintenece manual carefully for max performance). Now, I wouldnt go 7,500 miles between changes on conventinal oil. Also our techs recommend not switching to synthetic until after a few oil changes because the seals are still setting and synthetic stop normal break-in.Have a good one!

I also work with techs who say that using synthetic right away is the best thing you can do. Either way, it's personal preference.

[LinkNuc]

I'm pretty sure its ok to go with synth right away, but it won't hurt either way, now if you a rockin' a 5.6 Titan the DEFINITELY wait to put synthetic in, the seals need to set in these puppies!

[Betimbe]

every 3,000 to 5,000 kilometres (what's that in miles - don't know).

ROTFL. When I was in grade school in the late '70s, we were told the U.S. was five years away from joining the rest of the civilized world in using metric, so we were taught both. Now I can't do the conversion anymore either. Something about a km being .6 mi.?

Thank God the guys on Top Gear use the English system (except for the metric telemetry on the Veyron speed run, when midway to 253 mph James May admitted he also couldn't do "the maths" that high)!

[acousticdank]

My gf lives in Canada so I have to do these conversions in my head all the time. 60km = 100mi approximately. It's actually like 1km = 1.6 miles (for those of you who ran track, quarter mile is 400m)

Those are pretty funny stories though.

Oh, on topic, I dunno, I like Mobil1, but not sure when I'm gonna start using it. What kind of oil filter do you guys use?

ROTFL. When I was in grade school in the late '70s, we were told the U.S. was five years away from joining the rest of the civilized world in using metric, so we were taught both. Now I can't do the conversion anymore either. Something about a km being .6 mi.?

Thank God the guys on Top Gear use the English system (except for the metric telemetry on the Veyron speed run, when midway to 253 mph James May admitted he also couldn't do "the maths" that high)!

[LongBeachCoupe]

im a little confused... i have the 2.5 and i have 20" wheels... i drive around 75-85mph... all highway lol... anyways my mpg has been at 23 for 2k miles... i changed the oil to mobil1 synthetic.. and drove 500 miles on sunday... my mpg which has been stuck at 23 (touches 22.8 occasionally) jumped to 23.4! Does synthetic increase MPG? I was also averaging simmilar speeds around 80 the entire trip... weird

[SHIFT_CR]

im a little confused... i have the 2.5 and i have 20" wheels... i drive around 75-85mph... all highway lol... anyways my mpg has been at 23 for 2k miles... i changed the oil to mobil1 synthetic.. and drove 500 miles on sunday... my mpg which has been stuck at 23 (touches 22.8 occasionally) jumped to 23.4! Does synthetic increase MPG? I was also averaging simmilar speeds around 80 the entire trip... weird

d*mn your MPG totally sucks! haha all highway and you only get 23 mpg? if i go all highway, i get 30+.

MPG vs RIMs? i would take MPG over 20s rims haha just my though, not to hate on 20s rims or anything haha but i would never get 20s anyways, max for me are 18'

[SHIFT_COUPE]

im a little confused... i have the 2.5 and i have 20" wheels... i drive around 75-85mph... all highway lol... anyways my mpg has been at 23 for 2k miles... i changed the oil to mobil1 synthetic.. and drove 500 miles on sunday... my mpg which has been stuck at 23 (touches 22.8 occasionally) jumped to 23.4! Does synthetic increase MPG? I was also averaging simmilar speeds around 80 the entire trip... weird

Hate to say it but your rims are contributing to your gas mileage on the highway. Synthetic oil is not going to increase your fuel economy.

[jasonMA]

My gf lives in Canada so I have to do these conversions in my head all the time. 60km = 100mi approximately. It's actually like 1km = 1.6 miles (for those of you who ran track, quarter mile is 400m)

don't make ur gf disppointed, 1mile =1.6km, 100km=60miles. quarter mile = 400m (u got this right)

[shift_mikey]

Synthetic oil is not going to increase your fuel economy.

I don't believe that to be entirely true. Scar tests, viscosity tests, lubricity tests, all prove that synthetic oil is superior, takes much more stress and heat to break down, and remains "slicker" under heat. I don't believe those claims of "Synthetic oil will increase your MPG by up to 25%!!" But i don't think ~.4 extra MPG is a far stretch.

I don't care what anyone says about 5000 miles between OCs, oil is oil whether it's synthetic or not.

you've only heard 5000 mile claims? How about those tests done where 60k miles was put on an engine without an oil change (using synthetic oil), and the engine was disassembled and all the wear surfaces still looked new!

However, i'm with you. I'll be changing my oil between 2000 - 3000 miles, even though i'm using synthetic

[acousticdank]

don't make ur gf disppointed, 1mile =1.6km, 100km=60miles. quarter mile = 400m (u got this right)

hahaha right on man, I think I wrote that while I was still at work at 3am. Started at 10am... stupid brain.

[SHIFT_COUPE]

I don't believe that to be entirely true. Scar tests, viscosity tests, lubricity tests, all prove that synthetic oil is superior, takes much more stress and heat to break down, and remains "slicker" under heat. I don't believe those claims of "Synthetic oil will increase your MPG by up to 25%!!" But i don't think ~.4 extra MPG is a far stretch.

Yep, thats what I'm basing my opinion on, the "MPG increase" that some boast. I'm not saying your going to see dramatic increases if you change over, you MIGHT see something small though, as you suggested.

[LongBeachCoupe]

I understand what you guys are saying, but heres the kicker... When i had the stock 16" donuts on the car... i was still at 23! Im confused, maybe its the extra inch in diameter in the wheel i added... or magic? Im curious to see what it will go to when i put the stock wheels back on... Remember guys, im cruising at 80mph most of the time.. no 55-60 here.

[nissantech06]

I understand what you guys are saying, but heres the kicker... When i had the stock 16" donuts on the car... i was still at 23! Im confused, maybe its the extra inch in diameter in the wheel i added... or magic? Im curious to see what it will go to when i put the stock wheels back on... Remember guys, im cruising at 80mph most of the time.. no 55-60 here.

Synthetic will give you SLIGHTLY better mileage...it's thinner than regular oil and allows the pistons to move with less friction.

Do you use the MPG gauge in the instrument cluster? That thing tracks by time, not by miles vs. engine speed.

Did you also know that most cars have a threshold as to where your optimum gas mileage occurs? Some cars it's 55, some 65, etc. doing 80 the whole time might be in your best interest.

[generic808]

I understand what you guys are saying, but heres the kicker... When i had the stock 16" donuts on the car... i was still at 23! Im confused, maybe its the extra inch in diameter in the wheel i added... or magic? Im curious to see what it will go to when i put the stock wheels back on... Remember guys, im cruising at 80mph most of the time.. no 55-60 here.

It may be a few factors contributing to the difference in mpg. I think the main reason you're seeing better mpg is because of your tire diameter change; you're not actually getting better mpg, it's just throwing the calculation off. Or it could be that your car is finally broken in? But who knows, try throwing you fugly stockers on and see if it changes back

[johnny_d]

I think 50-60 mpg is the "computer" mpg. Perhaps a reset might help and also use the Miles/gallons at fill up to verify

[tsigoloeg]

Do you use the MPG gauge in the instrument cluster? That thing tracks by time, not by miles vs. engine speed.

I think you need to elaborate on this. My understanding is that the vehicle computer measures the actual amount of fuel being used and divides by odometer. It measures the actual fuel volume by knowing the consumption rate (which HAS to be known for the computer to adjust A:F properly) and multiplying by time. So, there may be a kernel of truth to your statement but otherwise the dash computer is much more accurate than you believe.

Every fillup I've ever done has been within 0.3 mpg calculated manually compared to the dash computer, and that is within the range of error based on not knowing the actual start and finish volume of gas in the tank (i.e., consistency in knowing what the actual amount of gas used was simply by recording when the tank is "full" according to the gas pump).

[theoctopussi]

Royal Purple - $7 a quart but worth it. Full Synthetic and you can go UP to 10,000 miles without a change. I converted all my fluids to Royal Purple on my 2.5. I change the oil from 5 to 7k miles just to be safe and keep it clean. it's full synthetic as well...

[theoctopussi]

...and I changed the oil over to synthetic once my car hit 1000 miles and I broke it in a bit. I did a loooooot of research, and though I didn't find a RIGHT way about engine break in, I did find an average streak of info. Everyone recommended oil changes right after engine breaks in - break periods were discussed from 500 to 5000 miles... but majority were between 500 to 1800 miles. Everyone recommended synthetic. Hope this helps...

[windhaven]

I understand what you guys are saying, but heres the kicker... When i had the stock 16" donuts on the car... i was still at 23! Im confused, maybe its the extra inch in diameter in the wheel i added... or magic? Im curious to see what it will go to when i put the stock wheels back on... Remember guys, im cruising at 80mph most of the time.. no 55-60 here.

Maybe you got a 3.5 and didn't know it ......

[SHIFT_2.5S]

Maybe you got a 3.5 and didn't know it ......

We've already had that here...a while back when some guy was claiming to have purchased a 2.5S with a 3.5 V6... Haven't seen that guy on the forums since.