Synthetic oil

[boqibama]

Has anyone switched to synthetic oil? I've never used that before, and don't know whether our V will like it or not. please share your experience.

[my_new_v]

I have synthetic and havent had any problems. And you really shouldnt cause synthetic just blends and lubes everything better than regular oil.

[boqibama]

How often you change the oil and filter (Special filter?)?

[bucksnort]

How often you change the oil and filter (Special filter?)?

8-10K

[2dr_sentra]

I just run pennzoil 5w-30 and a wix filter, i change my oil every 3k miles.

[my_new_v]

Even though the synthetic is rated between 8-10k miles, I still change it every 3k. And I dont think there is a special filter, if there is, the dealer puts it on.

[reyes1212]

Even though the synthetic is rated between 8-10k miles, I still change it every 3k. And I dont think there is a special filter, if there is, the dealer puts it on.

NOPE no special filter. just...good ol full synthetic plus oil suppliment lol

P.S. x4

[kcourtad]

its just what ever the dealer**** gives me... i got the free oil changes for 36k and didnt pay a thing extra for it...

[blockmachining]

I changed over to synthetic oil when the car had 500 miles on it. The synthetic oil does not have polymers in it like the old dinosaur oil does. Its these polymers that cause the black gue to build up inside an engine. This black gue eventually reduces the size of your oil galley passage ways inside the engine. When regular oil comes out of the ground, it is not a multi grade oil. It is a straight weight oil...say 30 weight or 20 weight or whatever that particular oil field is producing. The polymers are added to make it 5W-30 or whatever you need. As far as the interval between oil changes....unless you drive crazy or in extremely dusty conditions, just change the synthetic oil every 7,500 miles as the owner's manual states. Now if you are using the dinosaur oil, change the oil more often. The reason is that the polymers are being deposited throughout the engine which is gradually changing the weight of the oil as you drive. Dinosaur oil also tends to "float" the small metal chips that occur as any engine wears over time. When these chips float, they again are attaching to the "sticky" polymer molecules in the oil. Again, the very best thing you can do for the longvity of the engine is switch over to synthetic oil.

[boqibama]

Thanks for so many details. Now my V just hit 11000 miles, is that OK if I switch to Synthetic oil now? By the way, how about oil filter for the 7500 interval?

[blockmachining]

You are welcome. The oil filter will be just fine to the 7500 mile mark. With only 11,000 miles on your engine, the polymers have not set up large deposits in your engine as of yet. You will not have an issue switching over to synthetic oil.

People in excess of 100,000 miles, though, would need to be a little concerned and take a few special actions. In particular, when you change the oil over to a synthetic oil on a high mileage engine, the deposits in the oil galley and on the top of the head have a tendency to start washing away. When this happens, this gue can get caught in an oil jet and block that jet. Also, the oil filter might clog up with the newly released gue. So, on a high mileage engine switching over to synthetic oil for the first time, it would be adviseable to replace the oil filter after the first say 1500 miles to prevent the oil filter clog from happening. As far as the oil jets are concerned, not much can be done here. You'd be rolling the dice. I have a 1948 Dodge truck that was my grandfathers. He put whatever type of oil he could find in it. Obviously, it is a high mileage engine. Due to this, I continue to use the old dinosaur oil in it. If I overhaul this engine in the future, the oil that will be used from that point on would be synthetic.

[boqibama]

Now I am using Castrol GTX Dino oil, will the engine be happy with the new Mobile super synthetic.

[blockmachining]

Yes, it will be very happy. I used that oil in my 90 Nissan 300ZX twin turbo. No problems whatsoever, even with the two very hot operating turbos.

Something I want to mention; also, and I see it discussed in several different forums on the net.....How often should you change your oil. I worked for Nissan's powertrain division in Tennessee. We had several dynos running at any given time testing our engines for assembly or design defects. We would run these engines to an estimated 110,000 miles at 200 rpms past the red line. The engines, especially around the exhaust manifolds and exhaust pipe would be glowing red hot. We would not change the oil until somewhere around approximately 55,000 miles. This is the point at which the oil would start to break down and the pressure would drop. There is absolutely no reason to change your oil any sooner than the recommended 7,500 mile mark unless you are racing your engine, your engine is beginning to come apart (bearing or other material is being found in your filter and or oil pan, the car is going to sit for 6 or more months without being driven, or running in constant dirt or blowing sand environments. The reason the time factor is important is because some of the by products of a combustion engine gets into the oil. The oil can become a little bit on the acidic side and eat into your engine parts, especially the bearings and cylinder walls.

As far as cost goes......Consumers using dino oil who change their oil every 3,000 miles end up spending more money than the consumer who uses the synthetic oil and changes their oil every 7,500 miles. Lets say dino oil cost $2.39 per quart, a quart of synthetic oil $5.00, and a good name brand filter $4.00. So for a car that uses 5 quarts of oil, it would cost the dino oil consumer to drive 7,500 miles and change the oil 2.5 times more money than the synthetic oil consumer....Lets see..... [(5 X $2.39 quarts of oil) + $4.00 filter] X 2.5 changes = $39.87. Now the consumer who uses the synthetic oil would pay [(5 X $5.00 quarts of synthetic oil) + $4.00 filter] X 1 change = $29.00.....a savings of $10.87 for the good stuff! And this is if you do the oil change yourself. If you are paying someone else to change your oil, then the savings are even greater.

[boqibama]

thanks!

[syntec]

i just did my first oil change . and i went full syntec . but i used royal purple 5w.30 and when i find a good syntec trans fluid for the cvt i'll do that to ..

[Elmojo]

i just did my first oil change . and i went full syntec . but i used royal purple 5w.30 and when i find a good syntec trans fluid for the cvt i'll do that to ..

Check with Redline Oil (http://www.redlineoil.com) about synthetic CVT fluid.When I spoke to them last, they said they were thinking about developing a CVT fluid. You calling to inquire about it may push them to develop more aggressively.Just a thought.

[syntec]

thanks . i'll call them from work . so for the mods i have done make it very fast . they include syntec oil aem cold air intake system . and the tb mod . next is the syntec cvt oil and a cat back system . i had her do'n 117 mph but the body roll is very bad ..

[Versa Madness]

I did find this info regarding a syn. CVT transmission fluid:

http://www.maperformance.com/s...19178h ... co...?pk=8

[blockmachining]

I would be very, very careful about changing out the CVT fluid. The CVT belt is very sensitive to wear influences. If you do change out the fluid, I'd talk to a Nissan engineer or something. For sure, your warranty for the transmission will be out of the window. Good luck.

[sooner4x4]

[QUOTE=blockmachining]When regular oil comes out of the ground, it is not a multi grade oil. It is a straight weight oil...say 30 weight or 20 weight or whatever that particular oil field is producing. QUOTE]

Not even remotely correct. "Regular Oil" out of the ground finds it's way to a refinery. There it is fractionated into a wide variety of products. From high end volitiles all the way down to asphalt. All of the other things inbetween include gasoline, diesel, heating oil, etc., and of course motor oils. Some oil sources may have more higher end products, some may have more asphalts.

In another post, it is stated that an engine is ran until the oil breaks down, around 50,000 miles or so. Someone then states that a dino oil needs to be changed at 3,000 miles so it doesn't break down. This doesn't add up.

There is a lot of misinformation in this thread. People put sythetic oil in their engines because it makes them feel like they are doing something better for their engine. They have every right to do so. The fact is, using a good quality dino oil at the recommended OCI (7500 miles), your car's engine will still be running when you get rid of it.

[srellim234]

I'm sitting here thinking about the synthetic oil longevity and wondering to myself:

If the synthetic lasts so much longer and the main problem is junk in the oil, wouldn't it make sense in terms of engine protection to change only the filter every 3,500 miles, adding the appropriate amount of synthetic oil that is lost in the filter? At the appropriate intervals (7,500 or 15k miles or whatever the synthetic oil company recommends) a full oil change would be done but in the meantime you'd be keeping it free of junk by replacing the filter more often.

[tyler_ofspain]

I just switched to the valvoline full synthetic today and i think i'm going to stick with it for the life of my versa

[Bubs daddy]

You can put synthetic in the Versa engine from day one. May I suggest a search next time. This subject has been covered numerous times.

[Ever Victorious]

i had her do'n 117 mph but the body roll is very bad ..

You better be doing that on a track, and not public highways.

[blockmachining]

As sooner4X4 mentions, yes, dino oil goes to a refinery where the oil is refined into many different products. I was not trying to detail what happens to oil once it comes out of the ground. As far as the dino oil that goes in your engine is concerned....it is at the refinery where the polymers are added to make it a multi weight oil...5W-30, 10W-40 or whatever. Its these polymers that build up in your oil galley passageways, on top of the heads, around your oil jets, and many other locations within your engine.

In addition, as sooner4X4 states, dino oil will not necessarily make your engine fail before you get rid of it, but I'm here to tell you, and this comes from having responsibility (my assignments over the years consisted of assembly of engines to the machining of the heads and block) for the building and testing of over 6.6 million engines, synthetic oil is better for your engine. When you tear an engine down that has used synthetic oil over it's life, there is less wear on the cylinder walls, less wear on the bearings, oil jets and oil passageways are completely clear of any blockages, and less metal floating around in the oil or in the filter. This is not just a visual observation or opinion, but measured and recorded. In addition, we used an oil analysis program which determined what was floating around in the oil and what had been captured by the filter. This program would also tell you what type of metal it was and what part of the engine was wearing.

Last, but not least....the statement about when oil breaks down and things don't add up. Again, from first hand experience....In our dynos, when a Nissan engine (we tested the 5.6 liter V8s, the 4.0 liter V6s, the 3.5 liter V6s and the 2.5 liter I4s, the dino oil (Yes, we would use dino oil....it was cheaper. We used Texaco oil.) would begin to break down around 50 to 55,000 miles and the oil pressure would start to drop. An alarm would sound which would reduce the engine rpms from 200 rpms above red line to idle and then it would shut the engine down. We would go into the room where that particular engine was located and change the oil and filter. We would then start the engine back up and everything would be back to normal. Thats all I'm trying to say. I certainly can't predict when an oil (or even different brands) will begin to break down on your engine out on the road. When I was in the Air Force, we tested several oils that could be used in the 40,000 rpm jet engine main bearings and found Vavoline oil was the best for resistance to break down.

As far as full of misinformation, take that with a grain of salt. I'm just sharing with you my experiences over many years dealing with Nissan engines. Good luck and I hope you have many, many years and miles of happy service with your Nissan.

[c5neb]

Well said, Blockmachining!!

[syntec]

don't worry ever victorious it is on a closed course. i joined my local scca club and we test at pocono raceway . road course .. i will be there tomorrow testing if it's not raining here ..

[boqibama]

I am going to try OEM filter, 15208-65F00 or 15208-9E000. I am not sure if both of them have cardboard end.