VQ35 Maintenance & Reliability

[kerrton]

I found some specific topics on the older generation VQ engines, perhaps I missed what I'm looking for if so I apologize, but I wanted a more general discussion about the quality of the VQ35 engine.

I'm looking for opinions on the current generation VQ35 engine found in the Murano, new Pathfinder, Altima etc.. It is implied that Nissan again tweaked the 3.5 that now sits as the only engine options for the redesigned Pathfinder, but they still stick with the 3000 mile oil change interval for what I call "normal" driving, city stop and go, short trips, some highway. I would hope that with full synth oil Nissan would approve longer change intervals and still honor the warranty. How does the VQ like Mobil 1 full synthetic?

My Rogue QR25 is a real durable, low cost, low maintenance powerplant. Historically since it was redesigned for 2007 it has had no issues with oil consumpiton, sludging, excessive wear or weak points of failure, soilid maint-free timing chain, intake and fuel system does not foul or require maintenance, valve adjustment not typically required for the life of the vehicle. Nissan has approved 6 month/8000 km Mobil 1 synthetic oil change intervals, which works great for me. $85 twice a year is all I pay for maintenance. Very rock solid and cheap to run, and I don't want to make the mistake of purchasing a Pathfinder VQ35 and have to come in 4 times a year for oil changes, and have to deal with an engine that long-term is going to require additional maintenance like valve adjustments, fuel injector/system cleanout, MAF cleaning, etc..

Experiences, thoughts? Even though I think the VQ35 has been tweaked over the years, it is largely unchanged for around a decade, so past experiences will be helpful. Thanks.

[Chuck Tribolet]

Huh? My '01 VQ35 Schedule 2 (normal driving) oil change interval is 7500 miles or six months.

I'm at 223,000 miles. Before we bought the beach house and moved my boat down there, I was
changing the oil and filter ever 3333 miles. Now that it's only 10 miles to the launch ramp (so only
40 miles a weekend towing instead of 200), I'm changing oil and filter every 5000 miles. Castrol GTX
oil, Wix filters.


Chuck

[QX4ME]

I change engine oil around every 7000 miles. I got 93000 miles and this VQ runs strong like the day I bought 11 years ago.

VQ engine has received Wards (?) 10 best engines for consecutive 11(?) years.
However, compared to my RX300, it's much noisier when accelerating hard. Idle is not as smooth as RX300 engine. I'd guess the acceleration noise is due to the exhaust design for more torque/HP?

[miamiheat3332]

I change mine every 4-4.5k, Valvoline 10-30 Full Syn, since around 15k, now at almost 137k.

My point of view is why hassle over more oil changes when its probably better for your engine regardless, most times you can get 5qt of full syn with a filter for around $30,

Change intervals to me also depend on what type of driving, mine is usually shorter trips, 10m and under. If i drove it 50m each way to work or something id probably do 5-6k miles.