No Full Synthetic Oil in the Z?

simota1 · 11-11-2009, 07:42 AM

crap... break in is at 5500? i thought it was 3200........ o man.......

semtex · 11-11-2009, 07:50 AM

I didn't mean to imply that there's anything special about the 5500 miles mark. It's just where I made the switch. I did my first oil change at 1800 miles, putting Nissan's Ester oil back in. At 5500 miles I just figured it was close enough to 3000 miles since my last oil change, plus it was a nice even number and it was also a good time to put my oil cooler on. So that's when I switched over to synthetic. Like David said, most people recommend making the switch somewhere between 3-10k. I've always considered waiting until after the first 5k miles to be a good rule of thumb, just to be on the safe side. But it's just a personal thing. It's not like I have some scientific study pointing to 5k as the magic threshold or anything like that.

kannibul · 11-11-2009, 09:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by semtex

I didn't mean to imply that there's anything special about the 5500 miles mark. It's just where I made the switch. I did my first oil change at 1800 miles, putting Nissan's Ester oil back in. At 5500 miles I just figured it was close enough to 3000 miles since my last oil change, plus it was a nice even number and it was also a good time to put my oil cooler on. So that's when I switched over to synthetic. Like David said, most people recommend making the switch somewhere between 3-10k. I've always considered waiting until after the first 5k miles to be a good rule of thumb, just to be on the safe side. But it's just a personal thing. It's not like I have some scientific study pointing to 5k as the magic threshold or anything like that.

I changed mine out at 1200 from whatever the factory put in to Mobil1 and the larger version of the OEM oil filter (it's slightly longer, same diameter) - I'll change it out again in spring, when I do all my vehicles annually.

I'll put in the regular Mobil1 oil again for next year, and change it out in the fall or when I hit around 3K more than whatever it is in spring, then after that I'll probably move to the 7500mile-rated Mobil1 oil and change it annually.

My Civic, I think, came with Mobil1 factory-filled. I changed it out at 5K a couple times, then moved to Mobil1 15K oil. Next interval is at 75K. I'll probably be a bit late, and just change it in March, since it's at 70K now. I checked the oil, and it's fine. Engine holds 3 quarts...so if it's a quart low - that's really bad!

simota1 · 11-11-2009, 08:23 AM

good info man ^^^^

j.arnaldo · 11-11-2009, 12:18 PM

Expanding the horizon of possibilities/probabilities: My wife had a girlfriend who, back in the '70s used to own a Plymouth Cricket (I believe that was a rebadged Mitsubishi vehicle). Well, she once came to visit with us and, talking about how really good her Cricket had turned out, I made a comment about the importance of oil changes according to the schedule in the Owner's Manual...The look on her face told a story! She told me that, in the 3 or 4 YEARS she had owned that car, she had NEVER done "such thing"! I warned her about how crucial the procedure is, and she commented that, since she was divorced, she wasn't "gonna worry about it". As far as I know, for as long as my wife and her were friends, she never complained that the car ever failed her in any way! On the other hand, I've heard of dudes who do oil changes every 3,000k or even 1,500k!, and their cars turn out lemmons. The truth of the matter is that every car is different, and one never knows how it's gonna turn out to be. According to reliability stats', Toyota, Honda, Subaru and Nissan are the most reliable makes, so I've been buying Nissan for years (6 cars, so far), and doing oil changes every 7,500k with Mobil 1 5W30 or 10W30, with no bad results at all. I'm sticking with that plan till it proves to be wrong!

kannibul · 11-11-2009, 12:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by j.arnaldo

Expanding the horizon of possibilities/probabilities: My wife had a girlfriend who, back in the '70s used to own a Plymouth Cricket (I believe that was a rebadged Mitsubishi vehicle). Well, she once came to visit with us and, talking about how really good her Cricket had turned out, I made a comment about the importance of oil changes according to the schedule in the Owner's Manual...The look on her face told a story! She told me that, in the 3 or 4 YEARS she had owned that car, she had NEVER done "such thing"! I warned her about how crucial the procedure is, and she commented that, since she was divorced, she wasn't "gonna worry about it". As far as I know, for as long as my wife and her were friends, she never complained that the car ever failed her in any way! On the other hand, I've heard of dudes who do oil changes every 3,000k or even 1,500k!, and their cars turn out lemmons. The truth of the matter is that every car is different, and one never knows how it's gonna turn out to be. According to reliability stats', Toyota, Honda, Subaru and Nissan are the most reliable makes, so I've been buying Nissan for years (6 cars, so far), and doing oil changes every 7,500k with Mobil 1 5W30 or 10W30, with no bad results at all. I'm sticking with that plan till it proves to be wrong!

I read on another forum somewhere that someone had a truck with something like 120K miles on it, never once changed the oil.

Doesn't mean it's true or not, but, there are people out there that probably have done just that - absolutely no maintenance short of putting on cheap tires when the ones they have wear out, and putting gas in the tank.

As for reliability, when it comes time to send the Civic out to pasture, I'm thinking I'll look at Nissan pretty hard...the Altima is not a bad looking car...

Modshack · 11-11-2009, 02:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kannibul

I read on another forum somewhere that someone had a truck with something like 120K miles on it, never once changed the oil.

I had a friend with a Jag XK120 who did this...Owned it for 14 years and never changed the oil. Since it had a big sump and leaked/burned at a pretty good rate it really didn't matter.. He always had a relatively fresh batch of oil in there.....

bluzman · 11-12-2009, 07:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Modshack

I had a friend with a Jag XK120 who did this...Owned it for 14 years and never changed the oil. Since it had a big sump and leaked/burned at a pretty good rate it really didn't matter.. He always had a relatively fresh batch of oil in there.....

LMAO. First car I owned was a 1953 Chevy that I bought in 1962. It burned/leaked oil at a prodigious rate but at 18 I didn't give a rat's *** - I had a car. It had some sort of scoop/pick-up oiling system for the babbitt bearings on the main shaft. I always knew when it needed oil because I could hear those bearings howl when I made a sharp turn (scoop wouldn't pick up enough oil when it sloshed to the side of sump in the turn). Never bothered to change the oil - just added some when the "audio" alarm sounded.

zman1910 · 11-11-2009, 03:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by j.arnaldo

Expanding the horizon of possibilities/probabilities: My wife had a girlfriend who, back in the '70s used to own a Plymouth Cricket (I believe that was a rebadged Mitsubishi vehicle). Well, she once came to visit with us and, talking about how really good her Cricket had turned out, I made a comment about the importance of oil changes according to the schedule in the Owner's Manual...The look on her face told a story! She told me that, in the 3 or 4 YEARS she had owned that car, she had NEVER done "such thing"! I warned her about how crucial the procedure is, and she commented that, since she was divorced, she wasn't "gonna worry about it". As far as I know, for as long as my wife and her were friends, she never complained that the car ever failed her in any way! On the other hand, I've heard of dudes who do oil changes every 3,000k or even 1,500k!, and their cars turn out lemmons. The truth of the matter is that every car is different, and one never knows how it's gonna turn out to be. According to reliability stats', Toyota, Honda, Subaru and Nissan are the most reliable makes, so I've been buying Nissan for years (6 cars, so far), and doing oil changes every 7,500k with Mobil 1 5W30 or 10W30, with no bad results at all. I'm sticking with that plan till it proves to be wrong!

I change my oil every 7500k as well on my Acura and BMW. Never had any issues. However that is not something I'd be willing to risk on the VQ engine as it naturally likes to burn oil...at least in my experience. I did the change every 5k and lost anywhere from half to 1 quart every time.

jpit · 11-11-2009, 03:27 PM

In 1978 when synthetic oils first made an appearance, I put 4 quarts in my Fiat X1/9.
Next morning I went outside and all 4 quarts had leaked out through the gaskets. That was one of the problems when synthetics first came out, some cars couldn't handle it.

simota1 · 11-11-2009, 03:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jpit

In 1978 when synthetic oils first made an appearance, I put 4 quarts in my Fiat X1/9.
Next morning I went outside and all 4 quarts had leaked out through the gaskets. That was one of the problems when synthetics first came out, some cars couldn't handle it.

^^^ thats insane...... if that happened to me i would be like.... wtf

j.arnaldo · 11-12-2009, 10:57 AM

My '04.5 Touring Coupe's turned out to be one solid workhorse! No oil-consumption or high temp' issues, no feathering, no starting issues, no overheating issues. The only prob' has been with the doggone power window motors; I already installed a new one on the driver's side, and the passenger's side is already acting up! Then again, those are what I call "non-serious bugs", 'cause they won't leave you stranded at midnight on a rainy night. All in all, my 350Z's for keeps, until the Lord says differently! I'm staying with the 7,500k oil-change schedule; if it ain't broke, don't fix it! Greetings, dudes!

ZKindaGuy · 11-13-2009, 09:07 PM

So what's the final word to the first posting....is it OK or ISN'T IT OK to put synthetic in these cars......Geezzzuss - Just a simple YES or NO will do!!!!!!!

Matt · 11-13-2009, 11:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZKindaGuy

So what's the final word to the first posting....is it OK or ISN'T IT OK to put synthetic in these cars......Geezzzuss - Just a simple YES or NO will do!!!!!!!

Maybe.

racerxj17 · 11-14-2009, 02:26 AM

i switched over to royal purple 1 at approx 1500 miles. later than i normally do on the past 4 new cars ive had. this is the only one that burns oil out of all of them. as long as im not loosing performance from the burning oil, i check it often enough not to care much.

11-11-2009, 07:42 AM	#1 (permalink)
simota1 A True Z Fanatic Join Date: May 2009 Location: Dededo, Guam Posts: 6,642 Drives: solid red 370z 6mt Rep Power: 407	crap... break in is at 5500? i thought it was 3200........ o man....... __________________ *TOP SECRET/POWERHOUSE AMUSE/ARC/DAYTONA RACING/VARIS/MINES/GANADOR/J-LINE/WORK EMOTION CR KAI/GT SPEC/CARBON SIGNAL/ZOOM ENGINEERING/ CARBON FIBER ELEMENT/STILLEN/*

11-11-2009, 07:50 AM	#2 (permalink)
semtex A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Behind enemy lines Age: 55 Posts: 5,995 Drives: People to drink Rep Power: 34	I didn't mean to imply that there's anything special about the 5500 miles mark. It's just where I made the switch. I did my first oil change at 1800 miles, putting Nissan's Ester oil back in. At 5500 miles I just figured it was close enough to 3000 miles since my last oil change, plus it was a nice even number and it was also a good time to put my oil cooler on. So that's when I switched over to synthetic. Like David said, most people recommend making the switch somewhere between 3-10k. I've always considered waiting until after the first 5k miles to be a good rule of thumb, just to be on the safe side. But it's just a personal thing. It's not like I have some scientific study pointing to 5k as the magic threshold or anything like that. __________________ "There are no small accidents on this circuit." -- Ayrton Senna 316.8whp & 248 ft/lbs (Dyno Dynamics) \| 319whp & 256 ft/lbs (DynoJet) (04/23/10) Stillen G3 CAI, CBE, Pulley / F.I. LTH / GTSpec Ladder Brace / Setrab Oil Cooler / UpRev-tuned by Forged Perf.

11-11-2009, 08:23 AM	#4 (permalink)
simota1 A True Z Fanatic Join Date: May 2009 Location: Dededo, Guam Posts: 6,642 Drives: solid red 370z 6mt Rep Power: 407	good info man ^^^^ __________________ *TOP SECRET/POWERHOUSE AMUSE/ARC/DAYTONA RACING/VARIS/MINES/GANADOR/J-LINE/WORK EMOTION CR KAI/GT SPEC/CARBON SIGNAL/ZOOM ENGINEERING/ CARBON FIBER ELEMENT/STILLEN/*

11-11-2009, 12:18 PM	#5 (permalink)
j.arnaldo Banned Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Puerto Rico Posts: 937 Drives: Nissan 350Z, 2004 Rep Power: 0	Expanding the horizon of possibilities/probabilities: My wife had a girlfriend who, back in the '70s used to own a Plymouth Cricket (I believe that was a rebadged Mitsubishi vehicle). Well, she once came to visit with us and, talking about how really good her Cricket had turned out, I made a comment about the importance of oil changes according to the schedule in the Owner's Manual...The look on her face told a story! She told me that, in the 3 or 4 YEARS she had owned that car, she had NEVER done "such thing"! I warned her about how crucial the procedure is, and she commented that, since she was divorced, she wasn't "gonna worry about it". As far as I know, for as long as my wife and her were friends, she never complained that the car ever failed her in any way! On the other hand, I've heard of dudes who do oil changes every 3,000k or even 1,500k!, and their cars turn out lemmons. The truth of the matter is that every car is different, and one never knows how it's gonna turn out to be. According to reliability stats', Toyota, Honda, Subaru and Nissan are the most reliable makes, so I've been buying Nissan for years (6 cars, so far), and doing oil changes every 7,500k with Mobil 1 5W30 or 10W30, with no bad results at all. I'm sticking with that plan till it proves to be wrong! Last edited by j.arnaldo; 11-11-2009 at 12:22 PM.

11-14-2009, 02:26 AM	#15 (permalink)
racerxj17 Track Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Socal Posts: 555 Drives: 09 370z Rep Power: 19	i switched over to royal purple 1 at approx 1500 miles. later than i normally do on the past 4 new cars ive had. this is the only one that burns oil out of all of them. as long as im not loosing performance from the burning oil, i check it often enough not to care much. __________________ 2009 PW Sport/Touring/Nav M6 Stillen Gen 3 Intake/CBE/Berk HFC/BC BR Coil over/Phillips 6500k/Hotchkis Sways/Stillen oil cooler/B&M SS

11-11-2009, 03:27 PM	#10 (permalink)
jpit Enthusiast Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Washington State Posts: 440 Drives: 370Z Tour MT w/Spt Rep Power: 18	In 1978 when synthetic oils first made an appearance, I put 4 quarts in my Fiat X1/9. Next morning I went outside and all 4 quarts had leaked out through the gaskets. That was one of the problems when synthetics first came out, some cars couldn't handle it.

11-12-2009, 10:57 AM	#12 (permalink)
j.arnaldo Banned Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Puerto Rico Posts: 937 Drives: Nissan 350Z, 2004 Rep Power: 0	My '04.5 Touring Coupe's turned out to be one solid workhorse! No oil-consumption or high temp' issues, no feathering, no starting issues, no overheating issues. The only prob' has been with the doggone power window motors; I already installed a new one on the driver's side, and the passenger's side is already acting up! Then again, those are what I call "non-serious bugs", 'cause they won't leave you stranded at midnight on a rainy night. All in all, my 350Z's for keeps, until the Lord says differently! I'm staying with the 7,500k oil-change schedule; if it ain't broke, don't fix it! Greetings, dudes!

11-13-2009, 09:07 PM	#13 (permalink)
ZKindaGuy Track Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Ohio Posts: 699 Drives: 370Z-AT7 Tour+Sport Rep Power: 377	So what's the final word to the first posting....is it OK or ISN'T IT OK to put synthetic in these cars......Geezzzuss - Just a simple YES or NO will do!!!!!!!

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