Nissan Ester Oil is part or full synthetic
 

I hate to throw another log into the fire. Someone asked in Mobil 1 FAQ if Nissan Ester Oil was synthetic oil. Mobil did a analysis and determined Nissan Ester Oil was "part or full synthetic oil". Has anyone sent a Nissan Ester Oil to Blackstone yet?


Question:
Ester Oil and Nissan Engines
I've just purchased a Nissan 2009 370Z, which has a 3.7 liter engine that produces 332 HP @ 7500 RPM's, and has a compression ratio of 11 to 1. I've been advised by the Service Manager at Cronic Nissan to run Ester Oil in the engine rather than a good grade of oil, like a 5W-30W. He said that Nissan recommends it. Well, I've researched everything I can find regarding the use of Ester Oil in my Nissan 2009 370Z, and I've been unable to find anything that alludes to the use of Ester Oil in the 370Z engine! What's up with the Ester Oil thing? The only use for Ester Oil that I'm familiar with is for air conditioner compressors and other types of compressors!
-- Larry Young, Tyrone, GA

Answer:
We have not been able to get much information on the Nissan Ester Oil but our analysis indicates that it is part or full synthetic oil. Many synthetic oils, including Mobil 1, contain a variety of synthetic fluids, and usually this includes esters. We would recommend Mobil 1 5W-30 or Mobil 1 Extended Performance 5W-30 for these applications.

Ester Oil and Nissan Engines

Ask Mobil 1 Archive - Nissan

I'll post my Blackstone analysis when I get it back. It'll show me how well Nissan Ester did in my engine.

Everytime I get my oil change done, Nissan always tells me it is a full synthetic, but they could just be BS'ing me too :ugh2:

as long as you follow the Nissan recommended OCI for your driving style, you'll be fine using the Ester oil..the general consensus seems to be thats it a mineral base with Ester added..semi-synthetic oil..it'll work fine.

imo its not worth $10 a qt...especially when i change my oil at 5k intervals..seems like money down the drain if you ask me..and this goes for ALL expensive synthetics..I'll stick to my gallon jug of mobil 1 from walmart..haha.

Mobil 1 is probably a good choice plus it contains ester. Make sure the specific Mobil 1 formula you use use is a ILSAC GF-4 product. Not all Mobil 1 formulas are.

Motor Oil for a Nissan 370Z

Lots of bashing on Mobil 1 over the years but its not a bad oil imo...ive been running it for years with good results...PAO base stock with Ester..thats good enough for me.

Yes -- please do. Over at BITOG, a few UOA's suggested high iron wear... :ugh:

Oh, how many miles on your motor -- are all the break-in wear particles flushed out?

I'll say exactly what I said in the other thread where this was posted:

It says that their "analysis" (AKA document research, phone calls) indicates that it is full or partial synthetic. While this is probably true, the statement from Mobil 1 is too wishy-washy to mean anything.

And besides, this comment is coming from a company that markets partially synthetic Group III-based oil as "Fully Synthetic." We can thank the US Government and their infinite wisdom for allowing that nonsense... ugh.

BTW, this is old info, and was long since disregarded as conjecture on Mobil's behalf on BITOG.

You'll usually see elevated iron wear for several thousand miles on a new engine. Eventually (think 10k+ miles) it stabilizes. This doesn't mean the engine is not effectively broken in, of course.

These oil threads come in waves every few months. Have you guys searched all the old threads to avoid reinventing the wheel for 9th time?

Oil debates are never-ending, but I've read all there is to read on the Ester Oil and there is still no solid conclusion on A.) its formulation/composition B.) its overall wear protection adequacy and C.) its specifications relevant to high load/high performance conditions (HTHS, viscosities, etc.).

It's Nissan's 'special sauce'.

After all the discussion that's been had, I'd suffice to say that NEO is just not worth the price. If it was $7-8/qt, I might consider using it still. For $10/qt...well, Nissan can keep it.

The thing that makes me laugh the most though: When the Z came out, the Nissan techs were putting Valvoline in the cars and everyone had to twist the dealerships' arms to get them to fill with NEO. Now, Nissan discourages using anything but NEO. If NEO was so important, the manual would mandate its use and all the new Zs would come with a huge sticker on the hood saying "Warning, ONLY use Nissan Ester Oil".

Hmmm...coulda' sworn from the info in the past bunch of threads on this topic that the Nissan ester oil was at best a partial synthetic... Sure wish Nissan would end the debate and tell their consumers exactly what it is they're getting when they buy the Nissan ester oil.

That link to the Mobil website was a question I submitted a year ago - didnt know it took them that long to make it to the FAQ list.

I was pretty sure it wasn't a synthetic. Weird how Nissan recommends an oil change at every 3750 even if it really is a synthetic.