2001 Nissan GXE questions

[BubbaP]

I recently purchsed an '01 Sentra (1.8L) for my daughter, and I have a couple of questions.
1. Is there anything to grease on the chassis/front end? I cannot locate any grease fittings.
2. Would you be comfortable with a 4 mo/5,000 mile OCI? She has a 30 mile (one way) commute to school, with a mix of short trip around town driving. I have at least a two years stash of Havoline Synthetic (SL GF-3)I plan to use in it. It only has a 3 quart capacity including filter change.

 

[Harvey]

Hi bubbap, good luck on keeping your daughters car running. I don't know anything about '01 Sentra's grease, but I can tell you I've run every new vehicle I've owned for 5,000 on oil change. I've put over 200,000 on all, 70' chevette, 86' celebrity, 95; nissan four wheel drive truck, 97' nissan truck still driving with 169,000, and 95' pontiac grand prix that my wife drives now that has 175,000 I,ve never had a major engine failure, no smoke, or using oil.

 

[deepsquat]

usually the OCI you suggest would be just fine with the miles she runs ( I used to run a similar number with my Nissan Altima ) but the one week point that you did mention is a 3 quart sump! Man that is small... Heck my 800cc motorcycle has a 3.8 quart capacity! I woul be afraid of sludge with 5000 mile on a 3qt ...even with synthetics...

 

[RL]

Hi BubbaP! I have a 2002 Sentra GXE (1.8L).

1.) Nothing to grease on the front end, at least that I'm aware of.

2.) When I first got the car, I was shocked to learn about the 2 7/8 quart sump. Plus the filter looks like something that should be on a riding lawnmower.

I haven't done a UOA or anything, but (Warning: unscientific observation ahead!

) this engine seems to be easy on oil. I personally run 4,000 mile intervals.

I would also mention that if this car is an automatic transmission (like mine), they have a reputation for being hard on ATF. There is a drain plug on the transmission pan, so partial fluid changes are easy. You'll get about 4 quarts out. I change my ATF every 15,000 miles.

 

[znamya]

if you have time to kill, go to nissanforums.com.. outstanding info there..

 

[BubbaP]

Thanks to all for the replies. I think I will stay around 4000 miles due to the small sump size. I am using the slightly larger filter size (Wix 51356 vs. the smaller Wix 51365), so I round the 2 7/8 quarts up to an even 3 quarts.
I think I will do an annual ATF change as well.

 

[Drew]

5000 miles with Mobil 1 or GC should be no problem. I had several earlier model sentras with the 1.6L engine and 5k intervals is all I did. No problem with sludging. Yeah, the sump is small but the oil filters are tiny too.

 

[BearZDefect]

Nissan probably allows a 7,500mi interval for 'normal' operation, and unless her 60mi per day (divided in only two) is in heavy traffic or dust I'd say it qualifies.

Using that high quality group III oil (Havoline Synthetic) I imagine a 5,000 interval is quite safe.