5w-20 for a nissan 2.5cyl

[nicholas]

Hey dudes

I have a 05 altima with the 2.5L engine in it ,
the manual specs 5w-30, but I was wonderign if anyone here uses 5w-20 in their nissan engine.

the car is driven in traffic everyday, it rarely gets above 3,000rpms., ya i drive like a granny..

it seems that nissan is one of the few car comps that refuses to spec 5w-20

 

[Whimsey]

While I'm a proponent of using 5W-20 where the manufacture reccommends it I believe it's best not to use it if they don't reccommend it for your vehicle. Especially in your case since the car is only a 2005 I would not do anything to jeopardies the warranty.

The current crop of 5W-30 SM's seem to be better constructed like the 5W-20 SL's were. They seem to be using better base grades, II+, II & III, II & IV, etc.

Whimsey

 

[Captain Howdy]

nicholas,

I'm using Pennzoil Platinum 5w-20 in my '02 2.5L Sentra this summer. I plan on getting a UOA this coming fall.

I also own another Sentra, the 1.8L GXE, it's currently got Castrol 0w-30 in it.

 

[nicholas]

my oci is 6,000kms
and i use dino oil ,
what ever name brand is on sale at the time,
usualy penzoil.

i used 5w-20 in my civic a few times , and thought that the engine was eager to rev faster.
and my milege went up as well.

i was just wondering if anyone knew why nissan did not jump on the 20 weight band wagon like the others.

 

[addyguy]

GM also hasn't jumped on the 20-weight bandwagon as well.....wondering when they will, b/c am I not right in thinking they were one of the first major man. to recommend 5W-30 as a regular grade for their cars?

 

[JohnBrowning]

If you are going to Run a 5W20 in an application that does call for it then you should consider useing either Redline 5W20 or Fuchs Titan. THese two have worked well in all aplication. Some vechiles that do not call for 5W20 do not so well with lesser 5W20's!

 

[427Z06]

The difference between a SM/GF-4 5w20 and a SM/GF-4 5w30 is small enough that it probably won't matter given your sedate driving style. However, if it's not listed in the owner's manual, that means that the manufacturer either didn't test it, or did and didn't like the results under all operating conditions. Once it's out of the warranty period, any "testing" is on your dime anyways.

 

[Cutehumor]

under warranty, use manufactuer stated viscosity.

 

[hominid7]

Under warranty isn't all that is required is to use a starburst oil, which would mean 5w20, 5w30 or 10w30?

 

[Triple_Se7en]

I stick to the conditions of my vehicle warranty.

After it expires, then I do some oil weights not included.

Then again, some 5W-30s are as thin as 20 weight after 1K. Some 5W-20s are borderline 30-weight .

Hard to recommend anything without knowing nour OCI lengths, your brand preferences & what designation you want... ie... dino, blend or synthetic.

For instance in 5W-30, Mobil-1 EP is thin... yet the SM regular Mobil-1 is considered on the thick side... 11.3cSt@100

 

[unDummy]

Which is better, a stout synthetic 20wt or a weak mineral 30wt that'll shear into a 20wt quickly anyway??????

Even though the preferred weight is 5w30, I don't see any reason why a 20wt could be used. Note that the Nic is in Canada which has cooler weather( a plus for those that want to use thinner than recommended oil).
I wouldn't recommend the 20wt for your Tx/Az/Fl/desert...southern climates.

Also note that Nissan doen't mention "SM" or "GF-4" oils in their owners manual. So the whole warrany argument is bogus. Seems that they really push 'energy conserving' oil, but also allow a 10w40. Makes no sense.

But, my personal experience is that Nissans tend to like thicker oils. Up north, you have the Esso XD3 0w30. Why not just run that year round?

A couple UOAs comparing the 30wt to a 20wt in your particular engine/driving style would confirm whether you can use it or not.

 

[Bamaro]

I wouldn't trust 5w-20 in a 2.5. I would only use 5w-30 as recommended since the 2.5 has a reputation for using a lot of oil. My SE-R uses about a qt every 1500 miles.

 

[nicholas]

hey
thanx for all the info guys,
on a side note my 2.5 alti does not use a drop of oil in a 6,000km OCI,

I have used the esso oil before, its just really hard to get where I live.

have a good weekend !

 

[CharBaby]

My 04 Altima 2.5 doesn't use any oil either between OCI's but, it sure gets dirty fast.

 

[Dominik]

Nicholas,

As far as I knoe the owner's manual gives you choice between 5/10W-30 and 10W-40 oils (I do most of the maintenance on my dad'd 2003 Altima and that' what the manual recommends.
In summer this oil will give you hardly any advantage during startup, and if you drive in traffic/hot weather the oil will see higher temperatures thus thinner oil (although many here will would use even sewing machine oil, it it were readilly available in large quantities @ good price) won't protect as good as somewhat thicker one.
IMHO you will be hurting your engine altough it won't of catastrophic proportions but in the end it will wear a bit faster.

 

[Dominik]

Cripes sorry abut those spelling mistakes but my boss is constantly bugging me so I strike adjacent keys half the time, hope that I did not offend the thin oil enthusiasts.

 

[Dominik]

He thinks he uses 15W-30 in his V4, I kid you not man

and he never changes it by himself guess since 15W-40 is so hard to come by then he lets the highly skilled professionals around the corner do it.
Come to think of it not to many oil meisters are certiffied to work on V4s.

 

[toocrazy2yoo]

Jeez, Dominik!

The boss doesn't understand about the BITOG?

Tell him to go away!

 

[vol245]

I had a '02 SE-R which was the first year for that 2.5 liter motor and it used 2 quarts in 3000 miles.