Advice on a 2006 Xterra

[JasonK94Z]

Hi everyone. Wife drives a 2006 Nissan Xterra. It has recently hit 80k miles. As you can see, it sits most days, and gets used for short trips in town, and occasional but rare 3 hour trip to to visit friends out of town. She is currently looking for a job at the moment that could bring it online as a daily driver, but I'll wait and see.

The truck has had a steady diet of Pennzoil PP and Wix filters. I changed it every 5k miles, sometimes this takes longer than 6 months (shame on me right).

Question is, am I wasting money throwing the synthetic in this vehicle? Should I switch to Pennzoil YB or Pennzoil High Mileage? I love my Pennzoil, and I love my Wix filters. I'm open to suggestions. I just want to make sure this truck is going to hold out another 10 yrs. I have a feeling the kids will get it in 4 yrs when they hit the driving age.

Thanks everyone!

 

[DBMaster]

If it's going to be a DD, keep using what you're using and increase the OCI to 10,000 miles. That has been my standard synthetic oil OCI since the early 90's - on a number of family's and friends' cars in addition to my own.

 

[IndyIan]

I'd switch to PYB for that usage(short tripping) and 5k is reasonable.
If the vehicle gets more long trips, I'd feel better about a 10K OCI with synthetic.

 

[Whimsey]

Originally Posted By: DBMaster
If it's going to be a DD, keep using what you're using and increase the OCI to 10,000 miles. That has been my standard synthetic oil OCI since the early 90's - on a number of family's and friends' cars in addition to my own.


As I recall their engines, as many Nissan 6 cylinders, have a small capacity oil sump for the size of the engine, about 3 quarts I believe. I'd be careful about extending the OCI's too long.

Whimsey

 

[webfors]

Originally Posted By: Whimsey
Originally Posted By: DBMaster
If it's going to be a DD, keep using what you're using and increase the OCI to 10,000 miles. That has been my standard synthetic oil OCI since the early 90's - on a number of family's and friends' cars in addition to my own.


As I recall their engines, as many Nissan 6 cylinders, have a small capacity oil sump for the size of the engine, about 3 quarts I believe. I'd be careful about extending the OCI's too long.

Whimsey


According to the Amsoil product guide this engine is 5.4 quarts with filter:

http://www.amsoil.com/mygarage/vehiclelookuppage.aspx?url2=2006+NISSAN/DATSUN+XTERRA+3

Should be ok with 10k OCI's.

 

[ThirdeYe]

Although I'm sure PYB would do just fine with a 5k OCI in that situation, I'd feel more comfortable using a synthetic anyways. Thus, I'd just keep doing what you're doing. That's probably just me being OCD, though.

If you end up doing more highway driving, I'd go with PYB at 5k OCIs or the PP at a higher interval like 7,500 miles or so.

 

[OtisBlkR1]

define "short trips" does the motor have a chance to come up to temp ?

 

[Whimsey]

Originally Posted By: webfors
Originally Posted By: Whimsey
Originally Posted By: DBMaster
If it's going to be a DD, keep using what you're using and increase the OCI to 10,000 miles. That has been my standard synthetic oil OCI since the early 90's - on a number of family's and friends' cars in addition to my own.


As I recall their engines, as many Nissan 6 cylinders, have a small capacity oil sump for the size of the engine, about 3 quarts I believe. I'd be careful about extending the OCI's too long.

Whimsey


According to the Amsoil product guide this engine is 5.4 quarts with filter:

http://www.amsoil.com/mygarage/vehiclelookuppage.aspx?url2=2006+NISSAN/DATSUN+XTERRA+3

Should be ok with 10k OCI's.


I stand corrected, thank you.

Whimsey

 

[Bryankkkk]

Antifreeze didnt leak into the transmission yet? I would be more worried about that then oil choices lol.

 

[29662]

I would stick with PP and WIX, extend to 7500 mile OCI and do a UOA before extending any further. If the UOA comes back good I would try the 10K mile OCI. Without doing a UOA you are just guessing.

 

[JasonK94Z]

Originally Posted By: OtisBlkR1
define "short trips" does the motor have a chance to come up to temp ?


Coolant temp definitely comes up to temp. Most in town driving, a few stop lights, and I am defining short trips as around 5 miles to and from.

 

[JasonK94Z]

Originally Posted By: Bryankkkk
Antifreeze didnt leak into the transmission yet? I would be more worried about that then oil choices lol.


LOL. A new radiator from Denso is sitting in my garage waiting for me to find time to replace it. Crossing my fingers it survives just two more weeks before I get to it.

 

[sicko]

Have you thought about using Pennzoil Gold Bottle (PGB)? If you buy your oil at Wal-Mart, 5 quarts of PGB costs less than $2 more than 5 quarts of PYB, and PGB is at least 50% synthetic. Seems like the perfect compromise.

http://www.epc.shell.com/Docs/GPCDOC_Local_TDS_United_States_Pennzoil_Gold_5W-30_Synthetic_Blend_Motor_Oil_%28SN-GF_5_dexos1%29_%28en-US%29_TDS.pdf

 

[nolesfan]

In my wife's previous Xterra, I ran M1 0w40 and a Fram ultra filter (or Nissan filter) and changed both every 5k miles. Never had issues, EXCEPT for the transmission cooler; that caused some issues, so we traded for a 2013 Xterra. I'm still running M1, but it's 5w30 EP now. And the VQ40DE has a 5 3/8 quart capacity.

 

[Sierra048]

We recently sold our 2005 Xterra with the same engine. It saw a steady diet of whatever, mostly synthetic, oil was on sale. I'm no expert but I think the 4.0l V6 is rock solid. So much so that we replaced it with a Frontier with the same engine. In ten years of ownership, it never saw the inside of a dealership or and independent garage. Had 93K when we sold it. Got top dollar for it but it was meticulously maintained as well. As to the radiator/transmission dilemma, I just did the by-pass, which literally took just a few minutes to do, and never had a problem. Saved the cost and hassle of replacing the radiator.

 

[GenaFishbeck]

Originally Posted By: JasonK94Z
Hi everyone. Wife drives a 2006 Nissan Xterra. It has recently hit 80k miles. As you can see, it sits most days, and gets used for short trips in town, and occasional but rare 3 hour trip to to visit friends out of town. She is currently looking for a job at the moment that could bring it online as a daily driver, but I'll wait and see.

The truck has had a steady diet of Pennzoil PP and Wix filters. I changed it every 5k miles, sometimes this takes longer than 6 months (shame on me right).

Question is, am I wasting money throwing the synthetic in this vehicle? Should I switch to Pennzoil YB or Pennzoil High Mileage? I love my Pennzoil, and I love my Wix filters. I'm open to suggestions. I just want to make sure this truck is going to hold out another 10 yrs. I have a feeling the kids will get it in 4 yrs when they hit the driving age.

Thanks everyone!


Rest assured JasonK94Z, you are NOT wasting your money by using a full synthetic motor oil! In fact, the Pennzoil Platinum with PurePlus Technology you were using has been tested & proven to keep pistons up to 40% cleaner than required by the toughest industry standards.

Keeping your engine running long term comes down to a clean/efficient-running engine - the cleaner the engine, the more efficient it runs and the more you will get out of it - a clean running engine with a synthetic motor oil will offer better protection of hard parts, resulting in longer hard part life; a clean running engine is better for the environment; a clean running engine is definitely better for fuel economy, versus a dirty engine; a clean running engine will also maximize your engine performance, with regard to horsepower; etc.

We think you are taking great care of your engine - better than most consumers out there. Your maintenance practices sound impeccable, and the use of the best synthetic oil on the market is the cherry on top. We wouldn’t change a thing! - The Pennzoil Team