Basic Oil Change Question

[Ilithis]

Hey everyone,

I'm new to the forums here and this seemed like a solid place to land this question.

I just bought a used 2011 Nissan Versa S hatchback 1.8L automatic with 33k miles a few months ago. My typical daily drive is 16 miles, but the car also gets used for longer road trips to my parent's house and vacation which is 50 miles away and hundreds of miles away respectively. On average, I only go on vacation twice a year and visit my parent's house once a month. So, I really don't drive more than 6-7k miles a year.

I can't seem to find anything in the owner's manual stating the oil change interval for the vehicle. I hear 7.5k miles is the magic number for oil changes under non-synthetic oil when driving under 'normal' driving habits. I drive fairly easy on the car. I accelerate slowly from a stop light and only brake when needed (I coast a lot).

I just did an oil change and was wondering when I should change my oil next. The oil I used is MAG 1 synthetic blend 5w30.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007VWYF5Q/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i01
I'm not sure if its a full synthetic or only partial because of the word 'blend' in the product name.

I want to keep this car for as long as possible since school loans will hamper any large purchases for the next 10 years.

With all the given information above, when should I change my oil next and for the next time around should I use non-synthetic oil, a synthetic blend, or full synthetic?

I'm also open to advice and recommendations since this is my first car and I'm fresh out of college.

 

[Donald]

Welcome to BITOG. You have arrived at the right place to discuss oil related questions and ideas.

Were it my car and being you are in the frozen tundra part of the US, I would use Pennzoil Platinum which is under $22 at Walmart for a 5Qt jug. Called PP on BITOG. Its a full synthetic and is one of the best, reasonable cost and easily available oils. You car will turn over noticeably quicker in the winter with full synthetic.

Run your current oil until 5000 and change.

Go 7500 OCI. Use a decent filter.

Be aware that at some point a female in your life is going to say "you spend too much time on BITOG so, its either me or BITOG". And you will probably miss her.

 

[javacontour]

2011 Nissan maintenance guide

http://www.nissanusa.com/pdf/techpubs/2011/2011_N_SMG.pdf

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Don't these cars have a 3 quart oil capacity? I wouldn't have a problem running 7500 on the 5 quarts in my Focus, but 7500 on 3 quarts of oil would worry me

 

[kam327]

I also originally came to this site looking for answers to the OCI and synth vs dino questions. Based on everything I've seen here I've concluded that 7500 mile OCIs with dino oil is usually no problem for modern 4-bangers. I'll splurge a litte on mine and get the Motorcraft Synth Blend because it's only $3 more per 5-gal jug at Walmart and it's the Ford-branded oil. But I wouldn't hesitate going back to PYB either...

 

[randomhero439]

I made this awhile ago. Used it with every car ive owned. For oil changes, do what the car is specced for. If your using synthetic go for 7500 miles or 1 year.

15,000 or 18 months
Wiper blades -- One thing i never skimp on.

30,000 or 3 years:
Engine air filter -- Most of us have a aftermarket open filter intake. Clean this every 15,000 or 12 months.
In-cabin air filter -- HVAC airflow not as good as it used to be? Check your cabin filter behind your glovebox. You can get a replacement for about $8 on eBay.
Automatic transmisson fluid -- After many reading analysis' on ATX fluid, this stuff does not last very long at all. Viscosity does not break down, but there is a serious amount of insolubles. OEM fluid is adequate, Redline, Amsoil, & German Castrol ATX fluid are well above adequate. Increase shift quality and longevity should be expected
Engine coolant -- Yes, change it. OEM fluid.
Manual transmission oil -- Redline, Amsoil, GMFMS, OEM, Royal Purple. If you want your gears to feel like new, change it.
Brake fluid -- Flush or throughly bleed using DOT4 or DOT3
Power steering fluid -- This stuff is nasty. Notably light steering after change. Very simple to do. Use Honda fluid only
Clean PCV valve -- Blast it with brake or carb clean until it runs clear. Can help with oil burning issues.

60,000 or 6 years:
Automatic transmission filter -- I believe it can be had for $10 at your local auto parts store, its a cartridge.
inline fuel filter
Serpentine belt -- Belts break, easy $29 item.
Clutch fluid -- Yeah, might as well. You can go longer with this fluid than with the brakes because it is not subject to high heat

105,000 or 10 years:
Spark plugs (Iridium) -- yep, these wear out too.
Timing belt -- Important not to skimp on this with an interference motor, however the normal 7 years is just silly IMO for a sealed belt.
Water pump -- might as well change it when your in there.
Thermostat -- keeping the cooling system in check
Radiator cap -- Make sure you get the right one, easy $8
Valve adjustment -- If you dont abuse your Accord, then dont worry about it unless its noisy.

150,000 or 15 years:
Radiator hoses -- Its rubber, constant heat cycles cause it to breakdown and lose strength. $34

 

[danthaman1980]

Hi Ilithis, welcome to BITOG!

It appears you have already chosen the correct viscosity (5w30), which I believe is per the owner's manual. I'm not very familiar with the MAG 1 oil, but as long as it is API SN then it should be fine.

Personally, I would advise you not to get too hung up on terms such as 'conventional', 'synthetic', 'semi-synthetic', or 'synthetic blend'. The lines between synthetic and conventional aren't as black and white as they once were - most conventional oils today require very high quality base stocks in order to meet requried specifications, while synthetics may use the cheapest base stocks that they can legally call 'synthetic' while still meeting those same specifications. I've also found that terms such as 'synthetic blend' or 'semi-synthetic' can be very deceptive. How would you feel if you knew that the base stocks of one so-called 'synthetic blend' motor oil were about 98.5% conventional and 1.5% synthetic? It is still a synthetic blend, but somehow I bet you would have expected more than 1.5% synthetic in that blend.

Rather than focusing on that, I'd do some more research on this site and choose a name brand oil with a good additive package that tends to perform well in your engine type. Change it per the manufacturer's recommendations (I believe 7,500 miles is correct for the 2011 Versa).

For what it's worth, here is my personal opinion: Pennzoil Platinum is an excellent oil with a very good additive package that works very well in a wide range of applications. If you truly end up only driving the car 6k-7k per year, then I would use that, and change it once per year. If that oil is too expensive for your tastes, or if you start driving 10k-15k per year and find it necessary to change your oil more often, then Pennzoil conventional (yellow bottle) or Quaker State conventional (green bottle) would be very good choices.

 

[Phishin]

Originally Posted By: kam327
I also originally came to this site looking for answers to the OCI and synth vs dino questions. Based on everything I've seen here I've concluded that 7500 mile OCIs with dino oil is usually no problem for modern 4-bangers. I'll splurge a litte on mine and get the Motorcraft Synth Blend because it's only $3 more per 5-gal jug at Walmart and it's the Ford-branded oil. But I wouldn't hesitate going back to PYB either...


I'm not a big fan of 7500 OCI's with dino oil. Unless you're doing almost all highway driving, then it MIGHT be okay. And it totally depends on the oil. If you have a hot running 4-cylinder or an engine that is known to produce deposits....no way would I go 7500 on dino. Especially on a newer car. IF it's a beater, do what you want. But if you don't want deposits in your engine, might want run 7500 on good synthetic.

But that's my opinion.

 

[Ilithis]

I'm speechless as to how many replies this got in such a short time. Thanks for the awesome suggestions and replies.

For some reason my vehicle didn't come with the maintenance manual, only the owner's manual. I guess that is what I get for buying used.

Also, Miller88, my vehicle 'drinks' 4 & 3/8 Qts of oil per change.

 

[Barkleymut]

Your car burns 4 AND 3/8 quarts between changes????? please clarify

 

[JOD]

It looks like you have to change your oil every 6 months in order to maintain compliance w/your warranty requirements. That being the case, I'd go with any name-brand conventional 5W30. Look for the oil change specials @ your local parts store and have something on hand seems to be the best way to go. You can get Quaker State green bottle and upgrade to a Bosch filter for $19.00 right now (just changed the oil on a friend's car w/this deal). Sometimes you can even get oil free or almost free after rebate. For 6 months at your mileage, any name brand oil will work great.

The one thing I'd consider would be doing an initial drain and fill of the transmission fluid, since most of the contaminants in the fluid appear early in its life. If you're looking to keep the car for the long haul, maintaining the transmission fluid is a good idea, since repairs are expensive. The older 4 speed Versas had a drain plug, not sure which trans you have or how a fluid exchange is done, but I'd probably do it after 10-15K, then a drain/fill every 20K or so.

 

[kam327]

Everyone has an opinion. I'm just saying based on the actual UOAs on here, I don't remember seeing one where the dino oil was spent by 7,500 miles on a small non-turbo engine. And in my own 4-cyl engine, the PYB dino had plenty of life in it at 5,000 miles based on a Blackstone test.

 

[CarbonSteel]

Originally Posted By: Barkleymut
Your car burns 4 AND 3/8 quarts between changes????? please clarify

I think he is saying it takes 4-3/8 quarts to fill it up during an OC; not that it uses that much between OCs.

 

[FoxS]

Firstly you need to maintain your warranty so change as per that schedule.

Secondly there will be a grade requirement so keep within that for warranty also.

Thirdly, oil rated SN will be superior to SM. So avoid picking up older bottles unless you know they are SN

Since the warranty has you at 6 month oci, which will be less than 5k, I think any brand name dino oil will be fine.

But I also suggest:

Check other users experiences on any oils that worked well for them and whether this engine is tough on oil so you have an idea how hard you are being on oil esp if you intend to extend oil changes outside of warranty.

Consider synthetic oil as its extra cost is negligible esp for 3 quart oil changes and it gives you some extra protection.

I would suggest signing up for both the Quaker state warranty and the pennzoil rebate and picking up jugs of PP 5w30 and QSUD 5w30 with the dexos logo from Walmart. It will be virtually free after rebate and two of the best mainstream synthetic oil you can find.

 

[skyship]

Originally Posted By: kam327
Everyone has an opinion. I'm just saying based on the actual UOAs on here, I don't remember seeing one where the dino oil was spent by 7,500 miles on a small non-turbo engine. And in my own 4-cyl engine, the PYB dino had plenty of life in it at 5,000 miles based on a Blackstone test.


There have been a number of UOA results showing a good dino was spent by 7500 miles, it just depends on the engine, condition, useage and driver style. If the engine is in normal use and is fairly new then a major brand dino might well last 10K miles, but without a UOA inc TBN it's hard to know.
The warranty is an issue because if that says 6 months for some silly reason, then there is no point spending big bucks on a top quality full synthetic as a major brand 5w30 dino will do just as good a job.
My advice would be to check to see what the warranty terms say first, as you may need to get the handbook stamped etc, then just look for a major brand 5w30 on special offer and use real Nissan filters. I regard major brands as Castrol, Mobil, Shell, Liqui Moly and Valvoline. They are the only engine companies the Germans trust for private vehicles and they have very long OCI's and drive real fast, so they are a lot more careful about oil and filter quality.
If you want your car to last remember how you drive it is as important as the oil you use, so don't touch the accelerator when starting or for 30 seconds afterwards, keep the revs low until full operating temp and make all accelerator movements nice and smooth, let the engine idle for 30 secs before switching off (2 mins for turbos). Try to dodge traffic jams and stay off dirty roads, as they are all oil killers.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: Ilithis
I just did an oil change and was wondering when I should change my oil next. The oil I used is MAG 1 synthetic blend 5w30.


Mag 1 is fine oil. Do note that Nissan's severe service oil change interval is 3750 miles or three months, so if you fall into severe service under the maintenance manual link previously posted, you may be stuck with a short OCI. And conventional will work fine in there, too.

 

[DinoOil]

I've always been more on the conservative side of oil maintenance, and more or less anything else auto related. You invest good money into buying a vehicle, why not take pride in taking care of it?

I chuckle at those here who want stretch every LAST 0.000% of the oil's "usefulness". I hear folks talk about driving style, terrain, climate, EXACT amount of miles driven to point A, and EXACT miles driven to point B and so on and so forth.... So as a result you need Brand X oil which has this and that additive pack, and ONLY use filter brand Y to complement BRAND X oil and blah blah blah.... Seriously?!?!.....

Just go out and buy a quality oil and filter, install the darn things and be more conservative in your change interval than what's recommended by the manufacturer. I've never thought about getting an UOA, never stared at the ceiling at night wondering what kind of Sodium numbers my oil has, or such things.

Install it, drive it, check it, and change it conservatively. It is pretty simple, isn't it now?

 

[fauxchemist]

Originally Posted By: DinoOil
I've always been more on the conservative side of oil maintenance, and more or less anything else auto related. You invest good money into buying a vehicle, why not take pride in taking care of it?

I chuckle at those here who want stretch every LAST 0.000% of the oil's "usefulness". I hear folks talk about driving style, terrain, climate, EXACT amount of miles driven to point A, and EXACT miles driven to point B and so on and so forth.... So as a result you need Brand X oil which has this and that additive pack, and ONLY use filter brand Y to complement BRAND X oil and blah blah blah.... Seriously?!?!.....



Just go out and buy a quality oil and filter, install the darn things and be more conservative in your change interval than what's recommended by the manufacturer. I've never thought about getting an UOA, never stared at the ceiling at night wondering what kind of Sodium numbers my oil has, or such things.

Install it, drive it, check it, and change it conservatively. It is pretty simple, isn't it now?

+1

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: DinoOil
Just go out and buy a quality oil and filter, install the darn things and be more conservative in your change interval than what's recommended by the manufacturer.


That depends on the manufacturer. My 3750 mile or 3 month OCI in the G is plenty often enough.