Castrol GTX 10w-40 - 4,786 miles - 2004 Infiniti G35 sedan 6MT

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Feb 21, 2024
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Have had this car for a couple years. Was curious about the health of this engine, since it has always been an "oil-burner", (surprise surprise, VQ35DE, lol).

Initially had it on Castrol GTX 5w-30 synth blend. It was burning about 4 quarts per oci. Then tried Chevron Supreme 10w-30 conventional. Not much better. (The engine did run nicely on both of these, by the way).

The oil I used here, (with the UOA), is a thicker oil. Castrol GTX 10w-40 conventional. The burning issue did improve, (roughly 3 quarts). From the results of the UOA, the engine seems healthy. Any input will be greatly appreciated!

Recently I put Chevron Supreme 5w-30 in it, (synth blend). It's a good oil, easy to find, and so affordable. Going to do another UOA on that, after about 4-5k. Hopefully the results are good. May step it up to a good 5w-40 if the UOA is not up to par, or stick with this GTX 10w-40 conventional, (the engine did seem to like it). Seems like the engine is happy, but she just likes to burn some, lol!!

Blackstone_UOA_Castrol_GTX_10w40_[form]_20241213.webp
 
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Wear metals look good to me. The engine seems happy on this oil. However, why not try a high mileage oil to try and reduce the consumption even further? Valvoline maxlife in 10w30 or 10w40 would be my choice

Good point. Have thought about a High Mileage oil. Have not used an HM oil on a car before. A bit skeptical of them, to be honest. However, if the performance is good, and it reduces the oil burning much better, seems like a solid choice.

Since the Chevron Supreme 5w-30 I put in recently, is very affordable and easy to get at Walmart...My plan is just to buy another $20 5-quart jug, watch the dipstick, let it burn, and stay on top of it. (Which is what I have been doing since buying this car). Seems like the piston rings are the culprit. Anyway, if the UOA looks good for the Chevron Supreme 5w30, it's not a big deal for me to continue this method for the life of the car.
 
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That UOA looks fine, good to hear the GTX 10W40 reduced your consumption by 25%, that's a good improvement.

Depending on your climate, you could consider a 15W40 mixed fleet HDEO, that has both API CK-4 and API SN. There are a few around like Rotella and Delo I believe. These would be even thicker than the GTX 10W40 and should reduce consumption even more. If you live in a warm enough climate. 15Wx can start down to 0F.
 
I assume I've done things right with our M35 owned since new. On a diet first of mostly Kendall 5w-30 syn blend and later Quaker state and Amalie 5w-30 full syn with 5K mile change intervals, mine uses or burns no oil. To me, the VQ35DE has been a great motor as hailed by most car magazines in the mid-2000's.
 
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Good point. Have thought about a High Mileage oil. Have not used an HM oil on a car before. A bit skeptical of them, to be honest. However, if the performance is good, and it reduces the oil burning much better, seems like a solid choice.

Since the Chevron Supreme 5w-30 I put it in recently, is very affordable and easy to get at Walmart...My plan is just to buy another $20 5-quart jug, watch the dipstick, let it burn, and stay on top of it. (Which is what I have been doing since buying this car). Seems like the piston rings are the culprit. Anyway, if the UOA looks good for the Chevron Supreme 5w30, it's not a big deal for me to continue this method for the life of the car.
How big is your sump? If it’s 5 quarts, and you’re replacing 3, you can likely extend your oil change interval further since the oil is getting refreshed as a good rate.
 
I assume I've done things right with our M35 owned since new. On a diet first of mostly Kendall 5w-30 syn blend and later Quaker state and Amalie 5w-30 full syn with 5K mile change intervals, mine uses or burns no oil. To me, the VQ35DE has been a great motor as hailed by most car magazines in the mid-2000's.

Good stuff. Yea I wish I was an original owner, and it didn't burn any oil, oh well.

Mine is a manual and they usually get revved-out, and driven harder than Auto's, and especially the M-series. I definitely like to have "spirited drives" with it, hit backroads, etc. I'm sure the couple previous owners also liked to do that too, lol. Whether the oil-burning is related to that, don't know, but it should be a factor.
 
How big is your sump? If it’s 5 quarts, and you’re replacing 3, you can likely extend your oil change interval further since the oil is getting refreshed as a good rate.

Yes the sump is 5 quarts. Hmmm, do you think a 6k oci is reasonable at this rate? Or even longer? Changing conventional after 5k kinda makes me nervous, (although this is a certain case). The synthetic blends, I change them around 5k as well.
 
Thanks for the rec! Will look into that.
I gently cleaned my rings using whatever 15w-40 over a few years and my yukon which burned about a quart every 1300 miles no longer burns anything today and my sierra which at worst burned a quart every 700 miles now only burns a quart every 2600 miles or so. The thicker oil did immediately have an effect in lowering consumption but not a lot though the gentle cleaning eventually lowered the consumption. I did find the most progression after using rotella t4 which ended up having the most detergents in its formulation. Restore and protect is very good in quickly cleaning clogged rings, sometimes in just 2 or even 1 run. I will likely get some restore and protect to dump in my sierra to finish off the ring cleaning.
 
Yes the sump is 5 quarts. Hmmm, do you think a 6k oci is reasonable at this rate? Or even longer? Changing conventional after 5k kinda makes me nervous, (although this is a certain case). The synthetic blends, I change them around 5k as well.
I don’t see why not- you’re replacing 60% of the oil and your UOA looks good. Take a look at the moderator dnewton3’s posts. He pushed supertech coventional to way past 10k no problem.
 
I don’t see why not- you’re replacing 60% of the oil and your UOA looks good. Take a look at the moderator dnewton3’s posts. He pushed supertech coventional to way past 10k no problem.

Cool, thanks for the input.

Wow, will definitely look into dnewton3. The thought of conventional past 10k makes me uneasy, for sure, lol! It is hard to break from old codes that we live by, hehe.
 
I gently cleaned my rings using whatever 15w-40 over a few years and my yukon which burned about a quart every 1300 miles no longer burns anything today and my sierra which at worst burned a quart every 700 miles now only burns a quart every 2600 miles or so. The thicker oil did immediately have an effect in lowering consumption but not a lot though the gentle cleaning eventually lowered the consumption. I did find the most progression after using rotella t4 which ended up having the most detergents in its formulation. Restore and protect is very good in quickly cleaning clogged rings, sometimes in just 2 or even 1 run. I will likely get some restore and protect to dump in my sierra to finish off the ring cleaning.

Thanks for the breakdown of what happened with your car. Tales like yours, are very helpful. That is what I was hoping for in this thread, as it can help my situation, and others reading your post, appreciate it!!
 
That UOA looks fine, good to hear the GTX 10W40 reduced your consumption by 25%, that's a good improvement.

Depending on your climate, you could consider a 15W40 mixed fleet HDEO, that has both API CK-4 and API SN. There are a few around like Rotella and Delo I believe. These would be even thicker than the GTX 10W40 and should reduce consumption even more. If you live in a warm enough climate. 15Wx can start down to 0F.

Appreciate it! As of this writing, 10w-40 is the thickest oil, that I feel comfortable with. The manual for this car states 5w30, 10w30, and 10w40, conventional oil. It also seems like synthetics get eaten up quicker with this motor. The full conventional oils did not consume as much, as the synthetic blends.

Will look into the 15w-40 for a VQ35DE. I'm sure it has been done before. If my current Chevron Supreme 5w-30 synth blend burns up too much, going to look for a thick 10w-40, or 5w-40, that doesn't shear down easily, (Rotella?). The GTX 10w-40 seemed like a thick-ish 10w-40, and did the best compared with the various oils that I have tried with this engine, no doubt.
 
I assume I've done things right with our M35 owned since new. On a diet first of mostly Kendall 5w-30 syn blend and later Quaker state and Amalie 5w-30 full syn with 5K mile change intervals, mine uses or burns no oil. To me, the VQ35DE has been a great motor as hailed by most car magazines in the mid-2000's.

Yes. never heard of a VQ burning oil unless it was a 2007 or 2008 rev-up motor.
 
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