How often should I change my oil?

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Feb 27, 2018
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Recently totaled my 2007 CR-V and now I own a 2014 Pathfinder and I am still learning.

I've had some people tell me I should change it every 3,750 if conventional / 5,000 if synthetic, I've also heard 5,000 regardless, and I've also heard some people running 10,000 with no problems.

Coming from owning a Honda that specified 10K OCIs I find 3,750 or even 5,000 to be a super short interval and quite wasteful of potentially still-good oil.

If it has any influence on what OCI I should use, here is some information.

I drive daily to work or class, both are about a 15 minute trip from my house so I guess it's considered a short-trip.

About once a month I drive from Columbus to Cleveland for family stuff.

I'm also usually hauling significant weight, if my 2x 15" subwoofer box and amplifiers aren't in the trunk, then my car is loaded down with scrap to take to the recycler. However, I do not, and never plan to, tow anything given this has a CVT.

Unless recommended otherwise I'll stick with 5,000 mile OCIs, what do you guys think is best for my specific case? Thanks.
 
5k is simple for me, even with synthetic. I use SuperTech or Kirkland syn. It's cheap, readily available, and it takes me about 15 minutes to change the oil (except the Tundra with it's $#@&*! filter under the skidplate).
 
Your maintenance schedule is a good place to start. For normal operation, it recommends 5,000 miles/ 6 months and to drop it down to 3,750/3 months if you do a lot of short trips and stop & go.

In my eyes, your use case is pretty standard. I would start with 5,000 miles/6 months and get a UOA done to see how your engine interacts with the oil you choose to see if you can extend the oil change interval from there. Fuel dilution from short tripping, sheering out of grade, and TBN depletion will be the biggest factors to look for.

With a CVT, you'll want to be mindful of changing the fluid for that.
 
I'm also usually hauling significant weight, if my 2x 15" subwoofer box and amplifiers aren't in the trunk, then my car is loaded down with scrap to take to the recycler.
What do you consider significant ? What does that box weigh, 100 lbs max ? That's like having a passenger in the car with you and is inconsequential.
 
5K. Good Synthetic like QSUD, Pennzoil or Stupertech. Run a good OEM or higher tier aftermarket filter and you will be golden. For the CVT, service with OEM or equivalent fluid. Don't shortcut this area.
 
Unless recommended otherwise I'll stick with 5,000 mile OCIs,
Service guide for all 2014 Nissans says 5000 miles for non-severe service and based on your driving conditions, it is NOT severe. This mileage is based on conventional oil too so if you're using synthetic, you can certainly go a little longer if you wanted to.
 
Recently totaled my 2007 CR-V and now I own a 2014 Pathfinder and I am still learning.

I've had some people tell me I should change it every 3,750 if conventional / 5,000 if synthetic, I've also heard 5,000 regardless, and I've also heard some people running 10,000 with no problems.

Coming from owning a Honda that specified 10K OCIs I find 3,750 or even 5,000 to be a super short interval and quite wasteful of potentially still-good oil.

If it has any influence on what OCI I should use, here is some information.

I drive daily to work or class, both are about a 15 minute trip from my house so I guess it's considered a short-trip.

About once a month I drive from Columbus to Cleveland for family stuff.

I'm also usually hauling significant weight, if my 2x 15" subwoofer box and amplifiers aren't in the trunk, then my car is loaded down with scrap to take to the recycler. However, I do not, and never plan to, tow anything given this has a CVT.

Unless recommended otherwise I'll stick with 5,000 mile OCIs, what do you guys think is best for my specific case? Thanks.
What does your owner's manual say? Go with that. As far as what oil, Id go full synthetic and whatever grade the manual recommends.
Every car is different though. My Accord says to go 12K and change the filter every 24K, whereas my wife's Hyundai says every 3K.
 
Nissan has a very bad history of failures with there CVT's. So it might be smart to start with a car-fax history to see if the CVT fluid has ever been changed. If it were mine I would then look for a Nissan Pathfinder owners forum and find out what generation the year of your vehicle is, and read up on how often owners are changing the CVT fluid to prevent problems. Also what brand of fluids work well. Sometimes it is worth it to pay the extra for original fluid ( Nissan brand in this case ). See if there are any online stores that sell original Nissan parts and fluids at lower prices. Then look on YouTube to see how to change the CVT fluid on it, and if it has a CVT fluid filter and how often that has to be changed and how to do it.

Nissan had soooooo many problems with there CVT's that for a few years they stopped using CVT's for some models. I was considering a Nissan and stopped at a local big trany shop ( they have 10 lifts and they had a vehicle on every lift waiting on parts for every one ). I asked the owner if Nissan has now got the problems straightened out with there CVT's or if they still fail often. He said they still fail often, and they are not rebuildable. You have to buy a new unit, and the price he quoted and instillation was a lot more than I would ever want to shell out.

The bottom line is if you have a Nissan with a CVT, be sure the fluid gets changed often, and do not abuse it.

Honda and Toyota make great CVTs.

Nissan makes very good and comfortable seats. But there CVT's are a another story. And they ain't cheap to replace, so baby them with frequent fluid changes, and before going with anything other than Nissan fluid check out the appropriate forums and see if others are having good results with off brand CVT fluid, and if so what brands are they using?
 
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