My Little Pride & Joy

[Lurch]

Originally Posted By: 2002 Maxima SE
This is my favorite year for the Sentra. The dealership I bought from had a black SE-R Spec V which I had a hard time deciding between that and the Maxima. Just to rub it in, someone down the street owns a red SE-R Spec V.


Nice looking car and they seem to get good reviews but I wouldn't want one now. I prefer the MPG maximizers these days - and vehicles that don't tempt me to get speeding tickets that make my insurance go up and possibly get killed on the road.. My motorcycle gets 70-80 MPG and my car gets about half that.

I used to own motorcycles that could blow the doors off Corvettes at red lights but I'm not into that any more. I was once known to own some of the fastest bikes in town. I was never really into fast cars, just bikes.

 

[ThirdeYe]

This is more on-topic, I've always liked that generation of the Sentra, especially the Spec-V but I too heard about head gasket issues and problems with screws being ingested into the intake...

 

[Bill in Utah]

Originally Posted By: Lurch
Hi Bill. That sounds like a plan. Is 10-30 too heavy for my car, do you think? That's what's in it now [Syntec].

There must be only a certain % of Sentras that have head gaskets fail. I don't think it's all of them.

There are some great reviews of Sentras on Epinions.com. There are also a few unhappy campers there but I tend to believe the favorable reviews more than the unfavorable.

My Sentra has been awesome since I've owned it.

I'd be surprised if the head gasket failed on me someday.

I should change the oil this November or so, get it ready for Winter in TN. I'll only have about 2000 miles on the oil by then. I guess that's the time I'll do my first UOA on it. I plan to add 2 qts of Castrol SM rated 10-30 and one of "" Syntech 10-30. Does that sound OK to you? How about 1 qt of 10-30 and 2 qts of 5-30? I have a quart of Castrol 10-30 in the garage that I plan to use in it after I get 2 more qts to top it off, with a good OF. Then, next December '10 I might get some sale synthetic oil at Wally World or a parts store. I want to go the 1 year OCI with it, and do the OCI right before Winter.

I'll rain on the parade and suggest that a 4 cyl with such a small sump would not be my first choice to run a year OCI on. Esp on a engine series that does have some history on head gaskets problems.

A year is a long time. If you did have something pop up the last thing you'd need is 11 months of same oil in the engine. With coolant, the best thing is fixing the problem and 2nd is changing the oil so ANY coolant is flushed.

I did not know TN had winter (compared to what I've seen Winter to be ) so depending on how cold it gets down there will tell us what weight to use. Personally a good Conventional 5w-30 changed every 5000 miles or 6 months unless you are hammering the car will get you down the road. Plus a UOA here and there you'd be fine.

How many miles do you drive it in a year?

10W30 is fine in the car but I just like 5w-30 better. Covers a better range of possible temps (below zero to well above 100f)

Take care, Bill

 

[Bill in Utah]

Originally Posted By: ThirdeYe
This is more on-topic, I've always liked that generation of the Sentra, especially the Spec-V but I too heard about head gasket issues and problems with screws being ingested into the intake...


I think the screws going into the intake is on the 2.5l big motored Sentra only?

 

[Lurch]

This is more on-topic, I've always liked that generation of the Sentra, especially the Spec-V but I too heard about head gasket issues and problems with screws being ingested into the intake...

I think cars such as the Spec-V are built more for performance than longevity, plus the chances of finding a good used one are less because they tend to be "beat on".

Performance cars in general seem like cars for younger people than I. I kind of hate to see people using more fuel than they really need, so with the environment in mind, I prefer high MPG cars.

 

[Lurch]

Bill in Utah,

It seldom gets down below zero* F in this part of East TN. I only drive it about 3k/year max these days, with my motorcycle.

How would it be if I did a UOA right now and if there shows no AF in the oil, run the oil it until November, which will be 9 months.

As of right now, the 10-30 Syntec has been in for 6 months and 1400 miles.

 

[Bill in Utah]

I'd run it till nov then do a UOA.

How are those miles put on? A lot of short trips?

Sorry for all the questions but the more info the better the answer!

Take care, Bill

 

[Lurch]

Originally Posted By: Bill in Utah
I'd run it till nov then do a UOA.

How are those miles put on? A lot of short trips?

Sorry for all the questions but the more info the better the answer!

Take care, Bill


Hi Bill.

I'll do a UOA in November and see where I'm at.

Questions are fine and it's nice of y'all to reply, as I value your opinions. Quite a lot of car perfectionists here, more than any other site I've ever been to.

I travel mostly short trips in my car, but not too short. I go to a gym that's 8 miles away, and there's city driving that takes time before I get out of town, so the motor gets warmed up fairly well when I go there 3x a week.

I take it on the highway once in a while for 30 or 40 miles and may do so more often now that I realize it's important to burn off moisture that may accumulate in the oil.

Best regards,

Lurch