New Truck - Which Oil?

[92saturnsl2]

Just purchased a 2001 Nissan Frontier Crew Cab 4x4 with the VG33ER 3.3L V6 Supercharged engine w/ 4sp Auto. Engine has 50k miles, and previous maintenance is unknown, according to a couple service records 5w30 Castrol Dino has been used.

Owners manual suggests 3750 mile intervals. I'm looking to switch to a full synthetic and run 5-7k intervals depending on UOA. My vehicle use is 80% highway, mostly ~80mph speeds at ~2800rpm, with the rest stop and go city traffic.

Anyone have any suggestions? I was thinking possibly Mobil 1 Truck and SUV 5w30 or GC 0w-30. I don't know much about this engine, so if anyone has some relevant info such as sump size, etc, would be much appreciated, as well as any recommendations for oil type and OCI.

Thanks in advance.

 

[bighead]

...(has Nissan ever heard of an overdrive??)

Any, back on topic. Either one I think would be fine, although I'm willing to bet your engine would be a bit quieter and smoother with the GC. Just speaking from personal experience here...

 

[TomJones76]

We know a bunch about GC.
Since M1 T&S 5W30 is a new product, we don't actually know all that much about it. We know it isn't a diesel oil, unlike the old M1 T&S 5W40.
I don't even know if we have a VOA or UOA for this stuff.
So, if you want time-tested solutions, go with the GC. Of course, I can't remember the last time Mobil made a stinker oil, though I can name 2-3 commercial flops off the top of my head.
I found a few UOA for 3.3L Nissan engines, none with the Supercharger. A couple of 10K intervals without too much trouble.
I'd run it to the manual's "normal" interval reccomendation, do UOA with TBN and then go from there.

 

[Buford T. Justice]

How about Mobil 1 5w30? They make an oil designed for trucks...

http://www.mobiloil.com/USA-English/MotorOil/Oils/Mobil1_Truck_SUV_5W30.aspx

I have been very happy with Mobil 1 Extended Performance 5w30 which is guaranteed to last 1 year / 15,000 miles whichever comes first...

http://www.mobiloil.com/USA-English/MotorOil/Oils/Mobil_1_Extended_Performance_5w30.aspx
http://www.mobiloil.com/USA-English/MotorOil/Oils/Mobil_1_Extended_Performance_Warranty.aspx

 

[Al]

Castrol Syntec 0w30 (GC) has done nicely on the Nissan VQ-3.5 which puts out high iron and lead. I'd vote for that.

 

[Blake Sobiloff]

92saturnsl2, the VG33 will do just fine on Chevron or Havoline 5w30 for 5-7K mile intervals, assuming it is in good mechanical order. Remember, even 7K miles is below Nissan's standard service interval. (3,750 miles is for severe service; 80% highway miles probably doesn't fit the definition of severe service.)

For any vehicle with an unknown maintenance history I'd recommend a good cleaning with Auto-Rx and at least one UOA to check for coolant contamination or fuel dilution.

Enjoy your truck!