Nissan Altima VQ35 - Newbie with Questions

[mikeinaustin]

Anyone know how well redline oil does in this engine?

 

[dvigeant]

Here's some real world advice: I too have an '05 3.5 Altima... first oil change at 1200miles with Mobil1 5w30, second at 3000miles with Mobil1 5w-30, 3rd oil change at 6000miles with mobil1 5w-30, remaining OCI are at 4k - 5k mile intervals. I have also done this with an '02 Ford Explorer 4.6V8 and an '00 Jeep Wrangler 4.0I6. 15k on the Altima, 42K on the Explorer, and 25K on the Jeep - None of them burn much more than a drop of oil between changes. Side note: I only do this because I plan on keeping these vehicles for over 150K miles. I just did the 60K tune up on the explorer = plugs=like new, PCV=like new, intake manifold=like new. This was the kind of results I was hoping for. Oh ya... and change your air filter often and don't neglect your tranny fluids. Special note for your Alty - I use the larger oil filter, I believe its the 9E000 or something like that.

A Big Thanks to all on this web site and the rest of the internet for turning me into an Auto Maintenance Junkie.... You should pray that my wife never finds out where any of you live !!!!!!!!!

 

[Blake Sobiloff]

Hiya TNTransplant! Great car and engine. I have a QX4 with the VQ35 engine. I used Quaker State 10W-30 oil and OEM filters at 3,750 mile OCIs for the first 11,000 miles. After that I switched to Mobil 1 5W-30 and the M1-108 filter at 7,500 mile OCIs for the next 27,000 miles. Right now I'm in my first OCI with Shell Rotella T 5W-40.

Then I found this website.

Now my garage is filled with all the GC I could find and I have a bunch of sample containers from Butler Cat waiting to carry off my used oil for analysis. As I read from other VQ owners, the VQ seems to like a thicker 30-weight oil so GC (or Mobil 1 0W-40) might be ideal. Lots of folks have been getting good results from Mobil 1 5W-30, too, so I don't feel bad about the 27,000 miles during which I used it.

Fortunately I've never had to add oil, regardless of the OCI, the oil, or my driving conditions. (My '95 Maxima with the VQ30 also lived on Mobil 1 5W-30 and didn't drink a drop in the 70,000 miles I put on it.) I guess Nissan engines have been lucky for me.

BTW, if you want to learn what all those numbers mean in a UOA, check out /www.blackstone-labs.com/gasoline_diesel_report_expl.html>.