Nissan Ester 5W30-'08 Infiniti G37, 1.5k mi

[JonnyO03]

Hey folks,

Nissan Ester 5W-30
1,553mi on oil
17,648mi on car
2008 Infiniti G37S

This discussion ties into this thread regarding high iron and lead from my previous UOA: Nissan Ester 5W-30-'08 Infiniti G37, 4.5kmi...Bad

Mostly highway driving due to a roadtrip on this current UOA. Looks like lead and silicon went down, and iron is better, though not perfect. Got one more roadtrip to go--I'll be at around 4k miles on the next interval, hopefully it'll improve more. Thoughts welcome...

http://tinypic.com/r/14l33gz/6

 

[addyguy]

Although it goes against the wisdom here, I'd say you need a thicker oil. This stuff is shearing like crazy, and not protecting your engine.

Just what does the owners manual 'allow' for viscosity for this engine? If it allows for the use of 40-weights, I'd try a run of 5W-40 HDEO and see how it does. If it doesn't, I'd try a High-Mileage 5W-30 and see how that does.

 

[Johnny]

What oils were used for the first three samples?

 

[buster]

Odd that Nissan is specifying this oil. Did they actually test it? LOL

I think I agree with addyguy, these engines seem to like xw-40 oils from the UOA's I've seen.

 

[OVERKILL]

If this was a Mobil 1 thread, there would be people going wild about the Fe

I agree with buster, try an HDEO like Delvac 1 5w40, Rotella...etc.

 

[edhackett]

Your iron is not better. The 4.5K interval was 19.1 ppm per 1000 miles. Your current iron is 29.7 ppm per 1000 miles. Copper is up on a per mile basis too. Lead is the only thing that shows improvement.

The 0.3 insolubles at 1.5K is out of line too.

Ed

 

[d00df00d]

Originally Posted By: edhackett
Your iron is not better. The 4.5K interval was 19.1 ppm per 1000 miles. Your current iron is 29.7 ppm per 1000 miles. Copper is up on a per mile basis too. Lead is the only thing that shows improvement.

PPM per mile is always higher over shorter intervals. If by "not better" you meant "worse," that's not necessarily true.

However, if you literally meant "not better," then I agree.

 

[edhackett]

Right, but even subtracting a 10% carry-over from the change it still comes out at 24.1 ppm per 1K.

Let's just say that 46 ppm Fe and 0.3 insolubles at 1.55K is "not good".

Ed

 

[buster]

Interesting set of numbers here. Not sure what to make of it all.

 

[panthermike]

Agree on the use of a 5w40 HDEO.

 

[JAG]

The UOAs were looking good, with down-trending wear metals as break-in tapered off, until the Nissan oil UOAs came along and spoiled the party. After seeing these UOAs, I wouldn't put that oil in any car I owned.

 

[buster]

Originally Posted By: JAG
The UOAs were looking good, with down-trending wear metals as break-in tapered off, until the Nissan oil UOAs came along and spoiled the party. After seeing these UOAs, I wouldn't put that oil in any car I owned.


Indeed. Unless this oil is having that Redline effect?? Doubtful. This oil contains little ester.

I'd switch to another brand of oil.

 

[jhc]

Jonny,
I thought I read in the old thread that you were moving over to Redline? Any thoughts along those lines?

I just stumbled upon this post today, and I have a '07 G35x with (obviously) the 3.5L, and am now a bit worried about the longevity of this platform. Although, admittedly, I don't know of the differences between the 3.7L and 3.5L, so would need guidance there. In any event, good luck!!

 

[JonnyO03]

Originally Posted By: addyguy
Although it goes against the wisdom here, I'd say you need a thicker oil. This stuff is shearing like crazy, and not protecting your engine.

Just what does the owners manual 'allow' for viscosity for this engine? If it allows for the use of 40-weights, I'd try a run of 5W-40 HDEO and see how it does. If it doesn't, I'd try a High-Mileage 5W-30 and see how that does.


addy,

The owner's manual came up in the other thread - IIRC the only visc mentioned is 5W-30, which everyone found to be very odd.

Originally Posted By: Johnny
What oils were used for the first three samples?


Johnny, here's the full UOA history:

(1) factory fill
(2) Dealer Valvoline Dino
(3) Penzoil Yellow bottle Dino
(4) Nissan Ester Dino*
(5) Nissan Ester Dino

(*) Note: During UOA fill #4 the car had one track day at a road course with several runs, and also had an ECU reprogramming done (per TSB) due to valve-train noise. That prompted all the discussion in the other linked thread....

Originally Posted By: JAG
The UOAs were looking good, with down-trending wear metals as break-in tapered off, until the Nissan oil UOAs came along and spoiled the party. After seeing these UOAs, I wouldn't put that oil in any car I owned.


Yeah, well I think the big question is: what is the cause, and is it a problem? Is it the oil, or was it one day at the track, or was it the (manufacturer TSB) valve train reprogramming, or something else?

I have one more interval on the ester, going ~4k mi (still on a roadtrip right now), then I'll probably switch to an oil with more promise; Redline, Motul, PU, whatever...haven't decided yet.

 

[JonnyO03]

Originally Posted By: jhc
Jonny,
I thought I read in the old thread that you were moving over to Redline? Any thoughts along those lines?

I just stumbled upon this post today, and I have a '07 G35x with (obviously) the 3.5L, and am now a bit worried about the longevity of this platform. Although, admittedly, I don't know of the differences between the 3.7L and 3.5L, so would need guidance there. In any event, good luck!!


JHC,

I hadn't decided yet what exotic/botique/extreme/ACTUALLY-EFFECTIVE-IN-MY-ENGINE oil I'm going to next.

Like I mentioned, I'll definitely look into RL, Motul, PU, etc, [censored] - I'll look into whatever people can suggest.

Regarding the differences between the 3.5L and the 3.7L, I think the big one is the addition of VVEL (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_VQ_engine). I haven't read a lot of discussions about the 3.5L w/o the VVEL, but the general murmur seems to be that the VVEL in the 3.7L shears oil, and who knows...maybe it has a part in my little "issue". For you, I'd listen to your own UOA and research on the 3.5L and not get too worried based on my reports.

 

[pcfxer]

I have one client running Amsoil AFL, one running Red Line and one running Royal Purple; You could try Motul as well. They all have the "same" engine and saw 50% reduction in the ridiculous iron wear that the Nissan "ester" oil sheds. I normally don't compare oils with UOAs but seeing ppm in the 75-100 arena, starts to catch my attention.

I posted the truth in that thread or maybe some others that go on about Nissan Ester oil. You should listen. Here it is in two sentences:

1. Nissan Ester oil will lubricate your engine for the specified oil change intervals and the engine will operate well for years to come.

2. If you want to improve the longevity of the engine (perhaps) and perhaps you may increase fuel mileage, you can opt for a pure synthetic oil which have proven themselves time and time again.

 

[bythabay]

Has anyone considered making a custom blend of Nissan Ester Oil and a good synthetic to balance out the mix?

For example,

2qts Nissan Ester Oil, 3qts Amsoil SSO

This would provide most of the benefits of the ester oil by working with the DLC, while providing better protection against wear and keeping the internals clean..

 

[d00df00d]

Additives generally have to be present in certain concentrations to work as advertised. If you want to have Nissan Ester Oil for the sake of the additive, diluting it isn't going to help your cause.

 

[saaber1]

Originally Posted By: bythabay
Has anyone considered making a custom blend of Nissan Ester Oil and a good synthetic to balance out the mix?

I agree there is no point in mixing with this Nissan oil. If it is consistently giving poor UOAs, why not replace it with a good oil? Mixing can form unintended consequences. Better to use a good oil with no mixing.

 

[Scienceman]

I Honestly think this oil is not good at all.