Nissan's 3.5L recommendations changed, but why?

[TNBurban]

I've got a 2005 Nissan Quest with the 3.5L V6, VQ35DE. The manual specifically states that Nissan recommends "mineral based" oils. I looked up the manual for the 2006 model the other day on the Nissan website to reference something (they don't have the 2005 manual available online) and it does NOT say that. It makes no mention of mineral based or synthetic oils.

After some research here's what they say for vehicles running the VQ35DE:

2005 Altima - mineral based recommended
2006 Altima - nothing mentioned

2006 Maxima - mineral based recommended
2007 Maxima - nothing mentioned

2005 Quest - mineral based recommended
2006 Quest - nothing mentioned
2007 Quest - nothing mentioned

2005 Murano - mineral based recommended
2006 Murano - nothing mentioned

These all have the same 3.5L V6 (it's an option for the Altima). Did something change recently? Are they warming up to the idea of synthetics? Did they tweak the engine in some way to make them feel more comfortable with synthetics? Did some synthetic makers convince them they are okay?

Just thought it was odd...

 

[michaelc80]

I think that they decided that synthetics were ok. There are a lot of Nissan owners (myself included) that have run synthetics in them with no problem.

 

[unDummy]

They recommended mineral oil only to lower the cost of ownership.
There were no anti-synthetic comments from Nissan(unlike Mazda shunning it in the rotary).

 

[Ray H]

What unDummy said. The only people who obsessed about Nissan's commentary regarding "mineral based" oils were BITOGers who then proceeded to draw an unsupported conclusion that Nissan is anti-synth. The BITOG community's unspoken motto seems to be:

That which is not forbidden, is COMPULSORY! (and that which is forbidden, is to be experimented with and annointed The Next Great Thing)

 

[shortyb]

Its not that Nissan is "warming up" to synthetics per se, its just that they have gotten smarter on their recommendations. Nissan was put to task over the "Mineral Oil" recommendation in that it was treading into the gray areas of the Magnusson-Moss Act. The contention was that since Nissan was essentially restricting the type of oil used to just "mineral oil", it would have to supply the oil to owners in order to maintain warranty in cases of oil related issues. This may or may not be a direct effect on the change in recommendation. But since they were cutting out a good size of the oil market by "restricting" synths, it certainly seems plausible.

 

[BlazerLT]

quote:

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Originally posted by Ray H:
What unDummy said. The only people who obsessed about Nissan's commentary regarding "mineral based" oils were BITOGers who then proceeded to draw an unsupported conclusion that Nissan is anti-synth. The BITOG community's unspoken motto seems to be:

That which is not forbidden, is COMPULSORY! (and that which is forbidden, is to be experimented with and annointed The Next Great Thing)

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If you don't like how we think, there isn't a person with a gun keeping you in here.

Feel free to leave when ever you want.

But always remember, you are a member here to so broad pointless generalizations like this mean you are slamming yourself.

 

[javacontour]

quote:

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Originally posted by Ray H:
What unDummy said. The only people who obsessed about Nissan's commentary regarding "mineral based" oils were BITOGers who then proceeded to draw an unsupported conclusion that Nissan is anti-synth. The BITOG community's unspoken motto seems to be:

That which is not forbidden, is COMPULSORY! (and that which is forbidden, is to be experimented with and annointed The Next Great Thing)

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Personally, I didn't see this as a slam, but humor, regarding the way many think here at BITOG.

I recommend we take ourselves at tad less seriously.

 

[Ray H]

Nah, don't worry about it. Unlike BlazerLT, I don't take general comments personally. (Shoot, I don't even take personal comments personally.

)

 

[jmacmaster]

+1 to what javacontour just said.

 

[badnews]

My Nissan 2005 Pathfinder 4.0 recomends dino oil also

 

[Mike_dup1]

many of the so called synthetics are mineral based!

quote:

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"Synthetic is a term that means different things to different people," said Dennis Bachelder, senior engineer in oil licensing at the American Petroleum Institute.

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