Oil recommendation for co-worker, Attn: Nissan Own

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Hey guys,

My "Nissan Master Tech" is one of the best technicians I've had a chance to work with, and is extremely knowledgeable about Nissan's being that he has been a strictly Nissan technician. The guy has every ASE Cerification, Master, Advance Level, etc. However, with all this knoweldge, he asked me about oil selection after he saw me doing some research on the site. He basically told me that while he knows what Nissan recommends for it's different vehicles, he really never learned much about oil.

Now to the question,

He owns an 06 Titan 5.6l V8 with aprox 77k on the odometer. Like nearly every other Nissan engine, it is loud, especially on start up. He has been using DuraBlend with a Fram Toughgard for some time, but was looking for something that may be better. 3000 miles is what his intervals are, and he is not going to change that. Does not mind spending some extra money though to get something that may work better. His biggest concern is that he believes that as he gets closer to his 3000 mile mark for oil changes, the engine is getting louder. He said it has become more noticeable as truck has been racking up miles.

After reading about different oils on here, I suggested that me might try the Max Life 5w30. I read that it is a pretty stout oil, and may have a higher viscosity at high temperatures than some of the other 5w30 oils. Plus at 77k he is Valvoline guidelines for oil. Anyway, we set him up with Maxlife 5w30 and a PureOne oil filter instead of the Fram.

Listening to Nissan's all day long, I've noticed that most are loud at start up, and nearly all (if not all) have a horizontal filter mounting. The Nissan filters appear to be pretty cheap looking and do not use silicone adbv. That being said, I figured that the silicone adbv from the PureOne *may* help a little bit on filter leak down while the vehicle is not running, not to mention the quality filtering and the fact that it is less expensive than the ToughGard just made it seem like a good choice.


Has anyone else had experience with the 5.6l or any other Nissans that would recommend or comment on my recommendation for him?

Thanks in advance!
 
I'm newbie here, but I found the information in this site turned me off Fram filters for life:

http://home.mindspring.com/~ed_white/id7.html

They tear down about 20 different filters and offer their opinion on which design features they prefer. The 820s filter fits my 2008 Dodge Charger, but I would suspect the concepts are the same for all oil filters.
 
Originally Posted By: Carzzz
shouldn't a nissan tech use the oem filter?
PureOne is good choice!


maybe, but they are very expensive, and look like they are not very high quality. At some point they stated making them in China also
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I think I heard that Ecores tend to give quiet start ups, and I've notice them to be quiet. They have the bypass at the filter mounting base. Purolator P1 is a good choice of filter, but they may have a high bypass setting and with the bypass on the dome-end they might not develop pressure any quicker though.

The Maxlife was a good suggestion as it probably has a lot of cleaners and anti-wear additives that might help with start up noise. However, they run thicker. Maybe what these Nissans need to solve their cold start noise is a thinner running 5W30 or even a 0W30. I heard some say Nissans like thicker oils but I don't really see how a thicker oil is going to help on a cold engine.
 
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Tell you friend to use 10W oils instead of 5w. I know, this sounds funny, but all my 3 nissans where very loud with 5wXX oils.
 
Originally Posted By: timeau
Tell you friend to use 10W oils instead of 5w. I know, this sounds funny, but all my 3 nissans where very loud with 5wXX oils.


Really? He is going to change the oil with the new MaxLife and PureOne tomorrow and drive his truck up north this weekend, so we will see how that works out.
 
I have been using a mobil m110 and PP 5w30 with stellar UAO's. The loud Noise your hear at start up is the Injectors. Nissan espically the Titans have a louder injector sound than most.
 
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I found my X runs best on Mobil Clean 5k. The noise was drastically reduced. I've used Puralator, Mobil 1 and Supertech oil filters, all are fine.
 
I was thinking that a 0w30 oil may be a good idea also. A couple of question though. First, would a 0w30 oil drain back into the pan quicker than a 5w30? for instance, it may prime the oil system faster upon start up, but when you shut does, does it all run back down easier? would an adbv be less effective with a 0w30 than 5w30?

Second, I didn't realize how much he drives, but it racks up about 3000 miles a month. And he is willing to try different oil products, but it is stuck in his ways with 3k oci, and he changes the other fluids (diff's, t-case, trans) every 15k. That being the case, is there a high quality 0w30 that is readily available? I was telling him about the Amsoil SSO, but it is $10 a quart, and requires more work to actually purchase the product. 6.5quarts at $10/qt is $70 worth of oil, and figure that 10-12 times a year gets very expensive.

The one product he is not impressed with is Mobil 1, so scratch that idea.

BTW, he did install the ML 5w30 and PureOne today. Making the trip up north and back this weekend, so I will let you know his results next week.
 
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The GF's 03 SuperCharged Xterra V6 quieted down after filling the sump with PP 10w30 and installing a M1 filter. Injector ticking is still loud
 
Originally Posted By: hooligan24
The GF's 03 SuperCharged Xterra V6 quieted down after filling the sump with PP 10w30 and installing a M1 filter. Injector ticking is still loud


not to knock your post, but ANOTHER PP recommendation. The excessive love for this oil here is almost a turn off for me to every buy it =)

Someone else mentioned 10w30, but again that just seems like you are working backwards to stop or minimize the loud start up engine noise??
 
Originally Posted By: Johnny248
Originally Posted By: hooligan24
The GF's 03 SuperCharged Xterra V6 quieted down after filling the sump with PP 10w30 and installing a M1 filter. Injector ticking is still loud


not to knock your post, but ANOTHER PP recommendation. The excessive love for this oil here is almost a turn off for me to every buy it =)

Someone else mentioned 10w30, but again that just seems like you are working backwards to stop or minimize the loud start up engine noise??


Nissan VQ's in my family have mostly ever gotten German Castrol 0w30 and have run excellent on this oil. It is thick when warm, but cold starts are fine too. VQ approves. (my experience on VQ30 and VQ35)
 
I use Durablend 5w30 With Napa Gold filters in my 08 Titan and Ive never thought is was any louder than anything else. By the way these are really nice trucks.
 
Originally Posted By: Johnny248
I was thinking that a 0w30 oil may be a good idea also. A couple of question though. First, would a 0w30 oil drain back into the pan quicker than a 5w30? for instance, it may prime the oil system faster upon start up, but when you shut does, does it all run back down easier? would an adbv be less effective with a 0w30 than 5w30?


I'd say once the oil warms up 0w30 is as thick as 5w30 generally, so no 0w30 should not drain back quicker.

Quote:
Second, I didn't realize how much he drives, but it racks up about 3000 miles a month. And he is willing to try different oil products, but it is stuck in his ways with 3k oci, and he changes the other fluids (diff's, t-case, trans) every 15k. That being the case, is there a high quality 0w30 that is readily available? I was telling him about the Amsoil SSO, but it is $10 a quart, and requires more work to actually purchase the product. 6.5quarts at $10/qt is $70 worth of oil, and figure that 10-12 times a year gets very expensive.


Well if you can't convince him to change his oil less often, then it would probably be a waste of money for him to run an expensive synthetic. But if he wants a good 0W30 or any weight synthetic and doesn't mind the cost, then I guess some people don't mind paying for overkill.

Quote:
The one product he is not impressed with is Mobil 1, so scratch that idea.

BTW, he did install the ML 5w30 and PureOne today. Making the trip up north and back this weekend, so I will let you know his results next week.


OK but if the Maxlife doesn't run quiter then I'm thinking a heavier weight 10W30 probably wouldn't help since maxlife is probably thicker than most 5W30s. I could be wrong, since I'm not sure what kind of noise you're are getting, but maybe a 0W30 would help. Anyway go lighter then go heavier, and maybe try a champion labs filter.
 
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Originally Posted By: Johnny248
Originally Posted By: hooligan24
The GF's 03 SuperCharged Xterra V6 quieted down after filling the sump with PP 10w30 and installing a M1 filter. Injector ticking is still loud


not to knock your post, but ANOTHER PP recommendation. The excessive love for this oil here is almost a turn off for me to every buy it =)

Someone else mentioned 10w30, but again that just seems like you are working backwards to stop or minimize the loud start up engine noise??


beleive it or not, this was the 1st time this oil has been installed into this motor. the rest of its life was done on M1 10w30, 5w30, and GC. I think there was one 4k mile run on Amsoil ASL. I am not a frequent PP user. I recently got 2 jugs from walmart after seeing the rebate forms.
 
If the Nissan's have louder injectors, maybe try some kind of UCL. I have used Lucas UCL and I have used 2 cycle snowmobile oil(TCW3) in the extreme cold seeing that it is designed to be used in the -40's. Both have helped quiet the injectors on all the vehicles I have gone the UCL route with. It couldn't hurt to try for a few tanks of fuel.
Just a shot in the dark here...but why not try a 5W-20 or 0W-20, it looks like the heavy 30 weights still get the same result
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If he is a superstar Nissan tech, he should be able to determine what is causing the cold start noise, and figure out if a change in oil viscosity will make a difference.

With a 3000 mile OCI, switching to an expensive synthetic is a waste of money. For now he is better off trying a few top quality conventional oils to find one that does what he wants.

Also, he should consider have his oil analyzed to see what is happening to the oil during a typical OCI. Maybe there is another issue at play.
 
All 3 of my Nissan Z`s engines were so quiet,you could barely tell they were running. My 300ZX engine is so quiet that when I really get on it,all I can hear is the exhaust.......engine is silent.
 
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