Hello everyone,
I wonder what happens to the car if I use other viscosity oil? My Nissan Versa 2016 owner manuals recommend 5W-30 or 10W30; what if I use 0W-40, 5W-40 or 10W-40? Does it provide better protection?
I read a post about using Mobil 1 0W-40 in a similar car: https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthr...ke_#Post4563199
I recently changed my oil and I used Castrol Magnatec 5W-30 Dexos 1 Gen 2 along with a Fram Ultra. I think it smooths the engine pretty well because it now rarely has random shaking when travelling at low speed. I am not sure if it is the efforts of Castrol or the GM dexos specs was doing the trick. But the difference is very noticeable compared to the major brands oil used in the past two years. I am thinking of going to the 40 weight oil to see if it completely iron out the issue?
Any thoughts about switching to a higher grade? Will there any negative effects on the engine or the catalytic converter, for example?
Thank you,
John
Run 0W-40 in a car requiring 5W-30?
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I use Castrol 0W40 in my Civic which calls for 5W30 without issue.
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Do you feel any difference between 30 and 40 weight oil? Thanks
Castrol Edge 0w-40 in my Ecoboost pickup, no problems at all. In fact, highly recommended! 
No negative wear effects. It could hurt the catalytic convertor if you consume more than about a quart every 3,000 miles due to the often higher phosphorus content in 0w40 oils. Its not much more phosphorus, so if you don't use much oil between oil changes, then its not a problem really.
You do increase engine friction going to a thicker (hot) oil like 0w40 (HTHS~=3.5) vs. an SN GF-5 5w30 (HTHS~=3.0), which translates into about ~1.5% less peak power and lower MPG too.
For a newer car like yours, I'd just stick with the 5w30 full synthetic you are already using. I doubt if engine wear will be helped by going to a 0w40, but a 0w40 could help if you're towing or running the engine hard in hot weather for a prolonged time.
Hello, is it the Ford EcoBoost? What oil does Ford recommend? Do you feel any difference when switching to 40 weight oil?
Originally Posted By: johnchui1984
Do you feel any difference between 30 and 40 weight oil? Thanks
Hello Mr Movies! Thanks for your detailed explanation! The car has zero consumption of oil. Current MPG is around 37-43 so 1.5% less efficiency is acceptable to me. I just wanna see if it helps solve the problem of random dumb shaking when going below 25 mpg. It is a great reliable transportation car so I want to keep it for a long time 
LOL I also run Mobile Super and Chevron Supreme in the past. But seems like they need longer time to warm up the engine in winter so I usually get syn-blend or full syn if they are on sale> 
Originally Posted By: johnchui1984
I just wanna see if it helps solve the problem of random dumb shaking when going below 25 mpg.
Originally Posted By: jayg
This is not a symptom of oil viscosity. Take it to a tech familiar with Nissan CVT's and have them properly diagnose it. Spoiler alert: Changing oil weight isn't the problem.
Maybe Trav will chime in, he has exp with this?
I think the CVT works great in my car. To me sounds like the random shaking is from the engine position I believe? Just would like to see if changing oil weight helps. Provided that the 40 grade oil doesnt increase wear, I think I will give it a try next oil change
Originally Posted By: johnchui1984
I think the CVT works great in my car. To me sounds like the random shaking is from the engine position I believe? Just would like to see if changing oil weight helps. Provided that the 40 grade oil doesnt increase wear, I think I will give it a try next oil change
Originally Posted By: johnchui1984
Provided that the 40 grade oil doesnt increase wear, I think I will give it a try next oil change
Dear SR5, where did you get the Valvoline 0W40? I couldnt find them on Walmart/Amazon
SR5 is in Australia. They get all the good grades us North Americans don’t get
Would running a forty hurt the engine in any way?
No.
If the Magnatec seems smoother, you could try M1 or Castrol 0W-40 and see what happens.
OTOH, if things seem smooth on Magnatec 5W-30, you may have already found your oil.
If oil alone makes things smoother, I think this tells you that whatever issue you've had does not entirely involve the CVT.
Good luck getting a Nissan dealer to take this seriously enough to attempt to diagnose any CVT issues.
Car having no drive in any selector position would be serious enough.
Anything less would likely be written off as random noise.
Most people think that thin oil provides better protection because it gets to the top of the engine faster when you turn the key.
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