Severe Service

[GMFan]

My sister owns and drives a 2006 Nissan Sentra 5spd with the 1.8L in it w/ just over 20,000 miles.

She works literally down the street from our house. It's probably 2/10 of a mile she drives back and forth twice a day. (4 cold startups, 2/10 of a mile each time). She does other driving which is usually running to the supermarket, or into town. Basically, her oil rarely if ever sees hot temperatures.

Once in a blue moon, and I mean once in a few months she will do a half hour highway trip or something.

I changed her oil a few hundred miles ago with Valvoline Conventional 5w30. I checked her oil today, and on the dipstick I can already see white streaks (moisture I presume). The oil otherwise still looks clean. From looking into the engine with a flashlight through the oil filler cap, her engine is still very clean inside. It's all clean metal.

She just recently bought this car used and I did the oil change about 3,000 miles after she bought it (dealer did an oil change before sale). Are 3,000 miles OCIs too much or should I change it out every 2,000 miles?

I can talk her into taking a highway trip all I want, but she doesn't know anything about cars and doesn't really care frankly. It drives me nuts on the other hand.

Thanks for the suggestions. BTW, her sump is only 3 quarts.

 

[Johnny]

Your sister is definitely a candidate for the 3,000 mile oil change no matter what oil she uses. I would not do extended drains on this car.

 

[astraelraen]

Holy cow, a 3 quart sump is tiny. Thats almost scary.

 

[strombony]

Will a veh drivin like this eventually be sludged up if the oil is changed every 3 months?

 

[Johnny]

I should have stated every 3,000 miles or 3 months, whichever comes first.

 

[NissanFan]

Originally Posted By: astraelraen
Holy cow, a 3 quart sump is tiny. Thats almost scary.


LoL, you think that's scary, that's a 1.8L 4-banger. My 2.4L 4banger (240SX Nissan) had a 3.5 qt sump. The 2001 Frontier I'm driving has a 3.3L V6 with a 3.X sump (don't remember the exact number off the top of my head), but the 2002 2.4L KA24E in the 4 banger frontier calls for more oil than the V6.

 

[GMFan]

Yea, Nissan is strange with these sumps. Her filter is also the tiniest they offer. Her manual actually states the sump is 2.8 quarts.

Even my I4 100hp 1.9L Saturn has a 4.5quart sump. The manual states it is 4 quarts but it always takes 4.5 to get to the top of the dipstick.

 

[GMFan]

Originally Posted By: Johnny
I should have stated every 3,000 miles or 3 months, whichever comes first.


The thing is Johnny, 3 months for her would be like 400 miles. She doesn't drive that much.

For instance, I changed the oil in her car at the end of January with 20,080 on the odometer and it has like 20,3xx on the odometer now.

Dumping oil with only a few hundred of a miles seems ridiculous. Given her sump is only 3 quarts, and I usually share oil with her because both our cars take 5w30. (I'm switching back to conventional oil when my Mobil 1 gets changed out).

Guess oil is cheap enough. Just have to get a few 5qt jugs next time I have a chance.

Talking about the oil itself, I'd imagine the TBN actually takes a hit. She does do a lot of idling since in the morning. She lets it run for 5 minutes before leaving. Almost seems silly, I know. If I were her, I'd just walk to work.

Once again, she has Valvoline Conventional in her car, with a coughFramcough filter (only one I could find for her car). As I said, the internals of her engine are spotless. I just imagine lots of water gets thrown in there and the fuel dilution is pretty bad too.

 

[The Critic]

Nissan does recommend every 3 months or 3750 miles, whichever comes first under these operating conditions.

 

[GMFan]

Thanks Critic,

One thing I've always done was buy the oil only when I needed it. This way I have receipts for each oil change. On the receipt I write down the date and mileage on the car.

If I were to stock up with a few jugs of conventional oil, how would I deal with the warranty if something were to happen? I guess I will change her oil every 3 months, regardless of mileage.

Engines are expensive, oil is cheap.

 

[The Critic]

Just record the date and mileage of each oil change. That should be sufficient.

 

[Johnny]

GMFan, I feel your pain. Trying to help out your sister is a very good thing. Maybe you should use Mobil 1 since you like it or something like the Amsoil 5W30 or 0W30 and change her oil every 6 to 12 months. My concern is the low temps + condensation + fuel dilution = acid build-up.

 

[MGregoir]

My dad used to do this with one vehicle we had because of the conditions of warranty for service records. Lots of 800 mile oil changes at that three month mark. 5 quarts of oil and a filter is not that expensive, and considering how short the drain intervals are and what the service is actually like, you are draining to get the fuel and condensation out rather than the oil.

I would send it away to see what the TBN, moisture and fuel content is like. If it's manageable at that three month point, use whatever approved oil and filter meet the requirements are cheapest and change it like clockwork. January, April, July, October.

 

[Greggy_D]

Living 2/10ths of a mile from work.....she needs to walk. Seriously. There's NO reason she needs to drive to work unless her company requires driving during working hours (which doesn't sound like the case here).

 

[GMBoy]

Just curious, but why doesn't she just walk or ride a bike to work beings it is that close? But, to answer your original posting question - Yes, 3k mile changes are what you need. Just like the others posted.

 

[GMFan]

Originally Posted By: Johnny
GMFan, I feel your pain. Trying to help out your sister is a very good thing. Maybe you should use Mobil 1 since you like it or something like the Amsoil 5W30 or 0W30 and change her oil every 6 to 12 months. My concern is the low temps + condensation + fuel dilution = acid build-up.


Yeah. Sometimes I need to remember she is a teacher, not a mechanic.

I'm not sure I really like Mobil 1. I mean, it's just oil. I know sometimes I concern myself too much with what is best for my vehicle when in reality, normal drain intervals are all that really matters. I will probably switch to conventional again and use the same stuff for my car and my sister's.

I have a few pictures of our 1999 Volkswagen Jetta's oil filler cap. It's interesting. I'll try to post them. This vehicle also sees a lot of short trips. Part of the problem with living in a small town. As for me, most my miles are on the open highway.

 

[GMFan]

Here are the pictures of the Jetta. We put synthetic in this car, in accordance with Volkswagen of USA.

Sees lots of short trips as you can see. Also burns oil. 101k miles on odometer. However, the moisture seems to dissipate a lot after it's taken on a highway trip.

Pic 1
Pic 2
Pic 3

I know. My father nor I understand why she just doesn't walk to work. I guess it makes sense in the winter, but not in the summer. Like I said, she doesn't realize the damage she is doing to her engine. Cars are appliances to most women.

My car, my fathers Chevy S10 pickup with 150k miles and the family 2003 Chevy Trailblazer EXT see almost exclusively highway. They have no moisture problems and they run great.

 

[Anduril]

Why doesn't she walk to work?

 

[FZ1]

Use a synthetic.

 

[GMFan]

Originally Posted By: FZ1
Use a synthetic.


Not even a synthetic would really help with fuel and moisture. However, I can see it helping with any acidity. However, with 3 month drains with maybe a total of 1,000 miles on the oil I don't see the point.