I have a 2025 Nissan Pathfinder Rock Creek and I have already completed the engine break in with oil changes at 700, and 2200 miles already. I am currently at 4200 miles and am doing another oil and filter change. My plan is to run 3,000 to 3,500 mile oil changes after break in since these direct injection VQ engines are known to be extremely hard on oil. My question is since I am doing such short intervals, is there any benefit to spending the extra money on 0W20 Mobil ESP or would I realistically not experience any benefit vs like QS full synthetic? I am currently running Carquest Premium filters since they seem to have the best repeatable quality.
Short oil change interval oil recommendation
- Thread starter Texas Frontier
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If you want to refine a bit what mean by "hard on oil" then you'll get a better answer. Hard on oil can mean dilution, shear, oxidation, etc.
A good quality can go 5k miles even in a heavy diluting, high sheer, high oxidation engine *if* you choose oil appropriately.
A good quality can go 5k miles even in a heavy diluting, high sheer, high oxidation engine *if* you choose oil appropriately.
When I recommend significantly thicker oils (40 grade) in newer engines, it is not for nothing. It can take that much extra viscosity on the front end to ensure that after 5k miles you still have have sufficient viscosity after 5%-8% fuel dilution or some shear thinning.
The 40 grade Euro oils shine for these reasons-- they have both the higher viscosity and the robust antioxidants necessary to combat fuel dilution's worst effects.
Castrol Edge Euro, Mobil 1 ESP 0w40, Mobil 1 FS Euro, and even Pennzoil Platinum Euro 0w-40 are all superb choices for 5k OCIs for this engine.
You can go with cheaper oils on 3k intervals but the engine will not be cleaner and it won't save any money compared to running a better, more suitable oil for double that.
The 40 grade Euro oils shine for these reasons-- they have both the higher viscosity and the robust antioxidants necessary to combat fuel dilution's worst effects.
Castrol Edge Euro, Mobil 1 ESP 0w40, Mobil 1 FS Euro, and even Pennzoil Platinum Euro 0w-40 are all superb choices for 5k OCIs for this engine.
You can go with cheaper oils on 3k intervals but the engine will not be cleaner and it won't save any money compared to running a better, more suitable oil for double that.
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I believe these engines are known to shear oil due to their large complex timing chains and oxidation due to a limited PCV design. Do you think changing the oil at 3500 miles is too soon considering this is a 0W20 oil with known shear/oxidation issues?
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I don't know a ton about these VQ engines.
However, I always recommend to run a top tier oil. There isn't a huge price difference from Walmart nowadays between Mobil 1 Extended Performance, Castrol Edge Extended Performance, Valvoline Extended Protection, Pennzoil Ultra Platinum, or any of the top tier options outside of boutique oils.
For me, 4-5k miles has always been a sweet spot.
However, I always recommend to run a top tier oil. There isn't a huge price difference from Walmart nowadays between Mobil 1 Extended Performance, Castrol Edge Extended Performance, Valvoline Extended Protection, Pennzoil Ultra Platinum, or any of the top tier options outside of boutique oils.
For me, 4-5k miles has always been a sweet spot.
Pennzoil and Castrol both have rebates right now if you are worried about cost. You can get much better oils than Supertech or basic Quaker State for less with hardly any effort utilizing the electronic rebates. Buy oil online, get it delivered to your house, submit rebate online, get paid electronically.
I was not necessarily concerned with price. I will gladly spend the extra $10 bucks if I know the engine will be better protected. With short intervals, I wasn't sure if it was overkill to use the more premium oil vs a more budget option. I was curious to see what every ones opinions were on this.
The solution is not staying with a 0w-20. You have no margin against dilution or against shear.
If you do stay with a 20 grade, you definitely want a Euro 20 grade that meets VO508.00 or Porsche C20, as they specs have robust shear requirements (must stay above 5.6cSt after KRL).
But if you went with a VW 502.00 oil, you'd have a minimum requirement stay in 30 grade (for a 30 grade) after KRL.
That buys you some additional margin against dilution.
So I think you really want whatever VW 502.00 Euro oil you find to be most cost effective. For many people, this will be the Castrol Edge Euro at walmart, which has the VW 502.00 in 0w-30, 0w-40, 5w-30 and 5w-40.
EDIT: Oops, added pics to the wrong post. See above for labels of the Edge Euro 5w oils at my local Wal-mart. Either or both would work well here.
I did a few used oil analysis on my Wife's Armada with the VK56 as they are also reported to be "hard on oil". I settled on Mobil 1 Euro 0w40 and 6K changes. The UOA indicated I could go to 10K on that oil but I back it down some. No real need to 3K changes these days.
edyvw
$50 site donor 2026
Extra money? Mobil 1 ESP 0W20 is $2 cheaper than Mobil 1 0W20 EP, for example.
I go back and forth on running a heavier or non-OEM-spec oil in a newer vehicle, but I keep coming back to warranty concerns and the risk of denied claims. That’s what makes me hesitant to jump fully into HPL offerings right now.
If you select an oil that meets the vehicle’s specified grade and approval, regardless of brand or price, and use UOA to confirm acceptable wear at your chosen OCI, is there any fundamental flaw in that approach? Extended drain intervals obviously aren’t the goal in that case (and OP's). That said, your comment has me wondering whether short, frequent OCIs with a more basic oil might still have a negative effect.
Do you mind elaborating?
The problem for someone in that situation is that 1) oil analysis is not engine analysis, and 2) lots of engines are dying of deposits even with low wear metals in the analysis.
The cleanliness problem comes first and THEN becomes a wear problem. So by the time it shows up in your wear metals, it's too late. You are so full of deposits that you are bore scuffing and polishing and probably burning lots of oil.
And unfortunately, oil analysis can't tell you much of anything about how clean the rings are.
So how can more frequent intervals lead to worse deposits? In short, it's because oil's most volatile, most oxidation-prone components are the first to oxidize. So oil becomes less volatile and oxidation-prone over time. When you change the oil frequently, you are constantly resetting the clock back to the "early, rapid cook off" part of the curve and moving it away from the "Stable" part of the curve.
This is why using cheap oils on short OCIs is often false economy. Often, people shorten intervals because they think it helps offset the shortcoming of cheap oils when it's often amplifying the problem.
The solution to cheap oils is better oil. The extra OCI you get with better oil is bonus that recovers much of the cost in many instances.
Now that you mention this, I recall reading the, what is "normal", UOA article, and the findings seem to align with this idea. As the interval goes longer, the wear rate appears to stabilize. I’m assuming that’s because the oil is becoming less volatile as it shears in and the additive system settles. It definitely puts that into a different perspective.
This was my approach. May end up taking the dip to HPL or Amsoil sooner than I had imagined.
Thanks Hohn
I will never oppose someone going to excellent boutique oils like Amsoil or HPL, but I’d suggest that you need not go that far to get most the the benefit of a “better” oil.Now that you mention this, I recall reading the, what is "normal", UOA article, and the findings seem to align with this idea. As the interval goes longer, the wear rate appears to stabilize. I’m assuming that’s because the oil is becoming less volatile as it shears in and the additive system settles. It definitely puts that into a different perspective.
This was my approach. May end up taking the dip to HPL or Amsoil sooner than I had imagined.
Thanks Hohn
Any A3/B4 oil that meets 502.00 and 229.5 will last long enough to go 5k in ANY engine with margin to spare. And that keeps costs somewhat reasonable because you don’t even need to back it up with UOA to have confidence that it will go 5k.
If you still want to take more of a toe-dip approach, then just go to a 0w-30 Euro oil that is a mid-SAPS flavor, something like 0w-30 ESP. It is also a “5k no brainer” kind of oil.
Carlostrece
$100 Site Donor 2025
Advance Autoparts Carquest Premium is a good filter choice, as are all autostores' housebrand premium filters. I use NAPA Gold, which is pretty much same thing as Carquest Premium, Oreilly Microgard Select, Autozone STP XL, Valvoline premium, Premium Guard XL, and other autostore's housebrand premium filters.
I suggest also putting a pair of Filtermag SS (neodynium directional magnets) on the oil filter because those magnets catch all ferrous particles size 3 microns and larger. The premium oil filter by itself catches almost all particles that are 20-25 microns and larger. So the magnets are a signifigant improvement for removing ferrous (steel & iron) particles.
A pair of Filtermag SS is especially helpful during engine breakin period, which is the first 30K miles.
Filtermag SS is still somewhat helpful after breakin period. I put a pair of Filtermag on my car (even though it already had 106K miles on it).
The pair of Filtermag SS are a one time purchase. Each time you change your oil filter, you move the magnets to the new filter.
With Filtermag SS magnets in place, there's no longer a need to change oil and filter early during breakin. Just change oil and filter every 5K miles or 1 year, whichever comes first. The magnets will capture almost all of the breakin metal particles.
The first photo shows a pair if Filtermag SS installed on an oil filter.
The second photo shows a cut open oil filter can. You can see the ferrous particles scum on the inside of the cut open filter can. You can see that Filtermag works well for capturing ferrous (steel & iron) particles.
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Carlostrece
$100 Site Donor 2025
P.S. - Regarding versions of Filtermag...
A Filtermag MB or MC each has 10 mono-directional magnets x 2 in a pair. So 10 x 2 = 20 magnets total in a pair of MB or MC. MB & MC are too expensive.
A Filtermag SS has 8 mono-directional magnets x 2 in a pair. So 8 x 2 = 16 magnets total in a pair of SS. SS costs half as much as MB or MC. SS is more than good enough.
I can't state an exact cost for a pair of SS because it varies depending on the diameter of your oil filter.
When you change oil filter, move your pair of Filtermag SS to the new oil filter.
A Filtermag MB or MC each has 10 mono-directional magnets x 2 in a pair. So 10 x 2 = 20 magnets total in a pair of MB or MC. MB & MC are too expensive.
A Filtermag SS has 8 mono-directional magnets x 2 in a pair. So 8 x 2 = 16 magnets total in a pair of SS. SS costs half as much as MB or MC. SS is more than good enough.
I can't state an exact cost for a pair of SS because it varies depending on the diameter of your oil filter.
When you change oil filter, move your pair of Filtermag SS to the new oil filter.
Carlostrece
$100 Site Donor 2025
Regarding the oil questions in OP, my preferred options would be (in no particular order) Mobil 1 ESP, Valvoline Extended Protection, Chevron Havoline Lifelong, Quaker State Ultimate Protection, or NAPA Full Synthetic. I think any of those would be excellent for you in 0w20, 5w20, 0w30, or 5w30.
Valvoline Restore and Protect 5w30 would be another excellent choice. If you use Valvoline Restore and Protect, I recommend 5w30 Valvoline Restore and Protect because Valvoline Restore and Protect has a reputation for shearing down to a thinner grade. So I do not recommend 0w20 Valvoline Restore and Protect for your car.
Of those, my first choices for your car would be Havoline Lifelong or Quaker State Ultimate Protection in 0w20 or 5w30. Why? Because they're excellent oils at bargain prices. So why not?
The others I mentioned above are also excellent, but cost more. There are also other excellent oils off-the-shelf oils that I didn't mention, but they cost more than Quaker State Ultimate Protection Full Synthetic or Havoline Lifelong.
Mobil 1 Extended Performance and Mobil 1 Truck and SUV are other good choices for you, especially in 5w30.
Of all oils I mentioned, Havoline Lifelong is my first preference because it's affordable and excellent. Quaker State Ultimate Protection or NAPA Full Synthetic are my second choice. That's considering both performance and price.
I think Quaker State Full Synthetic is good, especially for the money, but I think the other oils I mentioned are better, and Havoline Lifelong (6 quarts box) is same price per quart (or less) than any Quaker State Full Synthetic oil.
Valvoline Restore and Protect 5w30 would be another excellent choice. If you use Valvoline Restore and Protect, I recommend 5w30 Valvoline Restore and Protect because Valvoline Restore and Protect has a reputation for shearing down to a thinner grade. So I do not recommend 0w20 Valvoline Restore and Protect for your car.
Of those, my first choices for your car would be Havoline Lifelong or Quaker State Ultimate Protection in 0w20 or 5w30. Why? Because they're excellent oils at bargain prices. So why not?
The others I mentioned above are also excellent, but cost more. There are also other excellent oils off-the-shelf oils that I didn't mention, but they cost more than Quaker State Ultimate Protection Full Synthetic or Havoline Lifelong.
Mobil 1 Extended Performance and Mobil 1 Truck and SUV are other good choices for you, especially in 5w30.
Of all oils I mentioned, Havoline Lifelong is my first preference because it's affordable and excellent. Quaker State Ultimate Protection or NAPA Full Synthetic are my second choice. That's considering both performance and price.
I think Quaker State Full Synthetic is good, especially for the money, but I think the other oils I mentioned are better, and Havoline Lifelong (6 quarts box) is same price per quart (or less) than any Quaker State Full Synthetic oil.
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