Synthetic Newbie

[heavyhitter]

I have always been a dino oil guy, and never bought into all of the hoopla about synthectic.

Well I have made the move to systhetic. I just put 5qt of Quaker State Q-Hp in my wifes Honda Element. It has 33k On it now and I bought since new I did 3-5k OCI with dino.

I have a new Nissan Frontier V6 I want to go synthetic with it too but only have 800 miles on it. Is it to soon top go synthetic @ 1k? I was thinking about first, using up my Castrol GTX (I have 6qts left over from my old truck). If that is the case I will drop my factory will @ 1k and then GTX for 4k and then do Quaker State Q-HP synthetic. With this plan I will go synthetic @5k. I plan on keep BOTH cars synthetic for the rest of the life of the cars.

I bought enough Quaker State Q-HP and WIX filters to do 4 oil changes for each car. We drive @ 7k each a year so this oil will last along time (a few years most likely) I hope this is good stuff, since it will be exclusively ran in our engines for some time to come. Im sure its a group III. At $18 for 5qt at Wally World plus $10 rebate I couldnt pass it up. (I have rebates being mailed to 7 addresses lol $70!) I'll have to lose that 8th rebate.

I have always had great luck with dino but Im hoping synthetic will be that much better. Especially in the -20 degree winters.
I'd like to see you BITOG'ers weigh in.

 

[Boomer]

I have a Frontier V-6, 2007, and changed it over to Mobil 1 5W-30 at about 1200 miles or so. I like the NAPA Gold Filter a little better than the OEM Nissan. I now have about 17,000 miles on the truck, use no oil and have acheived 25.5 mpg on an interstae trip. I drive no faster than 65 mph, use a few more PSI in the tires than the 35 psi recommended and generally run 89 or 93 octane gas, Bp or Shell being favorites.

I also replaced the rear end fluid with M-1 75W-90 and drained and filled the transfer with Nissan matic D and the front diff with Valvoline Semi Syn 80W-90. I did this at about 7-8000 miles, I think. I strongly recommend this as I was not impressed with the factory fills in the diffs. Make sure to buy the new washers from Nissan and use a torque wrench and ALWAYS take out the fill plug before the drain plug. The rear diff takes a 14 mm hex and a 10 mm hex, I believe. IN the colder months, using the syn fluids is a great thing as the truck starts very easily and runs well, not stiffly.

Good luck and enjoy your ride.

 

[jesbo]

I have run 0w30 or 5w30 synthetic in all my cars after a short break-in of 1000-1500 miles for over 30 years. The last 3 cars I've had all had turbochargers... So thats one reason I went to synthetic - which flows/lubricates well in the high temperature conditions found in the turbos. It resists oxidation at those temperatures as well. It also keeps the engine clean and allows for longer oil change intervals. I had a habit of going 7-8K miles between changes (or annually whichever came first) and never had a problem.

You can switch to synthetic at any mileage (some mfrs ship with synthetic oil as factory fill), but I always advise going 1000 to 1500 miles on the factory fill since it is what the manufacturer believes is the "right stuff" to get the engine broken in.

If you are starting up frequently in temperatures as low as -20F you could probably benefit from running a 0w30 grade.

 

[ZZman]

Some cars some with Syn Oil out of the factory so you can change it to Syn oil anytime you want.

If you only drive 7,000 a year then only change it once a year.

 

[Bill in Utah]

READ what your manual says as far as OCI.

Do not go any longer and give the MFG any reason to hassle you for a warranty claim.

ONCE you out of warranty, you then can think about extending OCIs.

 

[Durango]

heavyhitter,

I usually change over to synthetic after the first year. That way if anything goes wrong the dealership can't blame me for using an oil that not required.

My opinion, change over to a BLEND first until the first year is over then go full synthetic all the way.

Regardless of the brand you choose stick to a name brand and you can't go wrong. I too tried and liked the Quaker State brand of "Q" oils.

Durango

 

[mozart]

Originally Posted By: Bill in Utah
READ what your manual says as far as OCI.

Do not go any longer and give the MFG any reason to hassle you for a warranty claim.

ONCE you out of warranty, you then can think about extending OCIs.



I agree with everything Bill says here. Let me just add that you would be wise to keep meticulous records of receipts, oil change dates and mileages. Don't give the dealer any opportunity to deny a warranty claim.