Time for first oil change? 2K3 Maxima

[shortyb]

I am curious when the oil should be changed for the first time. Most all of my previous cars I did at around 1500 miles. All had some minimal oil comsumption and noticable wear metal on the towel from a dipstick wipe. What makes me curious with this car is the total lack of any "wear metals" on the towel and have had zero oil consumption. The oil hasn't darkened much at all either. I have done the break-in similar to most of my previous cars, 3-4K max rpms for the first 1K with a minimal number of 5K shifts. Did some minor lugging with-in the first couple hundred miles to put a load on the rings and help them seat. I will be using Chevron Supreme 10W-30 until I switch over to Redline some time down the road (which at this rate may take some time). Any advise is appreciated.

 

[kiko]

quote:

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What makes me curious with this car is the total lack of any "wear metals" on the towel and have had zero oil consumption. The oil hasn't darkened much at all either.

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Same thing with my '04 Sienna. I did my oil change at 500 miles. After dumping about 5 quarts into the engine I checked the stick and it was clean as a whistle. I thought I forgot to plug the oil drain because it was so clean it looked dry but after holding it to some light I noticed a thin layer of oil. No worries.

Anyway, I used Pennzoil 5w30 for my first oil change. Just came back from Vegas yesterday and the car drove immaculately.

Just my $0.02

 

[MolaKule]

I drive a Nissan Frontier and changed the oil at 110 miles, and never had any oil consumption issues.

I think the bore finishing they do now is superb, so anything past 500 miles is an opportunity to drain oil and add your pet oil.

Do a UOA occasionally and let us know what shape the engine/oil is in.

[ May 12, 2003, 10:34 AM: Message edited by: MolaKule ]

 

[Dr. T]

What does the owner's manual say? eg. on my BMW it says to change things out at 1500-2000 mi....on Mercedes it doesn't say anything...10k mi. is the first interval.

Secondly, (this is a general question) how can anyone see wear metals on the dipstick? Doesn't the filter collect them? What's in the filter then...chunks only?

 

[Al]

I would do a change before 3K. I have never-thru many cars notices wsear metals on the dipstick. Sounds like you got a good engine. But "lugging" is never a good thing (IMHO) . Those rings were "seated" by the time you got the car home

 

[gfcrane]

I have a 2K2 Maxima with about 3k miles. Changed the oil at 600 miles to Chevron Supreme 5W30. It's my wifes car and gets few miles, all around town except when I occasionally get it on the interstate. Changed after three months to Chevron 10W30 (Costco had a good price) and sent in a sample with good numbers but only had 750 miles during the interval. Doesn't use any oil and it stays super clean on the dipstick. These seem to be great engines and the Chevron seems to be a good fit.

 

[MolaKule]

Shorty,

I haven't seen the specs on the VQ35DE, but if it is anything like the KDE24 (not necessarily saying it is), I would run the severe change interval with UOA's until I was comfortable with extending the interval. Nissans generally have low sump capacities and high power densities, and really beat up the oil.

I have run many different synthetic and blend XW30's (usually 10W30) after run-in and they seem to be the best fit.

I will be using Redline 5W30 this winter with a UOA to see how that works out. My unit is 2 years old and has 63,000 miles on it. Another Frontier owner with approx. the same mileage is using Chevron Supreme 10W30 and has good results with that oil as well, from results on the UOA thread.

 

[shortyb]

Thanks for the replies. I believe the "micro-finishing" that Nissan touts on the VQ35DE engine is not just ad-hype after all.

When I say I see "wear metals" on the dipstick/wipe, what I mean is that the oil has darkened and taken a "silvery" sheen to it. Like it has alot of particles in it (which I'm sure it does) but no large pieces or anything that drastic. Once I do the first change, it usually does not re-appear.

Dr. T- No mention in the manual other than the first change at 3750 (severe schedule interval) The departure from what I normally experience with break-in characteristics is whats throwing me off.

Al-Yeah, the lugging is definately a no-no. I did maybe 3 or 4 3/4 throttle roll-ons from about 2K rpm during the first 100 miles just to create a slightly larger load. Just some reassurance for my own (anal) piece of mind I suppose

Yep, I think I've got a good one

 

[Ray H]

quote:

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Originally posted by shortyb:
...When I say I see "wear metals" on the dipstick/wipe, what I mean is that the oil has darkened and taken a "silvery" sheen to it...

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Perhaps something intentionally added to the factory-fill oil or coated to the rings to aid break-in and too small to be trapped by the filter? Graphite? Molybdenum?

 

[nick778]

I've had many Nissans with the VQ engine including my 2k3 Max SE. They don't use oil hardly at all if any. I changed the original fill at 1200 miles to M1 5w-30 during the winter and run 10w-30 from spring through fall. Also, put in about 2-3 ounces of #132 Moly/Pentrol additive at each oil change and run a magnetic Superplug which does indeed capture small micron ferrous metals that the oil filter seems to miss.

 

[shortyb]

Dr. Kule-Good advise, thanks. I was planning to change the fill oil around 1500 and keep doing the UOAs til I feel its time to switch to RL. Not sure how much the VQ35DE will beat up the oil but I know the KDE24 does because of the higher rod ratio. I have an Xterra with the VQ33 and am waiting my first UOA on this one. Almost 100K and has been using RL 10W-30 since 5K. No problems other than about 1/2 quart comsumption btween the 5K changes.

Nick-My 5th Nissan but the first with the VQ35. One word.....awesome.

 

[Bror Jace]

I have a 2003 Sentra Spec-V with the QR25 (2.5L) 4-cyl. Manual says the engine was filled with a "high quality" oil and that it is "not necessary" to change the oil before the first scheduled service ... which is at something like 5,000 miles.

After poking around on a few on-line Nissan groups, I found no evidence that Nissan uses a special break-in oil like Ford or Honda does.

So, I changed the oil & filter at 1,700 miles. My first scheduled service isn't until June 20th ... 3 months after I first picked up the car.

shortyb: "I will be using Chevron Supreme 10W-30 until I switch over to Redline some time down the road."

I'm running Chevron Supreme 10W30 right now as well. It'll be in there for another 5 weeks then the car will use whatever bulk $#it oil the stealership uses ... then after about 6 weeks I'll switch to Schaeffer Supreme 7000 5W30 for a change or two. Regular UOAs will start with the second Schaeffer change, I think.

Then I want to try Red Line again ... in a car that doesn't have a coolant leak.

--- Bror Jace

 

[GimmeTorq]

2k2 Max with 11k here. I did the first oil change at 2k with Mobil DriveClean 5w30 and went to Mobil One 5w30 at 5k. So far so good...