To change or not to change

[kcryan]

Should i change the oil in my 1998 Infiniti I30 (VQ30DE)(Same as maxima of the time)

It has over 3 months on it and 3000 miles, although its gotten some LC during this time.

The car itself has just under 80k and at 76k when i put this oil in it was its first time on Synthetic.

It has M1 5w30 in it now with a PureOne Filter

Anyway should i change it as im going on a trip in a few days or just leave it and change it when i get back. I intend to go ~5k on this oil eventually but was told to cut the OCI's back for the first few on Syn.

Most of its miles on this oil have been short trips maby 75% Suburban driving and 25% highway.

It also sees some good revs here and there.

What do you think?

 

[sjlee]

I couldn't tell from your message, but are you planning on driving your car on this trip? If so, how many miles do you plan on driving?

 

[626LX2.0LATX1998]

Check color. Is it black? if not leave it in.

 

[TallPaul]

Drip a couple drops from the dipstick onto a white file card (or similar) and let it soak in. If it doesn't leave a dark ring you should be OK for a while. The trip will be mostly freeway and so should not tax the oil that much.

 

[kcryan]

While the oil is dark, and it left a dark(no darker than the oil) ring around the outside?

 

[Palut]

That M1 will make 5000 miles of city driving easily! This road trip will just give you a chance to burn off any gunk accumulated from city driving. It will renew the oil more than anything. It will give you a good excuse to extend the interval to 5k miles.

 

[TallPaul]

The blotter sounds okay. The oil seems in decent shape yet so might as well leave it in for now. As Palut says, 5000 miles is no big deal for M1. 5000 miles probably is a cut back OCI for M1.

 

[kcryan]

I know it is

i just figure oil's cheap (even when its m1) and i want atlease 300k outta this car.

I think ill keep it in there but i may drain it if i got extra time

 

[Islandvic]

5k miles on M1 in a VQ is no problem IMO.

Premium oil + Premium filter + Premium Engine = 5k mile OCI minimum IMO

 

[GROUCHO MARX]

Leave it in, save money for gasoline.

 

[sjlee]

quote:

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Originally posted by kcryan:
A few hundred miles 500-750 i believe round trip, yes i will be taking this car. Its dark green will that work?????

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I think you'll be fine waiting until you come back, as that'll only put about 3750 miles total on the oil since your last oil change. You could go that far with just regular dino oil.

 

[kcryan]

quote:

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Originally posted by GROUCHO MARX:
Leave it in, save money for gasoline.

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Thats a good point.......**** premium

 

[kcryan]

A few hundred miles 500-750 i believe round trip, yes i will be taking this car. Its dark green will that work?????

 

[bobo]

I thought you should change the initial synthetic oil after 3K, then extend the OCI from there. That's what I plan on doing with my 95 MaximaSE with the same engine as kcryan, a fellow Maxima .orger.

 

[wavinwayne]

FWIW,

I've gone over 6000 miles twice & 5000 miles once on cheap bulk dino oil, in my '00 VW GTI 1.8T. These were all highway, fairly easily driven miles. The dino didn't even leave behind any visible varnish from what I could see through the valve cover hole.

So, if I were you, I would definitely leave the M1 in for your trip. In fact, I would think 6-7k miles would be a good OCI with M1 for your Infiniti.